At the start of the movie, the young and handsome Sozaburo Kano is admitted to the Shinsengumi, an elite samurai police group led by Isami Kondo that seeks to defend the shogunate against reformist forces. He is a very skilled swordsman, but it is his appearance that makes many of the others in the (strictly male) group, both students and superiors, attracted to him, creating tension within the group of people vying for Kano's attention.