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Sanosuke Harada (原田左之助 Harada Sanosuke) is the Captain of the Shinsengumi's 10th Division. He is a native of Edo and very skilled with a spear, which is his weapon of choice. There is a scar on his stomach from an attempted suicide.
Sano is introduced along with the other Shinsengumi captains when Chizuru is brought for questioning. He is often seen as part of the trio (along with Heisuke and Shinpachi) who enjoy fighting together and drinking together, often breaking Hijikata's rules and curfew. Sano is very popular with women and is good at understanding girls' hearts, he is noticed and adored by geishas at Shimabara. Despite having a flirty personality and reputation of a ladies' man, Sano is extremely honorable, he treats his opponents with respect and never tries to find excuses for his actions. According to his own words, men should not look for excuses.
Harada is based on the historical Harada Sanosuke.
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Appearance
Sanosuke is the tallest among the captains, standing at 6'1" (185cm). He has dark amber eyes and auburn hair - worn long in the first season and cut shorter later on. He has a significant scar across his stomach from a failed suicide attempt, a trait that he shared with his real historical counterpart. His traditional Japanese wardrobe consists of a modified white kataginu with red trimming, a red bandage-like obi, red hand guards, and a gray hakama.
His Western clothing in the second season consists of a white shirt with a black vest and a long black and white sleeveless jacket, lined with the same red of his wafuku, red hand guards of a Western style to match, a white belt to hold his sword, and black trousers and boots.
Personality
Sanosuke Harada is one of the most cheerful of the Shinsengumi and can usually be found making jokes with his best friend Shinpachi Nagakura and making people smile. He can be quick to anger as seen when a slip of Heisuke's tongue alarms him enough to throw a punch at the younger captain to silence him. But, despite his temper and his tendency to be laid-back when he is not concerned, he is also very friendly and loyal to his comrades. He prefers the spear to the sword, a notable similarity to the historical Harada Sanosuke.
Despite his short temper, Sano is very kind and caring. He is the one who receives the order from Hijikata to take Chizuru to a festival, and he is also the one to take Chizuru out in the city to meet Senhime when she is feeling down. He takes his pride in protecting Chizuru from demons, always saying that it is a man's duty to protect a woman.
As shown in OVAs, Sano trusts his subordinates and cares deeply about them, enough to put his life in danger to uphold their reputation and prove them to be trustworthy.
Story
This article contains major SPOILERS. Be careful if you do not know the full story yet.
First Season
Sanosuke is one of the Shinsengumi captains that Chizuru Yukimura meets when she comes to their headquarters. He is first seen in the common room witnessing Chizuru's interrogation (although he does not take part in it), and his first major appearance happens during the first meal they have with Chizuru when Sano punches Heisuke Toudou in the face for revealing too much information to the girl.
Later on, he participates in all battles and at some point gets a task from Toshizou Hijikata to express gratitude to Chizuru for her help with delivering information, and so he takes her and Shinpachi to a festival. He is also one of those who protect Chizuru from demons multiple times.
During the Kinmon Rebellion, Sano meets Kyou Shiranui who uses a gun instead of a sword. Even though Sano considers it cowardly, they seem to have a similar battle skill overall, so they take interest in each other. Whenever the demon trio engages in battle with the Shinsengumi, Kyo is always the one who fights with Sano and promises to kill him a few times but never does.
Sano's stomach show
Shortly after the Shinsengumi has been assigned to guard a noticeboard, Sano's unit gets attacked by a mysterious woman that looks like Chizuru. He fights off the attackers, for which he gets a good sum of money, and he takes his friend to a restaurant to celebrate and enquire about Chizuru's possible participance. Later, everyone gets drunk, and Sano performs his stomach show that makes everyone laugh.
Sano is one of those who is assigned to assassinate Kashitarou Itou when he gets into a trap by the Satsuma Domain. He fights alongside Shinpachi Nagakura but is outnumbered. When Amagiri suggests giving them Chizuru in return to being spared, Sano claims that he would rather keep fighting and take them all to hell with him than hand over Chizuru.
Sano is last seen in the first season when he saves Shinpachi during the Battle of Tuba-Fushimi and then later drops Yamazaki's dead body into the ocean.
Second Season
Sanosuke stays the loyal Shinsengumi commander of the 10th Division in the beginning of the Hakuouki: Hekketsuroku and changes his outfit to the western one along with other samurai. He fights fearlessly for Kondou's beliefs, he teams up with Shiranui to defeat the Rasetsu that Koudou has brought and ensure the retreat for his troops.
Harada's last battle
Shortly afterwards, Sanosuke and Shinpachi begin to feel uncomfortable with Kondou's aspirations to become a Daimyo and eventually leave the Shinsengumi leaving Heisuke and Chizuru behind. Then Sanosuke separates with Shinpachi and spies on the enemy learning about Koudou's plans to start a war in order to provide blood for his Rasetsu. He reappears on the battlefield once again, prepared to fight numerous Rasetsu, teaming up once again with his Shiranui who has brought a big sack of silver bullets. Sanosuke is gravely wounded in the ensuing battle, and, despite coming victorious, he spends his last bits of energy having a brief, quiet conversation with Shiranui while leaning against a tree, his hands placed over his wound, and his eyes losing their usual glint. His ultimate fate is left unclear, however, it is narrated behind the scenes that both Sanosuke and Shiranui are never seen again.
