hegmann.melyssa - 2015-07-05 00:01:05

*MILD AMBIGUOUS SPOILERS*
I am so disappointed. At a glance this anime seems like it could knock your socks off, it has history, it has good animations, it has very attractive boys, might I emphasize it has six very very attractive boys. As every episode of this first season passed however, my hopes were completely crushed at the mess this anime is. Almost every aspect to it has problems and I had been hoping that this anime could break away from its video game mold and become something more. Watch it if you're willing to dismiss the plot holes and just look forward to the small moments the boys get to shine in. If this anime was done right, it would take a lot more than 12 episodes to cover the history they did but at least it would make more sense and allow the characters to be developed, some fill-in episodes would be needed too.

I'll start with the aspect I can compliment the most. The Animation. The characters are drawn very well, well the boys are definitely. The girls are drawn pretty typical, I kept getting the impression that Chizuru was maybe 16 where as the guys were much older aside from Heisuke. The fight scenes were fine, they didn't go the unrealistic route with impossible physical stunts which was a good choice.

The sound was good. Sword clashes, gun shots, manly grunts all there and square.

So which aspect do I bash on next? I'll do Characters. Let's start with Chizuru...I don't think I've ever seen such a useless female protagonist/heroine (I don't think she even qualifies as one) in my life. I knew that this was adapted from one of those fate/reverse harem video games but my God did you have to make Chizuru so helpless? I was really hoping for an awesome female heroine to develop. Over all that time (the time passing amazed me) there is little to no development of Chizuru, not physically, not emotionally, not mentally. That episode where she says she knows how to fight with a short sword got me excited and once again I was shot in the heart by an arrow called Empty Promises. SHE DOESN'T USE HER SWORD ONCE. By using it I mean cut something! Swing it! Practice with it! Brandishing the sword is nothing!! Saito, as hot as you are, telling her she has enough skills to not be a nuisance on the patrol much less front lines is pure BS, the second she's out there she trips on wood from being flustered by men that growl at her. I should have counted how many times Chizuru said someone's name rather than actually do something, that last episode with Inoue and Yamizaki made me want to gouge my ears out for hearing her continuously shrieking their names and expecting something to happen. There are only a few moments where Chizuru does show that bravery and boldness that I know she has in her.

Toshi, Harada, Shinpachi, Kazuma are all attractive on the outside and incredibly shallow and pitiful on the inside. We get no taste of their histories much less insight on their personalities. Yes we all know Toshi cares for everyone so much, that's why he orders his men to kill one of their own if that particular person decides to fight against them (the way he shows his care for everyone is quite mindblowing). Half the time I couldn't remember which one was Harada and the most I got out of him was that he continually decides to take on an idiotic enemy who uses a gun and...wow nothing else comes to mind. Shinpachi is a goofball who's besties with Heisuke. Kazuma is clearly a man who won't take no as an answer and continually gets bad luck since he always magically is interupted by Toshi.

Saito doesn't escape the bashing either unfortunately even if he's my favorite. They definitely played the stoic, cool guy down to the very end. All he ends up being is just some badass swordsman that can conveniently save Chizuru whenever need be, even in the game there's no warmth added to him. SO DISAPPOINTING.

The best of the boys are easily Heisuke and Souji probably because we get development! And action! And they make mistakes! Hallelujah. If you're willing to watch, you might be able to see why these two shine brightest out of Chizuru's suitors.

Last but not least the Story. There's not an ounce of romance I get in this season 1 unless you're telling me the small blushing, the sly looks, and some accurate guesses by an oni was the romance. I LOVE HOW THE REASON CHIZURU CAME THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE IS COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN AND NEVER DEVELOPED WITH ONLY MORE CONFUSING PLOT LINES ADDED TO THE MELTING POT. I thought Chizuru completely forgot her father after the constant time skips until FINALLY A YEAR LATER she reflects that maybe, MAYBE her father is in some serious trouble. There's so many things wrong with the story that the pure conflict of the clans and the shoguns especially the history behind why it was all happening is just lost and not properly addressed.

