both praise and criticism of Sanosuke's character. Anime News Network said that Sanosuke's first fight in the series against Kenshin was stereotypical for an action series due to the differences between Sanosuke's and Kenshin's personalities, and to the music used in the anime that gives the impression that Kenshin would win. In the Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Manga, multiple writers acknowledged how both Sanosuke and Yahiko spend their time in the series searching for ways to become stronger. However, they do it for a heroic reason which is assisting Kenshin. SciFi.com commended him for being a good source of comic relief and described his appearance as a video-game icon. However, they commented he was a "tragic figure whose goofy peccadilloes have solid reasons behind them" due to being unable to avoid the destruction of the Sekihotai army and feeling guilty due to it. Mania Entertainment praised Sanosuke's character development and transformation from an enemy of Kenshin into one of his most stalwart friends. Chris Beveridge appreciated the fight scenes from Restoration due to how Sanosuke is presented stronger than in the original manga, making his duel with Kenshin more enjoyable. In the Samurai X: Reflection original video animation, Mike Crandol of Anime News Network referred to Sanosuke's revised design as "pretty awkward" since Crandol felt Sanosuke's original character design was "perhaps being too cartoonish to translate well into this new style," with the "new style" being the "decidedly more realistic look" exhibited in all of the Samurai X original video animations. Sanosuke's role in the live-action films has also been the subject of commentary by writers. Munetaka Aoki's acting was praised by Ko Ransom from Anime News Network, finding it faithful to the original character. Nick Creamer from the same site also noted how in the first live-action film, Sanosuke's characterization was identical to the original series as he is initially an enemy to Kenshin but later becomes his friend. On the other hand, Creamer criticized Sanosuke's portrayal in the second film as he stated that he "tends to chew the scenery in his appearances" to the point he found him less realistic. For the liveaction film Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, David West from Neo enjoyed Sanosuke's fight against Anji but felt it was too similar to his fight against the Christian priest from the first film. References External links Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Comics