Taitou Shirei

The main protagonist. A 16 year old youth. He is very headstrong, does not like losing, and though reckless is quite a skilled fighter. He opposes the officials in order to protect the people and his companions. He also has a habit of repeating himself when flustered or angry.
He has the Hokushin-Tenkun mark of Hagun on his right shoulder. He is also part of the law enforcing organization, Seiryutou (Holy Dragon Group), which is based at Lotus Temple at Taishan. The group take care of events from rebel raids to violence inflicted by officials. The group overestimated their strength and took on Keirou and in the end lost most of their people. Taitou, seeking revenge for his comrades, left on a journey to train up.
In the manga, the Kenkaranbu was to be given to Taitou on his coming of age ceremony by Sonnei but it was seized by Shimei, turning the journey to that of the recovery of the sword. In the anime, the sword was taken by Keirō after a fight between Taito and the general during the former's invasion of the temple.
Taitou meets the emperor later on in the anime and it is revealed that Taitou is the older brother of the emperor and that they were separated because Taitou bore the 'Hagun' mark.