I'm also rewriting the summaries as the ones currently up are basically unpolished drafts that were put together in a hurry. Revision is in the works, so please bear with this rather mediocre version for the meantime. They should provide you with an overall idea of each episode nonetheless. Please don't hesitate to email me if you find any errors, ne? Doumo! ^^
{ 01 to 10 · 11 to 20 · 21 to 30 · 31 to 40 · 41 to 50 }
01: The Handsome Swordsman of Legend. The Man Who Fights for Love
A young lady goes out one foggy evening to search for the notorious Hitokiri Battousai who had been responsible for the murders in town. She mistakes a wanderer as the culprit and attacks him. The man dodges the girl’s attack, but lands in a heap of dust on the ground. He explains that he is a rurouni, and shows his Sakabatou to prove his innocence. Whistles sound in the distance as she inspects his brand new reverse-edged sword, and she rushes off to the scene, carelessly tossing the sword back to its owner. Police unsuccessfully try to stop the criminal as they are no match for his power. Armed with a wooden sword, she comes face to face with the murderer and attacks him. Her sword is cut in two as she is backed up against a wall. The killer prepares to silence her but the wanderer quickly steps in just before he delivers the fatal blow. Police reinforcements arrive and the killer runs off to escape, declaring himself as the Hitokiri Battousai of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu.The girl wakes up in her room the next day, her wound bandaged and taken care of. She is Kamiya Kaoru, master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu. She gets up and finds the rurouni cooking with Ayame and Suzume, already in good company with her family in such short span of time. Dr Genzai checks Kaoru’s wounds and she invites the rurouni to stay at her dojo after saving her life. She relates that her father worked hard to establish their dojo, teaching self-defense without the need to kill. Both her parents have already passed on and she is now under the care of Dr Genzai, together with his granddaughters Ayame and Suzume. She now teaches kendo to preserve his father’s legacy. But because of the rumors about the Hitokiri Battousai using their fighting style, all her remaining students dropped out that day. Kaoru is dismayed by the news. In the bath, she is deep in thought as the rurouni feeds wood to the fire. He calls to her but hears no response, and fears that Kaoru may have done something rash due to the turn of events. And so a nervous rurouni barges in to find a shocked and enraged Kaoru in the bath. She punishes him by locking him inside the dojo’s cluttered storeroom for the evening. He asks her if she has any recollection of a student with a dislocated thumb and Kaoru vehemently denies, saying that the murderer could not have come from their dojo.
Unable to sleep at the wanderer’s words about her father, she goes out to apologize for her earlier outburst only to find a spotless storeroom, the wanderer nowhere in sight. She stares out into the moon thinking of him, as Hitokiri Battousai and his men finalize their sinister scheme.
The next day, she looks up his father’s records, confused with her sudden recollection of an incident involving one of his father’s students. She comes across the name Hiruma Gohei crossed out. He had been expelled due to his violent nature. At that same moment, he appears in the flesh, flanked by his men, ready to exact revenge. Gohei has her by the collar when the rurouni arrives. He draws his sword and deals with Gohei’s men in an instant, knocking them out with his sakabatou. Gohei turns to fight but a realization dawns on him. The man before him - red hair, a cross-scar on his cheek, and the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu technique - was the real Hitokiri Battousai. Nevertheless, he still takes him on, only to be beaten in the end - this delusional Battousai’s hand rendered incapable of handling a sword ever again. It is then that the rurouni tells them that the Hitokiri Battousai’s technique is not the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu, and his true identity is thus revealed. Kaoru is shocked at the discovery but nevertheless asks the rurouni to stay. She asks for his real name. It was Himura Kenshin.
02: The Bratty Samurai. Why Don't You Become My Student?
