Anime
The anime, at least episodes1-62, was simply wonderful. It followed the storyline in the manga until the Kyoto arc with just a few filer episodes inserted every now and then. The character design, the music, the colors... everything about the anime was just perfect! Heck, I even liked Genzai-sensei and his two granddaughters Suzume and Ayame. The best improvement the anime did to the manga was the goodbye episode. In the manga, although the scene when Kenshin hugged Kaoru was beautiful, it can't compare to the same scene in the anime. And the place was better. In the manga, the 'hug' happened in front of the dojo, with leaves falling on them while in the anime, it was much more romantic. It happened by the river, with the fireflies glowing around them... It was really beautiful. And the expression on both Kaoru and Kenshin's face was so sad! The anime caught the heartbreak on Kaoru's face and the reluctance to leave on Kenshin's face really well. I'm not ashamed to say that episode made me cry... it was so sad.
Overall, I prefer the manga's storyline to the anime, but I prefer the anime's ability to convey the characters' emotions. Also, who could resist those beautiful music? ^_^X
Episode 63 onwards is a completely different story altogether. Things just got weirder, and weirder, and what happened to the blossoming K&K relationship? I prefer not to think about it. To know what I thought of the filler episodes, please click here.