Nobuhiro Watsuki based Saitō Hajime on the actual historic figure of the same name who was the captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi in the Meiji era.

[9] Watsuki came up with the idea of the Gatotsu (牙突) sword technique that Saitō uses in the series from the fact that the historical figure's favorite move was the "left single-handed thrust,"[8] or hirazuki (水平突き, lit.

In the sixth kanzenban volume, Watsuki included a draft page featuring a redesigned appearance of Saitō's character.

However, due to Suzuoki's death in 2006, he was replaced by Ken Narita as the new voice actor for Saitō in the two-part Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc movies.

[13] A powerful and ruthless swordsman, Saitō lives by the code "Aku Soku Zan" (悪即斬, Swift Death to Evil),[14] and frequently fights using the Gatotsu, a special left-handed stab variant of the Hirazuki technique of the Shinsengumi,[15] and its different stances.

[22] They fight,[23] and just as they are about to kill each other, Ōkubo Toshimichi appears and stops the duel, revealing that Saitō was only testing Kenshin's abilities[24] to see if he was skilled enough to face Shishio Makoto.

[33] In Rurouni Kenshin: The Hokkaido Arc, Saitō investigates Kenkaku Heiki who leads a mysterious group who claim to have been initially formed by ancestors in the Kamakura period who stopped the Mongol invasions of Japan.

Having stayed hidden for over 500 years, they take over Mount Hakodate and launch other attacks in Japan in order to gain battle experience to fend off future foreign invasions.

Saitō is severely wounded in combat by the leader of the Weapon Swordsmen Itekura Byakuya and contacts the former members of Shishio's men Seta Sojiro, Kamatari, Henya and Cho.

[34] Saitō makes an appearance in the two-part New Kyoto Arc movies, where some of his scenes and fights from the manga series are altered and removed.

As a result of his involvement in the Ikedaya Affair, he and his Shinsengumi comrades successfully prevent the burning of Kyoto by an extremist faction of the Ishin Shishi.

The author also recalled that one of the complaints criticized Saitō's selling of "Ishida powdered medicine" made by the Hijikata family, which Watsuki revealed he included as a joke.

[50] In the DVD volume 7 review for the anime, Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge described the fight scene between Saitō and Kenshin as "definitely choreographed well".

He praised "the viciousness in the attacks, masked under their cold calculating facade" as being "wonderfully done, providing a real feel for these ultimate killers".

[53] Reviewing the manga Restoration, Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network felt Saitō's was interesting in regards to his philosophy as it contrasted Kenshin's but lamented his lack of appearances in this version.

[55] Nick Creamer from Anime News Network referred to Saitō as a "kind of tempter for Kenshin" due to his role in the series' first liveaction film.

[56] The Hollywood Reporter writer Clarence Sui praised Eguchi's work as Saitō during the Kyoto Inferno film during its opening scene as he confronts Shishio Makoto.