Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (Rurouni Kenshin)

In the final years of the Bakumatsu era lived a legendary assassin known as Hitokiri Battousai. Feared as a merciless killer, he was unmatched throughout the country, but mysteriously disappeared at the peak of the Japanese Revolution. It has been ten peaceful years since then, but the very mention of Battousai still strikes terror into the hearts of war veterans.

Unbeknownst to them, Battousai has abandoned his bloodstained lifestyle in an effort to repent for his sins, now living as Kenshin Himura, a wandering swordsman with a cheerful attitude and a strong will. Vowing never to kill again, Kenshin dedicates himself to protecting the weak. One day, he stumbles across Kaoru Kamiya at her kendo dojo, which is being threatened by an impostor claiming to be Battousai. After receiving help from Kenshin, Kaoru allows him to stay at the dojo, and so the former assassin temporarily ceases his travels.

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan tells the story of Kenshin as he strives to save those in need of saving. However, as enemies from both past and present begin to emerge, will the reformed killer be able to uphold his new ideals?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

No background information has been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding background information here.

Episode Videos

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan
Prequel:	Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuioku-hen
Side story:	Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Ishinshishi e no Chinkonka, Rurouni Kenshin: Special Techniques, Rurouni Kenshin: Review Special, Rurouni Kenshin Special
Sequel:	Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Seisou-hen
Alternative version:	Rurouni Kenshin DVD-BOX Special Ending, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Shin Kyoto-hen, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (2023)
Summary:	Rurouni Kenshin Recap
Other:	Sobakasu

Sakurai, Tomo
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Furuhashi, Kazuhiro

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Yoshida, Shunji

Episode Director, Storyboard

Chigira, Kouichi

Episode Director, Storyboard

Sokuza, Makoto

Episode Director

Edit

Opening Theme

	1: "Sobakasu (そばかす)" by JUDY AND MARY (eps 1-38)
	2: "½" by Makoto Kawamoto (eps 39-82)
	3: "Kimi ni Fureru Dake de (君に触れるだけで)" by CURIO (eps 83-94)

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "Tactics" by THE YELLOW MONKEY (eps 1-12)
	2: "Namida wa Shitteiru" by Mayo Suzukaze (eps 13-27)
	3: "HEART OF SWORD ~Yoake Mae~ (HEART OF SWORD 〜夜明け前〜)" by T.M.Revolution (eps 28-38,43-49)
	4: "the Fourth Avenue Café" by L'Arc~en~Ciel (eps 39-42)
	5: "It's gonna rain!" by BONNIE PINK (eps 50-66)
	6: "1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou (1/3の純情な感情)" by SIAM SHADE (eps 67-82)
	7: "Dame! (ダメ！)" by You Izumi (eps 83-95)

Reviews

Jul 31, 2023

alexleBrun

Recommended

Now before I begin I should probably address the elephant in the room, which is Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of Rurouni Kenshin. If you don't know, Mr. Watsuki has done some really questionable things in real life and honestly, I don't feel like going down that rabbit hole. I do recommend that you do some research into it so you can know what I mean. The question is, should you support Rurouni Kenshin even with all the mistakes Nobuhiro has done? Personally, I only try to judge and support the art and not focus on the artist. It's like listening to Kanye West. Ye has ... said and done some things that are pretty controversial, but the music he makes is usually quality. (For the most part, I'm gonna act like Donda 2 never existed). I'm a Ye fan myself and I really cannot defend what he says or does all the time, but I still listen to and enjoy his music. So I don't know, this kind of topic is really up for debate. If you have an opinion, let me know with a comment I'd love to hear your takes. But anyway, let's talk about Rurouni Kenshin and why I love this show.

So the thing is, this was the first shounen anime that I ever watched. Even though I first watched it last year, I still have a lot of nostalgia for this show and it already holds a special place in my heart. But why is that? Well, I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it's that animation from the 90's just looks so appealing and charming to me. Maybe it's because I think samurai are so fucking cool. Maybe it's because of the 90's animation that's appealing combined with the fact that it's a show about samurai that are fucking cool. And the thing is, it's not even my favorite samurai anime, because I have my issues with this show which I'll get into in a moment, but for now, I want to talk about the things I like.

First of all, Kenshin Himura is probably my favorite samurai character of all time. His tale is truly fascinating to me. I love when random badasses are trying to atone themselves for past mistakes. I think it makes for some pretty great stories. And I always appreciate that as much of a badass as he is, at the end of the day, he is always nice, kind-hearted and caring for his friends and other people. But it always seems like his benevolent behavior is a mask for the Manslayer inside of him. It’s way cooler than the way I’m phrasing it.

And he’s not the only great character. All the characters are great, for the most part. My favorite side character is probably Sanosuke. Aoshi is a close second. All the samurai fights are pretty cool and fun to watch. It may not have the greatest animation I've ever seen, but I'll let it slide, since it's an older show. There's a lot of great themes and messages about found family and peace and redemption. And a lot of great scenes where characters are talking about those sort of things. Season 1 is also a nice introduction to all these characters and a solid start to the show. But it really ramps up once you get to Season 2: The Kyoto Arc.