Kaoru was driven mad by the silence caused by the absence of students practicing at the dojo. Kenshin does his chores while Ayame and Suzume grow hungry. Out of frustration, Kaoru forces Kenshin to treat them out to lunch at the Akabeko. On the way to the restaurant, Kenshin sees a pickpocket in the act of stealing an old man’s wallet. The man was about to buy a toy for his grandson, and realizing this, the thief goes back and returns the purse. Kenshin gives him a pat on the head only to have the boy react violently. Kaoru then drags Kenshin back on track to the restaurant. The boy saw that Kenshin was carrying a sword, which was against the law. He tried to steal Kenshin’s wallet, to see if he would use the sword, but Kaoru caught him in time. Kenshin gives the boy his money, telling him to stay out of trouble but the boy threw it back at Kenshin’s head, declaring himself as Myoujin Yahiko, descendant of a samurai family. Kenshin apologizes and tells the boy to keep the pride he has inside.After the incident, Yahiko sits by the riverbank thinking about what Kenshin said when the Shuei Gumi came to collect the money he had stolen for the day. Getting nothing, they beat up Yahiko and bring him back to their headquarters, where the members of the gang were testing a newly invented dice that would allow them to win each time. This pair of dice would turn up snake eyes every single time. Back at the Akabeko, Kaoru couldn’t eat well, bothered by Yahiko’s past. Tae recounted that Yahiko’s mother had fallen ill and they borrowed money from the Shuei Gumi. He had been working for them for quite come time to pay off his family’s debt. Kaoru decides to rescue the boy from his mess. She quickly gets up to leave, despite Kenshin’s efforts to stop her, knocking him out cold in the process as a heavy object lands on his head.
Kaoru storms into the Shuei Gumi’s headquarters, demanding Yahiko’s freedom but the Shuei Gumi wouldn’t give him up. They decide to play a game of dice to settle the matter. Kaoru agrees to their plan, confident of her winning streak. Should she lose, she’ll become the Shuei Gumi’s slave for life. In the end, she wins the game, much to the Shuei Gumi’s surprise. Yahiko had switched the dice earlier, thus foiling their plans of cheating. The Shuei Gumi is enraged at the turn of events, but Yahiko wants out, for the sake of his pride. The truth is revealed as the man named Gasuke tells them that Yahiko’s debt has long been paid off and they were just keeping him for fun. A fight takes place and the two are outnumbered. Yahiko refuses the boss’ offer to be his apprentice and was about to be beaten to a pulp when Kenshin arrived. He demanded the release of Kaoru and Yahiko. Gasuke attacks Kenshin but ends up with his head smashed up against the ceiling. Kenshin leaves the place with Yahiko hauled on his back, leaving a trail of unconscious bodies at his wake. Yahiko tells him Kenshin he wants to be just as good and asks to be his student. To his disappointment, Kenshin declines, having already delegated the task to Kaoru, but not without protests from both parties. Now, Yahiko is part of the family in the Kamiya dojo, and has become Kaoru’s only student.
03: The Swordsman in Sorrow. The Man Who Severs His Past
Yahiko proves to be as stubborn as a mule when it comes to learning Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu. He runs off from his first lesson, and barges in on Kenshin and the kids as they made rice balls, seeking him as his teacher. Held in awe by the way Kenshin tackled the Shuei Gumi, Yahiko protests against his training, saying that he wants to learn Kenshin’s technique and not some art taught by an old hag. To his dismay, Kenshin doesn’t have any intention of leaving his fighting style to the next generation. He tells Yahiko to learn a technique that will protect others, instead of one that kills.Yahiko and Kaoru were eating Kenshin’s rice balls when the former started wondering out loud about Kenshin’s past, imagining him as a renegade and whatnot. Kaoru is uncertain, knowing only that he had helped usher the Meiji Era in some way. She fears for his life as she watches him in the kitchen and even comes close to asking him about his past, only to find that he had already gone to buy tofu. Meanwhile, the police had come to the dojo in search for Hitokiri Battousai. Kaoru stalls the policemen and a scuffle ensues as Yahiko runs out to notify Kenshin.
