is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

from the ''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the 11th year of the Meiji period in Japan (1878) and follows a former assassin from the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series created by

Nobuhiro Watsuki , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his samurai-themed series '' Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story'' (1994–1999), which has over 70 million copies in circulation and a sequel he is cur ...

. In the English anime adaptations he is known as Sanosuke Sagara and nicknamed Sano. Watsuki, being a fan of the

Shinsengumi The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when ...

, created Sanosuke by basing his name and characteristics on that of a real Shinsengumi member named

Harada Sanosuke was a Japanese warrior (''samurai'') who lived in the late Edo period. He was the 10th unit captain of the Shinsengumi, and died during the Boshin War. Background Harada was born to a family of ''chūgen'', or low-ranking quasi-samurai, who ser ...

. Set during a fictional version of Japan in the pre-

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, Sanosuke is a former member of the Sekihō Army. When the group is destroyed by the

Meiji Government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

, he becomes a fighter-for-hire to calm his anger by fighting. During his introduction in the series, he encounters the wanderer

Himura Kenshin , known as Kenshin Himura in the English-language anime Dubbing (filmmaking), dubs, is a fictional Character (arts), character and the protagonist of the manga ''Rurouni Kenshin'' created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Kenshin's story is set in a fiction ...

, who easily defeats him and is able to convince him to stop his mercenary work and instead start protecting people. After that encounter, Sanosuke becomes Kenshin's best friend as well as his partner in most of their fights. Sanosuke appears in the featured films of the series and in other media relating to the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

s (OVAs). Numerous anime and manga publications have commented on Sanosuke's character. Mania Entertainment praised his character development, noting that he becomes more trustworthy and reliable as the series progresses.

SciFi.com Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

referred to him as a "video-game icon", and noted how he is portrayed as a "tragic figure". Sanosuke has been popular with the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' reader base, placing second in every popularity poll. Merchandise based on Sanosuke has also been released, including

key chains Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

, and

plush Plush (from French language, French ) is a textile having a cut nap (textile), nap or pile (textile), pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was e ...

dolls.

Creation and conception

Sanosuke was one of the last major figures of the series to be created. Watsuki created him to be Kenshin's best friend, who is willing to punch him when he is sad to make him "wake up" from his sadness. Although Sanosuke is a main character in the series, Watsuki felt that he could not write everything he wanted about him, and thought that making him the title character of a series would prove interesting. The character is based on

member

. Watsuki describes Sanosuke's visual motif by referring to his design model, Lamp, the main character of Susumu Sendo and

Takeshi Obata is a Japanese manga artist that usually works as the illustrator in collaboration with a writer. He first gained international attention for ''Hikaru no Go'' (1998–2003) with Yumi Hotta, but is better known for '' Death Note'' (2003–2006) ...

's ''

Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp Mashin ( fa, ماشين, also Romanized as Māshīn; also known as Deh-e Māshīn and Marshīn) is a village in Taftan-e Jonubi Rural District, Nukabad District, Khash County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran Iran, officially th ...

''. Watsuki, working as an assistant on Obata's manga, formed the character by doodling in sketchbooks, adding and subtracting elements from the proposed character "with blessings from the original artist, of course." An elder Sanosuke was drafted by Watsuki to appear in the manga's finale but this idea was scrapped. In the manga's final story arc, the design was used for Sanosuke's father, Higashidani Kamishimoemon. In July 2006, the Japanese publishers of ''Rurouni Kenshin'' released the '' kanzenban'' edition. In the fifth ''kanzenban'', Watsuki redesigned the character of Sanosuke in a draft version. To emphasize his hate of the Meiji Government, Watsuki drew the Japanese

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

for on the back of Sanosuke's jacket in the original series, but on the kanzenban redesign, the tattoo is located inside his clothes. Unlike in the manga where Sanosuke uses an oversized

zanbatō The ''zhanmadao'' () was a single-bladed anti-cavalry Chinese sword. It originated during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and was especially common in Song China (960–1279). General characteristics The zhanmadao is a single-edged sab ...

as a weapon, Watsuki gave him a more historically authentic zanbatō; a sword notably thinner and longer in design. He also gave him an armor-like cloth to make him look more as a warrior. The fact that the CD book voice actors, especially

Tomokazu Seki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He has previously worked with Haikyō. He is honorary president of and affiliated with Atomic Monkey and the chairman of theater company HeroHero Q. He is a special lecturer at Japan Newart College. Caree ...

and

Megumi Ogata is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from the Greater Tokyo Area. As a singer, she goes by the name em:óu. She attended Tokai University, but left due to lack of interest. She is best known for voicing Shinji Ikari in ''Neon Genesis ...

