In spite of this, SNK managed to raise excitement by announcing that Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator and author of the Rurouni Kenshin manga and anime series, was hired to design some of the new characters, and they were gradually revealed by way of silhouettes on the official website, and slowly showing the official artwork.
Rurouni Kenshin author Nobuhiro Watsuki cites Takeda Kanryūsai as the inspiration for a character by the name of Takeda Kanryū, who appears for a few chapters in the manga, as well as in the television series of the same name.
However, during the same years, Kishimoto started reading Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal and Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin which used such genre.
Nobuhiro Watsuki has stated that the character design of Sōjirō is loosely based on Okita Sōji, the captain of the first Squad of the Shinsengumi.