Netflix has announced the Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning US release date. Fans won’t have to wait long as the action film will release on the service on July 30, 2021. The live-action film, which opened in Japan on June 4, will soon become available for fans in the United States. The final film in the live-action series, Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning follows Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, a film that just released on Netflix earlier this year on June 18.
Despite the previous film being called The Final, Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is the fifth and final film in the popular Japanese film franchise. It’s a prequel story that will focus on Himura Kenshin’s past as the assassin Hitokiri Battōsai, as well as his relationship with Yukishiro Tomoe. More importantly, it will tell the story of how he received his iconic scar.
The prequel film stars Takeru Satoh and Kasumi Arimura. Issey Takahashi, Nijirō Murakami, Masanobu Ando, Towa Araki, Kazuki Kitamura, and Yōsuke Eguchi round out the cast. Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning is directed by Keishi Ōtomo; he also provided the screenplay for the film. Hiroyoshi Koiwai and Satoshi Fukushima will produce. It is being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The Rurouni Kenshin film franchise is based on the manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Its original run was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from April 1994 to September 1999. As of 2019, the manga has over 72 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series ever.