The Kenshin-gumi first meets Sanosuke in the Akabeko restaurant, where he beats up a couple of goons who were trying to make trouble for Tae, its owner. (This might be why Tae lets him eat her 'free food' - because he helped her out in this incident.) After becoming acquainted with Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko, he walks off and doesn't pay the bill. Later on though, he meets Hiruma Gohei, a man with a grudge against the Kamiya Dojo for kicking him out and breaking his sword hand when he became too violent. (In the manga, it was Gohei's brother who met Sanosuke.) He tells Sanosuke that Kenshin is actually the Hitokiri Battosai, one of those who paved the way for the Meiji restoration.

Sanosuke had a grudge against the new Meiji government; ten years ago, when Sano was nine, he had been part of the Sekihouutai, a group composed of farmers and peasants who helped the Meiji government by promising lesser taxes to the people and fighting for them. Their leader was Souzo Sagara, a man that the young Sanosuke idolized. He took his last name Sagara after him, and he lookd up o him like a father, or an older brother. The government realized though, that they wouldn't be able to lessen the taxes as promised, so they made the Sekihoutai their scapegoat, arresting and executing them for spreading false rumors. Sanosuke was one of only two people in the Sekihoutai to survive; Souzo Sagara died protecting his life. Because of this, he hates the Meiji government and everyone who had worked to bring it to existence, including the Hitokiri Battosai.

Sanosuke arrived at the Dojo to challenge Kenshin to fight, bringing with him the Zanbatou, an extremely large lance / sword. Kenshin however, was able to defeat him and make him realize that he wasn't responsible for his captain's death, and that Captain Sagara wouldn't want him to live out his life feeling bitter. Sanosuke understood, and from then on was now part of the Kenshin-gumi.

The rest of Sanosuke's story can be found in the Spoilers section. Read at your own risk, especially if you haven't read or watched the series yet!





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