Samurai X is the name
Sony Visual originally gave to a chopped up version of the
Rurouni Kenshin TV series.
Reports from those who have seen "Samurai X," a heavily edited version of the TV show, (it aired in
Hong Kong and the
Phillipines as test markets) say that it lost almost all of the original story, and that all of the
violence had been toned down sharply. Those who have seen the TV show know that the
violence plays a critical role in many episodes, which tells you what they did to it.
Fans saw this as well, and as a result the Samurai X version of the TV show died off. After failing to get a broadcast licensor in the states (they were offering up "Samurai X"), Sony licensed Rurouni Kenshin TV to
Media Blasters, and the
movie and
OAVs to
AD Vision. Media Blasters kept the Rurouni Kenshin title, but
ADV, in their
continuous efforts to be different, chose the Samurai X title for both the movie and the OAVs (but graciously provided beautiful double-sided covers that had a "Rurouni Kenshin" in
hiragana+
kanji opposite the Samurai X side for both the OAVs and the movie).
In Japan, both the OAVs and Movie were known under the Rurouni Kenshin name.