Hakuouki: Hekketsuroku

After the conclusion of Hakuouki, Chizuru Yukimura and the Shinsengumi are forced to flee Kyoto and set sail for Edo. In their commander Isami Kondou's absence, vice-commander Toshizou Hijikata steps in as acting commander. However, Hijikata is not only struggling with the extra leadership duties—which worries everyone around him—but also a newfound uncontrollable bloodlust. To make matters worse, the urge does not affect him alone, and it is even beginning to drive some of his subordinates mad.

Finally, Kondou returns with orders from the emperor to defend the castle, and a new name for their squad: the Kouyou Chinbutai. But in war, the balance of power can shift suddenly and allegiances can waver. In Hakuouki Hekketsuroku, Chizuru follows the Shinsengumi into the heart of war and continues the search for her missing father, all while the bond between her and Hijikata grows ever stronger.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Saitou, Hajime Main

Toriumi, Kousuke Japanese

Okita, Souji Main

Morikubo, Shoutarou Japanese

Hijikata, Toshizou Main

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Harada, Sanosuke Main

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Toudou, Heisuke Main

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Yukimura, Chizuru Main

Kuwashima, Houko Japanese

Nagakura, Shinpachi Main

Tsuboi, Tomohiro Japanese

Sannan, Keisuke Main

Tobita, Nobuo Japanese

Kazama, Chikage Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Shiranui, Kyou Supporting

Yoshida, Hiroaki Japanese

Ogura, Mitsutoshi Producer

Yamazaki, Asuka Producer

Hasegawa, Kazuhiko Producer

Urasaki, Nobumitsu Producer

Reviews

Sep 18, 2020

Misbah_shah

Recommended

Hakuoki is outstanding in every sense.
If someone asks me, "Is Hakuoki worth watching?"
I'll answer: "It has Action, Adventure, Sexy men, Twists, Fighting, & Japanese History! Even though it has Barely any romance (but you can't say it doesn't have) still it's so worth watching!!"
The characters are amazing, who are mature, who have submitted their love and lives to a specific ambition, who know how to smile in toughest of times, who are TERRIBLY handsome, who know how to bear pain even when everyone abandons them, who know how to be patient. There are TONS of lessons to learn from this series.

Story: 9/10
It was so ... engaging that I finished the whole series in 2 days. I even re-watched it, because I didn't want it to end. The bonding between the characters, I missed missed their jokes, their love, their affection.
Yukimura Chizuru, female protagonist, is a girl on her way to find her father who has been missing since 6 months. She disguises herself as a man, to be secure on the way but is attacked by some samurai who were about to kill her when she's saved by Shinsengumi members, but she happens to see what she shouldn't have seen and as a punishment, she's brought to the headquarters of Shinsengumi where she's interrogated and then ordered to stay with them without going anywhere.

While her stay, she comes to know what the objectives of Shinsengumi are and how strong they are, who work for the Nation without being valued and respected, yet they continue to follow their duties as warriors of the nation. She starts searching for her father, with their consent and soon gets along well with the boys, however she doesn't see her father.
Different wars and Situations occur where she realizes how skilled all of them are, as warriors and as swordsmen. She tries to help them in a lot of ways and soon makes a place in everyone's heart.
This story includes tons of incidents one after the other, with a lot of action and planning schemes before setting out for war. Men, who are ready to die any minute, impress with their views of life. How one can be loyal and stay by someone's side, is amazingly depicted in this series.

Character: 10/10
Characters are so Strong that 10/10 is truly justifiable. The audience gets attached to all of them, since the start of the series. Every character is given attention, and audience loves every character at the end of series.

Hijikata Toshi
He's the protagonist of this series, who is the Vice Commander of Shinsengumi. Very strict, doesn't talk much, still the strongest of all members. He cares for everyone but doesn't show how caring he is. He has a gentle side that he shows only to Kondou-san and later to Chizuru. Unexpectedly he is the one who doesn't let Anyone kill Chizuru because he was the first to know she's not a boy, but a girl in disguise of a boy. Purple eyes, black hair, Strong swordsman, all these qualities make him stand out the most.