, who portrayed Sanosuke and Kenshin in the CD books, respectively, did not get their corresponding roles in the anime disappointed Watsuki. Ueda, Sanosuke's voice actor in the Japanese anime, commented that voicing Sanosuke in the original video animations was very complicated because his character was notably older and he has not acted in the role for a long period. He also said that he would have liked to see more fights involving Sanosuke in the original video animations, but was happy to see that Sanosuke had matured as a character. Lex Lang, the voice actor of Sanosuke in the English adaptation of the anime, commented that his first impression of Sanosuke was as a fight-driven character motivated by anger, but as the story continued Sanosuke became friendly and more likable. Because his voice is noticeably different from Ueda's, Lang tries to create his own interpretation of Sanosuke's character. Lang has noted that the scene of the episode 22 of the anime, in which Sanosuke is afraid of a train because he believes it is a demon, was the most enjoyable scene for him to record; he added "I recently saw it and had some big laughs." In producing the English dub version of the series,

Media Blasters Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...

chose

Lex Lang Lex Lang (born November 12, 1965) is an American voice actor and voice director, who has provided voices and served as a director for a number of animations and video games. He is best known for voicing Doctor Neo Cortex in the ''Crash Bandicoo ...

as Sanosuke's

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

. When writing Sanosuke's dialogue, Clark Cheng, the writer of the English dub script, noted that the character was smarter than he would have liked in the first few episodes, so Cheng tried slowly to change the character's dialogue to make Sanosuke seem less intelligent so he would be more similar to the equivalent in the Japanese version of the series.

Appearances

In ''Rurouni Kenshin''

Born February 1860 in

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

, Sanosuke is a former member of the Sekihō Army. Having admired his captain

Sagara Sōzō , real name ,Watsuki, Nobuhiro. "The Secret Life of Characters (5) Sagara Sōzō," ''Rurouni Kenshin'' Volume 2. VIZ Media. 28. was the leader of the 1st Unit of the Sekihōtai, a group of Japanese political extremists formed in 1868 during the B ...

, he takes the

family name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

Sagara from him. But when the revolutionary government encounters financial problems, it labels the Sekihō Army as frauds in order to "bury their promises". Sōzō is executed, leaving Sanosuke as one of the few survivors. Consumed with hatred for the Ishin Shishi, and guilt at not being able to protect his hero, Sanosuke becomes a fight merchant in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Over the next ten years, he gains a reputation as one of the strongest hired fighters of the city. The destruction of the Sekihō Army and the loss of all his friends has caused Sanosuke to hate the Meiji Government and he wears the Japanese kanji for "evil" on the back of his jacket. He bears this symbol as a mark of his loyalty towards his past in the Sekihō Army. Sanosuke uses an enormous zanbatō in battle, giving him the moniker . The blade has no edge and Sanosuke only uses it to smash and crush his opponents. In his introduction in the manga, Sanosuke is hired to fight Kenshin, but after the former assassin defeats him, he learns of the truth of Kenshin's no-kill approach and becomes one of his allies. After Kenshin defeats him and breaks his zanbatō, Sanosuke decides to focus on

unarmed combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

. When the criminal

Shishio Makoto , known in the English anime in Western order as Makoto Shishio, is a fictional character from the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki and the main antagonist of the ''Kyoto Arc'', the second arc of the series. Shishio i ...

tries to conquer Japan, Sanosuke helps Kenshin in the fight against him. While on his trip to Kyoto to aid him, Sanosuke was trained in kenpo from a warrior monk named

Yūkyūzan Anji The manga series ''Rurouni Kenshin'' features a large cast of character (arts), fictional characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Set in Japan during the Meiji period, several of the characters are real historical figures who interact with the ...

. Anji taught Sanosuke a secret technique called . ''Futae no Kiwami'' is a special art in which the user performs two hits in quick succession with any part of his body. The first hit with the

proximal interphalangeal joint The interphalangeal joints of the hand are the hinge joints between the phalanges of the fingers that provide flexion towards the palm of the hand. There are two sets in each finger (except in the thumb, which has only one joint): * "proximal int ...

neutralizes the hardness of the target, then the second blow, struck with the

proximal phalanx The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...

, breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow. Using his mastery from this art with his right hand allows him to defeat the third most powerful opponent in Shishio's

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

: Anji. Months later, in an act of revenge on Kenshin,

Yukishiro Enishi , known in Western order as Enishi Yukishiro in the English language original video animation, OVA Dubbing (filmmaking), dubs, is a Character (arts), fictional character from the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' Fictional universe, universe created by Nobuhir ...

fakes

Kamiya Kaoru , known as Kaoru Kamiya in the Media Blasters English-language dub and Kori Kamiya in the English Sony ''Samurai X'' dub, is a fictional character in the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. In the story Kaoru is the instru ...

's death. Kenshin loses the will to live and when Sanosuke is unable to reach him, he wanders away from Tokyo. In his wandering, he is reunited with his family in the

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

(Shinshū). Watsuki, Nobuhiro. "Act 45: Extra: Sanosuke and Nishiki Paintings (1)." ''

'' Volume 6.

