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Sagara Sanosuke
Rurouni Kenshin character
Sagara Sanosuke by Nobuhiro Watsuki
First appearance	Rurouni Kenshin manga chapter 5 Rurouni Kenshin anime episode 4
In-universe information
Occupation	Former fighter-for-hire

Sagara Sanosuke (相楽 左之助) is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin anime and manga series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is known as Sanosuke Sagara in the English adaptation of the anime and is nicknamed Sano. Watsuki, being a fan of the Shinsengumi, created Sanosuke by basing his name and characteristics on that of a real Shinsengumi member named Harada Sanosuke.

Set during a fictional version of Japan during the pre-Meiji period, Sanosuke is a former member of the Sekihotai. When the group is destroyed by the Meiji Government, he becomes a fighter-for-hire to calm his anger by fighting. During his introduction in the series, he encounters the wanderer Himura Kenshin, 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. He has also appears in the featured film of the series and in other media relating to the franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and original video animations.

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

Creation and conception

Redesign of Sanosuke in the kanzenban series.

Sanosuke was one of the last major figures of the series to be created. Watsuki created him to be Kenshin's best friend, who will punch 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.

Watsuki describes Sanosuke's visual motif by referring to his design model, Lamp, the main character of Takeshi Obata's Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp. 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". Watsuki saw Shiba Ryōtarō's version of Harada as the one he wanted to use as a model for his design and has said that the character's big spiky hair is the strangest element he has ever drawn.

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 for "evil" (惡, aku) on the back of Sanosuke's jacket; in the original series, the tattoo is located inside his clothes. Unlike in the manga where Sanosuke uses a zanbatō as a weapon, Watsuki gave him a sword notably larger in size. He also gave him an armor-like cloth to make him look more as a warrior.

In the anime adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin, Watsuki's designs were combined with the voice talents of Yūji Ueda, a seiyū. In producing the English dub version of the series, Media Blasters chose Lex Lang as Sanosuke's voice actor. 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, and tried slowly to change the character's dialogue to make him seem dumber so he would be more similar to the Japanese version of the series.

Character outline

Personality

After the destruction of the Sekihotai, Sanosuke hates the Meiji Government and begins to wear the Japanese kanji for "evil" (惡, aku) on the back of his jacket. He bears this symbol as a mark of his loyalty towards his past in the Sekihotai, but it also serves as a reminder to defend innocent people who have been wronged so other persons can avoid the same suffering he experienced. Sanosuke's influence on other characters is demonstrated when they place the same symbol of the Japanese kanji on their backs, as does his younger brother Higashidani Ota. Myōjin Yahiko wears a smaller version of the kanji when he comes of age at the end of the manga.

Despite hating the Meiji Government, Sanosuke becomes Kenshin's best friend and sees him as a gentle person. Sanosuke compares Kenshin to his former captain whom he admires, Sagara Sōzō. Although Sanosuke may punch him occasionally for not allowing him to fight, Kenshin notes that Kenshin is his most reliable friend, always wanting to help. He also forms friendly relationships with other main characters, notably with doctor Takani Megumi. Because Sanosuke is injured several times throughout the series, Megumi usually takes care of him and warns him about the dangers of fighting.

Sanosuke enjoys fighting and always seeks strong opponents to test his strength, even if the opponent is a friend. As a result, Sanosuke admires several fighters throughout the series, referring to them as "invincible" and showing them respect regardless of their morality. He eventually starts a rivalry with the former Shinsengumi member Saitō Hajime when they fight in the start of the Kyoto arc. Because of the fights he loses against him, Sanosuke sees Saitō as the person he has to surpass in order to become "really stronger".

