Rurouni Kenshin (2023) anime has revealed the 2nd cour opening and ending songs and artists, along with short previews. Masaki Suda x TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA will perform the opening “Rurou no Katashiro,” while KID PHENOMENON will perform the new ending song “Existence.” Studio LIDEN FILMS is animating the anime reboot, with Hideo Yamamoto as the director. The anime has aired 10 episodes at the moment.
Soma Saito is voicing the protagonist Kenshin Himura, while Rie Takahashi is voicing Kaoru Kamiya. The rest of the cast includes Taku Yashiro as Sanosuke Sagara, Makoto Koichi as Yahiko Myojin, Yuma Uchida as Aoshi Shinomori and Saori Onishi as Megumi Takani. Terumi Niishi is the character designer, Hideyuki Karuta is in charge of the series composition, and Yu Takami is composing the music.
Nobuhiro Watsuki wrote the original manga, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1994 to 1999. Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc started serialization in 2017 as the direct sequel, though it briefly went on hiatus (February-June 2018) after Watsuki was charged with possession of explicit materials focusing on children.
Gallop and Studio DEEN animated the original adaptation, which aired from 1996 to 1999. The franchise also has several manga side-stories and OVAs, as well as a movie and a live-action adaptation which has 5 movies. The first one came out in 2012, while the latest premiered in 2021.
Viz Media licensed the manga in English, and they describe the story:
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: Aniplex Online Fest
© Nobuhiro Watsuki/Shueisha, “Rurouni Kenshin -Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story-” Production Committee
