Sagara Sanosuke

Basics

Sagara Sanosuke, Sagara, named after his master (role model) Sagara Sozo, appears in the manga for the first time in Chapter 5, Volume 1 of the manga, and by anime in Episode 4. Sanosuke has no real style or school by which he follows, but he was a previous member of he Sekihou-Tai which puts him on edge of the Bakamatsu. He opposed the Ishin Shishi and all other “patriots” until he meets Kenshin, by which he becomes friends with him. Sanosuke’s attributes include his brown hair, brown eyes, Red bandana, and white jacket that reads “Aku” (Evil) on the back. Sanosuke is very strong but because of his poor defense and weird hair he is called “Chicken Head” by Saitou Hajime and Cho later on in the series. He does not use any weapons except for the Zanbatou he carries in the beginning of the series but is broken by Kenshin. Sanosuke is very ambitious, proud, and hot tempered. He does not live in the dojo but he visits there so often it’s weird why he just doesn’t move in.

History

Sagara Sanosuke was part of Sekihou-Tai (Sekihou Army) who fought for freedom of the people. Sanosuke followed the leader of the Sekihou-Tai, Sagara Sozo and adopted his name because of his idealism for him. However, Sagara Sozo spread false information about the revolution and purpose (as they mention in the manga–lower taxes) and was killed. In the anime this was by gun shot and in the manga it was by decapitation. Sanosuke never forgot this act and rejected all the freedom fighters calling them “hipocrites.” As Sanosuke meets Kenshin with his Zanbatou he wishes to get rid of the Hitokiri Battousai since he was a freedom fighter, yet when Kenshin defeats him he accepts his defeat. Kenshin convinced Sanosuke of his faults and Sanosuke realizes Kenshin is the same as his ideal model, Sagara. From then on out Kenshin is Sanosuke’s friend and Sanosuke becomes apart of Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko’s lives. Sanosuke usually accompanies Kenshin whenever he has to fight and is his “partner in crime” :P. Despite this, Sanosuke cannot really let go of his past and this continuously shows up throughout the series…

Watsuki’s Ccharacter Notes

The following is quoted off of Shonen Jump’s RK graphic novel translations of Watsuki:
“If you’re a Shinsengumi you’ve probably figured this one righ away: Sanosuke’s motif is Captain of the Shinsengumi’s 10th division, Harada Sanosuke.

Harada Sanosuke was among the top five best-looking guys in the Shinsengumi… despite his depiction as “chubby” in (well-known historical novelist) Shiba Ryotaro’s “Moeya Ken”—Watsuki’s Bible! A spear-wielder of great strength and forever fighting, Harada Sanosuke was active in every decisive battle of the Shinsengumi. Rough-mannered and short-tempered, he also had a softer side—due, perhaps, to his humble beginnings. He was considerate of his comrades and took special care with subordinates. Quick to pass judgment and prone to seeing things in black and white, Harada Sanosuke can probably be thought of as the kind of “big brother” character common in manga for young men. Accepted history states that he was K.I.A. during the Ueno War, but legend has him crossing the continent (to China) and becoming chief of his very own bandit army. To his contemporaries, Watsuki liked him quite a bit as well, and wanted him for RuroKen. Thus born Sagara Sanosuke.

Sano’s popularity has been climbing of late, and that’s a good thing. but as the Rurouni Kenshin character voted “Most Likely to Have His First Name Mangled” (I see people writing the kanji for “Sanosuke” with the “Sa-” wrong, the “-no” wrong, the “-suke” wrong… even, in one case, writing it “Sasuke”!!), all I can is, C’mon,people—he’s not a ninja! (Sad… so sad.)

Visual Motif: People are always assuming he’s based on such-and-such a character from such-and-such a manga series (he’s not, though I’m a big fan of such-and-such series myself). The model for Sano is actually the main character “Lamp” from “Mashin Boken Tan Lamp-Lamp (Arabian Genie Adventure Lamp-Lamp)” by Obata Takeshi, the Hikaru No Go series artist. As for where that all started, that was with me, doodling in sketchbooks during my days as an assistant, adding and subtracting then eventually calling it Sano–with blessings from the original artist, of course.”

Technique Guide

Thank you Somak for writing this up! Thank you so much.

• Futae no Kiwami – This move was also mastered by Sanosuke in a week while it took Anji to do it in a few years. Basically you use the part of body to do two hits one after another in a few milliseconds. The first attack lowers the resistance for the second attack, which is the full force blow. Very handy technique for making defensive air shields, breaking down walls, or just plain old beating the stuffing out of someone. Sanosuke can only use this with his right fist, while Anji can use this with all parts of his body.