History YMMV / SanoIchiro

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Sano calls out the shogun's weaknesses, Tsunayoshi agrees with him and declares his intentions to turn around his behavior. Then the final book starts five years after this event in order to show the shogun being stabbed. While he does initially survive the stabbing and is shown to be more assertive than in books past, his physically weakened state makes him unable to proceed as usual. Whatever complications Sano's investigations might have faced with a more competent shogun at the helm are left unexplored.
* TheWoobie: After obtaining a severe injury that gives him a limp, Hirata's character arc turns into a slow descent towards his own destruction. While becoming a martial arts expert does improve his self-esteem significantly, it also turns into him a target for a group of three fellow martial artists. Even individually, these people are more powerful than he is. They trick him into joining their group with the allure of learning more fighting techniques. It isn't until much later that Hirata learns that they intended to use him in order to further their own goal of restructuring Japan by taking out the Tokugawa shogunate. This includes turning him into a host for a vengeful ghost named General Otani, who forces Hirata to do his bidding or he'll kill Sano. Throughout it all, Hirata tries to overcome General Otani's influence or figure out ways to get rid of him, but since they share a body, the General can easily see through his schemes. By the time Hirata [[spoiler: sacrifices his body for the safety of Sano, you want to weep along with Midori and Sano as they watch Hirata die]].

* ReplacementScrappy: When Lord Matsudaira took over as Sano's main antagonist, there was general consensus that he wasn't as good an antagonist as Yanagisawa.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Sano calls out the Shogun's weaknesses, Tsunayoshi agrees with him and declares his intentions to turn around his behavior. Then the final book starts five years after this event in order to show the Shogun being stabbed. While he does initially survive the stabbing and is shown to be more assertive than in books past, his physically weakened state makes him unable to proceed as usual. Whatever complications Sano's investigations might have faced with a more competent Shogun at the helm are left unexplored.
* TheWoobie: After obtaining a severe injury that gives him a limp, Hirata's character arc turns into a slow descent towards his own destruction. While becoming a martial arts expert does improve his self-esteem significantly, it also makes him a target of a group of three fellow martial artists, who are, altogether, more powerful than he is. They trick him into joining their group with the allure of learning more fighting techniques. It isn't until much later that Hirata learns that they intended to use him in order to further their own goal of restructuring Japan by taking out the Tokugawa shogunate. This includes turning him into a host for a vengeful ghost named General Otani, who forces Hirata to do his bidding or he'll kill Sano. Throughout it all, Hirata tries to overcome General Otani's influence or figure out ways to get rid of him, but since they share a body, the General can easily see through his schemes. By the time Hirata [[spoiler: sacrifices his body for the safety of Sano, you want to weep along with Midori and Sano as they watch Hirata die]].

%% IronWoobie: After obtaining a severe injury that gives him a limp, Hirata's life turns into a slow descent towards his own destruction. While becoming a martial arts expert does improve his self-esteem significantly, it also makes him a target for three fellow, just as powerful martial artists who also trained under the same master as Hirata. They trick him into joining their group with the allure of more fighting techniques. It isn't until much later that Hirata learns that they intend to use him in order to further their own goal of restructuring Japan by taking out the Tokugawa shogunate.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: After Sano calls out the Shogun's weaknesses, Tsunayoshi agrees with him and declares his intentions to turn around his behavior. Then the final book starts five years after this event in order to show the Shogun being stabbed. While he does initially survive the stabbing and is shown to be more assertive than in books past, his physically weakened state makes him unable to proceed as usual. Whatever complications Sano's investigations might have faced with a more competent Shogun at the helm are left unexplored.

* IronWoobie: Hirata, after he is severely injured in ''The Assassin's Touch'', starts down a dark and horrible path that sorely tests his previously honorable, good-natured character. He decides to embark on mystical martial arts training to compensate for his handicap. He is forced to leave his wife Midori and children for months at a time (which causes major resentment from Midori), and eventually falls in with a group of mystical conspirators that want him to use his skills for their own plans to change the course of Japan. When Hirata threatens to leave after realizing they intend to destroy the Tokugawa shogunate, they threaten to kill Sano; their superior skills force him to protect said master by keeping quiet about what is going on and remain under their control, infuriating Sano and making it impossible to stick up for his retainer. Eventually, the conspirators beat him nearly to death and allow the ghost of a vengeful general take over his body while he is in a coma. After killing his former companions, General Otani forces him to kill and steal for Ienobu over the course of five years and never lets him go home, eventually forcing his own master Sano to label him a traitor and creating a deep hatred in Midori for abandoning them and turning them into outcasts with his traitor status. When he finally appears in the final battle at the palace in ''The Iris Fan'', the General tries to make him kill his own master to prevent his plans from being stopped. [[spoiler: Hirata fights back so hard against the ghost's control so hard he snaps his bones, tendons, nerves, and even his own ''spine'' to stop the attack. Although he manages one last mental attack on Ienobu to thwart the general's plans for good, the strain is too much for him. He dies in Midori's arms a few hours later, now at peace the General's scheme has been stopped, and named as a hero by a grieving Sano.]]

%% MagnificentBastard: Chamberlain Yanagisawa, whose scheming and manipulations to rule over the shogun and Japan have ruined hundreds, if not thousands, of lives and destroyed the honor of many. Not to mention making Sano's life absolutely miserable at every turn.

* IronWoobie: Hirata, after he is severely injured in ''The Assassin's Touch'', starts down a dark and horrible path that sorely tests his previously honorable, good-natured character. He decides to embark on mystical martial arts training to compensate for his handicap. He is forced to leave his wife Midori and children for months at a time (which causes major resentment from Midori), and eventually falls in with a group of mystical conspirators that want him to use his skills for their own plans to change the course of Japan. When Hirata threatens to leave after realizing they intend to destroy the Tokugawa shogunate, they threaten to kill Sano; their superior skills force him to protect said master by keeping quiet about what is going on and remain under their control, infuriating Sano and making it impossible to stick up for his retainer. Eventually, the conspirators beat him nearly to death and allow the ghost of a vengeful general take over his body while he is in a coma. After killing his former companions since [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness They Have Outlived Their Usefulness]], General Otani forces him to kill and steal for Ienobu over the course of five years and never lets him go home, eventually forcing his own master Sano to label him a traitor and creating a deep hatred in Midori for abandoning them and turning them into outcasts with his traitor status. When he finally appears in the final battle at the palace in ''The Iris Fan'', the General tries to make him kill his own master to prevent his plans from being stopped. [[spoiler: Hirata fights back so hard against the ghost's control so hard he snaps his bones, tendons, nerves, and even his own ''spine'' to stop the attack. Although he manages one last mental attack on Ienobu to thwart the general's plans for good, the strain is too much for him. He dies in Midori's arms a few hours later, now at peace the General's scheme has been stopped, and named as a hero by a grieving Sano.]]

* ReplacementScrappy: When Lord Matsudaira took over as Sano's main antagonist, there was general consensus that he wasn't as good an antagonist as Yanagisawa.

* MagnificentBastard: Chamberlain Yanagisawa, whose scheming and manipulations to rule over the shogun and Japan have ruined hundreds, if not thousands, of lives and destroyed the honor of many. Not to mention making Sano's life absolutely miserable at every turn.

* MagnificentBastard: Chamberlain Yanagisawa.

* MagnificentBastard: Chamberlain Yanagisawa.