CHIZURU Yukimura, A very innocent and cute girl with a Loyal, cute and Easygoing personality. she soon gets along well with the Shinsengumi members because of her pure intentions and humbleness. Hijikata, unknowingly starts caring for her, when she stays by their side without expecting anything in return.

Okita Souji
He is the first person who gets our attention because of his lack of fear to kill someone on the spot (Apparently he is the one who asks to Kill Chizuru on the spot when she sees something related to them since he's too logical to take risks). He's cheerful and sly at a time and knows how to respond without any fear. Astonishingly handsome with brown hair and green eyes, he's considered a STAR warrior of Shinsengumi because of his Excellent sword skills earning the title CAPTAIN OF UNIT 1 of Shinsengumi. One of his OBVIOUS reasons to be in Shinsengumi is Head of the organisation, whom he calls "Kondou-san". He can accept anything but doesn't compromise on anything disrespectful or harmful to Kondou-san. He loves him like Kondou-san is his older brother, and does everything to please him. He being an orphan, got love only from him, since childhood, so he follows him wholeheartedly because of his kindness. His only desire to be in Shinsengumi is to protect him. When Chizuru becomes a member as well, she comes to know how much he cares about him, so she gets along with him really well.

Hajime Saito
3rd person to get everyone's attention is Saito, a left handed swordsman who saves Chizuru from being killed. He is just like Hijikata Toshi, less talkative and strong. Handsome at peak, he's also considered the best swordsman of Shinsengumi.

There are other boys as well, who get along well with Chizuru. Harada, Shinpachi, and Heiske, who are just like brothers to her. All of them have cheerful and humble personalities, always laugh and make Chizuru Comfortable to be there.

Villain characters are far more stronger and outstanding when it comes to fighting and sword skills. One of the reasons this anime is considered BRILLIANT is because of the fighting scenes that explain how much strength it requires to be on the war field.

If I'd explain how well described the characters are, it won't be far to praise this anime because of his character.

Art 10/10.
It is just OUTSTANDING. I loved the graphics and Animation style. Plus, Sword fighting is my favourite, so I loved it even more. Their Hair, eyes, historical dresses, Japanese traditional homes, fighting borders, everything is worth the praise.

Music 10/10
It's brilliant! Both opening and ending OSTs are my favourite!

Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
If someone wants to see some Action Historical Romance, it's a MUST watch 👌🏻

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Misbah_shah (20)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Dec 27, 2020

pamemeland

Mixed Feelings

If you intend to watch this anime only for the Samurai and Historic stuff, go ahead, you'll probably enjoy this show, but if you expect romance and maintaining your sanity don't you dare click play on this anime. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

[CONTAINS SPOILERS]

I was so pissed by the end of this anime... I am still pissed (therefore I'm writing my first review on MAL).

So, we have Chizuru, a girl that is looking for her missing father and end up with a bunch of guys that want to kill her and then they just don't want anymore; you must think ... "They realized her value and decided to keep her"... The only thing she does is TEA. One could make a whole movie containing the parts where she states "Excuse me, here's your tea". And then they start to take her to missions and stuff for her to help the wounded... As the daughter of a doctor you think she would actually take care of them but most of the time she does nothing, and when she does it's just offering a tissue to maybe stop the bleeding...

At some point she just ignores the fact that her father is still missing. Years pass by and they don't even mention it anymore.

Now that we have established that Chizuru does nothing, we have Hijikata who, out of nowhere, for no obvious reason just falls in love with her by the last episode of this second season. You must remember now that this is an anime based off an otome game, so it's expected that THERE SHOULD BE ROMANCE, but it doesn't. Two seasons and the only actual romance that comes along appears in the last episode. But the guys are hot, tho.

