The setting is old japan, I don't know Japanese history so I cannot specifically tell what part in Japanese era the anime happened but that's when the time where Samurais are lesser known and carrying a Japanese sword is already prohibited. It started when a girl, a successor of Kamia Kashin dojo, met a wandering swordsman named Kenshin. She didn't know that he is the famous slasher in the old days they called Battousai. From there on their adventure begins. I believe it was a perfect introduction.
The anime is divided into two parts, mainly the first one was a preparation, giving introduction to the main characters in the story. At times I feel bored watching the first 30 something episodes because it doesn't give too much direction. It just clearly shows the everyday life and adventure, when Kenshin was accepted in Kauro's dojo and met the main characters and their conflicts.
Not too much was revealed by then but it gives you some brief history of the main characters, and it presents ideas that is significant in the second part of the anime. Although it's boring at times it's still a fun thing to watch, the only downside of this so called introduction is that it took 30 something episodes which could have been compressed to 15 compact ones.
What really hooked me in Rorouni Kenshin is the Kyoto Arc where Kenshin and his company immersed to an adventure to combat Shishio. That I believe is the best part of the series where ideas,philosophies and great fight scenes were done. The character development is also great and you see great emotions bursting on their heated arguments. The story line is very meaningful too and you can see some hints to what happened to Japan in the past. If you've given up to the first 30 episodes then this will be the savior of your growing boredom.
Overall it's a great anime! I highly recommend it to anyone who's new to the franchise, Great Action, Great Music and Great animation it's a precious piece of Jewel that needs to be watched. And with it's upcoming live action movie already scheduled in Japanese theaters, it's great if you can watch it again for a refresher. Rorouni Kenshin earns a solid A+ for me.