Spoilers for Volume One and Volume Three in Past (Manga)

Name: Kamiya Seizaburou
Real Name: Tominaga Sei
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Rank: Placed in the First Unit*

Appearance: With straightly cut bangs (or fringes) on either side or her forehead, Kamiya bears a half shaved head (only on the top) as was common throughout the era. The rest of her hair is tied in a ponytail. Her eyes have a certain determination to them, but, no matter how hard she attempts to hide it, they still have a wide-eyed and innocent aspect to them. Her frame is much smaller than anyone else's, but, what she lacks in strength, she makes up in agility and determination.

Personality: Kamiya is not your typical Japanese girl. In fact, she is quite the tomboy. However, even a tomboy still has feminine characteristics when compared to a boy. And so, she becomes someone that most people can actually identify with. She sets her goals and reaches for them with admireable determination; she holds her values uncompromisingly; and mostly, she, like most of us, gets her emotions mixed up in the greater part of the situation. She makes mistakes, sometimes quite frequently, but she learns from them and grows as a person. Surely, most of us can identify with a person who's been given so much to carry and actually carried most of it the best anyone could in such a situation.

Past (Manga): When she was younger, Kamiya lived with her father and brother. (Her mother had died from a disease when she was little.) Her father was a doctor and her brother was training in swordfighting and wanted to join the Shinsengumi (Miburou Shigumi at the time).# One night, though, their house was attacked by a group of people. Kamiya would have escaped with someone else (I can't quite make out who), but she was hit in the head. Just as the fight was turning bad for her older brother, Okita appeared and quickly defeated the attackers. However, one person managed to run away while knocking over a lantern which set fire to the house. Okita went in pursuit of the man, asking that Kamiya leave the house. The remainder of Kamiya's family was lost that night. But, because of such a fateful night, Kamiya was determined to enter the Shinsengumi - despite her age and her gender.

Relative History: Although I do no think that Kamiya necessarily has any relative history, I find it quite odd that many manga or films that deal with the Shinsengumi deal with a strange person entering their ranks and captivating all who are focused on. Although other stories tend to simply create a character, some of them have similar traits that can be quite frightening at times. First, there is the general innocent nature, which is easily enough explained. Second, there is the unbelieveable beauty, as if the newcomer were a female. Oddly enough, Kamiya has both; and, while that would initially seem doubly annoying in normal circumstances, Taeko manages to pull the combination off rather successfully - something I am constantly amazed at.