Hakuoki
Two films were released in 2013 and 2014. The first was released in August 2013 and on DVD in February 2014. The film is a retelling of both seasons in greater detail and with a slightly different ending. The second film was released on March 8, 2014. A short anime television series adaptation of a new instalment of the game, titled "Hakuoki: Otogisōshi" and produced by DLE, aired from April to June 2016. A new OVA series by Studio Deen was released from November 2021 to January 2022. The anime television series and films have been licensed by Sentai  Filmworks in North America. Gameplay. Like most otome games, the player takes the role of a female character who can choose from a variety of male characters as her 'love interest'. Hakuoki's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the game's duration is spent on reading the text that appears, representing either dialogue between the characters, narration, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Often, players will come be given the chance to choose from options displayed on the screen that would be crucial to the story. The time between these decision points is variable  and during these times, gameplay pauses until a choice is made that furthers the plot in a specific direction. There are six main plot lines that the players will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroes in the story. When interacting with the chosen heroes with the routes, an "affection meter" is created which is raised by giving them an answer that pleases them. The ending the player will get in each route depends on the affection the player has achieved. It also included all the basic functions such as CG Gallery, Music List, Scene Recollection , and skip options. Once completing a route, player can unlock the ‘Record of Service’ to select exactly which chapter they would like to start the next play through on, as well as adjusting the bachelor's affection level to access the different endings. There's also encyclopaedia in understanding the historical terminology and timeline. In the updated remake "Kyoto Winds" and "Edo Blossoms", six more routes are added. There's also "corruption meter", which tells the players the bachelor's corruption rate after becoming a Fury. Plot. Chizuru Yukimura heads to Kyoto to search for her father, finding herself attacked  by mad men before they are cut down by members of the Shinsengumi who mistake her for a boy and take her into custody for interrogation. Upon learning that she is a girl and the daughter of a doctor who developed the Water of Life elixir that turns those that drink it into invincible blood lusting berserkers called , the Shinsengumi decide to keep her as an aide in their search. In time, as the Shinsengumi aid the shogunate in the Bakufu, Chizuru begins to develop a bond with the Shinsengumi and its aloof member Toshizo Hijikata. However, as time passes , Chizuru and Shinsengumi confront a mysterious faction who claimed to be demons and that Chizuru is also a demon with her father revealed to be experimenting on the Water of Life to create the Furies to conquer the human race. Media. The "Hakuoki" series of otome visual novels were released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android by Idea Factory. Two of the games have been published in English by Aksys Games in North America on PlayStation Portable. Rising Star Games renewed partnership with Idea Factory  to bring two of their "Hakuoki" games to PAL territories. The first game is a port of Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom with added story content. Two more ports, Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds and Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms, were released with additional routes and story contents. Prequel. Following the success of the original game, a prequel titled is released on October 28, 2010, for PlayStation 2. The prequel focuses on a young man named Ryunosuke Ibuki, who is saved by the leader of Roshigumi (the old name of Shinsengumi), Kamo Serizawa, and then forced to join Roshigumi as his page to  repay his debt. Similar to the original game, it consists of six routes of the same characters where Ibuki is required to make the right choice to form friendship with each main characters of their respective routes. In all routes, Ibuki always ends up leaving the Shinsengumi to start a new life of his own. Reaching the good ending of the routes would show the continuation of the ending of respective Shinsengumi members with Chizuru from the original game after war ends. Two updated versions of the game, and , are released for PlayStation 3 on June 28, 2012, and PlayStation  Vita on July 2, 2015, respectively. Spin-offs. Several spin-off were released not long after the original game, ranging from mini games to action RPG. The first spin-off, is released for PlayStation Portable on August 26, 2010. Unlike the original game that requires the player to choose the right options to romance the chosen bachelor, Yuugiroku requires player to play mini games based on traditional Japanese games. A sequel, , is released on October 18, 2012, this time with the theme of games found on festival stalls. An updated version of both games, , which includes both games and additional  content based on Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, is released on November 17, 2016, for PlayStation Vita. The action RPG games of the series, and are released on March 22, 2012, for PlayStation Vita and December 19, 2013, for PlayStation Vita, respectively. The game tells the Shinsengumi members in alternate universe. , released for PlayStation Vita on March 27, 2014, unlike the other games, the story is set in modern times with Chizuru and the other characters from the original game introduced as students or teachers going to the same school. Some characters from the Hakuoki series are featured in the  PSP game B's LOG Party, released on May 20, 2010. Manga. There are two manga adaptations of "Hakuoki: Shinsengumi Kitan". The first, entitled "Hakuoki Junrenka", is serialized in the "shōjo" manga magazine "Dengeki Comic SYLPH", and is an anthology of the different endings available in the video games. Another adaptation