[DrunkMans]

I think in real-life, there is no such thing as absolute line for good guy or bad guy. shinsengumi is a pro-tokugawa samurais that fight against the isshin shishi samurais that want to put the emperor back in power. Shinsengumi lost. both side kill each others. They are not saints for sure. Since people like story about samurai, shinsengumi were one of the last active group of samurais so they are popular. IMHO