The only enjoyment I found were probably the two episodes where one: four of the boys were half naked for a health inspection and second: where Chizuru dressed up in formal girl wear and the boys hooted and blushed at her appearance. Oh and also Saito and Heisuke and Souji.

aufderhar.hosea - 2015-01-20 20:58:52

This was AWESOme because when Chizuru found out she was a oni and told everyone they still wanted to protect her and best romance scenes ever

name94 - 2015-01-03 13:52:28

I've played the game and watched all the series and movies for Hakuouki and it is by far one of the most interesting anime out there. Its my absolute favorite because my favorite artist 'yone kazuki' did the character designs. It has a beautiful art style. Compared to the visual novel, the anime has very little romance and more action.The story draws you in from the very beginning and you just have to keep on watching >3

gerhold.petra - 2014-08-27 09:33:30

Season after season, it is easy to see that exclusively female-targeted shows are exceedingly rare. The few that appear are almost always visual-novel or shoujo manga adaptations. This simple fact is not the problem. The issue that I have come across is that however masterfully crafted the original works may be, it is always up to the Animation Studio that picks up the property to be the face of the product as Anime adaptations have a much further reach in this industry.
Due to my experience, seeing that Hakuoki was adapted by Studio DEEN certainly set my expectations considerably low. I will openly say that their adaptation of the manga Fruits Basket is nothing short of a travesty. Even so, I was willing enough to give the show a chance after the first episode aptly intrigued me.

Hakuoki is set in the Bakumatsu Period, a popular and extremely influential era of history. This historical period combined with folk-lore grounded supernatural elements makes for an intriguing and nuanced backdrop to a bitter and doomed romance. There have been numerous video games in the visual-novel format released for the Hakuoki franchise in japan, and three of them have been localized in English by Aksys games.

The anime adaptation suffers plot-wise in a way most all visual novel adaptations are doomed to. The games that the anime is based on feature a core plot written by history that is augmented and supplemented by 6 romantic story lines. These six routes are drastically different from one another, some almost contradictory. Each exploring the different ways certain characters could have gone, as well as typically having completely different villains from one another. This fact gave the game immense replayability, but ultimately was a huge obstacle in adapting it for screen. The fact that the anime is 22 episodes is enough to know that many things must be left out. The 11-hour time frame pales in comparison to the 40+ hour game play. 
Thankfully, Studio DEEN managed to pull this off satisfactorily. As is common, they chose one romantic plot-line to follow, and along with that kept the major bullet-point plots in line with their choice. However, the original video game is designed in a way that the player doesn't get a complete experience unless they play all six routes. Knowing this, various side plots and subplots had to be addressed in order for character arcs and endings to make any sort of sense. In the video game, many of the character deaths are off-screen or simply mentioned in passing. In the adaptation, the staff took pains and artistic licenses to make sure that these deaths had the impact that they were surly meant to have in the original story.

My only other complaint is that focusing on the other 5 romantic options felt like it took away from the main romantic interest Hijikata Toshizo in the first half. After watching the first season, I was A.) Not interested in him and B.) Not invested in his relationship with Chizuru. All this changed when I played the video game. Even without playing his route first, I found him much more likable and appealing simply in his interactions with the protagonist and the other characters.

In the end, these kind of adaptations usually serve to either get people into the video game series, or to simply pander to the visual novel fans. There is a certain joy to seeing certain scenes animated, but that feeling is ultimately quashed when either it is simply done too quickly, or the original context is squandered.

The first season plus the prequel are available on crunchyroll; and the full series is licensed  and available dubbed by Sentai Filmworks. This is one of those shows I would recommend to be seen in Japanese due to it's extremely cultural and historical base.
The three games in English are available through most retail means. The 3DS title that I played; Hakuoki: Memories of the shinsengumi, is available from the nintendo eShop as well. The game covers the core plot of Hakuoiki as well as including other side-stories to compliment it.

I hope that you will give this series a chance whether it is simply the prequel season or the whole franchise.

chadrick.stracke - 2014-07-04 04:38:01

This review will be spoiler-free, so proceed as amiably as you would skipping gaily through a field of daisies.

Introduction: Hakuouki is based an otome (aka "girl's") game of the same name by Otomate, a company with Hakuouki being one of their cash-cows. Seeing as I initially "played" the game, which lays out as a sort of "choose your own adventure TM" book, I went into this anime expecting what I got out of the game. Which was, in short, not what the dudes reading this may expect: Samurai with a bit of an interesting supernatural twist.

The Setting of Hakuouki, I believe, deserves a solid 5. It was very accurate to the time-period and customs at hand, and I felt as though I was actually in the Edo period whilst watching the series, partially due to the nature of the plot. Other than the emphasis towards the male protagonists looking attractive versus looking like their historical counterpoints, (an understandable thing when trying to market your franchise of games to women) I found no flaws I could mention. The world of the Shinsengumi is built rather well, and it shows.

