KimK: Also, the RK anime series is about 82 or so episodes long. Quite a bit of a time and money investment (if you buy them all). However, to get started, I'd highly recommend seeing the RK OVA: Trust and Betrayal (see the 2 disc version if you can...the director's cut is good, but it's not as good). The OVA is also known as Samurai X (horrible name, but oh well). Just remember, the OVA takes place during the era of the Japanese revolution (going from the Tokugawa shogunate to a republic system...I could be wrong about that, it's been awhile since last I read about the Japanese political history). During this time there were many assassinations and several bloody conflicts. It's definitely worth a viewing. If you want to check out some reviews for various anime/manga check out this site. There are a bunch of different 'samurai' anime, but there is only one Kenshin. Cheers.