Souji Okita

Sōji Okita (沖田 総司 Okita Souji) is the Captain of the Shinsengumi's 1st Division known as "The Sword of the Shinsengumi". His brilliant prowess as a swordsman developed by training with Kondou and Hijikata back at Shieikan from early age, and he is considered to be the strongest warrior in the group. 
Souji is a sarcastic red-head Captain who constantly teases others both in battle and in free time. He suggests killing Chizuru as an unnecessary witness and then teases Hijikata into taking her as his servant. Every time Chizuru involves herself in a dangerous situation or learns something she is not supposed to know Okita promises to kill her, even though he actually chooses to protect her when possible.
Souji believes he has to do everything in his power to protect his comrades and especially the Commander. He deeply adores Kondou, looks up to him and strives to share something in common with him (like the way he wears his hair). 
Okita is based on the historical Okita Sōji.
==Appearance==
Okita Souji is a handsome 21-year-old man, standing at either 176 cm or 178cm tall, with chestnut brown hair in a topknot and emerald green eyes. He usually wears a loose red, gray, and orange haori and green hakama with white kyahan (cloth leggings) around his calves. His 'on-duty' style includes a blue haori and a black-and-white protective headband around his forehead. He begins wearing a white sleeping robe all the time after the Shinsengumi vice-commander Toshizou Hijikata orders him to stay at the headquarters due to his worsening illness.
In Season 2 Souji eventually cuts his hair and changes into a western outfit that is done in the same color palette as his usual unofficial outfit: red, orange, green and black. 
==Personality==
Souji has a charming and somewhat sadistic personality and is fond of sarcasm. He enjoys pulling pranks on the other Shinsengumi members, especially Hijikata.
He idolizes Isami Kondou, the commander of the Shinsengumi, and imitates his hair style. Souji is one of the most loyal men to him among the Shinsengumi. As much as he tries to hide it most of the time with teasing and rudeness, Souji is a good-natured person but as a warrior, he is a ruthless killer. At the same, he seems to be the type of person who likes to keep important information to himself, just to see what happens. When everyone found out that Chizuru Yukimura was a girl and some of the others were surprised, Souji commented that "It was obvious she was a girl" yet had not said anything initially.
Souji once warned Chizuru that if she ever got in his way during patrol or a fight, he would kill her. Even so, he protected her from Kazama during the Ikedaya incident, despite his own injuries. And later he protected her and Heisuke from Itou's followers who were lurking in the darkness and tried to shoot Souji's friends.
==Story==
===First Season===
Okita is one of those who first find Chizuru in the dark alley. He keeps suggesting killing her, though in his sarcastic manner, so it is unclear whether he is serious or joking. When the Shinsengumi decide to let Chizuru stay, he claims he will kill her if she stands on their way.
During his fight with Chikage Kazama, Okita begins to cough up blood and is later diagnosed with tuberculosis. Chizuru finds Souji fighting Kazama and tries to stop Souji from fighting. Kazama was going to attack Chizuru until Souji tells him that he is his opponent. Kazama tells Souji that his job was already done when Okita and others first arrived. Kazama vanishes and Souji collapses unconscious from the tuberculosis.
Gradually he begins to weaken and is mostly seen in his bed or participating in discussions, until Kaoru Nagumo visits him with a bottle of Ochimizu that would "heal his illness". This proves to be untrue when Okita decides to avenge Kondou, fights with Kaoru and then, protecting Heisuke and Chizuru, Souji gets shot with silver bullets and his injures do not heal quickly, so he is last seen being sent to Osaka Castle for treatment alongside Kondou. 
===Second Season===
Souji remains in bed for the first half of the season with Chizuru and Harada visiting him from time to time. When he is told that the Shinsengumi are planning to engage into fighting again, he blames Hijikata for dragging Kondou into this even though Kondou has not fully recovered yet. When told off by Hijikata, Okita gets bitter but does not retort. It is implied that his condition is worsening.
Next time Souji is seen protecting Chizuru and Kondou from Kaoru in the forest. Even though he is strong enough, his tuberculosis kicks in at the last moment and knocks him out of his Rasetsu state. He is saved by Chizuru who is later saved by Kazama.