The Story: As the plot summary explains (and thusly do not understand why I am repeating) our protagonist Chizuru decides to GET DOWN TO BUSINESSSS and FIIIIIND HER DAAAAD. Like Mulan which I oh so unconspicuously referenced, she disguises herself as a MAN, but winds up getting taken to the headquarters of THE SHINSENGUMI. And from there, Chizuru tries to find her dad whilst coming to be more and more involved in the Shinsengumi and their world, as well as finding out some rather interesting information about herself as well....

Now I can stop being so cryptic and just say that I'll be honest here and say that the story is a bit cliche, but it is not as bad as, say, a girl living in a house full of sadistic vampires. But I've already gone over that elsewhere~ (Ironically, Wifebeaters ALSO being done by Otomate!)

So, since it's an otome game story and all, I will cut Hakuouki a bit of slack and give it a 6, because the supernatural bit was definitely interesting. And I have already mentioned prior, the show DOES deserve credit for actually sticking to the political figures and turmoil that occured in this period, date by date. Which frankly I did not expect and found my inner history nerd giddy. So a 6.

(Personally I am horrid at rating animation, so I will avoid this category as if I were a French noble who happened to tick off King Louis XIV and just give the show a 6.)

Characters: Before I delve deep into the characters in Hakuouki, perhaps I should mention my own personal reasons for disliking some Visual Novel adaptations. Unless the studio manages to pull either a Kanon style format or an Amagami SS, (albeit with the latter having more than 25 episodes, since there were more heroines) I do not feel that every main character has as much development as they should. In adaptations there tends to be THE ONE ROUTE that is pursued, (I'm eyeing you, Mashiroiro...Don't Tell Me "I tried!", what happened to 2 out of the main 5 female leads in that series?) pushing all other characters to the 2D back-burner.

Thus far in Hakuouki, the series has not seemed to do that, thank goodness, giving each character an at least sufficient amount of screen-time and opportunities for viewers to understand who they are. Now, being aware of the visual novel, I can say that I feel as if there is not necessarily enough development for certain characters, but then again, you would only SEE that development depending on whether you made the choice of going to the wall or picking up your sword and cutting some stuff up, so I suppose I can forgive that to an extent. Personally, I believe there should have been a way to show the other characters at the same time, but I digress.

I don't want to spend too much time discussing the male characters, as I believe they speak for themselves, including Saitou, who does not speak much at all. But he may...and it may be profound. Just saying.  My only character of particular complaint, is, sadly, the main character, Yukimura Sanad- I MEAN CHIZURU.

And this, my dear reader, is where I feel the anime pales in comparison to the original. In the anime, Chizuru is made up to be your typical harem..err, heroine. She is, for lack of a better word, practically useless until someone comes in and saves her. While she MAY have her moments, I feel that in the game you had the potential (based upon your own choices) to make Chizuru into a much less vulnerable person. Chizuru in the anime simply annoys me, and though her blank helplessness may in fact be due to the whole "role-insertion" idea, I simply cannot imagine myself doing about any of the things that Chizuru does in this show. That may be my personal bias, but there it is.

Enjoyment: Did I enjoy this series? Yes. Did I find it about much more than a bunch of beautiful men? Yes! It was about demons, and samurai, and had some badass music. *Cough cough Saitou's theme is amazing cough cough* So, whether you are a guy or a girl, give this show a shot.

Overall: After being forced to drink a strange vial whilst being mortally wounded by a laughing blonde demon prince, aka LAHARL,  in order to protect my lo- I mean, my liege, succumbing to my thirst for blood, and drinking some from behind their ear lobe, I would say with a now sane mind that I reccommend Hakuouki. It is not, by far, the GREATEST ANIME I HAVE EVER SEEN, but I enjoyed it, and would reccommend that anyone else who does go out there and play the game. In particular, the PSP version, seeing as if all memory serves, the 3DS version and beyond are spinoffs.

