Reviews

The story is very good, showing the historic events of Japan along with very interesting fictional characters that indirectly also represent historical elements and social consequences of the revolutions Japan went through. In my opinion, the best story arc is the Kyoto one (Shishio), it's the center of the main story. The first episodes show shorter independent stories to introduce the main characters, I particularly found them enjoyable, however, they aren't as good as the Kyoto arc. After the Kyoto arc, the anime took a different path from the manga, all the other seasons being fillers, some with independent stories lasting just one or two episodes, others with long sequences of episodes. These fillers seasons do have interesting fights and show many interesting historic elements, however, in my opinion, they aren't as interesting as season 1, the characters don't get the development I believe they deserved, important characters don't show up as much anymore and things get a bit tiring- as a Rurouni Kenshin fan, I did love watching every episode and I liked them very much, however, they're not episodes I want to re-watch two or three times, unlike the Kyoto arc. The art is amazing, the openings and ending are very good, with historic and pop elements, beautiful colors and messages, the animation is very good, the fights are very well animated (considering when the anime was released, of course). The sound effects, OSTs and BGMs are very good, very emotional, very intense, they fit really well with the psychological environments, truly an amazing work. The characters have a spectacular growth along the Kyoto arc, and not just the protagonist grows, we also see support characters and antagonists evolving their mindset and their skills along the journey in a very good, inspiring way, however, all that development seems to get slower and slower during the filler season. I had a great time watching Rurouni Kenshin, specially the first episodes. The filler sagas got more and more tiring for me, however, I still enjoyed them because I like the anime and the characters. The quality of the story and the historical context is very good, but quality doesn't necessarily mean enjoyment- I find the "shonen" approach we see in season 1 and 2 way more fun than the next seasons because it becomes more dramatic and emotional and less fun in the comedic sense, and well, the anime doesn't give us the original manga story and also doesn't give itself a proper closing, it just ends, and in my opinion, it's fine that way, the end of a very long sequence of fillers that have interesting stories, but, in my perception, nothing outstanding or great, just...enjoyable stories with good quality, but that didn't need to be soooo long. Rurouni Kenshin fans will enjoy them, people interested in watching historic animes also will enjoy them. I really have a very strong bond with this anime, it was part of my childhood, I had a lot of fun with the games of the franchise, yes, it's a very good franchise, I love it very much.