 Mania Entertainment praised Sanosuke's character development and transformation from an enemy of Kenshin into one of his most stalwart friends.In the "" 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.