Megumi Takani

Megumi is intelligent, poised and sharp-tongued. She enjoys teasing the people around her and frequently flirts with Kenshin partly because she knows how strongly Kaoru Kamiya reacts. Kaoru and Sanosuke Sagara consequently compare her to a fox.

Her playful demeanor disappears when a patient's life is at risk. Megumi takes medicine extremely seriously and is willing to work through exhaustion to treat the wounded. Her experiences with opium leave her with profound guilt and strengthen her conviction that her medical knowledge should thereafter be used to preserve life.

Megumi can also be unusually perceptive about the emotional and physical condition of her friends. She recognizes the cumulative damage Kenshin's battles inflict upon his body and is one of the people most willing to tell him and Kaoru uncomfortable medical truths.

Megumi is not a fighter, but she is one of the series' most accomplished physicians. Raised in the Takani medical family, she received an unusually broad education incorporating both established Japanese treatments and Western medicine.

She is skilled at diagnosing illness, treating wounds and fractures, controlling bleeding and identifying poisons. Her knowledge of pharmacology and toxicology is particularly advanced. This allows her to recognize substances that ordinary doctors might misunderstand and devise appropriate treatment.

Megumi's medical ability repeatedly keeps members of Kenshin's group alive after severe battles. Her expertise also gives her an understanding of the physical limitations of techniques that place extreme strain on the human body.

Megumi enters the story while escaping Kanryū's criminal organization. After the death of the physician for whom she had worked, she was forced to manufacture a particularly dangerous form of opium for Kanryū.

Overwhelmed by guilt for the deaths and addictions caused by the drug, Megumi considers taking her own life. Kenshin stops her and argues that she should atone by using her medical knowledge to save as many people as possible.

Following Kanryū's defeat, Megumi works with Gensai Oguni and becomes the group's regular physician. During subsequent conflicts she treats injuries sustained by Kenshin, Sanosuke and their allies.

After the Jinchū conflict concludes, Megumi eventually prepares to return to Aizu and establish herself there as a physician, continuing the medical tradition of her family.

Kenshin Himura rescues Megumi from Kanryū's organization and gives her the encouragement that redirects her guilt toward saving lives. Megumi develops strong affection for him and frequently flirts with him.

Kaoru Kamiya initially reacts jealously to Megumi's attention toward Kenshin, but the two women become trusted friends. Megumi later speaks frankly with Kaoru about Kenshin's deteriorating physical condition.

Sanosuke Sagara regularly trades insults with Megumi, who treats many of his injuries and repeatedly warns him about the damage he inflicts upon his body.

Yahiko Myojin is another member of the Kamiya dojo circle whom Megumi treats when necessary.

Gensai Oguni provides Megumi with a place to practice medicine after she escapes Kanryū.

Kanryuu Takeda exploits Megumi's pharmaceutical knowledge and forces her to produce opium for his criminal operation.