Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story(るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚 Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki with an anime adaptation. The story is set during the early Meiji period in Japan. The English language versions of the OVA's as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The series tells the story of an assassin named Himura Kenshin, who was known as the Hitokiri Battōsai. Kenshin later grieves for all the lives he has taken, and vows that he will never kill again.

The manga originally appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999, and the completed work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes. The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurouni."

Plot overview
In the manga, the story starts with Kamiya Kaoru mistaking Himura Kenshin for a murderer known as "Hitokiri Battosai". When she sees Kenshin's reverse-bladed sword, or sakabatou, she allows that he could not be the murdered and runs off in hot pursuit. Kenshin saves her from certain death in battle against the real murderer, who claims to be a practitioner of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, Kaoru's own style. Kenshin takes her back to her dojo and Kaoru tells him of recent events while a man named Hiruma Kihei patches up her arm. Later, it turns out that Kihei and the murderer, whose real name is Hiruma Gohei, were working together to try and get Kaoru to sell the dojo. The brothers Hiruma take Kaoru hostage and sic their goons on Kenshin, who takes them all out with his superior speed and sword skill. Before destroying Kaoru's dojo floor with Gohei's face, Kenshin tells everyone that "Hitokiri Battosai doesn't use Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, but an ancient style of the Sengoku era that pits one against many: Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. If not for such a sword, the body count would increase tenfold." Thus having revealed his identity, Kenshin makes ready to leave -- until Kaoru asks for his name and for him to stay. He does, which starts the saga that spans three arcs and twenty-seven more books.