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Chiruran / Song of the Samurai is to the Bakumatsu period what The Last Samurai is to the Satsuma Rebellion, in that a vague historical connection exists and characters are inspired by mostly real people, but that's where the similarities end. I'm okay with that since Chiruran is based on a manga and the sword-fighting is fun.

I can also forgive Chiruran a lot since the producers chose to treat Okada Izo nicely, even though he doesn't historically have much interaction with any of the Shinsengumi.

They framed him as a reluctant assassin forced into that role by Takechi Hanpeita's machinations, in the series through the murder of a fellow sword student who looked up to Izo like a brother, and in real life it was through the debt Izo owed Takechi. And they showed him struggling with the ramifications of killing without ideological conviction and without wanting to kill, which again is one of the more realistic portrayals. We even get a poor little meow meow moment when Izo is eating from the literal trash while hiding in Kyoto, which is not actually far from the truth. And then the producers chose to be very kind about Izo's prison stay, which diverges from history in the best possible way.

I'll have more time to spend on the book this weekend, but look at this netsuke of a fox disguised as a Buddhist nun that was gifted to Saito Hajime by Kondo Isami.