Keishi Ohtomo’s live action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin‘s explosive Kyoto Arc has brought several Japanese actors *cough*Takeru Satoh*cough* to the international limelight and revitalised both the work of Nobuhiro Watsuki and the samurai movie genre. If you’re observant enough (or seen it at least five times over like me), you’d have noticed a couple of things in both films.
(Ok, I lied.)
SPOILER ALERT! Read at your own risk:
0 – number of people Hiko is actually shown killing
2 – number of times Hiko addresses Kenshin as “baka deshi”
The rest implied through smouldering glares.
4 – number of times Sanosuke is seen with food
4 – number of times Sanosuke gets “trolled”
Let’s just say that quick thinking’s not his strong suit.
But thank you, Munetaka Aoki for keeping us all entertained. 😀
0 – number of times Saitou says Aku Soku Zan (really?!)
5 – number of cigarettes Saitou is shown smoking
To quote Mikael Angelo Francisco, how many villains did he actually kill with secondhand smoke instead of his sword?
2 – shots solely dedicated to Saitou executing his Gatotsu (only?!)
2 – number of times Shishio asks “Who are you?” (making him the most confused bandaged villain in movie and anime history)
27 – number of times Shishio’s Mugenjin ignites
Yes, I counted.
12 – number of times Kenshin says ORO? (Edit: as another fan kindly pointed out, there is a string of Oro’s during Kenshin’s scuffle with Misao that aren’t particularly audible amidst the noise, so those instances where the “Oro” is explicitly said are counted in this list)
2 – number of times someone goes AWOL from bed
5 – kinds of animals shown
17 – number of assassinations committed by Kenshin during the Bakumatsu
1 – number of times Kenshin performs the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki
2– number of times Takeru Satoh (clearly) exploits his breakdancing talents
Call it a modern take on the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu
3,000,000,000 – yen for the filming budget
6 – months taken for shooting (1 July – 27 Dec 2013)
3 – stunts Takeru Satoh performed without wires
1 – number of teeth Munetaka Aoki lost while filming
“I lost a teeth but I don’t mind because I’m Sanosuke!” (Munetaka Aoki 2014)
1 – award won (Bronze Audience Awards at the 2014 Fantasia Film Festival)
500 – intended number of extras (rumoured)
5, 000 – and more extras, including foreigners and children
Because dozens of policemen falling over in perfect coordination is so much cooler than adding in digital entities.
10 – prefectures in Japan for on-location shoots
100 – costumes for Kenshin
2, 000 – logs used for Shishio’s first appearance in Kyoto Inferno
Sublime.
30 – minutes for the final action sequence
15 – minutes Shishio’s final fight lasts
7 – minutes before Yumi panics during Shishio’s final fight
2 – fights between Kenshin and Seta
0 – times Lisa Ulliel was spotted (no, really, where WAS she?)
2 – parts the original Kyoto Arc was split into
That’s all for now; I may have made a few mistakes (multi-tasking between counting and fangirling over Ohtomo’s cast is hard 😛 ) but if you spot anything different or have more to add, feel free to comment below de gozaru! 😉
Gif credits: Tumblr (particularly, Heck Yeah Ruroken)
Picture credits: Tumblr, Hollywood Reporter, Rappler.com
Video credits: YouTube
Production notes from: Passion Saves Soul
Misc.: AsianWiki
chueonit.
Chue On It 
Good job on counting! I’ll add at least 6 times Aoshi asked about the battosai in Kyoto Inferno (2 times to Sano, 1 to Megumi, 2 to Okina, the last to no one in particular) (but I’m not really sure too because too busy fangirling over Iseya Yusuke ^^; )
I guess I’ll count how many long close ups Hiko gets the next time I see The Legend Ends.
That’s cool! I never noticed. 😀
Reblogged this on attic room and beyond and commented:
because i’m an addict.
Actually I missed count on how many times Kenshin said “oro”, remember when misao pulled Kenshin in the bridge? count that, how many times he said “oro”
Hey there! My memory of Kyoto Inferno was fuzzy when I wrote this, so the string of Orororororos with Misao, I counted as one instance of Oro ^^x
You miss the part in 01h:01m:30s when Kenshin do the Kusuryuzen to Aoshi, you can see the 9 hits, the last 5 in slow motion. :3
Y’know I went crazy trying to keep up with counting the number of strokes; it just went by too fast for the human eye!