Hikari Sakurai

Kenshin is a work of fiction.... no dobut about it, but quite a bit of is based on historical fact.
After I first saw the first OVA, I read about the Meiji Restoration, and it's as Arianna said, very very interesting. Many of the supporting characters whom appear in the first OVA are based on actual people.... and they used their real names too.

Other anime based on historical events, or similar.
RG Veda by Clamp, is based on the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas (Hindu texts). It is a collection of hymns praising the gods and was set in writing at about 900 BCE.
The tennyo legend in Ayashi no Ceres is based on actual Japanese mytholgy.
Matantei Loki Ragnarok is influenced by Norse mythology.
And there's many others that I can't even think of now. ^^

As for how true they remain to the actual facts, it always depends.... it's where artistic license comes into play. The creator could choose to stay as true to the truth as possible, or completely turn it upside down.
For example: Abe no Seimei, who appears in Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai, was an Onmyou master from ancient Japan, but I highly dobut he traveled through time nor had robotic shikigami serving him and had electricity running in his house during the 10th century, or whenether he lived.

So summing it all up really, anime takes it's inspiration from all types of actual events, myths, and facts and it's really quite interesting to look them all up.

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