The Movie on October 26, 2011. Reception Critics praised the movie's narrative and animation but often criticized the English dub. THEM Anime Reviews compared the film to Studio Deen's OVAs of Rurouni Kenshin due to the surprisingly dark narrative and violence despite the movie using animation style from the television series which is more lighthearted. The fight sequences, themes involving the rebellion and animation were praised though the English dub was panned for changing several parts of the original Japanese movie. Similarly, MichaelDVD praised the animation while suggesting the plot stands on its own to newcomers or viewers who have only seen the original video animations although Kenshin is portrayed more as a pacifist in contrast to his dark persona from the OVA. In another comparison with the TV series, SciFi noted that the movie was realistic as it discards fantasy elements seen in Watsuki's works and optimistic and humoristic scenes are nearly absent. SciFi believes that fans of the OVA would enjoy The Motion Picture due to its tragic elements and relationship with Kenshin's dark past. The site also noted the story was complex as a result of the drama that plays within most characters whose personalities conveyed appealing swordplay through impressive animation. Although Kenshin is portrayed as a pacifist, the climax features him going into an enraged berserker state which surprised the writer as that was hardly seen in other adaptations of the series. He had mixed feelings about the animation as he viewed it as not up to "theatrical quality, but closer to OVA quality with a few scenes straight from the TV series thrown in." with an average storyline but lamented Saito's smaller role. Anime News Network found the narrative enjoyable for fans of action and politics though the, like THEM, he found the English dub too different to the point where Shigure's characterization was too different from the Japanese version. Blu-ray.com enjoyed the handling of the politics and the handling of Kenshin's characterization from the OVAs but felt the plot might come across as too convoluted. Nevertheless, the writer praised the character arc of Toki due to how she deals with the tragedy that changes her life in the movie. Due to the high price of the movie, Blu-ray listed the film as "recommended" and suggested fans to wait to find it at a reasonable price before buying it. Mania Beyond Entertainment rated the DVD