On the way home from the market, Kenshin and the kids come across the elite swordsman police. They almost arrest Kenshin as he was in possession of a sword, but they mock him instead upon seeing his sakabatou, knocking over the tofu that Kenshin had just bought. Downtown, the elite police squad causes an uproar as they accuse an innocent family of being an accomplice to theft. Yahiko runs into the commotion and tries to stop the madness, but he gets beaten and lined up for execution as well. Kenshin steps in and requests that he be punished instead. The cocky policemen gladly agree, only to be knocked unconscious in the end. Kenshin comes face to face with the captain of the elite squad, and easily defeats him as Kaoru arrives at the scene. Kaoru and Yahiko hurriedly explain the situation to Kenshin and quickly run off, but the police immediately close in on them just as a carriage draws to a stop. General Aritomo Yamagata, an important figure in the Meiji government, steps off and stops his men from arresting Kenshin, telling them of Kenshin’s important role in the restoration. He came to personally invite Kenshin to occupy a position in the government but Kenshin politely turns him down. Kenshin explains that he didn’t want any more bloodshed, and thus chose to become a rurouni in order to protect people with his sakabatou. Disappointed, General Yamagata nonetheless concedes to Kenshin’s decision as he watches them walk away.
As they head for home, Yahiko comes to understand the need to learn a fighting technique to protect, and not to kill. He arrives at a decision to master Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu so he could protect the weak, just like his mentor, Kenshin. And with this incident, Kaoru finally understands why the hitokiri chose to be a rurouni.
04: Evil in a Straight Line. The Fighter Sanosuke Appears
It was a cheerful day in the Kamiya dojo. Kenshin was just about to prepare lunch when Yahiko complained of the Spartan meal they were once again going to have. Kaoru solved the problem by finding the painting that his grandfather left her, and sold it so they could eat at the restaurant. They were eating peacefully, but across them were drunken men who were loudly blabbing about violence to achieve democracy. Suddenly, a bowl smacked Kenshin on his head, leaving his eyes swirling. Yahiko demanded an apology, only to be mocked by those drunkards. The men were causing chaos in the restaurant, so Tae requested them to leave, but she got slapped instead. A guy with a peculiar hairstyle broke her fall and challenged the befuddled men to fight outside. The guy won the fight with only a finger, and also asked Kenshin if they could fight sometime. Watching from behind the shadows was Hiruma Gohey, who already had a plan working for the hasty demise of battousai. The tall guy with the strange hair was Sagara Sanosuke, best known as Zanza, a bully who looks forward to fighting a worthy opponent. Gohey paid him a visit, and briefed him of his plan for Kenshin's death. Sano agrees because of the chance to fight battousai, not for money or fame. It was past midnight when he came to the dojo with his huge weapon. Kenshin immediately sensed his presence and went out. A fight took place, a sakabatou vs. a zanbatou. It was interrupted because the little girls went out searching for Kenshin. As much as Kenshin wishes for the fight to stop, it has already been rescheduled.
05: Sakabatou vs. Zanbatou. At the Battle's End!
Kaoru and Yahiko are worried about their fight, so they went out in search for Kenshin. Kenshin suddenly vanished from the house, leaving to settle the score with Sano. The fight took place by the riverbank. Sano is very strong, he wouldn't give up the fight, even if Kenshin had given him seemingly a thousand slashes. He hates the royalists with all his guts. He was caught up in memories of Captain Souzou Sagara of the Sekihoutai, where he was once a member. The Sekihoutai was an imperial army that was composed of ordinary people. They had their ideals and objectives to establish, but the troop was killed and Sano lives to bear the painful memories of the troop's death. He hates the Meiji royalists so much because they made the Sekihoutai pay for their inability to fulfill the promises that were agreed upon. They were used as scapegoats, to blame for their blunder, and to be disposed of afterwards. Most of all, they killed Captain Sagara, Sano's mentor. Gohey took matters in his hands when Sano was down. He fired a gun at Kenshin, while holding Kaoru and Yahiko captive. Fortunately, the bullet hit the hilt of Kenshin's sword. Sano whacked Gohey on his right leg, with his zanbatou, for meddling with his fight. Sano stood up to continue the battle. Even though his body was a portrait of red and purple splotches, he refused to give up the fight. Kenshin slashed his zanbatou, and he was beaten in the end. Kaoru and Yahiko told him that Kenshin wasn't like the royalists. He fought for the ideals that Sagara Souzou fought for in the past. Sano saw Souzou in Kenshin, and he respected him for his way of life. After being treated, he decided to join Kenshin in the job of protecting people. A new member of the Kamiya dojo, and a new man.