As I mentioned, it's supposed to be an otome game, but all the characters start dying. LET ME PUT IT STRAIGHT: THERE'S NO ROMANCE AND THEY DIE. ALL OF THEM. In the last episode Hijikata says that he wants to live to be with Chizuru forever, and 10 minutes later HE DIES TOO. Horrible. Appaling. Outrageous. 2 seasons, nothing happens, everybody dies. That's it.

I get that this is a historic anime, that the characters are based off real people and they all died in real life, but they included FUCKING DEMONS so WOULD IT BE TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR THEM TO KEEP AT LEAST ONE CHARACTER ALIVE???

Save your time. Save yourself. Go look for another thing to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by pamemeland (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jun 1, 2022

tsujiri

Not Recommended

Been a while since I reviewed something with such a low score, so... get your popcorn ready if you wanna read my 100% personal, biased, interpretation of dirt. Because I'll be dishing it out by the PAN.

To start - I fully enjoyed Hakuouki Season 1. Even gave it an 8/10. It's got ridiculously good looking ikemen, fighting/action, natural dialogue among characters, and a solid plot based on real historical events in Japan ... sounds like all the elements of a 素晴らしい subarashii anime (let me be my weeb self). I loved every minute of it as much as I love my 'historical otome ... games.' Even if Hakuouki was mostly based on entertainment value and not actually worth much in history books, it was still a delight to watch. I was shocked I hadn't heard of such an excellent series.

Then I started Season 2 (aka episode 12 - 24, some sites display the videos together), and my thoughts turned to 'ah, now I know why.' The quality, story, and characters rapidly deteriorate. The biggest factor for its failure lie in its protagonist, Chizuru. The second factor was simply 'too many plot elements.'

I'll start with (2), because I could write a book on (1).
There's just too much going on, plot wise.
- History from centuries ago
- Samurai / warrior bushido code and lifestyle
- 7 handsome dudes
- Zombies/vampires being artificially created
- Demons something something supernatural world war (will detail this later).

It's a really ambitious undertaking for any story to include so many elements. Hakuoki might not have been 'the worst' at juggling multiple themes, but it still detracted from what could've been a really great series. Season 1 introduced each theme gradually, in a way that made sense. But Season 2 just threw everything at the wall, with each element taking turns on 'this is suddenly important' rotating cycle, with no clear logic or timeline.

People who enjoy ambiguity will probably enjoy this kind of momentum, but for others who prefer a structured progression, this is definitely not the series for you.

Now, onto the main failure that is known as Yukimura Chizuru - a character who should be banned from all screens, media, and devices, save for 'here's how to NOT write a character.'
- SPOILERS AHEAD -

1. Chizuru's sword is a decoration, not a weapon.
Set in times of war, strife, and battle, it's pretty natural that people 'kill or be killed.' Not Chizuru. We watch her get 'saved' as a damsel in distress more than eight times... and she doesn't lift her sword once. We don't actually see her fight, ever, so the sword might as well be a decoration.

I got real sick of it. It's okay to not fight, but don't pretend to - that's where my anger lies. It's just kinda insulting to people who actually can hold their own (and I assume) people like Princess Sen or her shinobi, REAL WARRIOR WOMEN!!!!!

Worse, the Shinsengumi guys go from warning her 'You need to hold your own, protect yourself, we're not always going to protect you,' to full on defending her and her INTENTIONALLY HELPLESS WAYS. I grew sick of whatever excuses people made for her, and angrier at the guys for allowing it / change of attitude. It doesn't get any more contradictory than that.

Initially, I liked her other qualities. It was just the 'helpless' habit that pissed me off and reminded me very much of 'Saya' from Blood+, where it's like, "I'll always be in the face of danger but conveniently panic and not actually do anything while people around me die and try to save me."

I can't stand that attitude. It is just really selfish and the battleground is too costly a place to be selfish.

The least she could've done, if it's something she was bad at. Was to freaking train. She basically lived with soldiers; is someone going to live in a dojo 24/7 and tell me they refuse to pick up a sword or even practice? Once? Yup, that's Yukimura for you.

