One hundred and forty years ago, near the end of the Edo era in Japan, there was a man nicknamed the Hitokiri Battousai. He was the ultimate swordsman, and killed hundreds and hundreds of men. As one of the men responsible for bringing in the new Meigi government, he suddenly vanished near its entrance, leaving behind only a legend. Now a rurouni (wandering samurai), he travels with his sakaba sword - a sword with the blade on the wrong side, so that it can't kill. After saving a young girl named Kamiya Kaoru from a serial killer, he stays at her dojo there in Tokyo, and helps her out. However, Kenshin cannot escape his past as the Hitokiri Battousai, because even as he helps fight for the people, the government - and everyone else - wants him to kill.
The plot is sort of slow in the first twenty-eight episodes, but they were highly amusing anyway. Himura Kenshin is such a funny guy - he cooks, he cleans, he baby-sits - he's better at domestic skills than Kaoru, whose cooking can kill. It makes you think that he's a very carefree guy, but when fighting, he completely changes. Occasionally, during the arc, he will revert back to being the Hitokiri Battousai, when his eyes glow with a red light and he talks about murder a lot. Freaky and creepy, the plot actually isn't very serious. There are a lot of anti-government people around, and when they hurt innocent people, he takes it upon himself to help them. The plot is fairly slow during the first twenty-eight episodes, but they were still enjoyable and interesting. These episodes are mainly a lead-up to the Kyoto Arc, which is directly after this. Acquainting you with all the people Kenshin knows (now, at least), they still have a certain warmth about them that I enjoyed.
Kenshin is a rather dark character, but he flip-flops back and forth from that to the happy-go-lucky guy that he'd prefer to be. He fights as a Rurouni in order to atone for all the murders he committed in the past, but part of him knows that to avoid killing is near-impossible for someone like him. And he knows that, but it's ok. He also attains several friends in the show, and the immature ones grow up a bit. Yahiko, the orphan pick-pocket that he and Kaoru picked up, is hysterical - but Yahiko grows up. Megumi, the doctor-lady that they saved, changed from suicidal to wanting to live. However, most of the characters in this show are adults (Kenshin is about twenty-eight!) and have already done their maturing, Kenshin foremost. So, most of the 'deeper' characterization is in the later arc. However, this arc does give you a chance to see what they have always been like - Kenshin has a deep, dark past that is highly detailed in the OAV, but for now, it pretty much avoids most of that.
Fluffy and pretty much useless plot-wise for setting up Kyoto Arc, this was a very enjoyable arc that was fun to watch preceding the dramatic Kyoto Arc.
[Kyoto Arc - Episodes 28-60]
<Spoilers warning for end of Tokyo Arc>
Kenshin has been taken into the Meiji Government - years ago, after he resigned as the assassin, they hired another to do the job. Makoto Shishio - a man who they tried to burn to death after he was no longer needed. However, he survived the burning, and because of it, he is a better swordsman than ever before. Leaving his friends in Tokyo, Kenshin travels to Kyoto in order to defeat Shishio (who is trying to take over Japan) and learn the succession technique of his skills, Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu.
Delving back into the past of Kenshin's life (such as how he was as a child, his master, etc.), it really has the best character development. Sanosuke learns some amazing fighting moves, Kaoru gets all weepy, and Yahiko is forced to mature a bit. Kenshin is forced to come back to the memories he tried to get rid of so long ago - his struggle with himself as the Rurouni and himself as the Battousai is finally 'won', in a dramatic battle with his master - Seijuro Hiko, the thirteenth successor of the Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu technique, the one who taught Kenshin. (His master is hysterical.) It also brings in a new set of characters - the popular Makimachi Misao, along with Saitoh Hajime, who's just creepy. All these characters are interesting, creepy, and perfectly complement the enemies that have popped up. All the characters in this new season are freshly revamped, showing you new sides to each and every one of them. In my opinion, only one of these characters makes a nosedive - Kamiya Kaoru. I think that she did a complete turn around from the strong, rather violent-tempered woman with a good heart in first season. She still has the good heart, but once Kenshin left, she turned into a weepy little thing that whispered, "Kenshin…" in a mournful voice. Not to mention she didn't know what she wanted to do once she found him in Kyoto - she didn't really know what to do with herself. Ah, aside from that…
The plot was sort of typical, if you look at it from an overview. Big evil guy wishes to take over Japan, and the wimpy government calls upon help from someone who really wants nothing to do with it. Kenshin arrives to fight bad guys, dramatically leaving his friends behind so that he doesn't have to deal with them. His friends follow anyway. However, from there, it takes on a decidedly different turn. The whole thing with the Oniwabanshu is brought on full force, and it complicates things for Kenshin. Also, the pasts behind some of the members of the enemies (and Kenshin himself) make this season a fantastic arc. Soujiro, second in command to Shishio, was actually a favorite character of mine, probably because of how scary he was. All the new characters (aside from the ones who play minor roles) were well-developed, interesting, and neat, as well as playing good roles in the plot. Combining the fantastic characters with the new plot (which is much darker than Tokyo Arc), Kyoto Arc was spectacular.
