Packed with action, romance and historical intrigue, <I><b>Rurouni Kenshin</b></i> is one of the most beloved and popular manga series worldwide. Set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, it tells the saga of Himura Kenshin, once an assassin of ferocious power, now a humble <I>rurouni</i>, a wandering swordsman fighting to protect the honor of those in need. <P>A hundred and fifty years ago in Kyoto, amid the flames of revolution, there arose a warrior, an assassin of such ferocious power he was given the title <I>Hitokiri</i>: Manslayer. With his bloodstained blade, Hitokiri Battosai helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu period and end the reign of the shoguns, slashing open the way toward the progressive Meiji Era.  Then he vanished, and with the flow of years became legend. <P>In the 11th year of Meiji, in the middle of Tokyo, the tale begins. Himura Kenshin, a humble <I>rurouni</i>, or wandering swordsman, comes to the aid of Kamiya Kaoru, a young woman struggling to defend her father's school of swordsmanship against attacks by the infamous Hitokiri Battosai. But neither Kenshin nor Battosai are quite what they seem...