Review

Introduction

Let me be completely honest, I wasn’t the slightest bit excited going into this one. An otome visual novel about a girl and her potential harem of samurai which mostly included the shinsengumi (and a oni and random that I never encountered)? That was fundamentally not my thing. I’ve never cared much for otome stories in general and even more so since this was my first VN, I just went into it expecting to push through a story I wouldn’t care about, mostly just to meet the minimum requirements and get it over with. I could not have been more wrong.

The Story & Structure

For context, Hakuoki is split into two games that tell one continuous story. Kyoto Winds is the first half and Edo Blossoms is the second and I did two routes in each, those belonging to Saito and Kazama.

I honestly didn’t expect to get this invested. But I was actually tearing up and grinning by the end of Saito and Kazama’s route. Iykyk

Saito’s Route

My favorite character and one I relate to a lot. Saito Hajime is the character I ended up gravitating toward the most, and his route is honestly peak. He starts off as this very quiet, cold, and duty obsessed swordsman who seems almost emotionless, but as you go through his route you get to see all the layers underneath. The way he slowly opens up to Chizuru and seeing new expressions by him one by one it was refreshing. He’s the kind of character where everything feels earned, the quiet moments feel quiet and meaningful rather than empty, and his devotion to the sword and the way of samurai is just so well written. If you’re going to do one route, his is the one I’d point to.

Kazama’s Route

Kazama Chikage’s route is a completely different vibe and I loved it for entirely different reasons. Kazama is a full blooded oni, proud, ruthless, and can be genuinely cold and violent. On the surface he seems like the last person who’d make a good romance route, but the way his story plays out is just so sweet. Even though this route can get a bit bloody (rip to all of shinsengumi but hey at least we get a good ending with him). His complete confidence and the way he goes from viewing Chizuru as just a curiosity because she is a rare female oni to genuinely caring for her mental and physical health is a really satisfying arc, and there are moments on his route that are honestly just adorable. The contrast between his brutal exterior and the way he softens for her specifically is peak.

Music

One small thing but I have to mention the battle soundtrack. Out of all the music in these two games, that’s the piece that stuck with me the most. It just went so hard during the action scenes and made the fights feel way more intense than they had any right to. Every time it kicked in I found myself paying attention again even when the route was dragging a bit. Definitely the most memorable track for me.

Conclusion

I am going back for the other routes right after contracts ends lmao, I think that says enough about my enjoyment more than the yapping before

Score: 8.5/10

Hielo’s fanfic request (I swear if you complain it’s not exactly 500 words)

The morning light filtered through the paper screens of the small home they had made for themselves in the demon village, tucked up in the mountains where the snow came early and lingered long. Kazama Chikage was already awake, sitting by the veranda with his sword across his lap, a habit Chizuru had long since grown used to. She quietly crept up beside him, not to disturb the stillness, and knelt down.

“You’re up early,” she said softly.

He did not look at her. “I am always up early.”

Chizuru smiled to herself. In the months since their wedding, she had learned that beneath all that pride and gruffness was a man who simply had no idea what to do with himself when he wasn’t fighting. So she filled the quiet for him, the way she always did.

“I thought I might make something warm for breakfast,” she said. “The days are getting cooler.”

At that, he finally glanced at her. “You don’t need to tell me your every plan.”

“No,” she said warmly, “but I like to.”

There was a pause, and then the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. A smug grin that was usual of him. It was more like the idea of one. Chizuru treasured those moments the most, the tiny cracks in the armor that he let her see.

Later, as she worked in the kitchen, she felt his presence before she heard it, the quiet weight of him leaning against the frame. He watched her cook in that intense, unblinking way he had, as if he were studying a battlefield. She had learned not to be unnerved by it.

“Is there something on my face?” she asked lightly.

“You are humming,” he said.

Chizuru paused. She hadn’t realized she was. “Should I stop?”

“No.” He said it quickly, then looked away. “It is… not unpleasant.”

She hid her smile behind her sleeve and hummed a little louder. From behind her, she heard the softest sound she had ever heard him make, something that was almost, almost a laugh.

That evening, a cold wind swept through, and Chizuru found herself shivering by the doorway. When she turned, Kazama was holding his haori out toward her, his expression unreadable but his arm stretched out stubbornly.

“I am a oni,” he said flatly, as if that explained everything. “I do not feel the cold.”

“Chikage, it’s winter and you—”

“Wear it.”

She did. It smelled like him, faint and steady, and the warmth of it settled around her shoulders like a secret. He looked satisfied, in his own subdued way, which to Chizuru was as good as him shouting it from the rooftops.

They sat together on the veranda as the snow began to fall, soft and unhurried. She leaned against his shoulder, and he let her, neither one of them saying a word. It was not grand or dramatic or bloody. There was no battlefield, no swords, no enemies. Just a demon who had spent his entire life alone, and the woman who had quietly taught him that he didn’t have to be.

“This is nice,” Chizuru murmured, half asleep.

Kazama was silent for a long, long moment. Then, so quietly she almost missed it, he said, “Yes. It is.”

She smiled against his sleeve, and let the snow fall around them, warm and whole.