| abstract | - The Rurouni Kenshin anime is the adaptation of the manga series with the same name by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Situated during the early Meiji period in Japan, the story tells about a fictional assassin named Kenshin Himura, who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan. The anime, directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, began airing on Japan's Fuji TV on January 10, 1996 and ended on September 8, 1998. It was produced by Aniplex and Fuji TV, and was animated from episode 1 to 70 by Studio Gallop, whereas the episodes from 70 onwards were animated by Studio Deen. The final episode, episode 95, did not air in Japan, but was a bonus episode for the VHS and DVD releases. The TV series was later licensed in North America and released on DVD by Media Blasters. It started airing in the US on the Cartoon Network as a part of the Toonami Block on March 17, 2003, but ended at the completion of the Season 2. Episodes 63-95 did not air, but were included in the DVD release. The twenty-two English DVDs from the series were released from July 18, 2000 to September 24, 2002. Each of them contain four episodes except for the volume 22 which contains five episodes. The seasons were later released in three premium "Bento box" DVD boxes on November 18, 2003, March 30, 2004 and July 27, 2004. They were released again, but in new packaging as "economy box" sets on November 15, 2005, January 17, 2006 and February 14, 2006. There were 95 episodes in Rurouni Kenshin's first run. There are also two Rurouni Kenshin original video animation (OVA) series which have respectively four and two episodes. The first of them, Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal was released in 1999 in Japan and in 2003 was collected into a two hour feature-length motion picture with new animated sequences and released in North America as a Director's Cut DVD. The second OVA is Samurai X: Reflection, composed of two episodes that were originally released on December 12, 2001 in Japan. It was later released in the United States by ADV Films in DVD on March 25, 2003, while a Director's Cut edition was later released.
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