Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

For a change of pace I thought I'd write more of a reflection rather than a full-on review for this novel. I'll go through the story routes in the order I went through them. Expect spoilers for the routes in question.

Regular End

First time through I didn't focus on any guy in particular, and so I ended up not getting enough 'romance' on anyone to enter their route. And so I ended up with the regular end...

Damn this game turns dark fast. Basically during a siege Chizuru gets separated from the guys, is saved from enemy troops by Kazama of all people and then spends the rest of the story desperately trying to reunite with the Shinsengumi, with some help from Kazama. And does she make it? Well...

(SPOILER)

Sanosuke Harada

This is where I noticed that the very first two choices in the game actually give you romance towards one of the guys depending on what combination you pick, so I just went with whosever romance plus I ended up getting. First off was Harada. He's a pretty lovable guy, and his route was one I was particularly interested in.

It's definitely the most straight-up romantic out of all the routes. It primarily focuses on Chizuru's internal struggle and wish for a normal life, and Harada of course plays a big part in that. The plot in this route is not all that memorable beyond some good moments, but the romance really was well built up and sweet. It wasn't until later that I noticed how unique the plot of this particular arc actually is...

Souji Okita

Okita is not quite as likeable as Harada is from the beginning. He starts out being pretty cold towards Chizuru, and although it's noticeable that he doesn't really dislike her, it still takes long before he becomes a particularly sympathetic character.

He has tuberculosis which ended up being surprisingly irrelevant during his route, because in Chapter 4 he ends up drinking the Water of Life, turning him into a fury, suppressing his tuberculosis. I was surprised actually that he never does that in any of the other routes, because it seems like something he'd do, and not just to save Chizuru from a precarious situation.

Okita's route introduces an antagonist, (SPOILER)Kaoru, who I reeeally would've liked to see more of in the other routes. Sadly, (SPOILER)he doesn't even show up in the other routes AT ALL. That really bothers me in retrospect.

The romance wasn't really comparable to Harada's. But it does get a notable mention for having one of the most depressing bad ends in the whole visual novel.

Toudou Heisuke

Honestly I wasn't that interested in Heisuke's route. He stood out the least among the main cast, annnnd his route didn't do much to counteract that. He drinks the Water of Life during the common story parts, so quite a few plot points of Okita's route are present here as well. I must say I was already a bit sick of the "Give him blood" "Give him medicine" "Make him endure it" choice when the route started.

In Heisuke's route, Kazama becomes a non-issue when Sen offers to bear his children instead of Chizuru. ...but of course things don't go that well. Sanan goes pretty crazy in this arc, and attempts to turn Sen into a fury leader. He ends up being the main antagonist this time, and Kazama is actually an ally. Hell yes!

The bad ends made no sense, btw. They come up if Heisuke's corruption goes too far, and... none of them have anything to do with his corruption. Yeah, I'm not too fond of this game's tendency to have your choices affect things they logically should have no impact on at all.

I didn't dislike the route, but it did end up being my overall least favorite.

Hajime Saito

Similarly to Heisuke, I wasn't that enthralled to go through Saito's route, but I was rather curious to see where it would go, as Saito as a romantic interest is never hinted at in the slightest.

And corresponding to that, Saito's route doesn't focus on romance much. What it does focus on is the Shinsengumi's bond and importance to some of its members. Saito is very devoted to the Shinsengumi, to the point of going to extreme measures to fulfill his duties.

And what extreme measures you might ask? ...yeah. The Water of Life. Geez, talk about repeating the same plot point again and again in half the routes.

The plot is mostly about how the Shinsengumi desperately try to stay alive and fight their battles even as everything around them deserts and leaves them. It was a nice change of pace from the fury- or romance-focused routes to instead put emphasis on what the Shinsengumi stands for, and why the captains are so devoted to it.

Plus, it has (SPOILER)the captains ganging up on and killing Kazama. That was a pretty nice scene.

Toshizo Hijikata

Finally, we have Hijikata. Saved the best for last, I did. His route is a nice blend of what made each of the other routes - Harada's and Saito's specifically - so enjoyable.

Pretty early after you enter his route, Chizuru gets attacked and nearly abducted by Kazama. Hijikata comes to her rescue, and in order to beat the demon, he drinks the Wat-

OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Yes, four out of the five routes use the same goddamn plot point of having the hero become a freaking fury. Suddenly I'm much more appreciative of Harada's route for breaking the mold.

Regardless, Hijikata's route ended up being my favorite. While there were few to no plot twists, given that I knew just about all of the story through the other routes, it was still very interesting reading it from this perspective. Plus, the romance feels so rewarding.

Finally, Hijikata's route is the one in which "Hakuoki" actually comes up, and it couldn't have been better.

I then found out that there's a Kazama-romance-ending if you pick the right choices in the regular end, but there's not that much of a difference, really.

So, what did I think of Hakuouki? Overall, I gave it a 7.5/10 on VNDB, putting it on-par with my favorite 'very short' visual novels (Narcissu, Saya no Uta, planetarian). The plot isn't outstanding, but it was interesting and entertaining enough to keep me reading.

The characters are pretty solid. Harada and Hijikata stood out above the rest, and Hijikata has a wonderful voice actor. And there were no heroes I disliked. The romance aspect had its ups and downs, and at times it may have been rather unimportant, but it never felt forced.

The art was really pretty, no question, including the character designs, although the character sprites didn't stand out in particular, neither positively nor negatively. The CGs were beautiful though.

The soundtrack... eh. I don't know what to say. I rarely take issue with soundtracks in visual novels, but Hakuouki may be a bit of an exception. First off, it had a similar problem to Kara no Shoujo, as it had a few tracks it reused again and again and again, but Hakuouki also had a bit of a nasty habit of misusing the tracks. It uses cheery music even in rather tense situations, just because there's nothing tense happening literally at the moment. It caused a bit of a rift in the atmosphere set by the music and by the setting, which was unfortunate.

That aside though the tracks themselves were pretty fine. I got tired of the regular cheery music and the regular tense music with how many times they're played, but the OST did have some standout tracks and I very much liked the 'heroic' theme, which they actually used really well.

Well, that's about it. In a nutshell, I enjoyed Hakuouki, but it's not one of my favorites.