The Best Samurai Anime Of The 90s Is Coming Back For Seconds
One of the best samurai anime of the ‘90s, Rurouni Kenshin, is making a comeback for Season 2. The Rurouni Kenshin event on Sunday that was held just recently revealed the first promo trailer for Rurouni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Roman Tan: Kyoto Dōran (Kyoto Upheaval), which will serve as the continuation of the original series based on Nobuhiro Watsuki’s same-name manga from 1994.
Yuki Komada is scheduled to direct the new Rurouni Kenshin anime at Liden Films, with Hideyuki Kurata penning the scripts and Terumi Nishii returning as a character’s design, joined by Kazuo Watanabe. All of these names are associated with the original Rurouni Kenshin anime, which spells good stuff for the continuation of the series, considering the great job everyone else did with the original. The series is scheduled to premiere in October on Fuji TV in two continuous courses.
Besides offering updated adaptations provided by nearly 30 years of technological advancements, the new Rurouni Kenshin anime aims to be more faithful to its source material, omitting plenty of the original anime’s filler arcs.
The original Rurouni Kenshin anime first aired in 1996 on Fuji TV, detailing the adventures of Kenshin Himura, a wandering swordsman and a former assassin known as Battousai the Manslayer. After helping overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, Kenshin vowed never to kill again and now wanders Japan, offering protection and aid to those in need as a means of atonement for his past sins. He eventually settles at a local dojo run by a young woman, Kamiya Kaoru, and makes new friends and enemies.
However, we’re currently discussing the newer Rurouni Kenshin adaptation, which was produced in 2023 by Lindon Films. Besides offering updated adaptations provided by nearly 30 years of technological advancements, the new Rurouni Kenshin anime aims to be more faithful to its source material, omitting plenty of the original anime’s filler arcs. So, while the original anime offers nostalgic value, the 2023 adaptation actually honors the legacy of the original run and its source material.
Rurouni Kenshin gained massive popularity, leading to two anime adaptations, three original video animations, five live-action films, and a stage musical.
The new Rurouni Kenshin anime also broadcast on Fuji TV, with Soma Saito as Kenshin Himura, Rie Takahashi as Kaoru Kamiya, Taku Yashiro as Sanosuke Sagara, and Satoshi Hino as Hajime Saito. As for the source material, both versions of the anime did a really good job of adapting its source material, which was first published in 1994. It gained massive popularity, leading to two anime adaptations, three original video animations, five live-action films, and a stage musical. It remained in print until 1999 when it concluded its narrative.
Those interested in watching Rurouni Kenshin can watch the first season of the new anime on Crunchyroll
However, the creators of Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki and his novelist wife/story collaborator Kaoru Kurosaki, began producing the sequel in Jump SQ magazine in September 2017, before the whole thing went on hiatus in December 2017 over some very, very disturbing charges aimed at its creator. The series later resumed publication in June 2018. Liden Films is currently re-adapting the entire manga, which is great, considering that the narrative continued past the original run, providing more source material for the studio to adhere to and potentially eliminate fillers.
Those interested in watching Rurouni Kenshin can watch the first season of the new anime on Crunchyroll—though it requires an $8 premium subscription.