When I first watched this show, I had never heard of it before and I didn't know that the Kyoto Arc was iconic in classic anime. And when I watched season one, I was pretty on and off with it. I would watch two or three episodes, then watch something else, and then maybe come back to it a week later. But once I got to the Kyoto Arc, I remember watching it and being like: "There really isn't a good place to stop. Eh, fuck it, I guess I'll just continue watching it." And that's exactly what I did and I ended up finishing the whole arc that day. As a matter of show, I ended up finishing the entire show the next day.

My only complaint with the Kyoto Arc was that even though I was enjoying it, I thought it went on for a little too long. Maybe I'm just not a big fan of long arcs, but I thought it kinda dragged at points, most specifically by the end. Like as awesome and badass as the Kenshin and Shishio fight is, it goes on for five episodes. And there were points where I thought it was over and we were about to wrap up, but it just kept going. And then there was the "Warrior's Spirit" bullshit, which I know that's manga accurate, but I thought that was so dumb. I mean you kinda need that otherwise it would be a pretty depressing ending to the arc, but I honestly couldn't contain my laughter when I saw that. But looking back, I guess the pacing and the longevity of it wasn't that bad because everything else was already great. Like my two personal favorite fights in the entire show are the Kenshin and Saito duel and the Kenshin and Aoshi duel, which are both equally badass and emotionally gripping.

Another complaint I have is that there were some episodes where I was like: "Eh, I don't really care." And the thing was, I didn't have the filler guide when I first watched this show, so I had to watch some pretty mediocre episodes that weren't that interesting. I know some people complain that Season 3 isn't that good because it's nothing but filler. I mean their right, but I don't think it's that bad. Like there are definitely much worse filler episodes out there. And I actually think Season 3 had its moments as pointless as they were in the grander scheme of things.

I liked the religious cult arc. I liked how Sanosuke got a girlfriend during it, which I think he definitely deserves. It sucked that his relationship had to end in a bad way, but I won't spoil how. It may not be as epic as the Kyoto arc, but I think after a big story like that, you kinda need to take a break. I also liked the arc where they went into the caves to find a hidden "treasure." It was like an Indiana Jones adventure but with samurai. However, the final arc with the feng shui stuff was-ehh. Definitely the weakest arc in the entire show and honestly, it was so forgettable that I don't even remember anything about it.

However, the biggest issue I have with this show and I think the one thing that most people can agree with me on, is the relationship between Kenshin and Kaoru being pretty underdeveloped. For a show subtitled: Meiji Swordsman Romance, the romance isn't really explored that much. And for a show like this, the romance really needs to work, but unfortunately it's very half-baked. Like Kaoru always seems to be stuck in the friend zone for the entire show, while Kenshin just kinda sees her as a friend for the entire show. And they never advance from there and I thought they would finally get together by the end, but it never really happened. And speaking of ending, holy shit is it anticlimactic. And I think the people who made this show realized that because it never even aired on TV, it went straight to VHS. But now you can easily find it on the internet, but it's not worth watching. In fact I'm just gonna spoil it right here because personally, I think it's so bad that it's funny.

So the final episode that never aired has Kenshin and Kaoru going to this beach resort and having a fling there, sort of. But they never fuck or kiss or do anything to move their relationship forward. Then there's a scene where Kenshin is on the beach and Kaoru is running towards him saying: "Kenshin don't leave me!" Because she had a dream of Kenshin leaving her life. And then they hug it out. And then the final scene is them returning to Tokyo on boat and they see all the characters that they met in the show waving at them while they wave back. Roll credits.

It's so pathetic but it least it made me laugh. Maybe not in the way the show intended but I guess that's an upside. Like if this was another show with more than a 100 episodes and I was enjoying it and then it had an ending like this, I would probably be pissed. But there's not even 100 episodes of this show and it's not the worst thing ever, but it's not good either. Apparently the manga has a much better ending, but I don't really read manga so I can't judge it. But just judging this ending, it's pretty underwhelming and you can tell while watching it that it was totally an afterthought.

But besides all that, I still love this show. If I was going off of nostalgia, I'd probably give it a much higher rating. But if I was not going off of nostalgia, it's a pretty flawed show, but I think there's still enough quality for it to be considered really good. Hopefully the new remake that comes out sometime this year fixes the mistakes that this show made. Because if not, there would be a lot of opportunities that were missed. But hey, I'm feeling optimistic and I'm pretty excited for it, so all I can do is hope for the best.

Open

Gift

Apr 30, 2017

KingBaloo

Mixed Feelings

I am a 90’s kid, but not enough of a 90’s kid to think that this amine is truly amazing. Now, don’t get me wrong - I enjoyed the whole thing and watched it till the end. It has a solid storyline, a handful of nice battle scenes, and a nice range of classic characters. But in the end, I give it a 6 because it pales in comparison to the current anime that I have seen in the past year.

