The end of the Edo period, the Bakumatsu (between 1853 and 1867), was an era of uncertainty and chaos, a time when the line between right and wrong was indistinguishable. During this era, Hijikata Toushizou, determined to live by his own rules, led his reformed Shinsengumi--formerly a ragtag group of mercenaries that became the elite Samurai fighting force of the shogunate--to glory. This is the story of his life.