Manga author Nobuhiro Watsuki discovered and used the story of Kawakami Gensai, a hitokiri (人斬り, literally "manslayer") executed by the Meiji Government.
In contrast to the YuYu Hakusho young lead Yusuke Urameshi, Kenshin was written as an adult with a dark past based on the Edo period in order to make the series stand out.
Kenshin's age was also a departure from common archetypes in manga as the themes and lore in the story made him an adult in contrast to other young protagonist besides City Hunter.
[13] During the development of the series' pilot chapter, Rurouni, Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Watsuki and his editor argued over Kenshin's speech patterns, settling for a "slangy" one.
[15] Watsuki based most of Kenshin's abilities on a real swordsman of the Tokugawa period named Matsubayashi Henyasai [ja], who was skilled in acrobatic techniques.
[20] In the next and final arc of the manga, the story took a darker tone as most of the characters believed Kaoru was killed by Yukishiro Enishi which made Kenshin question his own way of living and escape to a village of wanderers.
[22] In order to make Kenshin recover, Watsuki introduced Tomoe's father, who is simply referred as "Geezer", who assists him in finding an answer to atone for his sins.
[24] In this arc's climax, Watsuki kept listening to the song "Hurry Go Round" by late musician hide which felt it suited the relationship between Enishi as well as Kenshin but in his darker persona.
[35] Upon helping the staff from the live-action films, The Final and The Beginning, Watsuki came up with new ideas to give Kenshin's story a happy ending despite his hitokiri actions.
Watsuki also reflected on Kenshin's pacifism which became a common trend in other heroes in Weekly Shonen Jump protagonists like Luffy and Naruto Uzumaki who fight but are against the idea of killing their enemies while in the case of Dragon Ball dead characters are often revived.
He believes newer series like Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen explored more the concept of death.
[53] To defeat such a foe, Kenshin is forced to resume his training and mend his relationship with his teacher Hiko Seijūrō, who taught and took care of him as a child.
[64] Afterwards, Kenshin learns that since the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū is only suitable for a wide-framed muscular build like that of Seijūrō's, his body will eventually begin to deteriorate and he will soon be unable to use it again.
[14][66] Following the original series' ending, Watsuki wrote two shorts where Kenshin makes brief appearances; in Yahiko no Sabato Kenshin and Kaoru entrust Yahiko with taking care of a dojo whereas in Haru ni Sakura he reunites with all his friends and learn about the place where Saito left and learn of his friend Sagara Sanosuke through a letter after he left Japan.
[45] In 2016, Watsuki wrote a sidestory named The Ex-Con Ashitaro in which Kenshin appears to save the young title character from a group of enemies.
Although Kenshin is primarily interested in finding Kaoru's father, he learns from Saito's adopted son Mishima Eiji of a new threat in Hokkaido who aim to conquer Japan rather than westernize the country.
[81] In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, a cardgame was developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment with Kenshin appearing as a character card.
[106] Marco Oliveier from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University said that the sakabatō symbolises Kenshin's oath not to kill again which has been found challenging by other warriors.
[110] Entertainment Weekly found comical how whenever Kenshin is not fighting he is doing the laundry or cleans the dojo which brings a light tone that appealed the writer.
Anime Reviews website criticized Kenshin's super deformed appearance in comedy scenes claiming it does not suit the context of the character or the series.
[113] Anime News Network's Mike Crandol praised Kenshin for being a character that all people enjoy watching due to his comedy scenes.
[119] Mike Crando from Anime News Network highly enjoyed Kenshin's characterization in the prequel as he refers it as "it is a fascinating and emotional character study in its own right" due to Kenshin's character development across these four episodes from "an idealistic youth to a cold-hearted killer, only to be redeemed through love lost and the realization that swinging his sword is destroying his own life as well as the lives of the people on the receiving end".
Anime News Network also adds that in Reflection he "continues to be his old mopey self" and criticizes the fact that he never says "oro",[114] while IGN felt that some moments of the relationship between Kenshin and Kaoru were depressing.
[123] While criticizing the characters' sad decisions, Serdar Yegulalp from About.com wondered whether the OVAs had to make viewers accept Kenshin's death wish after so much time of wandering and feeling a mortal disease.
[125] Don Houston from DVD Talk noted the controversy between the fandom as they refrained from treating Reflection as canon due to how tragic the life of Kenshin's family became.
[126] Ridwan Khan from Animefringe shared similar feelings, but noted Kenshin had no new enemies to fight after Enishi, leaving him with his disease story arc.
[127] Besides the printed series and its animated adaptations, there have been comments regarding Kenshin's role in the live-action films where he is played by Takeru Satoh] Deborah Young from The Hollywood Reporter comically compared the character to Michael Jackson but praised his portrayal of swordsmanship.
[129] Both Nick Creamer and Ko Ransom from Anime News Network shared similar opinions, noting Satoh managed to adapt the character well.
[143] In The Renegotiation of Modernity, Kenshin's heroic nature as a wanderer was compared to both Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter due to how he wishes to protect the weak people, seeing nothing wrong with such trait as heavily explored in the series when confronting the young Seta Sojiro who had opposite values in terms how should the strong men act.
In doing so, Rurouni Kenshin laid" more than twenty years ago the foundation of a fresh paradigm of humanity based on tenderness and mutual acceptance as a counter-movement to the individualism, competition and efficiency that characterize the project of modernity".