Rurouni Kenshin (2023) has revealed preview images of episode 22. This episode will air on November 30, 2023 and Saito Hajime (CV: Satoshi Hino) will finally appear. Saito Hajime only appears at the beginning of episode 1, the beginning of the story in the anime. In the anime’s first opening theme, Saito can be seen as Battosai’s final rival during the song’s Bakumatsu segment. Saito’s appearance in episode 22 marks the beginning of the series’ main and longest story arc, the Kyoto Inferno arc. He will appear in this episode as Goro Fujita, a drug dealer. You can see the preview images below:
Rurouni Kenshin (2023) – Episode 22 preview image
The Kyoto Hell arc is foreshadowed in the post-credits scene of episode 19, when high-ranking officials and prime minister Okubo Toshimichi mention that Shishio Makoto, the terror of the Bakumatsu period, is now ravaging 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 currently has 21 episodes. Studio Liden Films is making the series, with Hideyo Yamamoto as director. You can watch the anime on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video. This anime is based on the manga Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Shueisha published this story from 1994 to 1999 in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The same publisher is publishing a sequel titled Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc, which came out in 2017, and Watsuki’s wife, Kaworu Kurosaki, is very interested in the series. The original manga was first adapted into anime in 1996-1999 by studios Gallop and DEEN along with several OVAs. Five live-action versions were also released in theaters from 2012 to 2021.
The anime will enter its 7-volume manga season in episode 22 and Viz Media (English publisher) describes the plot as:
Shinsengumi–fearsome and formidable defenders of the shogunate. Kenshin knew them well, having fought them during the final days of the Meiji Restoration. One person in particular – Saitô Hajime, captain of the third unit – kept lingering in Kenshin’s mind. Now an officer of the law and known as “Fujita Gorô”, Saitô ascends the steps of the Kamiya Dojo, challenging Kenshin to a duel that will force Kenshin to awaken to his own past. . But the confrontation with Saitô is only the beginning of something much larger, something that will concern the future of the new Japan…
Source: Official website
© Nobuhiro Watsuki/Shueisha, “ Rurouni Kenshin-The Romantic Story of the Swordsman Meiji-” Production Committee
