If you're looking for a great samurai story it doesn't get much better that Ruroni Kenshin.
Kenshin is just about the best samurai to ever pick up a blade, but now that Japan has settled into the peaceful Meiji period guys like him are no long needed. In fact, ex-samurai are scorned by the public in general. So Kenshin sets out to try and find a normal life for himself. In time Kenshin finds a home and friends in a Tokyo dojo but ghosts from his past keep popping up as do people out to destroy the new government. Kenshin, who has vowed never to kill again, isn't about to let anyone disrupt the new life he's built for himself. So such times come he reluctantly heads out to knock some heads.
I really just can't get over how great this show is. Richly draw characters, great action, compelling stories, romance, humor and more all set against a very real felling backdrop of late 1870's Japan. RK works not only as a good anime, but historical show as well.
One other thing I like about the show is the villains. RK's creator (whose name escapes me at the moment) is an admitted fan of American comics and you can see that in some of the villains. Psycho killer Jin-E bears an (pardon the expression) uncanny resemblence to Gambit from the X-Men. I've also seem elements of characters like Spawn, Wolverine, Omega Red, the Absorbing Man, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil in some bad guys. Really cool.
In short, Kenshin is a show that belongs on the shelf of anyone who calls themself an anime fan.
