Sanosuke Harada mouse pads for the desk

On this page you'll find Padrift's Sanosuke Harada mouse pads and desk mats, original art inspired by the easygoing spearman of Hakuoki, printed edge to edge on 3 mm neoprene with a fabric top, a non-slip base and stitched edges. Sizes start with an 11.8″ × 15.7″ (30 × 40 cm) pad for a mouse and climb in eight steps to a 23.6″ × 47.2″ (60 × 120 cm) mat; whichever you choose, we print it once you order.

Hakuoki doesn't have a series page in the shop, so the people and places around Sanosuke are covered here as well: Chizuru Yukimura, Shinpachi Nagakura, Heisuke Tōdō, Toshizō Hijikata, Sōji Okita and the rest of the Shinsengumi, plus Kyoto itself. For other series, head up to the Anime Mouse Pads page.

Hakuoki in brief

Hakuoki began in 2008 as an otome game, a story-driven romance game made for a female audience, from Idea Factory's Otomate label, with characters designed by Kazuki Yone. Studio Deen adapted it as an anime in 2010. It follows Chizuru Yukimura, a young woman who travels to Kyoto in the last years of the shogunate to find her missing father, a doctor, and ends up under the Shinsengumi's watch after witnessing something she shouldn't have. The corps is hiding a secret, a medicine that turns soldiers into Rasetsu, white-haired fighters of terrible strength, and Chizuru turns out to have a secret of her own.

The man in history

The game's Sanosuke shares his name with a real person: Harada Sanosuke, a spearman who captained the tenth unit of the Shinsengumi, the special police force that patrolled Kyoto in the 1860s. Everything else on this page is about the character in Hakuoki rather than the historical man.

Red hair and gold eyes

In Hakuoki, Sanosuke has long red hair tied loosely back and golden eyes, and he is usually drawn with a relaxed, half-smiling expression. Next to the cool blues of the Shinsengumi coat, his warm coloring makes him easy to pick out in any group picture.

For a desk, that means a warm main color and a cool accent. A dark wood desk, a warm lamp and a few deep red or burgundy keycaps suit a Sanosuke portrait, while a single pale blue item, a cable or a mug, picks up the haori. Very bright RGB does the period art no favors; soft, steady light works better.

The spear

Most of the Shinsengumi fight with swords; Sanosuke fights with a spear, and the long weapon sets him apart from every swordsman around him. It also changes his silhouette: a tall figure with a long diagonal line running past his shoulder.

That line is useful on a mat. On the M, 11.8″ × 27.6″ (30 × 70 cm), or the L, 11.8″ × 31.5″ (30 × 80 cm), the spear can run almost the full length of the top edge, with Sanosuke at one end and the spearhead at the other. On a deep mat, held upright, it frames one side of the keyboard like a border.

The pale blue haori

The Shinsengumi's coat is a distinctive garment: a light blue haori in the color called asagi, with a white sawtooth pattern along the sleeves. Hakuoki uses it as the corps' uniform, and Sanosuke wears it on patrol through the streets of Kyoto.

The sawtooth pattern makes a striking border. A design with the white zigzag running along the edges of a pale blue mat and Sanosuke or his spear in the middle frames the keyboard neatly, and it suits a light desk with white or pale gray peripherals.

The big brother of the corps

Among the Shinsengumi in Hakuoki, Sanosuke is the warm, steady one. He is kind to Chizuru from the start, protective without being overbearing and quick to defuse a tense moment with a joke. Off duty, he drinks and trades stories with Shinpachi Nagakura and Heisuke Tōdō, and the three of them supply many of the story's lighter scenes.

A trio design captures that mood. On an XL, 15.7″ × 35.4″ (40 × 90 cm), the three can sit together with sake cups across the top of the mat, Shinpachi and Heisuke on one side and Sanosuke on the other, faces well clear of the keyboard. It's a relaxed, friendly image for a desk where you unwind.

Pale cherry blossoms

The title hints at the look of the series: Hakuōki is usually translated as something like demon of the pale cherry blossom. Petals drift through key scenes, and soft pink runs through the art alongside the corps' blue and the darker clothes of the fighters.

A cherry blossom design softens a Sanosuke desk. Pink petals against pale blue suit a spring setup or a bright room, and they give a pad a calm, seasonal feel without hiding who it's about. Under warm white light the pinks stay soft; under cool LEDs they turn slightly lilac.

Kyoto after dark

Much of Hakuoki takes place at night: patrols through narrow streets, paper lanterns over wooden doorways and moonlight on tiled roofs. Those scenes are drawn in deep blues and blacks with small pools of warm light, and they carry most of the story's tension.

Night scenes suit a gaming desk or a room with low light. A lantern-lit street running across a wide mat looks good beside a single warm desk lamp, and the dark ground hides marks from daily use. Keep the lanterns along the top edge, where they work like a strip of light behind your keyboard.

