Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms

豆包帮我生成我和这些男人的结婚照

无论打开薄樱鬼多少次都会爱上冲田总司 [spoiler] 如果是伊庭八郎的话一定能理解我的这份心情 [/spoiler]

I want every CG of Hijikata burned permanently into my eyeballs

PLEASE PLEASE AND PLEASE PLAY THIS OTOME VISUAL NOVEL. I can say with my full chest that Hakuoki is one of the best written otome visual novel that I have ever played. I dived into this series just to reminisce the high school-me watching the anime series, and I was a bit curious why this series is so popular in otome community despite being an almost 2 decades old otome game. I said the same thing in my review in Kyoto Wind, but the ANIME DID NOT DO JUSTICE of the VISUAL NOVEL at all. Even more so in Edo Blossoms. I am going to gush out of how outstanding the writing is; not only towards the plot itself, but also to the world building, characters building and individuality, and characters dynamic. While I generally said the same thing in the Kyoto Wind review, but Edo Blossoms really exceed my expectation. Like I did not expect it to be this incredible. Kyoto Wind is already up there, and Edo Bloom just blown my mind, Im not even exaggerating. The writers did a wonderful job conveying Hakuoki’s gripping story while building each characters’ individuality, given their significant relationship with the heroine, Chizuru. Furthermore. in Edo Blossoms does not contain a long repetitive common story. Each routes will give you insight of the characters' individuality, principles, goals and journey. Even if for the same events that happened, like you know 'insert the name of the war' etc happened in the timeline, your views on the event, or how the characters grasp on the situation or their decision will differ, yet will help you to connect the dots. It feels so rewarding to actually learnt each characters as individuals and you can't help but to love them the more and more. It's great too because it's not just for the main characters, but minor characters as well. As for our heroine, Chizuru... I'm sorry that I said that you are not particularly memorable in Kyoto Wind review (I did said she is likeable enough to enjoy the story and I understand for her meek nature in that era). I AM SO SORRY FOR THE SLANDER. Chizuru is very remarkable in Edo Blossoms. You can finally understand where her strengths lie at. She may not be a fighter in a sense of strong physicals nor swordmanship skills. However, she is actually a fighter in her own way, especially being a woman in chaotic era. I really like her quiet resilience, inner courage (girl has some spunk, I tell ya) and emotional maturity during such a turmoil time. Like I get it so much why the characters fall in love with her, BECAUSE I WOULD FALL FOR HER TOO IF IM A SHINSENGUMI WARRIOR AND HAS SUCH A FINE WOMAN BESIDES ME. Her characters has so much layers and nuance, and I would say she is definitely very well-written as a character. It gives you a sense of realistic-ness to her characters. I genuinely love her so much after playing Edo Blossoms. CG Arts? Beautiful. I have no complain, like at all. It's really good. We finally get a lot of romantic CGs too hehe~ UI System? Hmmm I think it's fine. Especially when this game is considered pretty old. Sound efx? Pretty good! I genuinely think they fit the story so well! Voice acting? Amazing. Like if you think Kyoto WInd breaks you, Edo Blossoms breaks you harder. Like brooooo voice actors really went all out. All in all, I really want to tell the world to play this gem. 10/10 for me! Hakuoki definitely ranked highly in my otome games list. I love it so much, and I sobbed hard too lol.

想要留住的人，都留在了那个樱花纷飞的年代。

老公。

在历史的断崖前，看一场樱花的坠落 庆应四年，鸟羽伏见。枪声一响，德川幕府三百年的基业便再没有回旋的余地。炮火中败退的不只是幕府军，还有那支曾经让人闻风丧胆的新选组。 《华之章》的故事，就从这里开始。 如果《风之章》还是一群理想主义武士在京都的意气风发，那么《华之章》就是眼睁睁看着一艘船沉没，而你站在甲板上，什么也做不了。近藤勇的枪伤、冲田总司的病情、队士们面对将军出逃时的茫然——历史的重量第一次如此具体地压在每一个角色的肩上。 有人说这是一部“悲剧美学爱好者狂喜”的作品。这个说法不算错，但未免轻了些。真正让人触动的，是剧本在尊重史实的前提下，让每个角色都在各自的轨道上走向已知的终点。你走谁的线，谁就能在这场洪流中多活一阵——但也就一阵。那种“明知结局却还是要走一遭”的宿命感，是这部作品最沉的底色。 画面上，原画师数木夜音的处理有一种难得的克制。和风与西洋元素的融合，在她笔下不是炫技，而是一种对时代氛围的诚实回应。华丽的服饰、细腻的笔触、流畅的线条——这些表层的美感之下，是某种接近落寞的东西。华之章的服装比风之章更讲究，但那不是繁荣的征兆，恰恰相反——越精致，越像一场盛大的告别。CG的质量在多年后的今天看来依然扎实，线条干净，色彩温润，不张扬，却经得起反复看。 有人说这游戏恋爱感不强，更像一部历史剧。确实，共通线的漫长和个人线的相对简短，让情感的推进显得有些克制。但换个角度看，正是这种克制，让每一次靠近都显得珍贵。在一个所有人都在走向消亡的故事里，感情的浓度本就不该太高——高了，反而失真。 玩家在这个故事里更像一个记录者。你改变不了什么，你只是陪着他们走完最后一程。这种无力感，恰恰是《华之章》最诚实的地方。 历史从不给任何人留情面。幕末的樱花开了又谢，新选组的旗帜倒了又举——最终，还是倒下了。《薄樱鬼 真改 华之章》没有美化这段历史，也没有消费它。它只是安静地讲完了一个关于信念、忠诚和必然消亡的故事。 如果你能接受一部不那么“甜”的乙女游戏，如果你对幕末那段历史有一点点好奇，这部作品值得你坐下来，慢慢看。 毕竟，有些故事，值得在历史的断崖前，安静地听完。