After Kondou's death, Okita furiously challenges Hijikata, but gives up after Chizuru informs him of Hijikata's injury. He walks away but Chizuru catches up with him and explains that Hijikata did not want to leave Kondou, despite being ordered to. He expresses his deep admiration of Kondou and stops talking about Hijikata accepting that he is probably the one to lead the Shinsengumi and leaving him in Chizuru's care.
Later, when Hijikata is wounded again and is in bad shape hiding in a village, Souji, angered by Kondou's death and his own weakening condition, decides to protect Hijikata after having heard of a conspiracy to assassinate him. He ties his sword to his hand with a bandage and runs into battle in his Rasetsu form, killing off an entire group of men on their way to the village where Hijikata was hiding. Since he was already weak beforehand, his life force gets sapped away by using his Rasetsu powers, and as a result his body turns into dust. The only thing left behind is his sword that Hijikata finds upon arriving.
===Third Season===
Ryuunosuke first meets Souji by the well in the Rōshigumi headquarters shortly after his encounter with the trio. Okita rudely shoves him away like garbage and claims that it is Ryuunosuke's own fault for spacing out where other people walk. Since Ryuunosuke talks back, Souji is about to start a sword fight but Sannan stops him and informs Ryuunosuke that Serizawa is out. Hearing that Ryuunosuke intends to thank Serizawa and leave, Okita insists that he should first and foremost thank Kondou, the highest-ranking person in the Rōshigumi. Later on, Souji never misses a chance to joke about Ryuunosuke being Serizawa's slave or a coward.
Seeing Saitou and Shinpachi covered in blood which made them the first Rōshigumi members who had to kill someone in Kyoto, Souji feels jealous as he strives to make a difference, so he comments on that by noticing that Saitou is unfazed about killing people. 
As Aizu make a decision to officially place the Rōshigumi under their charge, Serizawa proposes going to Shimabara to celebrate and makes a point to invite Shinpachi, who tries his best to get out of the situation but fails, so he decides invite others, including Souji. While drinking at Shimabara, Souji and Serizawa exchange peculiar comments, as Serizawa enquiries about Okita's lack of enjoyment and Okita responds that he only came along thinking he might catch an opportune chance to kill Serizawa. The Rōshigumi leader takes it as a joke and makes fun of Okita claiming that his death threats are nothing unlike Hijikata's whose stare made him feel chills. Okita insists on a serious fight but gets stopped by Saitou, and Serizawa makes another sarcastic remark hinting at Okita's lack of experience in actual killing.
Due to being young, Souji acts immaturely and strives to make a name for himself, getting jealous over Saitou and Shinpachi who had a chance to kill someone. His wish to murder people bothers Hijikata to the point of making a decision to send him back to Edo. Souji makes a scene and leaves, forcing everyone to look for him. As Kondou walks along the streets with Ryuunosuke searching for Souji, he shares the story Souji's past.
 
Souji was born to a samurai family and his older sister took care of him after their parents' deaths when he was 7. His sister brought him to Shieikan when he was 9 and Kondou took him under his wing from then on.
As a child, Souji was extremely cagey and refused to open up to anyone. Although he was initially a live-in student at the Shieikan Dojo, Souji was treated more as a servant and was beaten by the other (and older) students in the dojo, leaving Souji with bruises and injuries that worried Kondou who only discovered the situation by accident when seeing the bruises. When Kondou confronted the other students and told them to stop bullying Souji, it only led to more severe beatings for Souji.
Kondou's heart only sank more for the boy when he saw him standing outside the dojo looking out in the direction of his former home. Kondou tried to console Souji by telling him how hard it must have been for his sister to leave her adorable little brother. Souji bitterly talked about how first his parents abandoned him by dying and now his sister abandoned him by leaving him at the dojo. Kondou attempted to comfort Souji, telling him that nothing happens without reason and that despite Souji's hardships there must be a reason for it all.
Souji then asked Kondou if he was the one who told the other students not to hurt him anymore and explained that he was cornered by the other students again after that who beat him with wooden swords while calling him a "snitch".
