Animated by Liden Films, the series' first season, which was directed and storyboarded by Hideyo Yamamoto, aired from July to December 2023 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block.

In the Meiji era in Japan, Himura Kenshin is a pacifistic swordsman, wandering the country and helping people with his swordsmanship skills.

Once a deadly and feared political assassin known as Hitokiri Battōsai, he has since led a path of peace, wielding a reverse-bladed sword, known as sakabatō, in a vow to never again take another life.

On December 19, 2021, at the Jump Festa '22 event, it was announced that a new television series adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga would be animated by Liden Films.

[24][25][26] Yamamoto said that he used to watch all Rurouni Kenshin works during his youth, and was in particular impressed by the original video animations for its different artwork.

[27] Among many supervisions of the series, Kaoru Kurosaki [ja] and Watsuki aimed to make it fitting for the Reiwa era as well as accessible to both newcomers and returning audience.

[33][34] The first season of Rurouni Kenshin ran for two consecutive cours, for a total of 24 episodes aired from July 7 to December 15, 2023, on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block.

[35] The second opening theme is "Rurō no Katashiro" (るろうの形代, 'Wandering Cloth'), performed by Masaki Suda and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (under the name Masaki Suda×Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra), while the second ending theme is "Sonzai Shōmei" (存在証明, 'Existence'), performed by Kid Phenomenon.

[45] Aniplex of America screened the U.S. premiere for the series at the 2023 Anime Expo on July 3 in the Main Events stage of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

A conversation between Aniplex producer Masami Niwa and voice actors Soma Saito and Rie Takahashi followed the screening.