Hakuoki: Saito's Story

Last week, I finally got the chance to play Hakuoki ~Demon of the Fleeting Blossom~ after it had been sitting on my shelf for a good 2-3 months. This is the second Otome game I've played, the first one being Princess Debut on the DS (which I will eventually finish someday).

*This pic is from the Hakuoki fankit at www.hakuoki.com

Hakuoki takes place during the rise and fall of the Shinsengumi between 1864 to 1868. You see the growth of the Shinsengumi from being a group of unappreciated samurai keeping the peace to protecting the shogun to eventually being wiped out by Western weapons, such as guns and cannons, rendering the way of the sword as useless. Beware though, this game is text heavy to explain the history, but you can skip through text you've seen before when you play through it again.

The story of Hakuoki follows the main female protagonist, Yukimura Chizuru (her first name can be changed, but not her family name). She had been sending letters to her father who is in Kyoto, but stopped receiving replies from him all of the sudden. She gets worried about her father and decides to leave Edo for Kyoto. Having heard stories of Kyoto being a dangerous place, she dresses herself up as a boy. Once she gets there, she is suppose to meet up with her father's friend, Matsumoto. Unfortunately, he just left town a few days prior and won't be back for quite awhile. Chizuru is upset since she had sent a letter to him beforehand that she would be arriving in Kyoto, but it seems like he left before he even received her letter.

So Chizuru is all alone in dangerous Kyoto, and night starts to fall. While trying to find a place to stay, she is stopped by 3 ronin (samurai who no longer have a master to serve under, and are now big bullies on the streets) who ask her for her small sword. Chizuru refuses since it's something that's been passed down in her family, and is her only weapon to defend herself. She decides to run and hides underneath some wood in an alley way. She could hear the 3 ronin coming closer to her when suddenly she hears sounds of them being murdered. She peeks to see 3 men of the Shinsengumi with white hair and red eyes, and blood all over them. She was sure she was next. Then just as suddenly, the 3 demonic-looking Shinsengumi are killed by more human-looking Shinsengumi. Chizuru can't believe her eyes, but also doesn't understand what is going on. She's been saved, but also in big trouble because she's seen something that the Shinsengumi have been trying to keep under wraps from everyone.

She is taken in, but told the entire time that she is probably going to be killed for seeing what she saw. After meeting all the captains, including several of the ones you can fall in love with, Chizuru is put into a room until they are done discussing what to do with her. At this point, you get to pick your first option which is either (1) explain your situation, (2) say that you're a girl, or (3) give up. I took option 1, and this is where I get the first love animation with Saito because he knew all along that Chizuru was a girl, but the other captain Nagakura had no clue, and so he starts to blush. Because I got a love animation with Saito right away, I decided to take his path first.

This pic is taken from the opening

Basically, when deciding which option to choose, stick with the one that will have you be in the same place as the guy you are going for. I used a walkthrough to be sure I was on the right track, but I didn't really need it since I knew how to go about choosing. By the time I finished the game, I got 5 love animations with Saito. The love animation is a flower that appears over the guy's chest and it blooms, showing that your romance level with that guy has increased. You can also check the Romance and Corruption meters by pressing triangle, go to Encyclopedia, and go to Status (this has to be done in game though, took me awhile to figure it out @.@).

Anyway, Chizuru explains her situation that she just came to Kyoto and is looking for her father, which happens to be the same person the Shinsengumi are looking for. They decide to keep her alive, since she would be able to recognize her father no matter how disguised he may be. Months have passed, and she still hasn't found her father. You soon find out that demons are after her, and another demon is trying to protect her. This is all because... of her last name, which is supposedly the name of a major demon clan. I won't say anymore, but one of the demons wants her as a wife. :p You also spot a girl that looks exactly like Chizuru, and find out that her father is working for the "enemy" and is evil.

Another major part of the story is about the furies (or Rasetsu in Japanese). These are what those demonic-looking Shinsengumi are called. This happens when they drink the "Water of Life", where it makes them stronger and heal faster, but also causes them to crave blood, so they end up going on a killing rampage to get that blood. They also can't be out during the day because they get tired easily, and have difficulty breathing, standing, etc in daylight. (Sounds like they are vampires, but they don't melt in the sun.) According to Chizuru's "father", every time someone turns into a fury (because they do go back to normal at some point), their life span decreases because their super strength and quick healing is due to them using up more of their life energy at once. Once they use up all their life energy, they turn into ash.

Concerning Saito's story, he is pretty much the perfect soldier. He follows orders, whether it's to deliver a message, protect someone, or kill someone. He's pretty much emotionless at the beginning, but as the story progresses he sometimes gives a small smile or nod. He's very cool, calm, and careful with his words. You learn about how he's left-handed, and the implications of that, as well as how he feels as a warrior when a sword starts to become useless in a battle full of guns. He also gets really romantic at the end. I played through the good ending (where you always give him blood to reduce his corruption level because he turns into a fury to protect Chizuru) , and went back to a strategic save point to get the endure CG (where you don't give him blood and make him endure), but you can still get a good ending as well. There is also a bad ending, but it's not necessary to play it since you can obtain all the CGs and get a good ending.

Saito's story is 9 chapters long. The first 3 chapters are more or less the same for all characters, and then it becomes more specific to the character you are "going out with" from Chapter 4 onward. Chapter 6 is when they start wearing Western-styled clothes, and everyone starts to look really good because they get their hair cut, and are in more tight-fitted clothing. *coughrawrcough*

Overall, this game is really, really good. The art is beautiful. The music is amazing. You also get so absorbed in the story that it's hard to stop. Clearly a 5/5. I can't wait to play through it again to discover more about the other male characters, and uncover other parts of the story that have not been discussed. Just like in 999, you need to get all the endings to completely understand the entire story because each path doesn't cover everything.