Rorouni Kenshin (2023) Release Date, Trailer, Story, and News

The age of reboots is upon us. Now, Rurouni Kenshin will join the fray and hit the screen sometime in 2023!

The story follows a wandering samurai, Kenshin Himura, who is on a journey for atoning his sins. Once called the most ruthless killer, he vows not to kill anymore. As proof of his determination, he wields a unique blade, Sakabato, which has a reverse blade.

Just like other 90’s popular anime, the anime will have a complete remake of the old version. After a successful live-action movie, the stake is higher for Liden Films to bring a better adaptation for Rurouni Kenshin.

Will the remake follow the success of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Hunter x Hunter? Or just ends up as a mediocre reboot? Here’s the information for Rurouni Kenshin (2023). Let’s dive in!

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Release Date

The news of re-adaptation was announced back in Jump Festa ’22 which was held on December 19, 2021. A 20-second teaser video was released as well as information about Liden Films which will remake the anime.

After nine months, new information about Rurouni Kenshin was released at Aniplex Online Fest 2022. A bunch of information was leaked starting from character design, staff, cast, release year, and first PV!

Fans don’t have to wait that long for watching a re-adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin because it will be released sometime in 2023. Though the exact date has yet to be announced, it is estimated to be released in the summer of 2023.

AnimeJapan 2023 event that was held on March 25, 2023, didn’t unveil much information. Only a new PV and additional two casts were revealed on the stage.

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Trailer

The third PV was released at AnimeJapan 2023 which was held on March 24-25, 2023. It also unveiled other two main characters, Megumi Takani and Aoshi Shinomori.

From that PV, we can see the visual animation is greatly enhanced from the 90’s version. Smooth action can be seen without the usage of 3DCG technology which is great. Let’s hope Liden Films keeps constant good quality for the rest of the series.

It is also reassuring that the staff has a good track record. Hideyo Yamamoto (Strike the Blood) will helm the series, while Hideyuki Kurata (Drifters, Goblin Slayer) will write the series composition. The character design is drawn by Erumi Nishii (Knight of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya), and Yuu Takami is composing the music.

Six casts have been released so far. They are:

• Souma Saito as Himura Kenshin
• Rie Takahashi as Kamiya Kaoru
• Taku Yashiro as Sagara Sanosuke
• Koichi Makoto as Myoujin Yahiko
• Saori Oonishi as Megumi Takani (New)
• Yuuma Uchida as Aoshi Shinomori (New)

Rurouni Kenshin (2023) Story

Ten years passed after the Bakumatsu era, an era of a raging war that was caused by citizens uprising against the Tokugawa shogunate. Though the uprising was a success and a new era of Meiji began, wishful peace has yet to come.

Any kind of arm is banned, but murder often happens in the street. Orphans and veterans are scattered here and there, while the new government is busy filling their pockets with money.

The story follows a samurai, Kenshin Himura, who wanders around and makes sure that his battle in the past was not for naught. In the past, he was called Hitokori Battousai, Sword-drawing Manslayer, because of his role in slaying hundreds of enemies in war. Now, he vows not to kill again.

In the 11th year of Meiji, Kenshin meets Kaoru Kamiya, owner of a small dojo that is threatened with being close down. The cause of that is the murder claimed as the famous Battousai and by chance comes from Kaoru’s dojo.

Thus, Kenshin’s journey is paused. He works together with Kaoru to clear their names. Unbeknownst to him, his past will sooner or later catch up to him. Can he face it?

Rurouni Kenshin News

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Roman Tan in Japanese, is a Japanese manga created by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

The series was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump from April 1994 to September 1999. All of the chapters were compiled into 28 volumes of manga.

As of December 2019, over 72 million copies sold including the digital release. It makes Rurouni Kenshin one of Shueisha’s top ten best-selling manga series.

Through sheer popularity, the series turns into a franchise. Many forms of adaptation line up starting from anime, live-action, stage shows, art books, light novels, and games.

Judging from its impressive track record, it’s a matter of time before Rurouni Kenshin has its reboot. Do note that the anime announcement was also the same year as the 25th anniversary of the series. Maybe it is actually has been planned along? Who knows.

Though the series is confirmed to start from the first arc, we don’t know when it will end. Will it follow the path of Hunter x Hunter with long episodes, Fruit Basket which divides into a few cours, or New Cooking Master Boy which abruptly ends in 12 episodes?

Let’s hope Liden Films knows what they are doing and put extra dedication to Rurouni Kenshin.