is currently serialized in "Comic B's Log Kyun!!". Anime. The game was adapted into 22-episode anime television series split into two seasons, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Osamu Yamasaki; aired from April 4 to June 20, 2010, and aired from October 10 to December 12 , 2010. A 6-episode OVA series, adapting from "Hakuoki: Stories of Shinsengumi" was produced under the same staff and cast and was released from August 5, 2011, to July 7, 2012. Following the OVA release, a 12-episodes prequel adapting from was also released from July 9 to September 24, 2012. After the success of the TV series, Studio Deen released two anime films, which are the alternate retelling of the game. The first film, was released on August 24, 2013, and the second film was released on March 8, 2014. A 12-episode short anime adaptation of a new  instalment of the game, titled Hakuoki: Otogisōshi, was produced by DLE and aired from April 5 to June 28, 2016. A new three-part OVA adaptation by Studio Deen was released from November 14, 2021, to January 24, 2022. The staff from the first anime series returned to produce the series. Series overview. <onlyinclude> </onlyinclude> Stage play and musical. Since April 2012 Hakuoki is adapted as a musical. Up till now there are thirteen productions. Nobuhiro Mori has written the script and were responsible for the whole production. Toshihiko Sahashi wrote the music. The musical includes  aside from the usual dancing and singing also sword fights, which were supervised by Yuta Morokaji, Shinnosuke Motoyama and Yasuhiro Roppongi. The productions so far were: 1.→ Musical Hakuoki - Hajime Saitou's Route『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜斎藤一篇〜』 27. April - 8. May 2012 2.→ Musical Hakuoki - Souji Okita's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜沖田総司篇〜』14. - 24. March 2013 3.→ Musical Hakuoki - Toshizou Hijikata's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜土方歳三篇〜』2. - 11. October 2013 4.→ Musical Hakuoki - HAKUMYU LIVE 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』HAKU-MYU LIVE』4, 5 January 2014 5.→ Musical Hakuoki - Chikage Kazama's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜風間千景篇〜』16. - 18. May, 23. May - 1. June 2014 6.→ Musical Hakuoki - Heisuke Toudou's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜藤堂平助篇〜』10. - 12. January, 25. - 17. January 2015  7.→ Musical Hakuoki - Reimeiroku 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜黎明録〜』 - 2015年5月23日〜31日 23. - 31. May, 10. -14. June 2015 8.→ Musical Hakuoki - Shinsengumi Kitan 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜新選組奇譚〜』4. - 11. January, 15. - 17. January 2016 9.→ Musical Hakuoki - HAKUMYU LIVE 2 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』HAKU-MYU LIVE　2』12. -13. August, 16. - 17. August 2016 10.→ Musical Hakuoki - Sanosuke Harada's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼』〜原田左之助篇〜』14. - 16. April, 26. - 30. April 2017 11.→ Musical Hakuoki Shitan - Toshizou Hijikata's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 志譚 』〜土方歳三篇〜』21. - 23. April, 28. April - 1. May 2018 12.→ Musical Hakuoki Shitan - Chikage Kazama's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 志譚 』〜風間千景篇〜』5. - 11. April, 18. - 21. April 13.→ Musical Hakuoki Shinkai - Kazue Souma's Route 『ミュージカル『薄桜鬼 真改 』〜相馬主計篇〜』previously  scheduled 2. - 5. April, 9. - 12. 2020, but due to the situation caused by the COVID-19-Pandemic postponed to 1. - 4. April, 8. - 11. April 2021 Cast. The blue background markes the main role Reception. Game. Hakuoki received positive review. Metacritic gave the PSP version of the game the score of 79 based on 4 Critic reviews, which is a generally favorable review. The game is praised for its story-telling, character designs and development, and CG art. But has mixed review about the music and Kazama's route that is deemed too short compared to the other routes. The  updated remake of the game, "Kyoto Winds" and "Edo Blossoms" also received positive review. "Kyoto Winds" is given the score of 83 from the same site based on 8 Critic reviews, once again praising the remake for its solid characters and story-telling. "Edo Blossoms" is given the score of 75, also from the same site, based on 9 Critic reviews, praising the inclusion of new characters that give fans new perceptive, but feels that the story's finale is not quite as interesting as its beginning. The decision to split the remake into two games also gained mixed review . Similarly, Hardcore Gamer praised the game for its story-telling, finding the focus of political and fantasy aspects in historical background is a different approach in otome game. The characters are also well-received, finding their struggle throughout the game relatable. The site also praised the inclusion of additional events and terminology highlighted during conversations for an easy glossary look up, though criticised the lack of interactive element within the game. Anime. Theron Martin from Anime News Network give the first season a positive review. He praised the studio's way of properly integrating fantasy element into the actual history , the design of the male characters, and the music for using heavy, dark tones for its action and dramatic scenes, which "lends intensity and even an occasional amount of creepiness to the content." However, he criticised the plotlines about Chizuru looking for her father and the motivations of the various devils afoot in the setting are not handled properly due to the history portrayed in the series. He also criticised Chizuru's role as a heroine for following the typical reverse harem protagonist being damsel-in-distress that needs to be rescued. THEM praised the well-executed art and the  amount of depth and genuine drama in the story and the action scenes. The site also praised the studio for balancing Chizuru's character as being more dynamic than the standard female samurai era character tropes without anywhere near an idealized Mary Sue. The site finds the use of Rasetsu plot device repetitive, causing a lack of plot twists and surprise revelation in the series. The second season is praised for the characterization, while still finds the pacing and animation quality not balanced properly.