Rurouni Kenshin (2023) has revealed the preview images for episode 22. The episode will air on November 30, 2023, and Saito Hajime (CV: Satoshi Hino) will finally make his appearance. Saito Hajime only appeared at the beginning of episode 1, which served as a prologue to the anime’s story. In the first opening theme of the anime, Saito can be seen as Battosai’s final opponent during the Bakumatsu sequence of the song. Saito’s appearance in episode 22 marks the start of the prologue of the longest and main story of the series, the Kyoto Inferno arc. He will appear in the episode as Goro Fujita, a drug seller. You can check out the preview images below:
The Kyoto Inferno arc is foreshadowed in the post-credit scene of episode 19, when the high-ranking officials and the prime minister Okubo Toshimichi mentioned that Shishio Makoto, a horror during the Bakumatsu, is now wreaking havoc in Kyoto. The future of Japan is now at stake and a new war after the Meiji revolution begins.
Rurouni Kenshin (2023) premiered on July 6, 2023, and it currently has 21 episodes available. Studio Liden Films is animating the series, with Hideyo Yamamoto as the director. You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video. The anime is based on Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin manga series. Shueisha serialized it from 1994 to 1999 in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The same publisher is publishing a sequel titled Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc, which debuted in 2017, and Watsuki’s wife, Kaworu Kurosaki is highly involved in the series. The original manga series had its first anime adaptation in 1996-1999 by studio Gallop and DEEN along with several OVAs. 5 live-action adaptations also had a theatrical screening from 2012 to 2021.
The anime will enter the 7th volume of the manga in episode 22 and Viz Media (English publisher) describes the plot as:
The Shinsengumi–fearsome and formidable protectors of the Shôgunate. Kenshin knows them well, having done battle with them during the final days of the Meiji Restoration. One man in particular–Saitô Hajime, captain of the third unit–lingers in Kenshin’s mind. Now an officer of the law and known as “Fujita Gorô,” Saitô arrives on the steps of the Kamiya Dojo, challenging Kenshin to a duel that will force a reawakening of Kenshin’s own past. But the confrontation with Saitô is just the beginning of something much larger, something that will involve the future of the new Japan…
Source: Official Website
© Nobuhiro Watsuki/Shueisha, “Rurouni Kenshin -Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story-” Production Committee
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