2. Chizuru is playing house.
Chizuru becomes something of a domestic housekeeper to the Shinsengumi - yes, even though they were soooo reluctant to let her join them. If they had this been this lenient in real life. Heck, any woman could've joined "the ranks." She cooks, cleans, makes tea, and doesn't make much progress (physically or psychologically) beyond the occasional errand running.

She was very lacking and predictable as a character. I really, really would've enjoyed this if she actually cared about her demon blood and was less of a traitor / try to see other sides. She pretends to be this selfless and compassionate individual, but really. She was affectionate and compassionate to a SELECTIVE few, so not actually a kind or good person.

A demon princess who REFUSES TO acknowledge her heritage or have anything to do with it, even if it might actually save humankind or at least help someone...? it's like she doesn't have a brain, only a puppet with a heart.

3. She's reactive, not proactive, I hate it.
Everything is an "oh no" and not a "let's go" with her. Her role felt more like an observer in an otome story, than an actual 'player' in a game. I know there's situations where the character is intentionally written like that, to not disrupt the history or rest of the show. But I really can't think of a single contribution she made, unless we count the 'who can sacrifice more to save each other' game that she started when joining the Shinsengumi, an already struggling force.

- Other pointers -
- There should've been a romance tag. Despite the fantastic (reverse) harem, Miss Useless just chooses ONE guy and lives in denial throughout the series. If you aren't the biggest fan of romance media, I'd recommend sticking with Season 1 and ignoring Season 2 completely. Also a grief tag for excessive deaths of many characters.

- Even if this was meant to be an accurate historical portrayal of Japan's Shinsengumi era... I just don't see the point of it. Because Chizuru's presence means the whole story isn't accurate already, so like... stay with the inconsistency?

- By the second last episode, we STILL didn't learn anything about the master race aka the demon race. The whole plot was wasted on Chizuru. Just a tease like everything else in this show.

- Honestly, the military pacing of Season 2 was so slow to me that I started doing my craft embroidery work while watching. EMBROIDERY. If that doesn't tell you how boring the show was, I don't know what will.

The only character I cared about was Kazama Chikage. Chikage x Chizuru is something I 500% support, only because I like Chikage so much. So yeah. Give Season 1 a try if you must, but I can't recommend this show to anyone else unless they are a masochist with lots and lots of time on their hands.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by tsujiri (23)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Miki Shinichiro Anime

by LeonhartAugust

32 Entries · 3 Restacks

Anime adaption of Visual Novels with English release (EXTRA)

by MagicFlier

40 Entries · 9 Restacks

Visual Novel Anime Adaptations

by g10r1x

50 Entries · 13 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for December

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for December Week 1: December 6 - 12 Anime Releases Bikini Warriors Complete Collection Blu-ray & DVD Comb...read more

Dec 5, 2016 8:34 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (6 comments)

	Poll: Hakuouki Hekketsuroku Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) tsubasalover - Dec 5, 2010	160 replies	by Zekkenshin »» Aug 18, 2023 5:01 AM
	Why didn't Chizuru... (spoilers) AriAkiko - May 8, 2011	12 replies	by Kana-Cucumber »» Aug 22, 2021 10:03 AM
	Poll: Hakuouki Hekketsuroku Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) tsubasalover - Nov 14, 2010	61 replies	by justduckyxx »» May 27, 2018 10:18 AM
	Poll: Hakuouki Hekketsuroku Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) tsubasalover - Nov 21, 2010	56 replies	by SenChen »» Sep 22, 2017 2:30 PM
	Poll: Hakuouki Hekketsuroku Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) tsubasalover - Oct 3, 2010	100 replies	by MelMelMel »» May 11, 2017 11:33 PM

Top 20 Most Passionate Anime Kiss Scenes

Stop blushing! It's time to be honest and admit that kisses make everything better, right? Check out this collection of 20 passionate anime kisses, they're sure to make your heart skip a beat or two!

by FreeNightFalls

1,497,387 views

Spoiler

CollectionKawaiiLoveHotGIF