The manga series Rurouni Kenshin features a large cast of fictional characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Set in Japan during the Meiji period, several of the characters are real historical figures who interact with the fictional characters. The story begins in 1878 and follows a pacifist wanderer named Himura Kenshin, who was previously an assassin known as "Hitokiri Battōsai" working for the Ishin Shishi during the Bakumatsu period. After helping Kamiya Kaoru, the instructor of a kendo school in Tokyo, in defeating a criminal, he is invited by her to stay at her dojo. During his stay in Tokyo, Kenshin befriends new people including Myōjin Yahiko, a young child descendant from a samurai family who starts training under Kaoru, Sagara Sanosuke, a former Sekihō Army cadet who enjoys fighting, and Takani Megumi, a doctor involved with the illegal drug trade. He also encounters old and new enemies whose ambitions cause Kenshin to return to fighting, this time to protect the innocent. Protagonists Himura Kenshin is a former legendary assassin known as (rendered as Battousai the Manslayer in the Media Blasters English anime dub, as Battousai: The Slasher in the Sony English dub.) At the end of the Bakumatsu, he becomes a wandering samurai, now wielding a sakabatō, a katana that has a structure in which the blade and ridge are struck in the opposite direction to a regular katana, so if it is used normally, it will always be in a ridged state and will have much less killing power. Kenshin wanders the country offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the killings he once committed as an assassin. He meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru in Tokyo, who invites him to live in her dojo despite learning about Kenshin's past. Throughout the series, Kenshin begins to establish relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of foes, new and old. Kamiya Kaoru is the instructor of a kendo school in Tokyo called Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. All of its students leave when many people are killed by someone claiming to be Hitokiri Battōsai and a practitioner of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, damaging her school's reputation. The real Battsai, now wandering pacifist Himura Kenshin, saves Kaoru from this murderous impostor. Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay at her dojo as she notes that he is a gentle person instead of a hitokiri. As the series continues,