Hmmm. There are various schools of thought of this (among which the fighting is vicious because the stakes are so low). Some people say to start with the manga, since that came first and everything else proceeds from there, but ever since the Viz manga translations started coming out, I've discovered rather to my dismay that I don't much like them. Part of this is due to piffly superficial considerations-- I don't like the font they're using, or the way they splat huge sound effects across the panels. Watsuki (the original mangaka) also had huge sound effects to start with, but (as one would expect) did a better job of integrating them into the artistic design, imho.
The first two seasons followed the manga rather closely, but the third season was freshly-plotted filler as the animators waited for the Jinchuu Arc to resolve in the manga. By that time, the viewer ratings had dropped so low that the tv series was cancelled. The two RK OVAs and one movie were made after that, but due to weird licensing splitups, they're under a different title in the US: "Samurai X".
The first OVA ("Samurai X: Trust/Betrayal") can be watched on its own without knowing anything else about RK, but I don't think it would have quite as much impact without having seen the first two tv seasons beforehand, which is the way I started. (I've never bothered watching the third.) Most of the RK timeline takes place ten years after the Meiji restoration; "Trust/Betrayal" is based on an extended flashback from the restoration/revolution that sets up the Jinchuu Arc and is much darker and grimmer, making the tv series look rather frivolous by comparison. OTOH, the tv series provides a fuller introduction to certain secondary characters who also appear in the OVA, but you have to watch the entire first two seasons to get to that point.
I wasn't particularly impressed by the movie, but it was okay. The second OVA ("Reflections") is widely panned for various reasons; definitely don't start there, because it won't make any sense if you're not already familiar with the series. (Some people say it makes even less sense if you *are* already familiar with the series.)
Shortish answer: try to follow the manga chronology via just reading the manga if you like that, or by watching the first two tv seasons if that feels easier. (The first tv season has a bit of filler, but it introduces the main cast; I'm not sure it's possible to just leap directly into the Kyoto Arc at the start of the second season.) If you don't like either the manga or the tv series enough to get to the end of the Kyoto Arc-- they may seem annoyingly fluffy or formulaic at times; the wombat-consort really had to drag me through to that point-- go ahead and watch Trust/Betrayal, which exploded my fragile little mind. If you don't like that either, then you're probably just not meant to like RK. It happens.
Actually, I don't think I have that much anime overlap with your viewing record as stated; I've seen Crest/Banner of the Stars, Grave of the Fireflies, Vision of Escaflowne, and 12 Kingdoms, plus some of the Ghibli movies but not all of them (oddly, Ghibli stuff seem to hit an emotional blind spot for me, in that I can appreciate their technical artistry but don't get viscerally engaged by them; nonetheless, I am looking forward to see what happens with Earthsea).
no subject
The first two seasons followed the manga rather closely, but the third season was freshly-plotted filler as the animators waited for the Jinchuu Arc to resolve in the manga. By that time, the viewer ratings had dropped so low that the tv series was cancelled. The two RK OVAs and one movie were made after that, but due to weird licensing splitups, they're under a different title in the US: "Samurai X".
The first OVA ("Samurai X: Trust/Betrayal") can be watched on its own without knowing anything else about RK, but I don't think it would have quite as much impact without having seen the first two tv seasons beforehand, which is the way I started. (I've never bothered watching the third.) Most of the RK timeline takes place ten years after the Meiji restoration; "Trust/Betrayal" is based on an extended flashback from the restoration/revolution that sets up the Jinchuu Arc and is much darker and grimmer, making the tv series look rather frivolous by comparison. OTOH, the tv series provides a fuller introduction to certain secondary characters who also appear in the OVA, but you have to watch the entire first two seasons to get to that point.
I wasn't particularly impressed by the movie, but it was okay. The second OVA ("Reflections") is widely panned for various reasons; definitely don't start there, because it won't make any sense if you're not already familiar with the series. (Some people say it makes even less sense if you *are* already familiar with the series.)
Shortish answer: try to follow the manga chronology via just reading the manga if you like that, or by watching the first two tv seasons if that feels easier. (The first tv season has a bit of filler, but it introduces the main cast; I'm not sure it's possible to just leap directly into the Kyoto Arc at the start of the second season.) If you don't like either the manga or the tv series enough to get to the end of the Kyoto Arc-- they may seem annoyingly fluffy or formulaic at times; the wombat-consort really had to drag me through to that point-- go ahead and watch Trust/Betrayal, which exploded my fragile little mind. If you don't like that either, then you're probably just not meant to like RK. It happens.
Actually, I don't think I have that much anime overlap with your viewing record as stated; I've seen Crest/Banner of the Stars, Grave of the Fireflies, Vision of Escaflowne, and 12 Kingdoms, plus some of the Ghibli movies but not all of them (oddly, Ghibli stuff seem to hit an emotional blind spot for me, in that I can appreciate their technical artistry but don't get viscerally engaged by them; nonetheless, I am looking forward to see what happens with Earthsea).