06: Visitor From the Darkness. The Kurogasa Appears
The gang was having their not-so-palatable meal courtesy of Kaoru's extraordinary cooking skills and everybody was complaining. Sano was currently using Kenshin as his armor against Kaoru's flying vegetables when the chief police arrived. He came to give Kenshin the news of Kurogasa's return and to seek help with the problem. He is Udou Jin'e, the remote slasher in the Tokugawa Era. He had been painting the town red literally, by killing Meiji Government officials. Kenshin understood Kurogasa, because he knew that it was hard to recover from being invincible once, and the thirst for blood could not be easily quenched. He knows it for a fact, being a slasher himself. That night he went to protect Jin'es next target, with Sano following the lead. There were a lot of men who were there too, to try to protect the official, in exchange for money. Midnight was the exact time when Kurogasa arrived, never late for his appointments. He uses his eyes to cast a frozen spell with his chi energy, so he can easily slash his opponent without breaking a sweat. The technique is called Nikaidou Keiho Shin no Ippou. Sano fought his spell, and he managed to attack once again, but Jin'e gave him a cut on his wrist. Back at the dojo lay a sleepless Kaoru, her stomach pulled into tightening knots. Now, Kenshin and Jin'e fight, the former unaffected by the latter's frozen spell. Jin'e had turned into a merciless terrorist back then, killing even friends, and he's been carrying on the good work up 'til today. Kenshin got his left arm slashed, and Jin'e left, mocking his unworthy opponent. The next day, Kenshin isolated himself by the riverbank, concentrating on his next encounter with Jin'e. His skills have considerably dulled in the years past. He wasn't sure whether he could beat Jin'es well-honed skills, since he was way out of practice. Kaoru came rushing to the riverbank as soon as she heard the news from Sano. Instead of hauling Kenshin by the hair back to the dojo, she gave him her blue ribbon as a charm and for him to return. It was a serene moment until Jin'e snatched Kaoru away to bring back Battousai lurking within Kenshin. By the riverbank stood Kenshin gradually turning into the legendary battousai as he watches Jin'e ride along the current.
07: The Consequence of Chivalry. Protect the One You Love
Jin'e fought Kenshin back in the Tokugawa Era, and he's going to fight him again. Kenshin sent a note to Sano and Yahiko regarding his lone pursuit for Jin'e to rescue Kaoru. The two decided to follow him and help in whatever way they can. Meanwhile, Kaoru sat there, hands tied, staring Jin'e out of countenance but that didn't do anything to him. Moments later, Kenshin arrived, his eyes showing a glint of the assassin he was before. They fought, assassin vs. fellow assassin. Jin'e succeeded in implanting a wound on Kenshin's left arm, and he was down. Jin'e knew that his opponent wasn't battousai, but the reformed Kenshin. He cast a crouch spell on Kaoru, Shin No Ippou, which will suffocate her and eventually kill her within five minutes. He did this to push Kenshin to his limits, and he succeeded. Kenshin moved with lightning speed and broke Jin'es nose. Jin'e was moving fast to attack Kenshin, but he checked himself because he saw that the battousai in Kenshin has resurfaced, and his chance of winning would remain a dream if he didn't take precaution. He cast a reversed crouch spell on himself - the demon possession, using the shiny surface of his sword, to release all his dormant strength. Kenshin used the Flying Sword strategy followed by the Double Dragon Flash and destroyed the tendon in Jin'es right arm. Kaoru sat there stifling, remembering the Kenshin that came to their dojo. He was about to slash Jin'e in half when Kaoru begged him to stop. She managed to break free of the spell, at the same time bring Kenshin back to his senses. Jin'e stood behind Kenshin. Instead of killing his enemy, he thrust his sword to his heart. His last words were those that reminded Kenshin of the perpetuity of his past identity. Slashers will be slashers 'til the day they die, they can never be anything else… Sano and Yahiko were arguing noisily about the footsteps they saw, and fell into a mud pond. They all went home happy, until Kaoru saw how bloody her blue ribbon turned out in Kenshin's hands. They chased each other until they were all running around. Kenshin may have been a slasher before, but he will make the journey in sunlight, and not in the darkness that Jin'e had passed through.
