Shinsengumi

Shinsengumi is a special police force that kept the peace in the name of the shogunate in Japanese history. Fictional members of this group exist in the SNK universe, primarily in The Last Blade series.

Historically, this group was active during the last years of Tokugawa reign, where samurai generals (daimyo) and their armies were either choosing to live with their war-mongering traditions or accepting the more European culture of peace. Since the more radical ideas of foreigners had threatened to overthrow shogun's control over the populace, men from different families -who still had faith in the more isolated and ancient Japan- volunteered to stop them, eventually forming the Shinsengumi. Their targets were renegade pro-Imperialists, people who worked to restore power to the Emperor by defaming the shogun with murder or other acts of violence. Members were devote believers in bushido (samurai code of honor) though a majority of them were not from samurai families and were commonly known as "Miburo" (Wolves of Mibu).

When the emperor ordered the last Tokugawa shogun to step down from power, the Shinsengumi was officially disbanded and relieved of their duty. A brief civil war erupted between the former Shinsengumi members and the pro-Imperialists; the former lost to the Gatling gun and Japan's reign of power eventually returned to the emperor. They are often romanticized as tragic heroes of Japan because most of the members stayed loyal to their cause to the end.

Story
In the Last Blade universe, the group is still active and thriving with members. One of their members, Shikyoh, only joined the group so that he could murder innocent people. He escaped from his supervisors' punishment -who would have forced him to commit seppuku (honorable suicide)- and was on the loose. Keiichiro Washizuka and Kojiroh Sanada were ordered to dispatch him as well as investigate the mysterious "Hell's Gate". Shikyoh was confronted by them on separate occasions and he killed Kojiroh. He was dispatched by Keiichiro shortly before Shinnosuke's defeat.

Although he reported to have not seen the captain to his supervisors, Keiichiro privately tells Kojiroh's death to his sister, Kaori. Since she looked nearly identical to her brother and wanted to enlighten the men from their captain's absence, Kaori poses as her brother and takes his place in the Shinsengumi. She thought her brother to avenged until Shikyo's corpse reanimated itself as a zombie named Mukuro. Against Keiichiro's wishes, she sets out to execute him a second time and lay her brother's soul to rest. She intended to discard her guise and return to her life as Kaori after Mukuro's death, but she strengthens her resolve and continues her life as "Kojiroh". The last activity mentioned by the group is their orders to stop the pro-Imperialists from setting a fire in the capital.

The group is given another brief allusion in Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage (Playstation) with Jushiro Sakaki. As he mentions his displeasure with the shogunate, he also realizes that there are those who would protect it, calling the would-be defenders "wolves".

Members

 * Keiichiro Washizuka
 * Kojiroh Sanada
 * Kaori Sanada - disguised as her brother
 * Shikyoh - exiled