Rurouni Kenshin. I can't say that the manga is really remarkable except for the main character which carries it with all his might. The battles in anime are more impactful due to the score and, ehm... not being over after a few pages. Kinda reminds me of Kanon 2002 where all the emotional moments last very short because they crammed the whole thing into one cour, so you can't feel it the same way as during watching the remake. Anime just manages to achieve much more despite being a slideshow. It's not like the manga can boast crazy good art either. Also LOL at these silly blood sprites whenever someone is cut.

The cast, especially the main couple have a lot better chemistry in the anime. Funny how during the remake threads people were parroting that original anime ruined Kaoru because they made her some angry frenetic girl with her personality reduced to a gag prop. Because that's literally how it goes in the manga, about every her interaction with Kenshin is funny.png face, so when the time comes for him to leave for Kyoto, it's hard to comprehend why does she want him to stay so much. In the anime, even in the first episode, when they're not even close, their relationship dynamic is much more nuanced and intricate.

Retcons are obviously done to improve the weak plot points or make the anime more immersive like adding the little girls. Remake followed the manga zealously and it sucked spending a few minutes on historical infodumps.