Rurouni Kenshin, Volume 1: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (Rurouni Kenshin #1-6)

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with he coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.