Techniques

Sanosuke performing the Futae no Kiwami

At the start of the series, Sanosuke uses an enormous zanbatō in battle, giving him the moniker Zanza (斬左). The blade has no edge and Sanosuke only uses it to smash and crush his opponents. After being defeated by Kenshin, he stops using the zanbatō and decides to focus on hand-to-hand combat. After that, Sanosuke is introduced as Kenshin's most powerful ally, having gained superhuman strength and toughness from the numerous battles he has experienced since the age of ten. During the Kyoto arc, Sanosuke learns the Futae no Kiwami (二重の極み, lit. "Mastery of the Two Layers") technique from a fallen monk named Yūkyūzan Anji. Futae no Kiwami is a special art in which the user performs two hits in quick succession with any part of his body. Sanosuke is only able to perform it with his right hand; the first punch with the proximal interphalangeal joint neutralizes the hardness of the target, then the second blow, struck with the proximal phalanx, breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow. Sanosuke's right hand is severely damaged from the overuse of this technique, and this becomes a major hindrance to his fighting ability during the Jinchū arc. He overcomes this disability when he discovers that the Futae no Kiwami can be performed using both hands in succession which lessens the impact to his damaged hand.

Plot overview

Sanosuke leaves his family at an early age to join the Sekihotai. Sanosuke admires their captain, Sagara Sōzō, and takes the family name, Sagara, from him. When the revolutionary government encounters financial problems, it labels the Sekihotai as frauds. The Sekihotai are executed, leaving Sanosuke as one of the few survivors. Having lost hope in his captain's dream of a new future, Sanosuke becomes a mercenary in Tokyo. Over the next ten years, he gains a reputation as one of the strongest hired fighters of the city.

At the start of the series, Sanosuke is hired to kill 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. When the criminal Shishio Makoto tries to conquer Japan, Sanosuke helps Kenshin in the fight against him, and defeats the third most powerful opponent on his army: Anji, the monk that taught Sanosuke the Futai no Kiwami technique. Months later, in an act of revenge to Kenshin, Yukishiro Enishi fakes Kamiya Kaoru's death. Sanosuke furiously leaves Tokyo after seeing Kenshin's sadness over this. In his wandering, he meets his family and attacks a former Ishin Shishi who was mistreating them. Soon after, he returns to Tokyo to rescue Kaoru and his friends. After a successful rescue, Sanosuke leaves Japan and travels the world to avoid being arrested for attacking the Ishin Shishi.

Appearances in other media

In the film Samurai X 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 Samurai X: Reflection, an older Sanosuke discovers Kenshin gravely injured when he is travelling along Asia. He arranges for Kenshin's return to Tokyo and Kaoru, telling him that this is the last time they will ever meet. Sanosuke is also a playable character in all of the Rurouni Kenshin video games, including Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars in which he is playable using the zanbatō or as a common fighter.

Reception

Among the Rurouni Kenshin reader base Sanosuke has been popular, having ranked second in every Shonen Jump popularity poll of the series and has also ranked fifth in the "Favourite Kenshin's arch-enemies" polls, a ranking featuring all Kenshin's opponents. Merchandise based on Sanosuke has also been released, including sweat bands, keychains, and plush dolls. Ueda, Sanosuke's seiyū 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 been acting as him for a long period. He also commented that he would have liked to see more fights relating Sanosuke in the original video animations, but was happy to note 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 a fight-driven character driven by anger, but as the show continued, he noted that Sanosuke was friendly and started to him. Because his voice is notably different from Ueda's, Lex tries to make his own interpretation of Sanosuke's character. Lang has noted the scene of the episode 22 of the anime, in which Sanosuke is afraid of a train because he believes it is a demon, is the funniest scene he has ever recorded.

Several anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Sanosuke's character. Anime News Network noted 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. SciFi.com commended him for being a good source of comic relief, and noted that while he was "more of a video-game icon than a character", he was a "tragic figure whose goofy peccadilloes have solid reasons behind them". Mania Entertainment praised Sanosuke's character development and transformation from an enemy of Kenshin into one of his most stalwart friends. In the original video animations, Anime News Network called his design "pretty awkward" due to the different graphics utilized in the original video animations as versus the graphics in the anime.