Anyway, I digress. Story-wise, you have to really sort of be selective about stories to enjoy it. It's a jidaigeki series, and one of very, very few of its kind, so if you're looking for giant robots and ninjas and whatnot, this isn't the series for you. Kenshin really sets itself apart from a lot of other series like it in that the comic relief never feels ill-timed or forced. It's a very natural progression, and even the English dub (which is abysmal in comparison) doesn't really hit a nerve with its jests. Once you get into the real meat of the story, it's sort of generic, but incredibly well told.
The art style is fantastic. Words do not describe how beautiful some of the artwork in this series is, except that you have to see it for yourself. Accurate details, lush backgrounds, and active, lively, brilliant action scenes lend themselves very well to the heavy-handed emotion that starts to crescendo in the Shishio arc (episodes 24-50). The detail in the characters' animation is intense and reflective. You really get a feel for Nobuhiro Watsuki's style, and the directing that brings it all together is nothing short of excellent.
The sound work is... well, great for its time. When you compare it to some of the better sound work of the 2010s, it feels like it kinda got left behind a bit. The music is excellent, the voice acting (Japanese) is pretty good, and the sound effects for battles are very cliched, but well done all the same.
This brings me to the shining point of the anime, which is the character. Watsuki has a very unique style to him, which makes him the only person really suited to directing this anime. There's a lot of things that Watsuki did here that took some real chances, such as making up his own sword techniques and keeping the animation style for said techniques to a bare minimum, but it ultimately pays off as it allows the anime to reach a wider audience. This also results in an as-of-yet completely original style in terms of look and feel, something that no other anime, let alone jidaigeki, has been able to properly capture. There's something in it for everyone, and Watsuki works his absolute hardest to make sure everyone gets the same feel.
All in all, this is a very enjoyable work, and I highly recommend it to any fan of anime. Even though this is a shonen series, it's got some real highlights any fan can enjoy.
