Watsuki has written three more manga series, Gun Blaze West (2001), Buso Renkin (2003–2005), and Embalming: The Another Tale of Frankenstein (2007–2015).
[3] In high school, Watsuki received an honorable mention in the 33rd Tezuka Awards for his 1987 one-shot Teacher Pon, which he wrote under the pen name "Nobuhiro Nishiwaki".
Watsuki worked on Obata's Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp and Chikara Bito Densetsu,[4] the former's title character would later serve as a model for Sagara Sanosuke.
[5] Watsuki then created three historically set samurai-themed one-shots; Crescent Moon in the Warring States, and two sharing the title Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story.
The first Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story features Himura Kenshin stopping a crime lord from taking over the Kamiya family dojo.
During Rurouni Kenshin's serialization, Watsuki wrote Meteor Strike, a one-shot written for a Weekly Shōnen Jump artists project.
It chronicles the what-if adventures of a young boy who is struck in the head by a meteor and gains superhuman powers, eventually saving his town from a nuclear disaster.
Watsuki felt disgusted with the work and originally did not plan on revealing it, but ultimately decided to include Meteor Strike in the final Rurouni Kenshin volume to increase its page count.
[8] Watsuki said that he created the main character Shinya "on the spot," giving him too much honesty, and a personality that overlaps with that of Himura Kenshin, which he regrets "a little."
Watsuki created Chiho, the other major character, to show the "shojo theme of the moment" when the boy out-matures the girl.
The story follows Viu Bannes, a young gunfighter on his journey towards Gun Blaze West, the place where the greatest gunmen go to test their strength.
[20] The two-part Rurouni Kenshin: Master of Flame, which shows how Shishio Makoto met Komagata Yumi and formed the Juppongatana, followed in Jump SQ.
[21] From August 9–11, 2013, an exhibit of art from Rurouni Kenshin was displayed at Otakon in the United States curated by Watsuki's wife.
[14] Watsuki and his wife collaborated on the two-chapter Rurouni Kenshin Side Story: The Ex-Con Ashitaro for the ninth anniversary of Jump SQ.
Other series that influenced him include Fujiko F. Fujio's Doraemon and Pa-man, Mitsuru Adachi's Touch, Wing Man by Masakazu Katsura, Minako Narita's Alien Street and Cypher, and YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi.
[4] Watsuki said that he is not very good at writing comedy, but stated that he does not give up on it because laughter contains "smiles and happiness, the greatest common denominators.