In the simplest terms, the Shinsengumi were a paramilitary force charged with keeping the peace in Kyoto during the turbulent Bakumatsu period of the 1860’s.
However, the Shinsengumi were only active for just about six years, and are technically on the losing side of history, so why are they so highly celebrated in anime and beyond?
It wasn’t even that the Shinsengumi were the pinnacle of honorable samurai ideals either. Their order was rife with in-fighting, and while they patrolled Kyoto as a sort of police force, they occasionally caused as much chaos as they stopped.
While Oda Nobunaga in anime has a wide variety of portrayals, the Shinsengumi in anime is a little more narrow in scope, and more rare to boot. However, if you have become Shinsengumi-curious and wish to see more anime with or about them, give these Shinsengumi-centric anime recommendations a try.
Anime About The Shinsengumi
Bucchigire! Bakumatsu Bad Boys
Bucchigire is a historically-inspired action anime that has a unique spin on the Shinsengumi.
In this world, there is a secret imperial gang distributing cursed swords and causing chaos. While battling this gang, all but one of the Shinsengumi were wiped out.
In order to continue keeping the peace, the lost members were replaced by criminals who took up the names and swords of the fallen Shinsengumi. Of course, getting former criminals to be policing peacekeeping samurai is an equally difficult challenge on top of fighting a gang of super powered criminals.
Peacemaker Kurogane
This series tells the story of two orphans whose parents were murdered in Bakumatsu chaos. Seeking power for vengeance, one brother, Tetsunosuke, wanted to join the Shinsengumi as a swordsman, but lacked the strength. However, his brother, Tatsunosuke, joined the Shinsengumi as an accountant and together helped Tetsu gain allies and strength enough to become a Shinsengumi member.
While Peacemaker Kurogane is a shounen samurai action anime following a scrappy boy’s quest for strength, it is one of the better Shinsengumi-focused anime. It brings the more prominent members of Shinsengumi to life in unique ways.
Hakuouki
When it comes to quality Shinsengumi anime with a more a serious portrayal, you really only have two really solid choices – Peacemaker Kurogane and Hakuouki.
Where Peacemaker Kurogane is a shounen action anime, Hakuouki is distinctly an otome anime. This means drama and very handsome men in abundance. However, even if that isn’t of interest to you, it does portray the finer points of intrigue present within and without the Shinsengumi well.
As for the plot of the series, it follows a girl who heads to Kyoto looking for her missing father. She ends up witnessing an attack by creatures and her path intersects with that of the Shinsengumi who kill those creatures.
After learning who her father was, they dedicate themselves to keeping her safe while she looks, getting her caught up in all kinds of political tensions.
While Hakuoki has a bit of a supernatural twist on it, the earmarks of real historical turmoil are still there. However, this is a series that portrays the Shinsengumi as the peak of nobility, though.
Rurouni Kenshin
Rurouni Kenshin is about the titular Kenshin, a former assassin, who has dedicated himself to pacifism despite constant encounters with past enemies and present thugs.
On his adventures, Kenshin’s path frequently crosses with perhaps the most famous Shinsengumi member, Hajime Saito. Saito is, however, an old rival of Kenshin’s, and their relationship is not a particularly friendly one. Their relationship is made even worse since Kenshin avoids slaughter and Saito believes evil should be slain immediately.
Gintama
As Gintama may parody the time period of the Bakumatsu by depicting Japan as taken over by aliens who banned swords, of course it would have the Shinsengumi. If you have any prior knowledge of Gintama at all, then of course you already know that the Shinsengumi members depicted in the show would also be strange as hell.
Gintama actually focuses in on the Shinsengumi quite a bit, which means you getto intimately know all their weirdness. However, if you are unfamiliar with Gintama, then you won’t know that its serious arcs are actually quite well done. When doing those serious arcs with the Shinsengumi, Gintama is actually among the best anime featuring the Shinsengumi. It is just the silliness outside of that kind of undermines everything.
Bakumatsu Rock
There are some strange depictions of the Shinsengumi here, but Bakumatsu Rock is the king of the strange Shinsengumi anime!
This music anime set in the Bakumatsu sets the Shinsengumi as the bad guys who are playing songs to lull Japan into subjugation. It is only through the rock and roll jams of the main character that the people can be broken out of their stupor!
Silliness aside, this series actually a rare one for depicting the Shinsengumi as the bad guys and having the heroic main characters be on the side that actually triumphed in that period of history.
Francesca
As this series follows a zombie idol that was originally created outside of anime to hype Hokkaido, Francesca is, for sure, probably not what you are looking for in a Shinsengumi anime.
However, as it follows that idol helping an exorcist fight resurrected Shinsengumi zombies that are attacking Hokkaido, it is still no less applicable.
When watching this anime, you definitely benefit from having some knowledge of the Shinsengumi. Of course, the more knowledge you have, the more you will question why a Kyoto police force is attacking locations in Hokkaido.
It’s best to go in with low expectations and a mind for comedy with this one.
Touken Ranbu
Like Francesca, Touken Ranbu is another series where you will benefit from some prior knowledge of, not just the Shinsengumi, but a great number of Japanese samurai.
Instead of being about the men themselves, Touken Ranbu is about the swords of famous samurai – Shinsengumi included. They are given form in the shape of beautiful anime men by a sage and travel all throughout time in order to battle dark forces.
While if you just enjoy beautiful anime men and samurai, you can fully enjoy Touken Ranbu without any historical knowledge, but historical knowledge makes it more fun and definitely adds context.
Chiruran ½
You would think that when you are going to make an anime about a serious Shinsengumi manga, you would adapt the serious Shinsengumi story. However, Chiruran ½ takes the punk rock approach of being a slice of life comedy spin-off of the manga, Chiruran Shinsengumi Requiem, which still has no proper anime adaptation.
This series follows the everyday life of the Shinsengumi members during their time period. However, instead of probably dour men plotting intrigue and violence, you get your standard array of silly shounen-esque character archetypes being sassy with each other.
Shinsengumi anime is rare. Serious Shinsengumi anime is even more rare. If you know any more good anime recommendations featuring the Shinsengumi, let fans know in the comments section below.
