It's no wonder almost all the reviews start with the fact that Hakuouki is based of an otome game ( generally a game where the main objective is to get pampered by pretty boys with the perspective of one of them falling in love with you). It's this fact that made me ignore this title even though I stumbled upon it so many times.
Why?
Well, because even though I am a girl, I don't like the fact that this genre obviously thinks the viewer/player is a brainless moron that doesn't notice things being thrown right at them.
Well, did the show meet my expectations?
Well, Yes and No.
On
...
the technical side of things Hakuouki surprised me with its attention to detail, motion, fluid animation and effort to make the most out of what the staff had to work with.
It's not just a still shot with a moving mouth. Not just arms and legs thrown in the air with no relation to clothing and accessories. In this show, when a person moves, the hair wraps around him, the katana at their leg shifts, the clothes shuffle. It's an obvious thing but there's too little anime shows that enjoy this amount of attention : like the subtle movements of the hand when a katana is drawn or when a person in a hakama is standing up. Have you ever put a kinomo on? Walked in zori? It's not as easy to stand up in any of those.
Which brings me to another beautiful aspect of this show.
Maybe precisely because it was based on a game, the costume designs are really detailed and beautiful. It's not just the same clothes with a colour variation. Every character wears his kimono and hakama in a different manner and this is true for the side characters also. There's probably a thousand ways to tie an obi and this anime shows it. The amount of detail to living, buildings, everyday household items and other time period details is astonishing and really beautiful.
This is also true of the historical side of the story here, which I believe is also the best part of the story in general. All the events, except probably those involving Chizuru and the..demons..vampires..whatever...are historically relevant if not true. And if this was the main plot it would have been a brilliant historical piece. The anime could have stood together so wonderfully just based on that.
Changes and innovations are a great thing but they do need to have a point. And that's the case with the "vampire" saga here. It serves no purpose! Will the story stay the same if it were gone-yes! Anyone who knows a bit of Japanese history should know where the story is heading. Will the characters and their relationships change- no! It's just a big distraction! And a loss of time that can seriously be made to fill in some very needed character development and historical background.
Since it's a Japanese show and the characters are real people, the names, places and details are being thrown right at you. And by the end of season one it's kind of hard to follow the historical events already. I think a serious amount of wasted time can be used to develop the relationships between the fighting factions. Get some insight on their motifs for example. It doesn't matter if you've read it in history books, it's just how it looks when you put the show together.
The characters in this show, of course are all pretty and a huge eye candy. And if the anime didn't have a lot of other good points, I'd probably leave it at that. However in a show that has something to offer, bad points tend to stand out even more. I wouldn't say the characters are not enjoyable or they don't have their personalities developed. They do. But in a very sort of clichéd, stereotyped way. They are obviously there because they need to attract different target groups. You can tell immediately that his is the fun guy and that's the serious guy and oh, we have a guy for every taste here (just in case, you know..) and you all know how they're going to act...yuppie...and they all have to pamper you..oh, I mean the main character that you're totally not supposed to identify with.....BORING! And that's the thing I really hate about this kind of show. YES! We do like the eye candy, but it doesn't have to hit us on the head like a cannon ball for us to notice!
Overall, if you don't mind the bishies thrown at you at every corner, it's an enjoyable show with some really great detail, animation, some really nicely choreographed and directed fighting scenes and a strong historical background that make it exciting to watch. The score isn't bad and fits nicely though I wish it had more of a classical Japanese tone to it. Because everything in the show is so tied to the time period, this is the only thing missing to really make it feel like you're thrown right in the middle of things.
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May 10, 2012
It's no wonder almost all the reviews start with the fact that Hakuouki is based of an otome game ( generally a game where the main objective is to get pampered by pretty boys with the perspective of one of them falling in love with you). It's this fact that made me ignore this title even though I stumbled upon it so many times.
Why? Well, because even though I am a girl, I don't like the fact that this genre obviously thinks the viewer/player is a brainless moron that doesn't notice things being thrown right at them. Well, did the show meet my expectations? Well, Yes and No. On ... |
