Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ Overview/Review

Game Title: Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~

Game Platform: PSP

Game Developer: Idea Factory/Otomate

Release Date: February 14, 2012

Official Website: Otomate

Walkthrough: Fanpop

Opening:

Story:

Yukimura Chizuru (the heroine) travels to Kyoto to search for his father. She witnessed a battle between a Rasetsu and the Shinsengumi. Because of that event, she was taken in custody by the Shinsengumi to keep her mouth shut. They learned that her father is also the person they're searching. Chizuru then follows the Shinsengumi in they're every battle to look for her father and to learn secrets about these men and herself.

Characters: *Note: I'll just post the protagonist and her love interests since their are a lot of characters.

Name: Chizuru Yukimura (雪村 千鶴 Yukimura Chizuru)

Age: 16

A kind and thoughtful young girl who dressed as a boy to avoid danger in Kyoto. She's caring and also a soft-spoken woman.

Name: Hijikata Toshizou (土方 歳三 Hijikata Toshizō)

Age: 24

CV: Shinichiro Miki

He is the Vice-Commander of Shinsengumi. He's very strict and serious, because of his attitude, he is called Demon Vice-Commander. He is very loyal to their Head Commander and will even risk his life for his sake. Despite his attitude, he cares for his allies even Chizuru.

Name: Okita Souji (沖田 総司 Okita Sōji)

Age: 20

CV: Showtaro Morikubo

He is the First Division Captain of Shisengumi and also called a genius in swordmanship. He's a sadist and sarcastic person, he even threatens Chizuru all the time saying "I'll kill you" but he never means it. Like Hijikata, he's very loyal to their Head Commander, he even gets mad and blames Hijikata if the Head Commander gets wounded. It's later revealed that he has tuberculosis, a disease without a cure in their time.

Name: Saito Hajime (斎藤 一 Saitō Hajime)

Age: 21

CV: Kōsuke Toriumi 

The Third Division Captain who is very loyal to their Vice-Commander, he will do anything he asks for in a heartbeat. He's skilled in swordmanship especially using a skill called "Iai", a technique which kills an opponent immediately. He's very cold and expressionless but as the story progresses, he is shown to be quite thoughtful and even blushes when he portrays his feelings to Chizuru.

 Name: Todo Heisuke(藤堂 平助 Tōdō Heisuke)

Age: 18

CV: Hiroyuki Yoshino

The Eighth Division Captain and also the youngest of them all. He's seen to be cheerful and a happy-go-lucky kind of guy but he has doubts about on what he believes in. He's protective of Chizuru and cares for her a lot. He is seen to be always getting into a fight with his closest friends, Sanosuke and Shinpachi.

Name: Harada Sanosuke (原田 左之助 Harada Sanosuke)

Age: 23

CV: Kōji Yusa

The Tenth Division Captain and the only person in Shinengumi using a spear instead of a sword. He always smiles and makes a lot of joke with Shinpachi and Heisuke but can also get angry as seen when he punched Heisuke in the face for saying something unnecessary.

Name: Kazama Chikage (風間 千景 Kazama Chikage)

Age: Unknown

CV:  Kenjirō Tsuda

An Oni (demon) whose member of the Bakumatsu and the enemies of the Shinsengumi. He is after Chizuru for them to make a stronger Oni. He is the strongest Oni in the west and is always accompanied by his two allies, Shiranui and Amagiri.

Sample CG's:

Game Review:

Gameplay: It's simple and the usual otome game style.

Art/Design: Hmm... All I say is... IT'S AWESOME AND EPIC! I just love Kazuki Yone's drawing stlyle, it's just too bad that she isn't in Otomate now... I'm also kinda disappointed in Otomate when Kazuki Yone draw a Hakuoki characters and posted it in her twitter, they said "Remove the post or we'll sue you"... >.> Well at least she's in Broccoli now and she has a new game titled Kamiaso.

BGM/OST: Yes, I love it very much. It really shows the feeling of the game.

Story: I'm a fan of historical Japanese era so I love the story very much. A mixture of vampire and swordmanship, it's somewhat new to me and it was all good. Each of their good ending is not really a happy ending since some of them will die, that's also something new to me and so far I like it. Even the normal ending is kind of tragedy since... something happened (sorry, I can't tell it... It would be a spoiler x.x). Also in this game, their are a lot of bad ending where the heroine dies from either one of her love interests or from the enemy and it was kind of realistic for me since they have that rasetsu problem.

Characters: YES I LOVE ALL OF THEM! Even if Chizuru's the usual damsel-in-distress heroine, she's not that bad (although I see lots of fans hates her xD). 

Hijikata Toshizo is way to strict for me, even if he does care for Chizuru. Although he is also considered a hottie, he's not my type at all. But then again, I did get attracted to him when he cut his hair.

Okita Souji is my most fave char of them all. He's a sadist and sarcastic. I like it when he says "I'll kill you" to Chizuru, he's voice is also sexy that makes me want to glomp him! *start of spoiler* In one of his bad end, he died protecting Chizuru, he shielded her from Kaoru's sword. I cried at this scene, the sound, his voice and everything was just too sad... So tragic... BUT! At least in the good ending, they lived together (he still shielded her from Kaoru's sword but he didn't get stabbed), the only unknown thing is that whether he was still alive when he closed his eyes and Chizuru says good night to him. I searched in the net and they all say is that he was still alive, he just fell asleep, I just hope that is true. *end of spoiler*

Saito Hajime is also a serious kind of guy like Toshizo but at least he doesn't get mad easily. He doesn't really show much his emotions and when he does, he looks adorable (^0^). *start of spoiler* In the good end, all of Shinsengumi's captain died except for him, Sanosuke and Shinpachi. He still serves the government and acting like a police and all. He lives together with Chizuru and the scene where they looked up at the sky was just so sweet ^_^ *end of spoiler*

Todo Heisuke is funny and his voice really suit him well. He even got hotter when he cut his hair. Nothing much can I say about him even the ending because it wasn't really it was just a typical happy ending like Toshizo.

Harada Sanosuke has a flirtious aura but he doesn't flirt at all. *start of spoiler* Their was a R-18 scene where I think they had intercourse, it wasn't clarified because it wasn't really shown in CG, it just showed that he pinned her down and in the dialogues, it says that Chizuru felt her obi loosened so it hinted that they really did something. His good ending was the most happy ever after of them all, he and Chizuru had a child and was contended. *end of spoiler*

Kazama Chikage is actually my second fave char, he's so hot when he turns into a demon *^.^*. *start of spoiler* At first, he just needs Chizuru for them to repopulate their kind especially their pureblood demon kind. But as he was travelling with her, his feelings for her developed and has come to love Chizuru. He even said that he'll wait for her and even if she doesn't go to him, he will still take her (in other words, even if by force). That was sooo sweet of him~ *end of spoiler* Too bad his route was short unlike the others....

Final Thoughts: I was excited to play this game when it was first released in english, I even played it again and again (mostly Souji's Route). Too bad this is the only PSP otome game that has been translated in english, wish they would translate all of them... All in all, this game is worth playing and a must play for otome gamers. But of course it's not recommended for those who doesn't like a heroine whose always being out to be saved. x.x Even so, I guarantee that you will like one of them or even all of them at first play :3... Maybe xD...