Sagara Sanosuke

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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
Voiced by	Japanese Yūji Ueda[1] Yuriko Fuchizaki (child)[2] Tomokazu Seki (drama CD)[3] English Lex Lang[4] Brianne Siddall (child)[5] Gray G. Haddock (OVAs and movie)[6]
Profile
Aliases	Zanza
Age	19[7]
Date of birth	February 1860[8]
Occupation	Former fighter-for-hire

Sagara Sanosuke (相楽 左之助, Sagara Sanosuke^?), known as Sanosuke Sagara in the English-language dub and nicknamed Sano, is a fictional character from the Rurouni Kenshin universe created by Nobuhiro Watsuki as a main figure for the series and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, original video animations (OVAs), movies, soundtracks, video games, and other collectibles. Being a fan of the Shinsengumi, Watsuki created the character by basing his name and characteristics to that of a real Shinsengumi member called Harada Sanosuke.^[9]

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 that the new peaceful period has not been still made. Since that moment, Sanosuke becomes Kenshin's best friend and also his partner for most of their fights. He has also appeared in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media relating to the franchise, including a plethora of electronic games and an OVA series.

Various anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Sanosuke's character. AnimeOnDVD.com praised his development for becoming more trustly and reliable.^[10] SciFi.com noted his character to look like a "videogame icon" but with a tragic humanity.^[11] Sanosuke has been highly popular with the Rurouni Kenshin reader base, placing second in every popularity poll.^[12] Merchandise based on Sanosuke has also been released, including key chains, and plush.

Contents 1 Creation and conception 2 Character outline 2.1 Background 2.2 Personality 2.3 Techniques 3 Plot overview 4 Appearances in other media 5 Reception 6 References

[edit] Creation and conception

Sanosuke was one of the last major figures of the series to be created. Watsuki made him to be the good friend of Kenshin, who will even punch when he may be in a sad state to make him "wake up". Although being a main character of the series, Watsuki feels he could not write everything he wanted about him and thought that making him the title character of a series would be interesting.^[13]

Watsuki describes Sanosuke's visual motif by saying his design model is Lamp, the main character of Takeshi Obata's Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp (Arabian Genie Adventure Lamp-Lamp). Watsuki, as an assistant, formed the character by doodling in sketchbooks and 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 to design and remarks his hair strangest things he has ever drawn.^[9]

In July 2006, the Japanese publishers of Rurouni Kenshin released the kanzenban edition. In the fifth kanzenban, Watsuki redisgned the character of Sanosuke in a draft. To emphasize his hate against the Meiji Government, Watsuki drew the Japanese kanji 惡 (aku), meaning "evil", "wicked" or "bad", on the back of Sanosuke. Instead of giving him a zanbatō, Watsuki added a sword with a notable large size. He also gave him an armor-like cloth to make him look more as a warrior.^[14]

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 dialogues, Clark Cheng, writer of the dub script, noted that the character was "smarter" than how he would have liked in the first few episodes, and tried to slowly "dumb" him as he thought that the same thing happened in the Japanese version of the series.^[15]

[edit] Character outline

[edit] Background

Sanosuke leaves home at an early age to join the Sekihotai, leaving behind his family who were farmers.^[16] The Sekihotai fights for the imperial alliance at the end of the Tokugawa regime and Sanosuke admires his captain, Sagara Sōzō, and took the family name Sagara from him. The Sekihotai were on assignment to spread word of the halving of taxes proclaimed by the revolution. However, when the revolutionary government encountered financial problems, they labeled the Sekihotai as frauds to bury their promises. This setup was engineered by Shindō Tatewaki, a former officer in the imperial alliance. The Sekihotai were designated scapegoats and were executed, leaving Sanosuke as one of the few survivors. Having lost hope in Captain Sagara's dreams of a new future, Sanosuke becomes a fight merchant in Tokyo. The enjoyment he feels while fighting allows him to forget his past, even as he wears the "aku" symbol, meaning "evil", on his back as a constant reminder.^[17][18] Over the next ten years, he gains a reputation as one of the strongest hired fighters in the Tokyo underground.^[19]

[edit] Personality

Since the destruction of the Sekihotai, Sanosuke gains a big hatred towards the Meiji Government and began wearing the Japanese kanji 惡 (aku), meaning "evil", "wicked" or "bad", on the back of his jacket. He bears this symbol as a mark of his loyalty towards his past in the Sekihotai, but also serves as a reminder to defend innocent people who have been wronged to avoid anybody have the same suffering he had.^[20] Sanosuke's influence on others can be seen as others place the character on their backs as well as his younger brother Higashidani Ota^[21] and Myōjin Yahiko who wears a smaller version of the kanji by the time he comes of age at the end of the manga.^[22]

Though hating the Meiji Government, Sanosuke becomes into the best friend of Kenshin as he sees that he is a gentle person like his former captain Sagara Sōzō and always wants to help him in his fights, although he may had to punch him,^[23] something which Kenshin notes that that makes him his most reliable friend.^[24] He also starts friendly relationships with the other main characters of the series, being the one he has with the doctor Takani Megumi the most notable. Due to Sanosuke receiving injuries several times throughout the series, Megumi usually takes care of him and warns him about the dangers of fighting.^[25]

Due to becoming a fighter-for-hire in his childhood, Sanosuke enjoys fighting and always wants a strong person as an opponent even if that oppponent is a friend.^[26] During his fights in the series, Sanosuke starts admiring several fighters calling them "invincible" and shows them respect no matter how evil is the fighter.^[27] He eventually starts a rivalry with the former Shinsengumi member Saitō Hajime during their fights in the start of the Kyoto arc.^[28] As a result of the fights he lost against him, Sanosuke sees Saitō as the person he has to surprass in order to become "really stronger".^[29]