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

. 110. Years prior to the start of the series, Sanosuke left the family at the age of 9 to join the Sekihō Army. Although he does not reveal his identity to his family, upon learning of their poor situation Sanosuke attacks a former

Ishin Shishi , sometimes known as , were a group of Japanese political activists of the late Edo period. While it is usually applied to the anti-shogunate, pro-''sonnō jōi'' (尊皇攘夷; "Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian ) samurai primarily from t ...

who was mistreating them and the town. During these fights, Sanosuke's right hand is permanently damaged from the overuse ''Futae no Kiwami''. and overcomes this disability when he discovers using both hands in succession which lessens the impact to his damaged hand. After protecting his family, he returns to Tokyo to rescue Kaoru with his friends. After a successful rescue, Sanosuke leaves Japan and travels the world to avoid being arrested for attacking the Ishin Shishi. The manga ends with a letter from Sanosuke to his friends that he is returning to Japan to be reunited with them.

In other media

In the '' Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture'', Sanosuke helps to stop the samurai Takimi Shigure from overthrowing the Meiji Government as an act of revenge. In the original video animations of the series, he is given a more humanized design and a more emotional personality. In the non-canon '' Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection'', an older Sanosuke discovers Kenshin gravely injured when he is traveling in Asia and sends Kenshin back to Tokyo by himself, contradicting his character development by his creator, Watsuki. Sanosuke is also a

playable character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

in almost all the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' video games except ''

Jump Super Stars ''Jump Super Stars'' is a 2D crossover fighting game for the Nintendo DS, based on ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' characters. It was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo. The game was released on August 8, 2005, in Japan and accompanied th ...

'' and ''

Jump Ultimate Stars Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...

'', in which he isn't playable but is available as a Battle koma. In ''Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration'', Sanosuke is hired by Takeda Kanryu to kill Kenshin but he only wishes to fight Kenshin. After losing to Kenshin, Sanosuke agrees to help him with taking care of Kaoru's dojo. In the live-action film series adapting ''

'', Sanosuke is portrayed by

Munetaka Aoki is a Japanese actor. He played Sanosuke Sagara in the live action adaptation of the manga and anime series ''Rurouni Kenshin''. He is married to Japanese actress and model Yūka. Filmography Film *''Battle Royale II'' (2003) *''Fly, Daddy, F ...

Reception

Among the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' reader base Sanosuke has been popular, having ranked second in every '' Shonen Jump'' popularity poll of the series and also ranked fifth in the "Kenshin's Biggest Rival" poll featuring all of Kenshin's opponents. Merchandise based on Sanosuke has been released, including sweat bands, keychains, and plush dolls. Several anime and manga publications have provided both praise and criticism of Sanosuke's character.

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

said that Sanosuke's first fight in the series against Kenshin was stereotypical for an action series due to the differences between Sanosuke's and Kenshin's personalities, and to the music used in the anime that gives the impression that Kenshin would win. In the'' Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Manga'', multiple writers acknowledged how both Sanosuke and Yahiko spend their time in the series searching for ways to become stronger. However, they do it for a heroic reason which is assisting Kenshin. SciFi.com commended him for being a good source of

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

and described his appearance as a video-game icon. However, they commented he was a "tragic figure whose goofy peccadilloes have solid reasons behind them" due to being unable to avoid the destruction of the Sekihotai army and feeling guilty due to it. Mania Entertainment praised Sanosuke's character development and transformation from an enemy of Kenshin into one of his most stalwart friends. Chris Beveridge appreciated the fight scenes from ''Restoration'' due to how Sanosuke is presented stronger than in the original manga, making his duel with Kenshin more enjoyable. In the '' Samurai X: Reflection'' original video animation, Mike Crandol of ''

'' referred to Sanosuke's revised design as "pretty awkward" since Crandol felt Sanosuke's original character design was "perhaps being too cartoonish to translate well into this new style," with the "new style" being the "decidedly more realistic look" exhibited in all of the ''Samurai X'' original video animations. Sanosuke's role in the live-action films has also been the subject of commentary by writers.

's acting was praised by Ko Ransom from Anime News Network, finding it faithful to the original character. Nick Creamer from the same site also noted how in the first live-action film, Sanosuke's characterization was identical to the original series as he is initially an enemy to Kenshin but later becomes his friend. On the other hand, Creamer criticized Sanosuke's portrayal in the second film as he stated that he "tends to chew the scenery in his appearances" to the point he found him less realistic. For the liveaction film '' Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends'', David West from ''

Neo Neo or NEO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Neo (''The Matrix''), the alias of Thomas Anderson, a hacker and the protagonist of the Matrix film series * Neo (''Marvel Comics'' species), a fictional race of superhumans * ...

'' enjoyed Sanosuke's fight against Anji but felt it was too similar to his fight against the Christian priest from the first film.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagara, Sanosuke Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Comics characters introduced in 1994 Fictional characters based on real people Fictional Japanese people in anime and manga Fictional male martial artists Fictional mercenaries in comics Fictional revolutionaries Fictional swordfighters in anime and manga Male characters in anime and manga Martial artist characters in anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin characters Teenage characters in anime and manga