Otome Game Review: 薄桜鬼 巡想録

Hello everyone! This is Yami again. Sorry for such the long break! The holiday season was pretty hectic this year. Dev and myself have been incredibly busy. Thank you everyone for being so patient! 

So today I bring to you all a review for Hakuouki: Junsouroku. The first Hakuouki title was (shockingly) released in America last week on Valentine's day. In honor of its release, I decided to bring to you guys a review for one of my fave titles in the series! Please, enjoy ^^

Samurai love them kitties.

 Hakuouki: Junsouroku
PS3 (2010)

Idea Factory (Otomate)

Dating Sim

Hakuouki Junsouroku is a compilation of the first and second Hakuouki games; 薄桜鬼 〜新選組奇譚 and 薄桜鬼 随想録. I picked this up awhile ago because it was cheaper than buying both Hakuouki games. It was liking getting one game for the price of one! 

Story

The story takes place towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1860's. You play as Yukimura Chizuru. She wanders to Kyoto from Edo in search of her father, a doctor who's specialty is with Western medicine. Since Chizuru is a girl (which is dangerous for her to wander around by herself) she travels disguised as a boy.

On her first night in the old capital, Chiziru stumbles upon a group of rowdy ronin who try to pick a fight with her. Scared, Chizuru basically runs off and hides. However, while she is hiding something rather strange occurs. The group of ronin she was hiding from are attacked by a group of men in blue and white coats. That wasn't the strange part. What made these men weird, was the fact that they were whited haired with a strong sense of blood lust!
 

BraiiiiNNnnsssss

Chizuru sits in her hiding spot scared stiff. After the carnage seems to be over, Chizuru tries to escape but fails. The creepy men notice and starts to go after her!

Luckily, two men come in and rescue her. For a moment, Chizuru is relieved but she notices the blue and white coats. Then it hits her; the men are from the Shinsengumi. These men have a reputation for being ruthless. Chizuru sits there, not knowing what to do. The men that saved her are now plotting what to do with her. Jokingly, one of the men  (Okita Souji) says that they should kill her. Then one of the leaders appears in front of Chizuru.

'Sup bitches.

Hijikata Toshizo, Vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, joins in the fuss with the other two men about what to do with Chizuru. In the end, the three men take Chizuru to the Shinsengumi headquarters to see what their leader, Kondou Isami, wants to do with her.

The next day, Chizuru wakes up in her own room. At first she feels relieved but she gets called into the Shinsengumi's common room. In the room, the other officers were grumbling to each other about what to do. When asked, Chizuru introduces herself and says that she is looking for her father whom is a doctor. The guys then grow silent. Chizuru then becomes confused and someone speaks up, saying her father actually was with them for a bit. At this point she is happy because she finally has information about her father. The after a long debate, the Shinsengumi men decide to keep Chiruru around to help them find her father under the condition that she remains a boy.

This is just the beginning. The story is heavily based on actual history during the ending of the Tokugawa Shogunate with the addition of Chizuru's story. The way the writers wove Chizuru's tale into the actual Shinsengumi story is quiet nice. What makes this really great is that the romance gradually forms. It's not right off the bat that the guys are interested in her. It takes years for the guys to fall for Chizuru and its nice. You get to see first hand how the relationships form between not only Chizuru but you can see how the rest of the guys friendships evolve over the course of the game. It is really fantastic. It just draws you in, begging for more. 

Characters

Top to bottom, left to right: Harada Sanosuke, Kazama Chikage, Hijikata Toshizou, Okita Souji, Saitou Hajime, and Toudou Heisuke

In the game, there are six guys you can end up with (one is sort of a secret character). Five are from the Shinsengumi.

Hijikata Toshizou (土方 歳三): Vice-commander of the Shinsengumi. He is known as a demon because of his ruthless attitude, cold personality, and bad temper. Deep down he is caring, like a mother :P

Okita Souji (沖田 総司): Captain of the first division. He is a total trouble maker. Okita also likes to kill things... and jokes about it often.

Saitou Hajime (斎藤 一): Captain of the third division. He has a stern demeanor and comes off emotionless. Deep down he is a really caring guy. He is also left handed.

Toudou Heisuke (藤堂 平助): The youngest member of the Shinsengumi. He often jokes around with Harada and Shinpachi. 

Harada Sanosuke (原田 左之助): Captain of the tenth division. He is Shinpachi's right hand man for the most part. He uses a spear instead of a sword.

The other character; Kazama Chikage, is kind of an antagonist but he is a character Chizuru can end up with.  

Kazama Chikage (風間 千景): The head of the Kazama clan. He is very strong and has his eyes set on Chizuru for various reasons.

In the second game, four other men become available for an ending with Chizuru. Each route here is short (I mean really short) and they are not romantically linked with Chizuru. They are more of "friendship" endings. I found them cute.

Promise me now!

Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉 新八): Captain of the second division. He is obsessed with women and booze. Shinpachi's personality is like an older brother. ...He also loves to show off his muscles.