One day, Shuusai-sensei (the soke of the Tennen Risshin-ryu Dojo as well as Kondou Isami's sensei) decided to let his students have a sword fight. Souji was hit on the forehead and began to bleed. Kondou immediately wanted to stop the match to treat Souji's wound, but Souji desperately protested and begged Kondou to allow him to continue. Kondou hesitantly agreed and allowed Souji to keep sparring. Souji fought more fiercely than before and eventually got a winning hit. Without thinking, Souji did not stop fighting and attempted to keep beating up his opponent, not realizing what he was doing. Kondou rushed in to stop Souji before he could seriously hurt the other boy by telling him that he had won the match.
Kondou embraced Souji, and Souji stated that so far Kondou has been the only one who has not called him pitiful. He expressed his gratitude and quoted Kondou's words about everything having a reason to happen. Souji's reason to be in the dojo, according to his own conclusion, was to follow "Kondou-san".
Later in the story of Reimeiroku, Okita gets under Serizawa's influence and kills Tonouchi who was planning to assassinate Kondou. He lures him out pretending to need advice about his situation with Hijikata, and then, hearing Tonouchi mock Kondou's non-samurai background, lands the final blow. He seems very proud of his deed and does not try to hide it despite everyone's concern. 
After the Rōshigumi have been granted an audience with the Lieutenant General of Aizu, Kondou organizes a few matches to showcase the Shieikan members' swordsmanship. Souji fights against Sannan and wins.
As the rogue samurai's main base has moved from Kyoto to Osaka, Serizawa suggests going to Osaka to arrest them and takes some men, including Okita, with him. When they return, it is revealed that Serizawa provoked sumo wrestlers and killed them with Souji's help even though the wrestlers were unarmed. Souji suggest committing a seppuku but Hijikata refuses by saying that his guts would not be enough (hinting at Serizawa).
In Saitou's memories, Souji challenged him right after he came to Shieikan. Saitou's swift movements caught Souji off-guard as he was full of self-confidence, especially being referred to as the dojo's "star student", however, he quickly collected himself and went offensive. Souji's attack struck Saitou's stomach, and Shinpachi commanded that there had been one hit (indicating the match was over); however, the two warriors did not intend to stop the battle. Souji claimed that Saitou was the first to dodge his thrust, while Saitou admitted that Souji was the first person he had failed to defeat in his first move. 
When one of the Rōshigumi members is sentenced to death and offered Ochimizu as an alternative, he turns into a Rasetsu and runs away. Okita and others search the city, and eventually Okita finds and kills him with Ryuunosuke's attempts to contribute. Okita tells Hijikata that Ryuunosuke was not completely useless. As Souji returns to the headquarters, he asks Sannan whether he sent him to the most dangerous location on purpose, and Sannan answers affirmatively calling Souji the Sword of the Rōshigumi.
When Serizawa burns a building, Sannan runs an investigation and reports that the Yamato Shop that was burnt down the day before had earned the ire of imperial nationalists due to making large profits by trading with foreigners. Souji agrees with Saitou's polite assessment of the situation that regardless of the reason it will put a stain on the squad's reputation, and voices everyone else's thought as directly as possible: Serizawa is a problem.
After Niimi's disappearance, all the attempts to find him bring no results but a month later Serizawa gets an intel, and Hijikata orders Yamazaki to investigate. Shortly afterwards, as the information is confirmed, he takes Okita and Saitou and rushes to the restaurant where Niimi was spotted. As they barge into the room, Niimi starts hiding behind Serizawa's disapproval, and Souji sarcastically asks whether "Serizawa-sensei" ordered him to deliver the serum to imperial nationalists. One of Niimi's companions attempts to draw his sword but his throat is instantly pierced by Okita's blade.
Kondou green-lights the operation to assassinate Serizawa, and Hijikata and others invite Serizawa to Shimabara. After a few hours of relaxation, Serizawa decides to leave, and Hijikata, Sannan and Okita follow him. Assuming that Serizawa is asleep, they enter Serizawa's room and see him holding a sword covered in blood (after he killed Oume) and waiting for their arrival. Serizawa drinks the serum to gain advantage, so he becomes stronger than the others and defeats them very easily. After Sannan's failed attempt to attack that distracts Serizawa, Okita manages to immobilize him by hurting his arm which gives Hijikata enough time to kill the commander. 
