Okay, here's the complete story from one of the 
biggest Kenshin nuts you'll ever meet.  Rurouni 
Kenshin and Samurai X are the same story.  As 
explained before, Samurai X is the English name 
given only to the dub of the OVAs.  The sub and 
dub of the TV series and the sub of the OVAs are 
all called Rurouni Kenshin, but they are all part 
of the same story.

Originally, this story was told in a really 
wonderful manga by Watsuki Nobuhiro (I HIGHLY 
recommend it to anyone who can either read 
Japanese or doesnt mind finding translations 
online and matching them with the pictures!).  In 
the manga, the part which you're referring to as 
Rurouni Kenshin (the TV series) covers about 
volumes 1-17 if I remember correctly.  The OVAs 
(Samurai X) cover volumes 19-21.  The end of #17, 
#18, and 22-28 (again my numbers may not be 
EXACT!) were never animated (yet!)  So there are 
story gaps.  

In the manga, everything that happened in the TV 
series up till Kenshin and friends return to Tokyo 
after being in Kyoto for awhile (no spoilers, if 
youve seen it you know what I mean) and Enishi 
(the little boy from the OVAs/Samurai X) shows up, 
stirring Kenshin's memory of the past.  Kenshin 
then relates the story that was told in the OVAs 
to Kaoru and the others, and it is shown in the 
manga as a flashback sequence.  The OVAs happened 
when Kenshin was 15, and he was 28 at the 
beginning of the TV series, so although readers 
and viweres are supposed to learn about his past 
AFTER what happened in the TV series, it HAPPENED 
first.. make sense?

As for it being based on a true story... well, 
kind of.  The Meiji Restoration really happened, 
and certain events, such as the Ikeda-ya affair 
and the assasination of Okubo, really happened.  
But there was no man named Himura Kenshin... 
however his character design was based on a real 
man named Hitokri Kawakami Gensai.  Saitoh Hajime 
was a real person, as was Sagara... but 
Kenshin, Kaoru, Shishio, etc, they were based on 
real people and events but they're not taken 
straight out of history.

Now, as this IS the cels forum and I haven't 
talked about cels once... here's an awesome Tomoe 
cel from the 4th OVA that I got from otaku.com on 
eBay a few months ago!  ^_^

Anymore Kenshin questions email me, I love to talk 
about him.... :P

Tifa