I am not useless!!!!

 Yamanami Keisuke (山南 敬助): Also known as Sannan-san. He is the other vice-commander of the Shinsengumi. He is generally a really nice guy but due to some event things change.....

HEY WE ARE THE SHINSENGUMI!

 Kondou Isami (近藤 勇): The commander of the Shinsengumi. He is a really understanding and sweet guy. However, he leaves a lot of the important decisions up to Hijikata LOL

So.... this is what is going on.

Yamazaki Susumu (山崎 烝): An officer of the Shinsengumi. He is actually a spy (basically a ninja). He is kind of quiet and collected.

Overall, I love all the characters. Each one brings something different to the table. I like some more than others *coughssaitoucoughs* but I generally like every character in the game. Their personalities, for the most part, are really well developed. It makes the game just that more engaging.

Gameplay

A pretty standard visual novel/dating sim. You get a set of choices to choose from and depending on your choice, it determines what route you get. Simple.

What makes this SO much easier though is the introduction on a fast-forward button. In the previous titles, you could only use this button once you have seen the events. Now you can just go into the settings page and turn this feature on. You can skip over anything you want. Though, I advise not to do it all the time. You will miss the story and you will also miss seeing the CG's (which are BEAUTIFUL >///<) So watch out.

As mentioned above, there are two games in this. The first game, Shinsengumi Kitan, is the original game which tells each guys story from beginning to end. The second game,Zuisouroku, is a little omake-ish. Each story is a little more light hearted and takes place in between certain events from the first game. The stories for the fellows focus more on their relationship with Chizuru, which is nice. What is also great about the second game is that the other guys from the story also get a small story in this.

As a bonus for completing the original story, you unlock PS3 themes for each guy that has an ending. I always have Saitou's theme up since he is my favorite =) For completing the stories for the second game, you get episodes for SSL (Sweet School Love). Its like an omake which takes the Hakuouki gang to modern Japan and they attend school. It's pretty funny XD I looove Shinpachi and Hijikata in this. You also get short stories as well (they are entertaining). It's like a bonus for completing the game :3

One major downside to this game is that (duh) it is all in Japanese. In order to play this game you are going to have to have a good grasp in not only basic Japanese but some Japanese history as well. A lot of the things mentioned in game has to deal with the ending of the Edo period. What is good though (once again, you need to know Japanese) is that there is a built in encyclopedia in the game. Its all in kanji with little ofurigana. I almost died trying to read it all but thank goodness I know my Japanese history (for the most part XD). This is a really good game to learn history from for sure (for the most part XD) and to practice Japanese. I know it helped me a lot XD

Art

*DIES FROM THE SEXY*

PFFFFFT. The art in this game is just flippin' gorgeous (*o*) Kazuki Yone has to be one of the best artist I have seen in awhile. Her designs are just.... amazing. The details she puts into the characters are just phenomenal. The ONLY issue I have with her art is how she draws ears(=3=) They look kind of off putting but that is just me lol Other than that, the art in this game (by far) is just... beautiful.

Music

 This is the one thing this game lacks; good music. The background music is super repetitive and gets a little annoying after awhile. The music just doesn't loop nicely. The OP song is done by Yoshioka Aika. The song is pretty decent. It matches the overall theme of the game. The general feeling of the music is sub-par in my opinion. It could have been a lot better but eh. At least it matches for the most part.

Voice Acting

PFFFT. Voice acting in this game is top notch. All the characters are done by pretty well known seiyuu and match the characters perfectly. I seriously enjoyed the voice acting in this game. I am super picky about my voicing in games and this one was just perfect. I can't really explain it any better.

....Need more?

More sexy! >3

Hakuouki has a ton of remakes. Shinsengumi Kitan and Zuisouroku both come on the PS2, PSP, and the DS. Just for fun there is Yuugoroku (遊戯録) which is just filled with a bunch of mini games.There is a new game called Reimeiroku (黎明録), which is supposed to be like a prequel to Kitan. It is on the PS2 and the PSP as of this review. I am in the middle of playing Reimeiroku so please look forward to a review in the near future! 

 Recommend?

If you are into Otome games, a good story, and/or Japanese history, I say give this game ago! The story to this game is just fantastic. The voicing is just great and the art is to die for. However, if you are a stickler for music this game miiiight not be for you (since the music is lacking). Also, if your Japanese is shaky or you don't know any, you might or will not get the whole story. But don't let that stop you! If you are good at reading context clues (or.... can understand the tone of people's voice for emotional reasons), then you might still be able to understand the story. 

From my point of view, I give this game a 5/5. I just fell in love with the characters and the story is just fantastic. However, the language barrier might prove to be a pain, so in that sense I give this game a 4/5. 

Review coming soon!

With the release of the English game though, people you are in luck (^_^) You will be able to get the full story (of the first game at least). I am in the middle of playing it (I am almost done with one route X.x) and will be doing a review on the English translation once I am done. Please look forward to it!

BEST.PICTURE.EVER.