Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (Japanese: るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-, Hepburn: Rurōni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Roman Tan-)[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan (1878) and follows a former assassin from the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against the bakufu, he becomes Himura Kenshin, a wandering swordsman who protects the people of Japan with a vow never to take another life. Watsuki wrote the series upon his desire to make a shōnen manga different from others published at the time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it continued.