After an amazing first movie, they somehow completely butchered the sequels.
The first of the original 3 Rurouni Kenshin live-action movies was absolutely brilliant (as I elaborated on in detail in my review for that entry). Unfortunately, however, the second and third installments of the live-action trilogy are not only not anywhere near as good as the first (either overall or in terms of adaptation), they're really just not very good movies, period (nor are either of them standalone). Don't get me wrong, the production, fight choreography, and acting are (mostly) all still at the same level (indeed, the fight with the dual-blade-wielder in movie 2 is at least worth watching just on its own), but movie 2 is otherwise quite forgettable, some of the violence becomes overly OTT to the point of tastelessness by movie 3, the story is bizarrely (and fruitlessly) butchered to hell and back, and-- most egregiously-- the characterization flies right out the window, utterly ruining one of the manga's more interesting characters and caricaturizing more than several others.TL;DR: Don't watch these 'sequels' 😕-- just leave it at watching the excellent first one (and then read the manga afterwards instead).
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Not only an excellent BL, but also just an excellent show (of any type)!
Khemjira is not only my favorite BL of the year (EDIT: thought about it some more, and I'll actually go even further and say that it's currently my favorite BL of all time), it's also my absolute favorite 2025 show of ANY kind, period.I watched it along with a few other shows week-by-week while they were airing, and while those other shows were certainly good and enjoyable, THIS series made me so obsessed that nothing else could even come close to comparing. (Every week I was actually counting down the days to its Saturday airtime, I was that excited to watch each new episode!) Everything about this series is top-tier incredible in every respect. Just to name a few:
The very careful, respectful, and 100%-serious treatment of its mix of various real-life Thai Buddhist religious beliefs, local regional rural folklore, shamanism, and etc. as well as a few real historical events (and just great world-building in general); not shying away from showing societal problems realistically/as they are, instead of idealistically/how things should be; gorgeous, immersive production that clearly spared no expense; lovely music (both vocal OST's - with equally-lovely lyrics - as well as instrumental scoring) that appropriately complements each scene; casting that is so perfect it's *unreal*; excellent, natural acting; a refreshingly deep story (that also deftly avoids clichés); absolutely magnificent pacing (not a single second of any episode is wasted! {I mean, except for perhaps the occasional product placement, LOL, but obviously that's par for the course for these dramas, and honestly most of the time it's way less intrusive here than I've seen in a lot of other works}); characters who are given space to breathe so that they feel like real, fleshed-out people (AND who have 100%-consistent characterizations, for once!); relationship development (and intimacy) for both couples that is both very realistic to and perfectly aligned with all of said established characterizations; superbly depicts the deep, abiding love to be found in (good) family, true friendships, and found-family/community; AND even has that all-important final piece: a *completely* satisfying ending!!
I really cannot overstate how fantastic this series is, not only as a romance (which, as mentioned, is fulfilled very satisfyingly for both couples), but also just as a genuinely excellent story as a whole.
(Now, for those who are on the fence because of the show's horror elements, I'll note that most of the series' more traditionally scary-type stuff is really front-loaded into the first episode, so if you can get past episode 1, it actually does get way less scary from there! I mean, obviously there are still other scary/life-threatening/etc. bits scattered throughout the episodes afterwards as well, LOL, it's just that, from episode 2 on, it's definitely not constant at all; a lot of the runtime of the show is just intriguing story and really good character work instead of scares.)
TL;DR: Khemjira is fantastic; it's clearly a labor of love from every single person involved; and it's one of the only-very-few-masterpieces I've given a full 10/10 rating. Absolutely recommended!
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