The characters are kinda listed in order of most popular.
Click on their name or picture to go to their page.
Ichimura Tetsunosuke: The main character of the show. A teppoudama boy of 15 who lost his parents at a young age and is being cared for
by his older brother, Tatsunosuke. He wishes to join the Shinsengumi to avenge the death of his parents.
Ichimura Tatsunosuke: Tetsu's older brother who cares for Tetsu as a father. He also works for the Shinsengumi, albeit as an accountant.
Unfortunately, his character is not very well developed. He mostly just goes around apologizing for all the trouble Tetsu
causes.
Okita Souji: Another lead character, Okita-sama is a kind, gentle, caring soul who loves children, candy and Saizu (the pig).
Okita is also the feared, undefeated Captain of the 1st unit. He quickly befriends Tetsu and helps him on his journey to become
a man. Sadly, Okita is dying of Tuberculosis. (Shameless Plug: I am a *huge* Okita fan, and built a shrine to the legendary
1st Captain. So go! Check out
Anywhere But Here! (Please?)
Hijikata Toshizo: Known as 'The Demon-like Second-in-Command', Hijikata pretty much controls everything that goes on at the Shinsengumi
HQ. He is resistant to allowing Tetsu to join, but eventually does, on Okita's behalf.
Kondo Isama: The chief of the Shinsengumi, he is usually portrayed as a kindly, grandfather-like type man. He doesn't seem to
take much interest in commanding, and leaves most of the work to Hijikata.
Yamazaki Susumu: A faithful and skilled spy, he dresses as a woman during the day to gather information from the inside, and jumps
from roof to roof (like a typical shinobi) at night to 'watch' from the outside. Apparently Tetsu is the first person to make
Susumu angry.
Yamazaki Ayumu: Susumu's sister, she is very sweet and caring, and is the cook of the Shinsengumi. You don't see her and Susumu
together until the beginning of ep 8, where it is made clear that they have a very strained (to put it mildly) relationship.
Nagakura Shinpachi: One of the 'Comedic Trio' (or, 'The Three Stooges', as Okita calls them), Shinpachi seems to be Sano's best bud,
as they are always seen together. He is also a very skilled fighter, and seems to like Tetsu. He is Captain of the 2nd unit.
Harada Sanosuke: Another of the Three Stooges, he is pretty much always seen with Shinpachi. He fights with a spear rather than a
sword, and is Captain of the 10th unit.
Saito Hajime: This Saito is waaaay different from the sadistic cop of the same name we all know and love from Rurouni Kenshin.
He is quiet and reserved, always looks half asleep, and can slip into the background without anyone noticing him. For an interesting
twist, he is a psychic. (But he still loves his soba! lol)
Saizu: The little piggy that hates Tetsu and loves Okita.
Saya: The little mute girl who steals Tetsu's heart.
Yamanami Keisuke: Second-in-Command under Hijikata (known as the Buddah-like Second-in-Command), he does most of the accounting work.
He is a kind man who wears glasses, and, like Okita, loves children. (Thats Toudou in the background, there, just incase you
were wondering)
Kitamura Suzu: Rather cute, he is the same age as Tetsu, but is on the opposing side (the Choshuu). He is Yoshida's disciple and
page. He is quite disturbingly attatched to Yoshida. This is evident when, in the final episodes of the series, he picks up
Yoshida's decapitated head, cleans it, and proceeds to carry it around with him. And yes, he talks to it too. He also seems
to have a fondness of cats.
Toudou Heisuke: The third of The Three Stooges. Captain of the 8th unit. I don't know much about him. He's wiered. Thats the best
way to describe him. Wiered.
Yoshida Toshimaru: The bad guy! lol A blood-crazed maniac with a flair for Arson. Well, actually, we fans really don't give the poor
guy enough credit. He is actually an interesting paradox that I am dying to figure out. Think: Shishio Makoto+Hijikata+Seta
Soujiro. He's more humble than Shishio and Hijikata...but not as...er, innocent as Soujiro. I'm actually beginning to like
him.
Akesato: An Oiran who borders on being Keisuke's girlfriend. She's also a ninja for the Choshuu (see below).
Fuuma Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. She's really Akesato. Well, I don't feel like tearing down this page so I'll just post
her "ninja" pics seperately from her "courtesan" pics. Why the name Fuuma, you ask? Well, I stumbled across a site on the
net with screencaps, and the webmistress referred to her as Fuuma. I believe this is due to ep 7, where she throws shuriken
at Susumu, and Susumu looks over his shoulder and mumbles "Fuuma?" Because of this, I thought she was an entirely seperate
entity by the name of Fuuma. It's really a simple mistake that anyone can make. (*cough, cough*)
Maro Nevermind the hand in the screencap. If you've seen ep 16 you'll know exactly which sene this cap
is from. This guy was just downright demented. At first I thought he was supposed to be a demon or something of the sort,
but later I learned he was just an insane nobleman. I actually feel kinda sorry for him; apparently his insanity stems from
the death of his son (or a boy he loved as a son. Or a boy he just...loved. Or loved as...something else. I'm really not too
clear on this.)
He dies (burns to death, to be exact) in Ep. 17
Hotaru The little Choshuu girl with a huuuge crush on Okita-sama (can you blame her? lol)
Sakamoto Ryouma: I might have spelled his name wrong, I'm not sure. He's a...hmm...what is he, exactly? A peacemaker? He first appears
in Ep. 10, and seems to have known Tetsu and Tatsu's father. He's an outlaw by Shinsengumi standards. And he seems to somehow
know Yoshida, as well. He was a real person, too. Did you know there's even an airport in Japan that's named after him?
Kichisaburou Okita's look-alike and Maru's obsession. It's been a while since I've seen his episodes, so
I really can't remember exactly what happens with him. I do know that he dies along with Maru.