[edit] Techniques

Sanosuke's weapon is the heaviest zanbatō ever made in the Rurouni Kenshin universe earning him the name Zanza (斬左, Zanza^?). Due to its wear, the blade has no edge and Sanosuke only uses it to smash and crush.^[30] After being defeated by Kenshin, he quits using the zanbatō and decides to focus on his body when fighting.^[23] Since then, Sanosuke is introduced as Kenshin's most powerful ally, gaining his superhuman strength and toughness from the numerous battles he has experienced since the age of ten. During the Kyoto arc, Sanosuke learns Futae no Kiwami (二重の極み, Futae no Kiwami^? lit. "Mastery of the Two Layers") from a fallen monk named Yūkyūzan Anji.^[20] Futae no Kiwami is a special art where the user performs two hits in quick succession with any part of his body, though he is only able to use it with different parts of the right hand; the first punch with the proximal interphalangeal joint neutralizes the hardness of the target, then the second blow strikes with the proximal phalanx and breaks the target before it recovers from the force of the first blow.^[31] Sanosuke's right hand is severely damaged due to the overuse of this technique, this becoming into a major hindrance to Sanosuke's fighting ability during the Jinchū arc.^[32] He finally overcomes this disability by his discovery, that the Futae no Kiwami can be performed using both hands: his left hand holds his right wrist during the impact, lessening the impact to his damaged hand.^[33]

[edit] Plot overview

In 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 a valuable ally helping him in every fight he has to engage.^[23] In the Kyoto arc, Sanosuke helps in the fight against Shishio Makoto and defeats the third most powerful opponent, in the Juppongatana who results to be his Futae no Kiwami teacher, Anji.^[34] In the Jinchū arc, he becomes disappointed and furious, when seeing Kenshin's sad attitude after the supposed death of Kamiya Kaoru caused by Yukishiro Enishi in an act of revenge and leaves Tokyo.^[35] After discovering how his family living Sanosuke attacks a former Ishin Shishi who was giving a bad treat to their city.^[21] Soon after that, he returns to Tokyo to help to rescue Kaoru with all his recovered friends.^[36] After succeeding in their retrieve, Sanosuke leaves Japan to avoid becoming arrested for attacking the Ishin Shishi and travels the world.^[22]

[edit] Appearances in other media

In the movie Samurai X The Motion Picture, Sanosuke helps to avoid a samurai named Takimi Shigure from overthrowing the Meiji Government as an act of revenge.^[37] In the OVAs of the series, he is given a more humanized design and a deeper personality. In Samurai X: Reflection, when travelling around Asia, an old Sanosuke discovers Kenshin, gravely injured, on the shore and arranges for Kenshin's return to Tokyo and Kaoru, saying to him that this is the last time they will ever meet.^[38] Sanosuke is a playable character in all of the Rurouni Kenshin video games,^[39] including Jump Super Stars^[40] and Jump Ultimate Stars^[41] in which he is playable using the zanbatō or as a common fighter.

[edit] Reception

Amongst the Rurouni Kenshin reader base Sanosuke has been popular, having ranked second in every Shonen Jump popularity poll of the series^[12][42] and has ranked fifth in the "Favourite Kenshin's arch-enemies" polls.^[43] Merchandise based on Sanosuke has also been released, including sweat bands,^[44] keychains,^[45] and plush dolls.^[46] Ueda, Sanosuke's seiyū in the Japanese anime, commented that acting as him in the OVAs was very complicated since 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 OVAs but was happy as how he grew up.^[47] Lang, the voice actor of Sanosuke in the English dub, commented that his first impression of him was to be a fight-driven character due to his anger, but as the show continued he noted Sanosuke to be a friendly character and started liking him. Since his voice is notably different from Ueda's, Lex tries to make his own interpretation of Sanosuke's character. Lex remarks the scene of the episode twenty-two of the anime, in which Sanosuke is afraid of the train and acts very cartoony as the funniest scene he has ever recorded.^[48]

Various anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Sanosuke's character. Anime News Network credits Sanosuke's first fight in the series to be completely predictable and how it would end noting the differences between the two characters.^[49] SciFi.com commended him for being a good comedy relief and reputes him to be more of a "videogame icon" than a character but when seeing his past they attribute his humanity, recasting Sanosuke as a tragic figure whose goofy peccadilloes have solid reasons behind them.^[11] AnimeOnDVD.com gave a deeper appreciation of Sanosuke's character pointing out that in the sidestory of volume 6 he did not fight against Kenshin and trusted him as a good friend, resulting in a deep development of the character.^[10] His design in the OVAs has been criticized for being "pretty awkward" since the reviewers consider his original design too cartoonish to translate well into this new style.^[50]

[edit] References

v • d • e Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki Franchise Episodes • Volumes • Trust & Betrayal • Reflection • The Motion Picture Characters Himura Kenshin • Kamiya Kaoru • Sagara Sanosuke • Myōjin Yahiko • Takani Megumi • Shinomori Aoshi • Makimachi Misao • Hiko Seijūrō • Himura Kenji • Saitō Hajime • Shishio Makoto • Seta Sōjirō • Yukishiro Enishi • Yukishiro Tomoe • Minor characters • Villains Historical Terms and References Samurai • Shinsengumi • Meiji period • Hajime Saitō • Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu • Ishin Shishi • Three great nobles