A story set in the mid-1800's about a young doctor who has been trained in Western-style medicine and a young samurai who is trying to live up to the old traditions of his class and culture. The story is actually based upon real people - the doctor, Ryo-an, was Tezuka's great grandfather.<br><br>
During the Second Year of Ansei (1855) in Edo's Koishigawa are two young men, Manjiro Ibutani and Ryoan Tezuka. Ibutani is a low-ranking samurai who is a gifted swordsman and has a straightforward and strong sense of justice. Tezuka has a more carefree attitude. He has an eye for the ladies, but he is passionate about becoming a doctor. The two opposite characters come of age during the backdrop of the turbulent end of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868 CE).<br><br>
(Source: AnimeNfo) 

[Twitter](https://twitter.com/rica_matsumoto3) | [Blog](https://ameblo.jp/ricachanhouse) | [Wiki (jp)](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E6%9C%AC%E6%A2%A8%E9%A6%99) | [Wiki (en)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rika_Matsumoto)

Rika Matsumoto is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer, as well as one of the founders of [JAM Project](https://anilist.co/staff/102041/).

After early stage work, she began both voice acting and singing careers. The most popular role by Rika is [Satoshi](https://anilist.co/character/2473/) (Ash Ketchum in English translations), the main character of the anime series [Pokémon](https://anilist.co/anime/527/). She also had a role in the [Yu-Gi-Oh](https://anilist.co/anime/550/) series as [Ryou Bakura](https://anilist.co/character/1488/) and [Yami Bakura](https://anilist.co/character/1489/). As such, Matsumoto has taken on roles for young boys. Matsumoto also performs the songs for many of the openings for the Japanese Pokémon anime.

Matsumoto has had lead or supporting roles in dozens of series. She has also had a radio show in Japan and does some dubbing work for translations of American films and TV series into Japanese. She announced in April 2008 she was taking time off from the group and her solo work.

Her name is also sometimes romanized as Rica Matsumoto.

Okon