Rurouni Kenshin episode 8: Release date and time, countdown, where to watch, and more

Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 is set to release on Friday, August 25, 2023, at 12:55 am JST. With Kaoru and Kenshin reunited following Jine Udo’s death in the previous installment, fans are excited to see what challenges lie ahead for the pair. There’s also a hope among many viewers that whatever is next for the series, Yahiko Myojin and Sanosuke Sagara will play a larger role.

Unsurprisingly, fans are desperate to learn what’s next for Kenshin and his friends in the 2023 readaptation of the famous manga series. However, there’s has been no verifiable spoiler information available for Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 at the time of this article’s writing. But fans do have a confirmed release date and time for the highly-anticipated episode.

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Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 will hopefully get Yahiko and Sanosuke involved with Kenshin’s next conflict

Release date and time, where to watch

Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 is set to begin airing on local Japanese networks at 12:55 am JST on Friday, August 25, 2023. For a few international fans, this means a Saturday night local release window. A vast majority of international fans, like Japanese viewers, will instead see the episode become available Sunday morning locally. However, exact time of release varies by region and timezone.

International audiences can stream the episode on Crunchyroll roughly one hour after the episode begins airing in Japan. While the delay is unfortunate, Crunchyroll is nevertheless the best way to watch and support the series legally, even possibly the only way to do so via streaming depending on specific region.

Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 is set to become available on Crunchyroll at the following times in the corresponding time zones:

• Pacific Standard Time: 8:55 am, Thursday, August 24
• Eastern Standard Time: 11:55 am, Thursday, August 24
• Greenwich Mean Time: 3:55 pm, Thursday, August 24
• Central European Time: 4:55 pm, Thursday, August 24
• Indian Standard Time: 9:25 pm, Thursday, August 24
• Philippine Standard Time: 11:55 pm, Thursday, August 24
• Australia Central Standard Time: 2:25 am, Friday, August 25

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Episode 7 recap

Rurouni Kenshin episode 7 began with Kenshin heading to the meeting place Jine Udo had set for their fated duel. As Kenshin approached, Udo explained to Kaoru that his goal is to reawaken the beast that is Hitokiri Battosai in the now-docile Kenshin. The titular hero then arrived right on time, after which the two began their fight.

While Kenshin was initially in control, Udo was able to land a hit to Kenshin’s shoulder with the help of some trickery. Feeling that Kenshin wasn’t ferocious enough, Udo used his Shin No Ippo technique to stop Kaoru’s lungs from functioning. Since it was expected that Kaoru couldn’t break the hold on her own, Kenshin felt he wanted to kill Udo to save Kaoru’s life.

This brought out the ferocity that Udo was looking for. However, as Kenshin was about to kill Udo, Kaoru broke free of the Shin No Ippo with her own strength of will, calling out to the protagonist to stopped. Udo killed himself in response since Kenshin had damaged his arm beyond the point of being able to continue his life as an assassin. The episode ended with Kaoru and Kenshin returning home safe and sound.

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What to expect (speculative)

With Kenshin’s darker side having officially been introduced to fans, Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 may take one of two major routes. The first would be a lighthearted, slice-of-life kind of focus, which gives audience members some easy comedy after the past two high-stakes episodes.

Rurouni Kenshin episode 8 could alternatively keep up the intensity by introducing a brand new enemy for Kenshin. With Udo having teased that there are government officials not fond of Hitokiri like he and Kenshin, the threats against the titular hero will likely grow stronger and larger in number as time goes by.

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Be sure to keep up with all Rurouni Kenshin anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.