rurouni kenshin るろうに剣心
Author: Watsuki Nobuhiro ( 和月信宏 )When I was still in high school, there was this guy who always sits in the library, trying to impress this girl by blabbing on specific details of Rurouni Kenshin. They were of course talking in Chinese, and he was always saying how this move Kenshin does is so and so and what not.
I wasn't sure if the girl was impress, but I was curious just what Rorouni Kenshin is all about (hey, the girl was pretty cute :P ). Here's what I found out:
Rurouni Kenshin is set in the 10th year since the beginning of the Meiji era in Japan. During this period, the samurai class was demolished, and people were no longer allowed to carry swords in the streets. Japan just opened its door to the foreigners, the samurais and swordsmen of the old are nothing but remnants of history. The main character Kenshin Himura is a wondering swordsman who carries a reverse bladed sword. What we find out later is that he is the legendary Hitokiri Battousai at the end of the Bakufu period. In other words, he was an elite assassin for the reformists, and kill a lot of people before the Meiji period was established. Although the whole manga introduced a lot of characters to fight beside Kenshin, the whole series was about how his past demons came back to haunt him. From the black Hitokiri to the brother of his late wife Tomoe. It was all about him trying desperately to pay for his sins, and he eventually did. 
Sure, there was a lot of sword fights with specific techniques, like some flying dragon hammer chop or something along that line. But that's not what the point of the manga is about at all. I'm not going to state what it's about here, since I don't think I have enough of an understanding to state it. But I do know it's not about the fighting moves! Whoever thinks that, go read that manga again! And if you've only watched the tv anime, go and learn to read! And girls, if someone comes and try to impress you with how the Nine Dragon Crazy Strike is pulled off in Rorouni Kenshin, just give him the finger and swiftly kick him in the children. P.S
Although I have a strong stereotype that animes are always worse than the mangas that they are based on, Rurouni Kenshin OVA proved me wrong. It's the first time I see an anime improved the manga! Go watch it, it's so awesome! Remember, it's the OVA1, not the TV episodes.