I originally wrote this as an Open Diary entry so it's not too comprehensive or well-written or anything.

Well, I've been watching this series quite a bit lately, so I thought I'll write a little about the show and its characters, that sorta thing. I'm up to episode 85 at the moment (I think there are 95 episodes, plus an OAV etc).

Spoilers ahead.

Rurouni Kenshin is a series about a man named Himura Kenshin who, in his past, was a Hitokiri, who went around killing lots of people for the sake of forging the new government. But, wanting to atone for all the killing he had done, he became a rurouni, a wandering swordsman, and now uses his sword to protect people. He met up with Kamiya Kaoru and from then on stayed at her dojo. The series is set in the late 1800s, I think.

Kenshin and Kaoru were soon joined by other people; Myojin Yahiko, a boy who Kaoru trains in her style of Budo, and Sagara Sanosuke, who doesn't technically live at the dojo but spends so much of his time there loafing around, trying to get a loan, and scabbing food. ^_^.

Kenshin is arguably the strongest and most skilled fighter in the world. He may be slightly dopey and a pushover at times in day-to-day life, but in a fight, few can match his sharpness of perception, his speed, and his technique. Sanosuke is also very strong - although not a patch on Kenshin - and even Kaoru and Yahiko are easily capable of beating up many men bigger and more muscular than they are, so long as they're not highly skilled.

Because Kenshin is both an expert swordsman, and friendly and approachable, he and the others get into lots of adventures, and sometimes is approached for help against particularly powerful and frightening opponents who want to take over Japan, start a revolution, or something equally devastating for the 'little people' whom Kenshin is so determined to protect.

There are a few arcs in Kenshin - that is, series of episodes on a plotline. As far as I'm concerned the best one was against Shishio. Bringing in Shougo after that was kind of lame - I think there's a limit as to how powerful opponents can be. No way could anyone be stronger than Shishio. I wouldn't say that even Kenshin was stronger than Shishio - he would have died if Shishio hadn't taken his sweet time, and Kenshin's friends/allies DID help, even if they weren't able to do much.

Examples of arcs:

A small arc where Takani Megumi is introduced. She is a doctor who was being forced to manufacture opium for some bad guys, and becomes a friend of the main characters. Kenshin-tachi went all heroic to rescue her, and fought the Oniwa banshuu, a group of powerful fighters who were being hired to protected the bad guys. The four Oniwa banshuu ended up being slaughtered by a gatling gun trying to protect their leader, Aoshi. Aoshi was horrified by their deaths (he's a cold guy but his expression spoke more eloquently than any words) and after that vowed to become the strongest man in the world to bring honour to the Oniwa banshuu.

Another small arc where a spoiled rich boy named Yutaro wanted to become a strong fighter, but chose the wrong guy as a mentor - this mentor using Yutaro to get control of his estate and try to take over the country. Luckily, Kenshin-tachi were staying nearby at the time, and became involved.

The longest and most significant arc featured Shishio, who I think is the best (as in, evil, creepy, loathesome, yet still rather interesting) villain I've seen anywhere. Shishio Makoto was trying to take over Japan (I think - that seems to be most people's goal ^_^;;), taking over villages, having people killed, generally acting like a jerk. Kenshin-tachi stepped in and went to Kyoto to face him, and some other powerful opponents. In the meantime they met Misao and the Kyoto Oniwa banshuu, who gave them accommodation and helped out with fighting. Aoshi faced Kenshin again, wanting the title of world's strongest, even going temporarily evil in his attempt at bringing the dead Oniwa banshuu honour (and seeming to forget that the *living* Oniwa banshuu could use some respect!) but Kenshin beat him, AND Seta Soujiro who is another cool villain, and THEN went to fight Shishio, in a long and dramatic battle which the good guys won by the skin of their teeth.

The arcs are interspersed with lots of filler episodes, which are also pretty cool, and usually very entertaining. Such as the one where a visiting foreign prince - a dead ringer for Yahiko - was injured and couldn't go to a dinner that was vital for maintaining good relations between the countries. So Yahiko was dressed up in prince's clothes to act as the prince. This was very, very funny, because Yahiko is this coarse little brat with bad manners. Even the clothes looked funny on him, and he sat slouched on the throne picking his ear. ^_^;;

Yahiko was grouchy about having to be refined and well-mannered. A very funny scene was where everyone was being taught good table manners so they wouldn't be an embarassment at the dinner. But they had to eat Western-style. Sano thought that eating soup with a spoon (rather than sipping from the bowl) was "too complex"... Kenshin did "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, steak style", chopping his steak into little pieces by using his sword techniques with his knife. Yahiko didn't know what a knife and fork were. Etc. ^_^;;

So yeah, the Rurouni Kenshin is just made up of a bunch of large or small arcs and some filler episodes with a little plot of their own. The common theme is Kenshin using his sword to protect people, learning to become stronger without killing, defeating his inner demons and... well, okay, the anime doesn't have the greatest plot development in this sense, and some of the earlier episodes can seem a bit repetitive in storyline, but this is still one of my favourite anime. ^_^.

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