Here’s what I like:

Kenshin - What an amazing character. From the very beginning of the anime, we are introduced to Kenshin as a ... man-slayer, who during the recent revolution took countless lives due to his unparalleled swordsmanship. However, after the revolution passes, he becomes a wanderer to partially atone for his sins and to find new purpose. Although he his already wise, calm, and a invaluable friend, he still undergoes some really interesting character development. Despite some of the major flaws in the anime, this “classic” sense of character development gives the show a powerful foundation.

Some of the other characters are quite interesting too (a necessary aspect for most anime so the show has dynamism). Sanosuke has that all-out, loyal, reckless, and I would even argue humble personality that makes him a really enjoyable character to watch. His relationship with a certain character who dies bring an emotional dynamism into the show. Yahiko is the funny, yet extremely determined kid - honestly I think he is a character that most modern shows have drawn a ton of inspiration from (I honestly see a lot of the characteristics of Naruto in him). Hajime Saitou and Aoshi Shinomori are fierce and demonstrate their fighting spirit in as little words as possible.

No super powers (for the most part) - Every anime/manga nowadays features characters of insane power. From the various stages of the Saiyan in Dragon Ball to the immeasurable chakra in Naruto, everyone keeps on getting stronger by acquiring more power. However, in Rurouni Kenshin, the only way to get stronger is to refine the swordsmanship skill. At least for me, this more relatable form of betterment is sobering - a sort of detox from mainstream anime if you will.

Here’s what I don’t like:

I wanted to see more of Yahiko - Various parts of the anime tease him as a student of Kenshin. We get to see him in battle a few times, but not enough. There is so much wasted potential in Yahiko - he is not only really entertaining to follow, but also has decent strength and unlimited willpower for a kid. There should have been a Yahiko arc as the inheritor of the Hiten-Mitsurugi style.

The end of the anime derails - Well, first of all, there are certain arcs and episodes that are pretty unnecessary; they draw out the anime and actually dilute the certain strong elements of the story. Filler episodes bring in a tacky sense, after Shishio the story devotes a little, and the last arc brings in magic powers (what a sellout).

If I had watched it in the 90’s, I would have probably given Rurouni Kenshin at least an 8 or a 9.

Open

Gift

Jun 6, 2021

Resting_Bonfire

Not Recommended

Rurouni Kenshin

This work has undoubtedly a deserved cult status for its performance at the time. Many still see her as a heavyweight of her time and would call this shounen even today one of the best.

Note, I only watched the anime adaptation and not read the manga. The manga is supposed to be better and also have a different ending, I don't know about this.

At the time, he was definitely one of the more individual anime among the anime. The portrayal of the old Japanese era in which there was a lot of cruelty has given the series a certain atmosphere.

Apart from that, the ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Old But Gold

by Offfshadow

10 Entries · 11 Restacks

Anime Aired in Indonesia Megalist Part 2

by elchie

50 Entries · 2 Restacks

Turkish dub anime PART 1

by KerimDemirkaynak

50 Entries · 1 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

'Rurouni Kenshin' Manga Gets New TV Anime Adaptation

The Jump Studio Red stage for Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story) manga announced a ne...read more

Dec 18, 2021 9:33 PM by Vindstot | Discuss (81 comments)

Manga 'Rurouni Kenshin' to Have Two New Live Action Movie Adaptations Due Summer 2014

In the latest issue of Jump Square, it was announced that manga "Rurouni Kenshin" will have a two new live-action movie adaptations, "Kyoto Taika hen&...read more

Jun 29, 2013 4:22 AM by symbv | Discuss (52 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan Episode 89 Discussion ReFord - Sep 20, 2013	17 replies	by ByTheWayImGabs »» 8 hours ago
Should I watch this anime? Tomi3b - Sep 23	19 replies	by LewiSensei »» Sep 25, 9:26 AM
Poll: Rurouni Kenshin Episode 55 Discussion bethanr - May 15, 2011	20 replies	by iamnameers »» Sep 22, 5:38 PM
Poll: Rurouni Kenshin Episode 48 Discussion Drgentile777 - Mar 16, 2010	20 replies	by iamnameers »» Sep 22, 2:06 PM
Poll: Rurouni Kenshin Episode 47 Discussion Drgentile777 - Mar 15, 2010	16 replies	by iamnameers »» Sep 22, 1:42 PM

Recent Featured Articles

11 Anime Starring Grown Adults!

These 11 entertaining anime put adults in the limelight.

by Unnamedhero

126,825 views

Top 20 Most Epic Anime Fight/Battle Scenes

Fighting is bad... but sometimes it can be so bad that it's good, right? Prepare yourself for some serious ass-kicking. We're counting down 20 of the greatest, coolest, and most epic anime fight scenes in anime history.

by removed_user

624,573 views

Spoiler

Recommendation Collection Action Supernatural Superhuman Sci-fi Video

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Himura, Kenshin

Sagara, Sanosuke

Kamiya, Kaoru

Myoujin, Yahiko

Saitou, Hajime

Shishio, Makoto

Seta, Soujirou

Hiko, Seijuurou

Shinomori, Aoshi

Makimachi, Misao

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-