Though the popularity of the Rurouni Kenshin property isn’t what it once was for a number of reasons, new projects continue to percolate for it in Japan. Last year saw the arrival of a new novel on July 2nd called Rurouni Kenshin Kamiya Dojo Monogatari, for example. And then in December 2021, we learned that a new anime project is in the works at Jump Festa 2022 with LIDEN FILMS handling the animation for the project.
The first season saw a July 6th, 2023 premiere date, and we learned at the Jump Festa ’24 event back in December 2023 that a second season is coming in 2024 with the subtitle of Kyoto Upheaval. With the same team behind it, the new season has been set for an October 3rd, 2024 premiere and it will be a two-cour continuous run when it begins.
With the nineteenth episode coming up for a February 27th, 2025 premiere, the production has revealed the first preview of the forty-fourth episode – which confirms that they’re keeping the overall numbering as well.
The series has Yuki Komada directing it and is based on the series composition by Hideyuki Kurata. Terumi Nishii is on board for the character designs with LIDEN FILMS handling the animation production.
The Japanese cast includes:
- Sōma Saitō as Kenshin Himura
- Rie Takahashi as Kaoru Kamiya
- Taku Yashiro as Sannosuke Sagara
- Makoto Koichi as Yahiko Myojin
- Yūma Uchida as Shinomori Aoshi
- Saori Ōnishi as Takani Megami
- Satoshi Hino as Hajime Saitō
- Haruka Tomatsu as Yumi Komagata
- Wataru Hatano as Anji Yukyūzan
- Nobuhiko Okamoto as Chō Sawagejō
The title was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1994 to 1999 and had a ninety-five-episode TV series get underway in 1996 that ran for two years. Several OVAs and films were produced in both the live-action and animated front and there were some mild short-run manga series that came out in the last few years as well to complement the live-action films.
Check out the official site and Twitter.
Plot concept: 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.
