Rurouni Kenshin is a very old series. The latest part of its anime adaptation came out all the way back in 2001. It is the series that made many of the samurai troupes that later animes would build upon. The whole samurai sub-genre exists because of Rurouni Kenshin’s popularity both with the western and Japanese audiences.
All that said though, Rurouni Kenshinโs anime adaptation had quite a few issues. It wasnโt bad at all but, it had obnoxious fillers and its watching order got kind of messed up because of the multiple OVAs. Also, the manga is sort of still ongoing. So when I see that this beloved anime may be getting โsomethingโ new, I was happy as hell. Letโs get into all the details we know about it so far.
What do we know about this new anime project?
This announcement probably surprised a lot of people. It is probably the biggest surprise from the Recent Jump Fiesta event. The Jump Studio Red stage for Rurouni Kenshin manga revealed that a new anime project is in the works. They did not reveal what this new anime will cover. We don’t even know if this new anime is a reboot/rework of the old one or a sequel or something.
The only other detail we know about this new anime project is that it is being made by LIDENFILMS. Except for that, the new anime project for Rurouni Kenshin is in complete darkness right now. As I mentioned, the Hokkaido arc of the manga is still ongoing and there was some part of the original manga that the anime did not cover so this may be a sequel. So let’s talk about that in detail.
Expectations and Speculations
Normally, I only call this section โExpectationsโ but, there is a lot to speculate this once so I changed the name a little. The main arcs of the old Rurouni Kenshin anime (including that prequel OVA) are still very popular and people will watch it if they just give it a fresh coat of paint. People still like Rurouni Kenshin; this is very much proven by the success of live-action films. So this new project could be a reboot.
Then there is a chance of this new project picking up where the old anime left off. Rurouni Kenshinโs Hokkaido arc is still on weekly publication and there are some parts of the original manga that the anime did not cover. Then there is a chance that this new anime project may manage to do both.
Now, hear me out. The old Rurouni Kenshin anime was needlessly long and all of the fillers were really bad. So if they cut off the fillers and compress the episodes a little, it should be possible to cover the main series and the prequel OVA in like 35 episodes. They can then move on with the Hokkaido arc adaptation. But, that is just my opinion. It is a hit or miss with LIDENFILMS animations so we will have to wait and see how they handle it with this one. Hope they do a good job.
Conclusion
And yea, that is about it for now. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. I personally think Rurouni Kenshin deserves a reboot. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
