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Sen (千姫 Sen-hime), also known as Princess Sen and Osen-chan, is a young lady of a noble descent who appears bringing an omen and is later introduced saving a child in the city. Sen is a powerful demon princess, even though not pure-blooded. She has her own shinobi and friend Kimigiku.
Appearance
Sen is almost taller than Chizuru Yukimura with height around 161-162 cm. She has long brown hair and pink-violet eyes in the anime and orange ones in games. Part of her hair is shoulder-length, two strands are in front decorated with knot-like accessories, and part is tied in a ponytail behind. Her outfit is a traditional yellow-ish female kimono with a green collar and a wide green belt. She also wears a purple shawl loosely on her arms.
Sen always smiles when she interacts with Chizuru, and she usually has a relaxed posture.
Personality
Sen is amiable, enthusiastic and cheerful. She is easy to get along with which is shown in her fast friendship with Chizuru and her way of treating Kimigiku, who, even though a servant, is very much like a close friend to Sen. She is very agreeable and sympathetic towards Chizuru's feelings, she does not insist on her leaving her friends even though offering that to her twice. She does not take offence in Chizuru's refusals, on the contrary, she sees through the façade and understands that Chizuru's heart lies with a particular someone.
Claiming to always be Chizuru's ally, she does everything in her power to protect the girl from Kazama without asking for anything in return. This might be part of her being a princess, as she is incredibly responsible and knows that her subordinates need her in difficult times. Sen is bold and straightforward, she does not tolerate the situations that displease her, and she speaks her mind right away (like she did with Hijikata when Rasetsu started killing people during their patrols or like she did with Kazama when she hit him with her fan in Shimabara for harassing Chizuru and told him to start considering the girl's feelings).
Plot
Sen first appears for a short period of time in Episode 4 when she speculates about an upcoming storm. She is properly introduced in Episode 7 when she protects a child and is threatened by a group of rōnin. Chizuru intervenes only to have Hajime Saitou step in, knocking the men out with the blunt side of his blade (and referring to a swordsmanship lesson he had with Chizuru). Sen claims that she could have handled the situation by herself which makes Chizuru apologize for the inconvenience. It is obvious to Sen that Chizuru is a girl, even though dressed as a boy, so the two girls become friends causing the Shinsengumi members to assume that talking to her could cheer Chizuru up in times of need (which happens in Episode 8). Sen is also sharp enough to see that there is a reason for Chizuru to be hiding her gender, so she does not reveal it to anyone further on.
Later in the story, she finally explains to Chizuru and the Shinsengumi that she is actually a demon from an ancient lineage, and Kimigiku is her shinobi and protector (Episode 9). She is concerned with everything happening in Japan at the time, so she offers Chizuru help and protection, having an opinion that the Shinsengumi might not be strong enough to save her from Kazama. Chizuru kindly declines the offer, and Sen assumes that the reason to this is someone Chizuru cares about within the Shinsnegumi.
Time passes, and the situation in Kyoto worsens, which pushes Sen to come and have a conversation with the Shinsengumi once again in Episode 11. She first asks Hijikata to stop turning humans into Rasetsu and then reveals to him that the Rasetsu kill civilians during their patrols. It is also the time when she invites Chizuru to join her once again, but gets another refusal. She then tells her a story about her ancestors falling in love with humans and following them to the capital. She also expresses her hopes to see Chizuru again in the future.
Etymology
- The name Sen-hime means "thousand" (千) (sen) and "princess" (姫) (hime).
Trivia
- As all oni are descendants from the original bloodline, Sen might be related to all the main demon characters: Kazama, Chizuru and Kaoru.
- If you pursue Toshizou Hijikata's route in the first game, you will find out that while Sen has immense status, she is not a truly full-blooded demon. Her ancestor Suzuka Gozen mated a human, her great grandfather, so while she has predominantly demon blood — she still has some human heritage. She also indirectly confirms that in Episode 11 when she says that her ancestors fell in love with humans and followed them to the capital.
- Sen might have been inspired by the historical Senhime (May 26, 1597 – March 11, 1666) who was the oldest daughter of Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada. She was also the wife of Toyotomi Hideyori, the son The Second Great Unifier of Japan during the late Sengoku Period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi.