Rurouni Kenshin: The Complete TV Series [DVD]

Set during the second half of the 19th century--a time of enormous change in Japanese society--Rurouni Kenshin begins when a wandering swordsman saves the life of a young woman on the streets of Tokyo. The wanderer's name is Kenshin and his blade is sharpened only on the back edge, meaning that he can use it to disable, but not kill, his enemies. The woman, Kaoru, invites Kenshin to stay at her father's kendo dojo, and he comes to her aid when she is attacked by a disgraced student. During the battle it emerges that Kenshin is Battousai the Manslayer, a vicious assassin who terrorized Japan in the turbulent years before the beginning of the Meiji Era. Now he is looking for redemption, but the forces arrayed against him will make it very difficult for him to escape his past.