08: A New Battle! The Mysterious and Beautiful Woman
Who Jumped in Suddenly
09: The Ultimate Stealth Army... The Dreaded Oniwabanshu!
Yahiko is safe now, thanks to Megumi's expertise in pharmacology. Aoshi, on the other hand, is still figuring out Kenshin's identity, so he sent Hannya to investigate. Megumi prepared sweet rice cakes and they were all gobbling up the delicious concoction. Megumi drifted to the past when she was with her family. Kaoru asked about her family, and found out that her family was gone. Megumi went to the kitchen to make tea when Sano confronted her regarding the opium. Kaoru went in and saw the dispute. Sano thought that she was pushing drugs for those men who chased her, but Megumi confessed that she made that opium. Then Kenshin remembered the name Takani, as the family that was famous for having great doctors. Megumi told her story then. Her family died in a fire six years ago. She supported herself by working for a doctor who got killed because of greed. Takeda forced her to make opium to sell, and she had tried to kill herself a few times then. Sano still doesn't trust her. He's still hurting from his friend's death. Megumi was doing the dishes when a note was shot her way. She went out of the dojo, Sano watching by the tree. Megumi encountered a man and tried to go past him, but it turned out to be Hannya in disguise. He took Megumi, and Sano followed the track. Megumi faced Takeda and he blackmailed her into submission. If she won't come back to them, the dojo, together with its occupants would be burned to ashes. Sano was listening to their conversation, behind a tree. Takeda and his company left. Megumi collapsed on the ground, crying. She had no choice. They received a letter at the dojo, from Megumi about her return to Izu. Kenshin is suspicious about this and decides to look for Megumi with the gang. Sano met Megumi at the gates of Takeda's property and talked her out of her decision. He told her that she could just help other people's lives instead of taking her own. Just then, Shukijo threw a metal ball to Sano, but he dodged it. The two fought, and Sano was hit hard, but he won. But Beshimi took Megumi, just as Kenshin and the rest arrived.
10: Aoshi... The Man So Scary as to Seem Almost Beautiful.
Together they went inside and fought Takeda's guards. Megumi tried to kill Takeda on their next encounter, but Hannya prevented her revenge. After Kenshin and the gang beat Takeda's guard force, he asked Takeda to bring Megumi to them. Takeda tried to buy Kenshin off, waging some sort of bid to win his favor. He continued bargaining despite Hannya's warnings. A real man's honor cannot be bought or compromised. Takeda's incessant dicker nipped at Kenshin's temper so he sliced a lamppost with his sword. He gave Takeda an hour to bring Megumi down. Aoshi has now replaced Takeda as boss, and he sent his men to defend their positions while he took Megumi to the observatory. He left Megumi on the third floor, with her kodachi, and the choice to take the easy way out, or to face reality. Takeda is not pleased with the way Aoshi dealt with him and he wants Aoshi to pay for it, big time. Now Kenshin and the rest have entered the building, where they are to face Hannya. He will not let them pass for he must guard his post with his life. Kenshin fought him, but he got bruised several times with Hannya's armored fists. He has been subjected to Hannya's Arm Stretching Technique and this makes it hard to know Hannya's attack. His arms are tattooed with horizontal stripes to confuse the opponent, it sure did work on Kenshin, but not for long. Kenshin decoded his strategy, and managed to break half of his mask, exposing a grotesque visage. He beat him and they proceeded to the second floor. Kaoru and Yahiko went to fight the guards at the foot of the stairs, while Sano and Kenshin hurry upstairs to face Aoshi. Sano attacked Aoshi, but his impulsiveness got him knocked out with one hit. Kenshin fought him, by Aoshi's request to talk using their swords, sakabatou vs. kodachi. Kenshin got punched from out of nowhere. Aoshi's face not betraying a single emotion. This was going to be harder than they thought. Hannya was a hard opponent, but Aoshi taught him everything he knows. He's the powerful leader of the Oniwabanshu.