A very engaging and fascinating series taking place in turn-of-the-century japan. I'll keep this very short, this series would be nearly flawless if it weren't mired in filler and clunky dialogue; but the show manages to make both of those normally seriously detrimental aspects and makes them extremely charming and endearing. The characters in the series have amazing chemistry with one another, and it really shows in the more serious parts of the series in the middle. Kenshin himself is great protagonist and the supporting cast all have unique and appealing personalities that mesh well with one another. Watching the film Trust and Betrayal first might leave fans of the film disappointed with the show's more comedic episodes and "cuter" art style, but when Wandering Samurai wants to be taken seriously, it is, and it is taken very well.

I first saw this great anime when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and by that time I didn't know what anime was so I didn't care much about this series...I mean, I liked it but for me it was just another show on TV. Now, 8 years later, I get the chance of rewatch this series again, and I came the conclusion: This is a truly fantastic series!!!! It has great sword fighting actions scenes, a hero that is capable of huge mood swings (I love kenshin's goofy faces), some real history, dramatic characters, a great story and the music is superb. One thing I did like is the fact that the main character, Kenshin, never kills the opponent and have good sense of moral. Kenshin is one of the best characters in anime history in my opinion, and Shishio, the mummy guy as some people know him, is by far the best villain in the series and also one of the greatest villains in anime history, at least in my opinion. Every character in this series has a history and this anime has been created in a way that allows them to show you that background on each character, making each character very interesting and unique.You cannot call yourself a true anime fan without watching Rurouni Kenshin, and if you like samurai and things like that you will certainly love this series. I was hooked from the first episode and I'm very sad for not be able to find the DVDs.In my opinion it is the best anime in its class, and so I give it a perfect 100/10!!!!

The anime is about a wandering samurai in the 11th year of the Meiji era (around 1878)who stumbles upon a dojo in Tokyo and decides to stay there, helping in and around it. He protects the weak against the strong with his sword (even when they are banned) and in the process, runs into some friends and enemies from the past. The series also has some characters who really existed in the history of Japan which makes it all the more interesting. The best episodes to watch are 28 through 62, but you will need to go through the earlier ones which are sometimes silly to really understand them. The soundtrack alone is exceptional and is worth listening to. In my opinion it is better than most animes in its class.

The television series of Kenshin is supposed to depict his redemption. It would have been inappropriately tragic and hard to understand if the two OAVs were actually put as part of the series. Kenshin's redemption comes by helping the few that he might. Everyone that Kenshin meets has some sort of problem and has a tragic past with a lesson to learn from it. Even minor characters such as Kaoru's father depict this fact. All of the "bad guys" have a reason for what they are doing and have some sort of tragedy attached to them. Kenshin would have been in Shishio's position had he not quit being the assassin for the Choshu clan. Like Kenshin said, they might have been allies had they met at another time and under different conditions. Emotion dominates the majority of the series if one looks very closely.In the Jinchuu Arc (bad sum-up of it is the seisouhen-2ndOAV). This shows the attempt at revenge by Enishi who also appeared in the firstOAV. Enishi begins to realize what Kenshin did. Kenshin is known to be really sorry for his sins when he just let Enishi try to kill him. Tomoe's spirit appeared which might tell you that she really did love Kenshin. The best/worst part of this is when Sano brings Kenshin home. Kenshin's such a mess. He worked so hard to redeem himself. Was he able to do it? This is questionable since he was able to help many people, but his son turned out to be a mess because Kenshin was never home to bring him up in the same way that he was a true father to Yahiko. Kenshin gets home and is really content being with Kaoru. We see his scar has faded and gone… he died (the legend of the scar created in great hate…). Kaoru smiles through her tears – Kenshin accomplished his task and she finally got to see a smile from the bottom of his heart as she always wished (she told Kenshin that he didn't have to smile just to look happy when he really wasn't… anyone remember?). How ironic that it was in death that Kenshin could finally be happy!! Okie… so that was a pretty bad sum-up of what I wanted to say. It's just that there's too much to say, so I kinda left most of it out… it's the really basic parts of the story and stuff that I see in it. I love the music from the series. My cousin actually played one of the background songs (the one played in the back when Kenshin leaves Kaoru to go to Kyoto with all of the fireflies around them and stuff…) at his wedding!! I really love the song 1/3 junjou na kanjou. It's by Siam Shade. (Actually, Kenshin was the starting point for many bands – they took small ones like Siam Shade, Bonnie Pink, Judy and Mary… plus, L'arc en Ciel did what's supposed to be their best song – Niji – L'arc en Ciel means "arch of the sky" in French and Niji is rainbow in Japanese)It's how one third of your heart will never be put into your love – you'll always live in memories. It's really sad. Kenshin's really an emo series… They should make that an anime genre.