Rurouni Kenshin Watch Order: Every Live-Action Movie And Animated Series
Join Kenshin Himura in his journey to redeem himself from his dark past, as well as defeat a threat who is imitating Kenshin’s former self. Along his way to redeem himself 10 years after the war, he met a girl named Kagome, who would make Kenshin’s life more peaceful as the story goes on.
If you haven’t watched Rurouni Kenshin yet, then you came to the right place. I will guide you in watching Rurouni Kenshin, as well as extra details that will make you feel more familiarized with the series before you even watch it. This series guide will contain a bit of detail about the production of the film, and a short introduction of each series.
Rurouni Kenshin Live-Action Movies Watch Order
Rurouni Kenshin, popularly known as Samurai X, is a manga series written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story of Rurouni Kenshin begins in the Meiji Period, where a famous assassin named Hitokiri Battosai lets go of his former self to become Kenshin Himura. Kenshin is a wandering swordsman who wields a blade with a reversed edge as a promise to never kill anyone to repent for his past sins. His outstanding skills with the katana to protect himself and his loved ones instead.
The Rurouni Kenshin Movies In Timeline Order:
To understand how the story goes, let us check out the Rurouni Kenshin film’s chronological timeline:
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
‘The Beginning ‘is the prequel of the series but was premiered after the main storyline ended in the movie series. This can be watched first, in the middle, or once you finish the main timeline of the movie series.
The Beginning tells the story of Kenshin Himura during the final parts of the Edo Period when he was still known as Hitokiri Battosai. It also showed his relationship with another woman named Yukishiro Tomoe. This story also reveals the reason why Kenshin had his famous X-shaped scar on his cheek.
Check out our ‘Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning’ review.
Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
Rurouni Kenshin starts the main storyline of the manga series when it shows the victory of the Imperialist forces in the final war near the end of the Edo Period. Hitokiri Battosai was part of it, but ultimately walked away and ended his career, leaving his sword behind as proof.
Ten years have passed, and Battosai now named himself Kenshin Himura, travels to Tokyo. Repenting for his sins, he now wields a reverse-blade katana so then he can fulfill his oath to never kill for good. At the start of the series, he meets Kamiya Kaoru, who owns a Kendo school that she inherited from her late father.
He then makes friends with her, as well as more along the way, while stopping Takeda Kanryu, a cruel and powerful businessman who owns an opium business. At the same time, he gets to meet his past in Tokyo, as he discovers news of a “Battosai”, who appears to be an enemy from the past who now wields the sword he left behind in his last war.
Check out our ‘Rurouni Kenshin: Origins’ review.
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
Kyoto Inferno introduces the main antagonist of the series, Shishio Makoto, a renegade soldier who attained severe burn wounds all over his body due to being presumed dead in the same war Kenshin got in. He is being hunted down by Saito Hajime, who was then told that he will conquer all of Japan, inciting an upcoming rebellion.
Meanwhile, Kenshin now lives in Kaoru’s dojo, along with his new friends that he met in the previous film. Kenshin was suddenly approached by a government official to track down Shishio, who has reached Kyoto, terrorizing its citizens. Kenshin declines at first but reconsiders when he sees the official dead at the hand of Shishio’s right-hand man, Sojiro Seta.
Check out our ‘Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno’ review.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)
Right after the events of Kyoto Inferno, Kenshin was saved by his former master, Hiko Seijuro. After waking up, Kenshin was told by Hiko that he was unconscious for 3 days. Hiko trained Kenshin once more to learn the final technique of the Hiden Mitsurugi to defeat Shishio once and for all.
Meanwhile, Kaoru is still missing, while Shishio starts to take over Tokyo using his amphibious battleship. Eventually, Sanosuke was able to find Kaoru who woke up in her coma to find Kenshin, who Misao eventually found. Now, all that’s left is to stop the invasion of Tokyo in the hands of Shishio. This is also the part where Kenshin finally lets go of his past for good to live as a better man.
Check out our ‘Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends’ review.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
This is the final installment of the movie. After the defeat of Shishio, a Shanghai mafia leader named Yukishiro Enishi arrives in Tokyo to hunt down Kenshin. This is one of the strongest opponents that Kenshin faces. Kenshin finally has the resolve to face the present without thinking too much of his past, showing great character development which shows that Kenshin has fully redeemed himself.
As the movie progresses, we get to know that Enishi is the brother of Kenshin’s previous lover, who was believed to have died at the hands of Kenshin himself. This is also the part where Kenshin and Kaoru’s love grew deeper. This installment is related to several key points at The Beginning, which is why some prefer watching The Beginning first before The Final (no pun intended).
Check out our ‘Rurouni Kenshin: The Final’ review.
The Rurouni Kenshin Movies Order By Release Date
If you prefer watching the movie series by its release date, or if you were able to watch all of them, I will arrange the movies by date this time. I also added a bit of info about the movie’s production here. So, without further ado, here is the list of Rurouni Kenshin movies, sorted by release date:
Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
Rurouni Kenshin was released on August 25, 2012, which grossed over $96 million in Japan and the whole world combined as of November of the same year. The Rurouni Kenshin film was actually rumored all over Japan and online before it was announced, along with their plans to release it internationally. The movie’s production budget was $30 million.
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014)
Kyoto Inferno was released on August 1, 2014, with a $20 million budget. The film earned $47.5 million in Japan only, while earning $52.9 million in the international box office. It is one of the highest-grossing movies in Japan and received a lot of praise from critics and fans alike.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)
The Legend Ends was released on September 13, 2014. The film was produced with a $30 million budget. It earned a total of $41 million in Japan and $44 million internationally.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning (2021)
The Beginning was released back on June 4, 2021. The reason why the movie was released quite late was because of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it earned a total of $21.3 million in the international box office despite the ongoing pandemic, which dramatically lowered the sales in cinemas.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021)
The final installment of the movie was released on April 23, 2021, in Japan, and June 18, 2021, worldwide. The film earned $36.9 million in the box office around the world. Due to the fact that the shooting was already done before the pandemic, this film was released along with The Beginning in the same year.
The Rurouni Kenshin Anime Watch Order
For those who want to watch the original series, I also added a bit of a bonus to keep you hyped up. This time, I will discuss the watch order if you prefer viewing it as an anime rather than its new movie version.
To put it simply, all you need to do is watch the whole series. The whole Rurouni Kenshin anime series consists of 95 episodes, divided into three seasons:
- Season 1 – Season 1 consists of Episodes 1 to 27. This shows the adventures of Kenshin Himura as he ventures to Tokyo until he found out that someone claiming to be Battosai is wreaking havoc in the city. This contains some parts of the first movie, but with additional scenes and stories.
- Season 2 – Season 2 spans from Episodes 28 to 62. The second half of the season shows events from the Kyoto Inferno film.
- Season 3 – The final season of the series ranged from Episodes 63 to 95. It is known to have several filler episodes. Also, Episode 95 was never released on Japanese TV when it was originally aired.
If you happen to be a manga reader, you can read the series instead. The manga series was released in 27 Volumes in Weekly Shonen Jump back from 1994 to 1999, with a total of 255 chapters (called Acts), along with a final volume short story.
Rurouni Kenshin was aired from October 14, 1997, to September 8, 1998, in Japan. The series was then released around different parts of the world in the late-90s and early-2000s due to its popularity. It is also ranked among the 100 most-watched anime series in Japan, and probably in the whole world as well. After all, who would not want to watch a samurai hack and slash with their artistic movements?