Having dealt with Serizawa, Hijikata gives an okay to Sannan's question whether it is necessary to find Ryuunosuke. Okita hears it as "go kill him", and the search begins. Unfortunately for Ryuunosuke, Okita is the one who finds him and mocks him about being inept at everything including running away. The kid's attempt to oppose Okita is futile as his sword instantly flies away and falls into the river. Ryuunosuke tries to throw mud into Okita's face and run, but Okita predicts it and closes his eyes in time, and then throws a kunai into Ryuunosuke's calf to slow him down. Ryuunosuke screams that he wants to live, and Okita laughs noticing that the kid has changed and developed a true desire to live. Instead of surely killing him, Okita tells him to put faith in his luck and throws him off the bridge into the river. He bids farewell and adds that they will never see each other again.
===Movies===
Okita's personality in the movies is enhanced to be more cruel and aggressive, which is especially noticeable at the end of the second movie as he proclaims Hijikata a traitor and mercilessly murders Kaoru.
In the first movie, Souji's involvement is largely the same as in the anime series, however, he does not save Kaoru from thugs on the street, instead Kaoru sees him coughing and asks if he is okay, scolding Chizuru for leaving a sick man alone. Additionally, it is not Dr. Matsumoto who tells Okita about his tuberculosis, Okita tells Chizuru about it himself after Kaoru leaves. He also asks Chizuru's opinion on whether Ochimizu could cure tuberculosis.
After Kondou gets shot (which is not shown in the movie), Okita does not have any reason to run outside as he does not know that Kondou's attackers are out there, and there are no gunshots heard (which provoked Souji in the original). At that point he has already become a Rasetsu, but it is unclear who gave him Ochimizu in the first place. As Okita is out on his revenge mission, Kaoru appears in the scene and Okita cuts his throat but it heals instantly. Then Okita impales him through his shoulder, but Kaoru shoots him with a silver bullet and escapes. At the end of the first movie, there is no scene with sending Okita to Osaka for treatment which is why his fate in unclear.
Left behind by Hijikata, Chizuru learns about Kondou's capture and wants to find him, which is when she meets Okita who is barely walking with a stick but is heading to save Kondou. She tries to stop him but he is determined so she decides to assist him. However, they do not make it, and Kondou dies before they get to the spot. Okita blames Hijikata for not even trying to save Kondou and is adamant to meet him personally. He even threatens to kill Chizuru if she tries to stop him, and his eyes glow red at this moment.
During the Battle of Aizu, Saitou and Heisuke fight together but Heisuke quickly runs out of his lifeforce and dies. Saitou is left alone against multiple enemies, which is when Okita comes to assist. After learning from Saitou that Hijikata is gone to Sendai, Okita states that he has abandoned everyone by slipping away. Kaoru joins the scene and Okita unexpectedly tells him that Chizuru hates him which aggravates Kaoru and makes him start fighting, but Okita kills him very quickly. Saitou asks if Okita is okay, then turns around as the new enemy has arrived, but when he turns back he only sees Okita's sword standing vertically in the ground and his clothes in ashes.
===Sweet School Life===
In the short OVA Okita is a Second Year Form One (2-1) student who loves making fun of people and taking pictures of everything he finds amusing. He fights with Heisuke for Chizuru's attention as he takes her hand when they run to school and joins their conversations teasing them both. Okita is carefree, he asks Saitou to let them in since they are only 1 minute late, but he gets mad at Kaoru (another Disciplinary Committee member) who tries to stop them from entering the gates. Okita takes pictures of Hijikata each time he gets mad or frustrated.
==Trivia==
*He dislikes green onions.Hakuouki: Sekkaroku Episode 1
*Souji's back story is told in two perspectives: Kondou's, which is a generalization and gives insight on what Kondo was feeling for Souji's sake, and Souji's, which is more dark and heartfelt as it gives more insight as to what Souji was feeling during his time as a child at the Shieikan dojo.
*According to Reimeroku, Souji's "first kill" was a comrade who was plotting to assassinate Kondou.
*According to Reimeroku, Souji was one of the last Shieikan comrades to arrive in Kyoto (next to Saitou), due to catching the measles (which for adults can be life-threatening).
*He was the youngest in his family and had two elder sisters, Okita Mitsu and Okita Kin.
*In the game version of Reimeroku, Souji actually shows Kondou all the bruises on his shoulder, while in the anime he just talks about it and calls Kondou a nuisance. 
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Shinsengumi
Category:Rasetsu
Category:Main