Chizuru and his route

As an otome game, Hakuoki lets the player follow Chizuru's story with one of several men, and Sanosuke's route is one of them. It puts his protective, big-brother side at the center and shows what he is willing to give up for the person he cares about.

Designs pairing Sanosuke with Chizuru, her pink kimono beside his red hair and pale blue coat, suit a gift between partners or a desk for someone who played his route first. For two figures, choose a size with depth, the XXL at 23.6″ × 35.4″ (60 × 90 cm) or larger, and keep both faces in the upper half.

Playing at the desk

Hakuoki has been released on a long list of consoles and handhelds over the years, in Japanese and in English. As a visual novel it is played slowly, reading, choosing and reading again, often on a handheld propped up next to a keyboard or on a screen at the desk.

A mat for that kind of play should be calm in the middle. Choose a design with its strongest art toward the edges, a spear along the top or petals in the corners, so a handheld, a controller or a cup of tea can rest in the center without covering anything important.

The rest of the corps

Sanosuke's page is also home to the other Shinsengumi of Hakuoki. Toshizō Hijikata, the stern vice-commander, holds the corps together by force of will; Sōji Okita smiles while saying alarming things; Hajime Saitō is quiet and exact; and Heisuke Tōdō, the youngest of the captains, runs on enthusiasm. Outside the corps stands Chikage Kazama, a proud oni who keeps coming after Chizuru. Each of them has a route of his own in the game.

For someone who plays every route, a group design along the top of a 4XL, 23.6″ × 47.2″ (60 × 120 cm), gives each man a place without crowding, and Sanosuke's red hair stays easy to find among all those pale blue coats.

From Kyoto to the north

The story doesn't stay in Kyoto. As the shogunate falls, the Shinsengumi are pushed into the Boshin War and fight their way north, and the art moves with them, from spring blossoms and summer streets to autumn battlefields and snow. Those later scenes are quieter and colder in tone, with grays, whites and deep blues.

A snowy design suits a winter desk or a room with cool daylight, and its pale palette goes well with white or silver peripherals. It's a thoughtful choice for someone who has played through to the end and remembers how the journey changes the characters.

The kanji on the banner

The Shinsengumi fought under a banner bearing a single character, 誠, makoto, usually translated as sincerity. Hakuoki uses it throughout, and it makes the simplest symbol for the small 11.8″ × 15.7″ (30 × 40 cm) pad: one bold character in white or red on a pale blue or black ground, placed near the top where your palm won't cover it. A small spearhead or a single cherry petal beside it finishes the design.

Sizes for a Sanosuke desk

Look at the product page of a design to see which sizes it is made in. These are the ones that suit Sanosuke and Hakuoki art.

Setup	Size	Good for
Mouse only	S, 11.8″ × 15.7″ (30 × 40 cm)	The kanji 誠 on pale blue
Laptop desk	TCG Mat, 14″ × 24″ (35.5 × 61 cm)	Sanosuke under falling petals
Compact keyboard	M, 11.8″ × 27.6″ (30 × 70 cm)	The spear along the top edge
Keyboard and mouse	XL, 15.7″ × 35.4″ (40 × 90 cm)	Sanosuke, Shinpachi and Heisuke together
Deep desk	XXL, 23.6″ × 35.4″ (60 × 90 cm)	Sanosuke and Chizuru under the blossoms
The whole desk	4XL, 23.6″ × 47.2″ (60 × 120 cm)	A lantern-lit Kyoto street at night

A desk that is wide rather than deep has two more sizes to consider, the L at 11.8″ × 31.5″ (30 × 80 cm) and the 3XL at 19.7″ × 39.4″ (50 × 100 cm).

Gifts for a Hakuoki player

A Sanosuke pad suits someone who chose his route first, a friend who collects otome games or a fan of samurai history who likes a story with romance in it. Choose the cherry blossoms for a gentle gift, the night streets for a gamer and the trio for someone who loves the corps' friendships. When you don't know the desk, the 14″ × 24″ (35.5 × 61 cm) TCG Mat leaves room for a handheld beside it and fits almost anywhere.

Leave room for 1–3 business days of making time plus a usual 2–5 business days of delivery from Turkey to the US.

Caring for pale blue and pink

Light blues and pinks show marks sooner than dark colors, so wipe the pad with a slightly damp cloth whenever the area under your wrist starts to dull. Every so often, wash the whole pad by hand: lukewarm water, a drop of mild soap and a gentle rub with your palm. Rinse it, blot it between two towels and leave it lying flat until dry. It must not go in the washing machine, the dryer is off the table too, and ironing it would ruin the surface.

A note on names

Sanosuke Harada, Hakuoki and the other character names here are used solely to describe what inspired our designs. Padrift is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Idea Factory, Otomate, Kazuki Yone or Studio Deen.