Rurouni Kenshin (2023 TV series)

Rurouni Kenshin (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-) is a Japanese anime television series, based on the manga series of the same name by Nobuhiro Watsuki. It is the second anime television series adaptation after the 1996–98 series. Directed by Hideyo Yamamoto and animated by Liden Films, the series premiered in July 2023 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. A second season, subtitled Kyoto Disturbance and directed by Yuki Komada, is set to premiere in October 2024.

Premise
In the Meiji era in Japan, Himura Kenshin is a pacifistic, wandering the country and helping people with his swordsmanship skills. Once a deadly and feared political assassin known as Hitokiri Battōsai, he has since led a path of peace, wielding a reverse bladed sword, known as, in a vow to never again take another life.

Production
On December 19, 2021, at the Jump Festa '22 event, it was announced that a new television series adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga would be animated by Liden Films. A promotional video was shown at the Aniplex Online Fest 2022 on September 24, 2022. The series re-adapts the original manga story. It is directed by Hideyo Yamamoto, with scripts written by Hideyuki Kurata, character designs by Terumi Nishii, and music composed by Yū Takami. The original manga author, Nobuhiro Watsuki, supervised the character designs and scenario.

Yamamoto said that he used to watch all Rurouni Kenshin works during his youth, and was in particular impressed by the original video animations for it different artwork. He came to think the main appeal of the series was how the series showed people's lives in the Meiji era and how Kenshin not only fought enemies but also helped them redeem from their crimes while interacting with them. The latter was further noted to make Kenshin as a man every viewer wants to be like. From the beginning, he was thinking that he wanted to show "a way of foreshadowing" but wanted the details to be subtle, similar to the dramas that often air next to Kenshin. In contrast to the more comical original work, Yamamoto aimed to make the narrative more serious and avoid slapstick or superdeformed designs in order to make it more realistic. In animating the work, they used 3DCG with 3-D models of the rooms, fitting for the modern age. Horse carriages were animated through CGI as they were a common vehicle used in the Meiji. In regards to the action, the animation was given a more unique style for fight scene when Tokyo. The designs were made by Nishii under supervision by Yamamoto and Watsuki. Careful detail was given to the kimono and other clothing featured in the anime.

Among many supervisions of the series, Kaoru Kurosaki and Watsuki aimed to make it fitting for the Reiwa era as well as accessible to both newcomers and returning audience. The story arc involving Raijuta was revised in order to improved in the 2023 anime. Kurosaki in particular revised the scripts of the Raijuta episodes. Kurata came up with new ideas to revisit Sanosuke's backstory in order to bring further depth to the character. Meetings were done in order to supervise most episodes. While the clothing remained the same, the way bodies are drawn were revised due to improvements from the graphic style from the manga and 1990s version. Soma Saito was chosen because the staff found him fitting to portray both the gentle and rude demeanors of Kenshin. After the musical based on the manga was done, the staff found the manga very comical and wanted to generate different style with the new anime, to the point Kenshin no longer says his expression of "Oro?" meant to sound as comic relief to his reactions in jokes. Nevertheless, there was still a desire to keep some comical scenes.

Kenshin's voice actor, Soma Saito, said he was a fan of the series ever since he was a child and looks forward to creating his own take of Kenshin. Meanwhile, Kaoru's voice actress, Rie Takahashi, was surprised she was selected to voice the heroine and, similar to Saito, wanted to create an appealing version of Karou. Other main voice actors include Makoto Koichi, Yahiko's voice actor, who commented that she aimed to portray his passionate spirit, and Taku Yashiro, Sanosuke's voice actor, who expressed that he aimed to portray various aspects of his personality, such as his "straightness, youthfulness, roughness, strength, and warmth."

On December 16, 2023, a second season, subtitled Kyoto Disturbance (京都動乱), was announced at Jump Festa '24. It is set to premiere in October 2024. Yuki Komada replaced Yamamoto for the second season, while Kazuo Watanabe (first season's sub-character designer and chief animation director) joined Nishii for the character designs.

Release
The first season ran for two consecutive cours for a total of 24 episodes, that aired from July 7 to December 15, 2023, on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. For the first cour, Ayase and R-Shitei (under the name Ayase×R-Shitei) performed the opening theme "Hiten" (飛天), while Reol performed the ending theme "Kissaki" (切っ先). For the second cour, Masaki Suda and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (under the name Masaki Suda×Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra) performed the opening theme "Rurō no Katashiro" (るろうの形代), while Kid Phenomenon performed the ending theme "Sonzai Shōmei" (存在証明). The episodes are being collected by Aniplex on eight DVDs and Blu-ray sets; the first volume was released on October 25, 2023, and the last one was released on May 29, 2024.

On December 16, 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, subtitled Kyoto Disturbance, which is set to premiere in October 2024, running for two consecutive cours.

Aniplex of America screened the U.S. premiere for the series at the 2023 Anime Expo on July 3 in the Main Events stage of the Los Angeles Convention Center. A conversation between Aniplex producer Masami Niwa and voice actors Soma Saito and Rie Takahashi followed the screening. Crunchyroll is streaming the series outside of Asia. An English dub premiered in October 2023, although neither Aniplex of America nor Crunchyroll revealed the cast.