Himura Kenshin is a vagabond with a dark past and sunny disposition. Not a ronin but a rurouni, he was never a samurai, but an assassin of utmost skill in the Meiji restoration, who in the turning point of the war simply walked away. His travels lead him to Tokyo in the 11th year of the Meiji era, where he befriends a female Kendo master, a former thief, a brawler and a doctor all with their own secrets. Together they fight off the enemies surfacing from the dark past that Kenshin cannot escape. 
(Source: Anime News Network)

In the days before the Japanese Revolution, Hiko Seiijuro, a wandering master swordsman and hermit, encounters a bandit raid on a slave wagon. Hiko kills the raiding bandits in hopes of saving as many lives as possible, but only manages to spare one life from the massacre. Hiko leaves the child, advising him to go to the nearby village and have them take care of him. 

A few days later, as Hiko comes back to check upon the child he saved, he is shocked to see the child had created graves, both for the slaves he befriended and the bandits who killed them. Seeing potential in the young one, Hiko takes the child under his wing, names him Kenshin, meaning "heart of sword," and teaches him about the art of swordsmanship under the Hiten Mitsuruugi Ryu. 

Struggling in a constant challenge with his ideal beliefs reflecting against the harshness of reality, Tsuiokuhen tells the melancholic and dark story of Himura Kenshin as one of the most feared assassins of the Japanese Revolution: the Hitokiri Battousai. 
(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Kenshin’s history of death and destruction has left him known throughout all of Japan as the sword-bearing master assassin. Seeking retribution for his past, Kenshin wanders further away to a place he can call home. Although creating a time of peace through his actions, Kenshin continues to distance himself from the ones he loves. Kenshin’s wife, Kaoru, anxiously waits for the moment of his return. Will Kenshin ever return to his wife before she passes away from waiting?
 
(Source: Aniplex of America)

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with the coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.
 
(Source: VIZ Media)
 
Included one-shots: 
Volume 1: Rurōni -Meiji Kenkaku Romantan- (second one-shot for the series, which Watsuki calls a "side-story") 
Volume 3: Rurōni -Meiji Kenkaku Romantan- (first one-shot for the series, which Watsuki calls the "pilot") 
Volume 6: Sengoku no Mikazuki (Nobuhiro Watsuki's debut one-shot) 
Volume 28: Meteor Strike

The war against the Tokugawa Shogunate ended years ago. But there are some who are not happy with the outcome. Shigure Takimi watched his friends and family get slashed down in the name of freedom and prosperity. Now he and a band of desperate rebels have sworn to settle one final score. Only one man stands in their way: Kenshin Himura. But when Shigure discovers Kenshin's true identity as the Hitokiri Battousai, his fight becomes a personal vendetta.
 
(Source: Anime News Network)

Similiar to the "Himura Kenshin's Greatest Hits" from the first special, this episode goes through every technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu and explains how it works.

Summary of various fighting scenes of the first half of the series and a brief overview of the Kyoto arc.

A large scale remake of the time after Kenshin leaves tokyo up until before the inferno of Kyoto.

A bonus OVA episode included in the VHS/DVD release. 
 
Note: Also known as episode 95.

The last scene of the 10 Years Special DVD BOX released in Japan in 2007. Follows the manga's ending.

Re-adaptation of the main manga series.
 
One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with the coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.
 
(Source: VIZ Media)

Kenshin's new life brings him to Tokyo, where he joins the Kamiya Kasshin-ry&ucirc; dojo to learn the art of "swords that give life." The dojo is peaceful but never boring as Kenshin and his fellow apprentice Yahiko train under the demanding auspices of their kind-hearted instructor, Kamiya Kaoru. But all that changes one afternoon when Tae from the Akabeko restaurant arrives with a pot of beef stew and a plea for help. One of the regulars at the restaurant lost his master's precious book, and he'll be kicked out in the street if he can't recover it. The simple case of a missing book soon becomes a dangerous mystery as Kenshin and his friends are tangled in deep secrets and dark plots!

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