Episode 1 preview images for the remake of Rurouni Kenshin has been released. The anime will premiere on July 6, 2023. You can check out the photos below:
The first episode introduces the protagonists, Kenshin Himura (Soma Saito) and Kaoru Kamiya (Rie Takahashi)”. A certain someone is pretending to be Hitokiri Battousai, a famous assassin during the Edo era, who murdered tons of people under the Tokugawa shogunate. A fateful encounter that will lead to a Meiji romance story begins and the episode’s title is “Kenshin Himura – Battousai.” You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
Hideyo Yamamoto is directing the series at studio Liden Films. Hideyuki Karuta is working on the series composition, while Terumi Niishi is in charge of the character designs. The franchise also had a worldwide screening event which began in Japan on June 16, 2023.
The anime is based on Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin manga series. Weekly Shonen Jump serialized it from 1994 to 1999. It also has a sequel titled Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc, which began in 2017 and is currently being published by the same publisher. The manga series already had its first anime adaptation in 1996-1999 by studio Gallop and DEEN, along with several OVAs and side stories. The franchise had 5 live-action adaptations, which started in 2013. The last 2 movies both premiered in 2021 and took first and second places at the Japanese Box Office.
Viz Media published the original Rurouni Kenshin manga series in English and describes the plot as:
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: Official Website and Comic Natalie
© Nobuhiro Watsuki/Shueisha, “Rurouni Kenshin -Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story-” Production Committee