Kyoto Inferno's strongest suite, like its predecessor, is in its choreography. It's able to invent moves that makes anime sword fight - with somersaults and slide running - looks convincing. Both in duel and large scale battle Kyoto Inferno succeed in imagining how swordsmen with super human abilities would cross their swords to each other. They even manage the tricky part with Himura vs Soujiro, a battle that relies heavily on speed. The film also has a very good casting choice, especially with Soujiro, which is a feat in itself if we're speaking of anime adaptation.

However, also just like its predecessor, the film is weak in its plot department. The pacing is a bit inconsistent and some scenes feel like rushed plot points. Same thing can be said with character development. There are so many characters introduced who lack enough time to grasp viewer's attention. Combine this two, and you get the Shinomori Aoshi subplot. His subplot sticks like a sore thumb especially so during the last 15 minutes of the film, with his arrival disturbing the whole tone.

It is unfortunate that, compared to the first film, Kyoto Inferno seems to opt with delving into the story and character's decision a little bit more. The story attempts to explore Himura's resolve of "not killing" - it plays big part in the course of the film - but because of its inconsistent pacing and rushed plot points, the dilemma of "what could've made Himura pushed the boundaries of killing" cannot be developed to its maximum potential.

Were the film focused more on the fights, where it excels the most, Kyoto Inferno could've easily been one of the most enjoyable action anime adaptation out there.

I won't delve in a general review of the film, but the central theme of the film is its deeper dive into Kenshin's decision not to kill. In this film, we see Kenshin following his "don't kill" philosophy essentially as a member of a government army fighting against Makoto Shishio's rebel army. However, the decision makes less sense the further we get down the rabbit hole.

There's no real exploration of the stakes of this decision -- the fact that millions of lives are at stake, and that Kenshin's choice endangers them all. There's no real exploration of consequences -- that a villain spared can return to commit more villainy. There's definitely no exploration of the moral implications of being a member of an army where -- aside from Kenshin and his friends -- every member of the army is heading into the battle with swords and guns and using lethal force.

At one point, it seemed like they were at least going to delve into the difficulty of defeating an opponent who is willing to kill you when you refuse to kill, but in the end Kenshin just kind of ends up blaming this on his shitty sword, not his philosophy and therefore the problem is solved when [spoiler]he gets a better one[/spoiler]. The fact that Kenshin and his colleagues are able to repeatedly and brutally bludgeon their enemies without killing any of them also starts to get very comical -- as it does when you see the remains of a battlefield where Kenshin singlehandedly defeated an army and dozens of defeated are just uselessly writhing in pain. In reality, Kenshin and his friends never seem to be impeded by their decision at all. All it takes is a little bop on the head and someone will writhe in pain for as long as is necessary for the plot to move on.

There is never a rational temptation to commit murder. The only time Kenshin is ever tempted to kill is when someone is making him angry. Additionally, there are multiple occasions where Kenshin _does_ get angry, and makes the decision to kill, but he is stopped only by circumstance. He looks in surprise when it turns out [spoiler]his new sword is also a reverse-blade katana[/spoiler], or when Kaoru shouts "Don't kill!" at the right moment. (Of course, Kaoru also doesn't seem to care at all that Kenshin is literally putting his own life and the lives of other people at risk in order to honour her demand.)

There is a telling scene where Kenshin stops a child from committing murder. He tells the child, "You will please no one by soiling those little hands."

What this film tells us is that it doesn't matter that people die. It doesn't matter that you are part of an army that kills or that your actions directly lead to the deaths of others. It doesn't even matter that you committed attempted murder. In Kenshin's philosophy, it only matters that you are not the one holding the sword that strikes the killing blow. Even this shallow philosophy is never properly explored. Kenshin's hands are _already_ about as dirty as they can get, aren't they? What's the consequence of this? How is he going to clean that blood from his hands?