nitzsche.cheyanne - 2013-07-19 20:50:42

Hakuouki is an anime made by Studio DEEN, who have, in recent years, gained infamy for putting their names to a variety of very poor shows in recent years, as well as making a horribly butchered adaptation of Umineko. So, does Hakuouki enter the ranks of awful DEEN series, or does it redeem the studio? Well, put simply, it is terrible. It is a perfect example of why DEEN are a bad studio. There isn't a single good thing about it.But before I get into the details about why Hakuouki is horrible, let's just sum up what Hakuouki is about for those not familiar with the series. The series is introduced with a young "boy" trying to escape from a strange vampire-like demon. At the last minute, "he" is saved by a group of samurai, who then take "him" hostage. As it turns out, the "boy" has seen more than he should have done, and is now being held captive by a large group of suspiciously attractive men. As it also turns out, the boy is named Chizuru and is not a boy, and is a girl disguising as one. If this sounds cliché to you then that's probably because it is.As it turns out, Chizuru is looking for her father, a doctor who went missing in Kyoto. Later on, it turns out that her father is involved with the medicine that turns men into the aforementioned vampires that are never once called vampires in spite of being nocturnal creatures once human but now superhuman who lust after human blood.Now, the biggest problem with Hakuouki is, rather simply, that it is boring. Throughout the entire 12 episodes, the show held my interest for maybe 5 seconds at most. Despite being a show about swordsmen and demons, there is very little action. While a similar statement can be made of Saraiya Goyou, a similarly themed show that aired at the same time, the fact is that while the latter keeps the viewer's interest with a quirky style, fascinating dialogue, and originality, Hakuouki does nothing of the sort. Hakuouki is rather bland, having no real selling point other than the cast of bishonens. Stylistically, the themes that run through Hakuouki have been done before many times, and better. And the worst complaint that can be said of it is the dialogue. Hakuouki is an adaptation of a visual novel, but it doesn't seem to understand the "adaptation" part of that. Everything in this show is just talking. The action is almost never focused on, and is completely weightless when it is. The plot has no intrigue or suspense. It is just talking. This could have been forgiveable, but even worse is that the dialogue isn't even good. It's just boring and lifeless, and it begs the question of why this was taken from a VN at all when it simply acts exactly like one.Now, I said before that the selling point of the show is the bishonens, but there's a problem with that too. As a heterosexual male, I know that I am not the target audience, but there are still some clear problems even taking that into account. For a start, there isn't a single character in this show with a likeable or memorable character trait. Every single one of them is completely one-dimensional. None of them are developed on, very few of them go through any kind of personal struggle, and at the end of it almost every character is simply forgettable. To make things worse, the character design in Hakuouki is extremely weak. It is often completely impossible to tell one character apart from another, with them all being uniformed, alongside many of them sharing various features with other characters, and combined with my previous complaint it can often make the show confusing out of a lack of basic knowledge for which character is which.The only character who is actually worth mentioning here is Chizuru, the shoddily disguised centre of our reverse-harem. But don't mistake my meaning, she is by no means a good character. For the most part, she is only memorable simply for being the only girl. But due to her being in focus, unlike 90% of the cast, she becomes memorable, and her faults become noticeable. For one, she does not help the plot at all for most of the series, except towards the end, in which her only role is to become a living MacGuffin that the enemy forces want. When thrown into combat, she is completely useless, and seems to have no self-defence instinct whatsoever, leading other characters to become injured in her stead while she just stands there.The ending is one of the few moments where the show is actually interesting, but it may also be the worst for the complete contradictions we are shown. Now, I don't want to spoil anybody, but it's going to be hard to discuss the ending without doing so, so if you are particularly spoiler-sensitive and want to watch this series for whatever reason, I would advise you to skip the rest of this paragraph. Basically, one of the samurai is killed in front of Chizuru, and a member of the enemy force is nearby at the time, though he was not the one responsible. Another member of the samurai sees this, blames the demon, and drinks the potion that turns people into the not-vampire creatures so he will have the strength to kill him. Now, there are several problems with this. For a start, a very curious question is raised... where did he get the potion? The potion is not supposed to be easily accessible, for obvious reasons. He had no reason to plan for an event like this, so he would not have prepared it. There is no foreshadowing or reason that suggests he was already considering the change. It simply doesn't make sense. But on top of that, after the battle, he reveals that he knew that the man wasn't responsible for his death. Which now means that the drinker just sentenced himself to a life as an undead monster to get revenge on a man he knew wasn't even responsible.Sadly, Hakuouki repeatedly proves itself to be a terrible show without a single redeeming feature, but just to put the cherry on top, DEEN are giving it a sequel in the fall. Yes, you heard that right... somehow, this mess of an anime has gathered enough of a fanbase to warrant a sequel. So sadly, we haven't even seen the end of this series.I'm sure I've made this clear by now, but my verdict on this anime is simply a no. It does not deserve to be watched by anybody, and if there is any justice in the world it will have been completely forgotten by the end of the year... at least if DEEN don't end up making a third series.Final Words: I'd have more fun watching paint dry.Animation/Graphics: 3/10Story/Plot: 1/10Music/Background: 6/10Overall: 1/10