Third Season
Sanosuke, accompanied by Heisuke and Shinpachi, catch Ryuunosuke who tries to sneak out and leave the Rōshigumi headquarters. Sano lectures the kid about leaving without thanking Serizawa for saving his life and, when Ryuunosuke tries to play cool, Sano punches him and makes him introduce himself and then stay and find the commander. When the trio learns that Serizawa has made Ryuunosuke stay as a servant to repay for saving him, Shinpachi confirms that Serizawa is hard to handle, but Sano reminds his friend that he is treated fairly decently due to using the same fighting style as Serizawa (the Shindou Munen).
The trio protecting Ryuunosuke
After happily welcoming Saitou to the Rōshigumi, the trio is sent on patrol where they see Ryuunosuke protecting a citizen with a child from rogue samurai claiming to be imperial nationalists collecting money for the sake of the country. They see him paralyzed with fear and help him out chasing the rogues away.
One day, Sano notices Ryuunosuke spying on him and others training with swords and encourages him to join, but Ryuunosuke refuses and attempts to leave but stumbles upon Hijikata and gets scolded for his death wish and lack of resolve. After Hijikata leaves, Sano explains to Ryuunosuke that this is how Hijikata shows care and worry.
As Aizu make a decision to officially place the Rōshigumi under their charge, Serizawa proposes going to Shimabara to celebrate and makes a point to invite Shinpachi. Since Shinpachi's attempts to refuse fail, he decides to invite Sano and Heisuke to keep him company. While at Shimabara, Serizawa makes a scene because of Kosuzu's behavior, and while Shinpachi is distracting Serizawa Sano advises the geishas to leave quickly. A few moments later, as Ryuunosuke tries to run after Kosuzu to see if she is alright, he speaks disrespectfully without thinking, and she runs away annoyed, which Sano witnesses and decides to praise Ryuunosuke for his effort, adding that he blew it in the end.
Sano and Ryuunosuke having a sincere conversation
Some time later, Sano stumbles upon Ryuunosuke right after he has been slapped by Kosuzu. Hearing him out, Sano punches and scolds him for such words, forcing him to find Kosuzu and apologize. Later, Sano convinces Saitou to let Ryuunosuke on patrol with him instead of the sword practice, and when Sano sees Ryuunosuke thinking about Kosuzu he teases him.
As Ryuunosuke is sulking looking at the comb for Kosuzu he bought earlier, knowing that he could not stop Serizawa from harassing a geisha in Osaka, Sano finds him and asks about the seriousness of his motives. The kid confesses that he has never felt anything similar for anyone before, but Sano quickly brings him back to earth by reminding him that Kosuzu works in the Red-Light district which means it will cost a fortune to buy her freedom, and the other option would be to stay her patron and turn a blind eye on her pleasing other men. Sano also makes it clear that Ryuunosuke has to have enough resolve to go through with it because otherwise he will only make her cry.
At the end, Sano is one of the captains who is aware of the plan to assassinate Serizawa, however, instead of going to Shimabara he and Inoue are left to watch the headquarters. As Ryuunosuke comes back to warn Serizawa, he sees Sano and decides to go over the fence. Heisuke chases after him and informs Sano that the kid must be somewhere around the compound.
Movies
Sano's part of the story in the first movie is largely the same as in the first season, although Sano and Shinpachi do not get ambushed during the Abura-no-Koji incident, and later Sano is one of the captain who are given a vial of Ochimizu just in case the situation gets too dangerous (and when Sano and Shinpachi leave the Shinsengumi, Sano throws the vial away in the river). Sano's first meeting with Shiranui also happens earlier than in the series as they get to fight at Ikedaya.
Shiranui's memory of Harada dying
The main difference happens in the second movie when Hijikata leaves Chizuru with a goodbye letter passed by Ryuunosuke, and Ryuunosuke invites Chizuru to his home where Harada is already present. Sano enquires about the reason Chizuru is not with the Shinsengumi but after hearing her out he understands Hijikata's motives. Chizuru claims that she wants to be by Hijikata's side, and Harada realizes her romantic feelings for him. He finishes the conversation by saying that he cannot escort her to Edo as he needs to find Shiranui, so she has to go alone. After they leave, Harada instructs Chizuru on where to go and promises to get to the Aizu after he is done with his business. He distracts the guards for her to go through, and Shiranui joins the fight. Harada is never seen again afterwards, and his fate remains unclear until later Shiranui shares his memories of the last fight with Harada, and the scene is the same as in the original but Shiranui's words make it more obvious that Harada died.
Sweet School Life
In the short OVA Harada is a teacher at Hakuou Academy. He is only shown briefly when he was caught by Hijikata and scolded for running in the hallway, and later he also appears to explain to Chizuru why all the boys are in the gym and that her own medical examination, as she is the only girl, is happening in Shimabara High School.
Trivia
- Besides Chikage Kazama, Sanosuke is the only one of Chizuru's possible partners in the games who never becomes Rasetsu in any of the routes. In the anime adaptation, Saitou does not either.
- In the game, it is notable that he has a good ending compared to the other members of the Shinsengumi.
- In the game, he is the only one to have a child with Chizuru.
- Sanosuke takes great pride in his scar, just as the real historical Harada did, despite it being the result of a failed seppuku attempt over a quarrel, he claims that it is a symbol of bravery.
- Not much is known about Harada's childhood, except he was born into a low-ranking samurai family.
- While the real historical Harada is thought to have died of his wounds during the Boshin War, Sanosuke's and Saitou's endings in the game choose to follow the alternative account that suggests he survived the war and traveled westward to live on the Manchurian Plain.
- Sanosuke is the only member of the Shinsengumi who uses a spear instead of a sword, specifically a Su-Yari type spear.