Editing Sagara Sanosuke (section)

== Creation and conception ==
[[File:Mashin Boken Tan Lamp-Lamp vol 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lamp, the main character of ''Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp'', was used as Sanosuke's visual motif.]]

Sanosuke was one of the last major figures of the series to be created. Watsuki created him to be Kenshin's best friend, who is willing to punch him when he is sad to make him "wake up" from his sadness. Although Sanosuke is a main character in the series, Watsuki felt that he could not write everything he wanted about him, and thought that making him the title character of a series would prove interesting.<ref name="WatsukiInterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.animeondvd.com/conitem.php?item=190 |title=Anime Expo 2002: Friday Report |first=Andrew |last=Tei |publisher=Mania Entertainment |access-date=2008-05-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041215165012/http://www.animeondvd.com/conitem.php?item=190 |archive-date=2004-12-15 }}</ref>

The character is based on [[Shinsengumi]] member [[Harada Sanosuke]]. Watsuki describes Sanosuke's visual motif by referring to his design model, Lamp, the main character of Susumu Sendo and [[Takeshi Obata]]'s ''Mashin Bōken Tan Lamp-Lamp''. Watsuki, working as an assistant on Obata's manga, formed the character by doodling in sketchbooks, adding and subtracting elements from the proposed character "with blessings from the original artist, of course."<ref name="form">{{cite book |title= Rurouni Kenshin, Volume 2 |last= Watsuki |first= Nobuhiro |publisher= [[Viz Media]] |chapter= The Secret Life of Characters (6) Sagara Sanosuke |year= 2003 |page= [https://archive.org/details/rurounikenshinme00wats_1/page/48 48] |isbn= 1-59116-249-1 |url= https://archive.org/details/rurounikenshinme00wats_1 |url-access= registration }}</ref> An elder Sanosuke was drafted by Watsuki to appear in the manga's finale but this idea was scrapped. In the manga's final story arc, the design was used for Sanosuke's father, Higashidani Kamishimoemon.<ref>Watsuki, Nobuhiro. "The Secret Life of Characters (50) Higashidani Family," ''Rurouni Kenshin'' Volume 26. [[Viz Media]]. 132.</ref>

[[File:Sanoredesign.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Redesign of Sanosuke in the ''[[Tankōbon#Aizōban and kanzenban|kanzenban]]'' series.]]
In July 2006, the Japanese publishers of ''Rurouni Kenshin'' released the ''[[Tankōbon#Aizōban and kanzenban|kanzenban]]'' edition. In the fifth ''kanzenban'', Watsuki redesigned the character of Sanosuke in a draft version. To emphasize his hate of the Meiji Government, Watsuki drew the Japanese [[kanji]] for {{nihongo4|"evil"|惡|aku}} on the back of Sanosuke's jacket in the original series, but on the kanzenban redesign, the tattoo is located inside his clothes. Unlike in the manga where Sanosuke uses an oversized [[zanbatō]] as a weapon, Watsuki gave him a more historically authentic zanbatō; a sword notably thinner and longer in design. He also gave him an armor-like cloth to make him look more as a warrior.<ref>{{cite book |title= Rurouni Kenshin Kanzenban, Volume 5 |year= 2006|last= Watsuki |first= Nobuhiro |publisher= [[Shueisha]] |page=2|isbn=4-08-874154-4 }}</ref>

The fact that the CD book voice actors, especially [[Tomokazu Seki]] and [[Megumi Ogata]], who portrayed Sanosuke and Kenshin in the CD books, respectively, did not get their corresponding roles in the anime disappointed Watsuki.<ref name="Watsuki 2005 99">{{cite book |title= Rurouni Kenshin, Volume 10 |last= Watsuki |first= Nobuhiro |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-1-59116-703-7 |publisher= [[Viz Media]] |page= [https://archive.org/details/rurounikenshinme00wats_0/page/99 99] |url= https://archive.org/details/rurounikenshinme00wats_0 |url-access= registration }}</ref> Ueda, Sanosuke's voice actor in the Japanese anime, commented that voicing Sanosuke in the original video animations was very complicated because his character was notably older and he has not acted in the role for a long period. He also said that he would have liked to see more fights involving Sanosuke in the original video animations, but was happy to see that Sanosuke had matured as a character.<ref>{{cite video | people=Ueda, Yūji |date=2002|title=Rurouni Kenshin Seisouhen 1| medium=DVD|publisher=[[Sony]]}}</ref> Lex Lang, the voice actor of Sanosuke in the English adaptation of the anime, commented that his first impression of Sanosuke was as a fight-driven character motivated by anger, but as the story continued Sanosuke became friendly and more likable. Because his voice is noticeably different from Ueda's, Lang tries to create his own interpretation of Sanosuke's character. Lang has noted that the scene in episode 22 of the anime, in which Sanosuke is afraid of a train because he believes it is a demon, was the most enjoyable scene for him to record; he added "I recently saw it and had some big laughs."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dubreview.com/ki_ll.php|title=Interview with Lex Lang|publisher=Dubreview.com|access-date= 2008-05-03 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080513102504/http://www.dubreview.com/ki_ll.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-05-13}}</ref>

In producing the English dub version of the series, [[Media Blasters]] chose [[Lex Lang]] as Sanosuke's [[Voice acting|voice actor]]. When writing Sanosuke's dialogue, Clark Cheng, the writer of the English dub script, noted that the character was smarter than he would have liked in the first few episodes, so Cheng tried slowly to change the character's dialogue to make Sanosuke seem less intelligent so he would be more similar to the equivalent in the Japanese version of the series.<ref name="ChengInterview">{{cite web |url=http://www.dubreview.com/ki_cc.php |title=Interview with Clark Cheng |publisher=Dub Review |date=November 2003 |access-date=2008-05-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080501044258/http://www.dubreview.com/ki_cc.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-05-01}}</ref>