Hakuouki

Hakuouki was AWESOME. The quality's superb!

Studio DEEN never fails to surprise me.

I shouldn't be going "kyaa!!" at this episode. There isn't anything to fangirl at unless you drool looking at Hijikata's bare chest in the opening. Or, unless you love watching berserk people going for the kill. Lol okay, maybe there ARE things to be extremely happy for. The quality for example. Otome games are famed to have very... intricate clothing designs (lol Neo Angelique Abyss) which often makes an average fan scream and tear their hair out while attempting to draw the clothes.

According to the game reviews/summary of Hakuouki, it isn't much of a cheerful game. You can read it from here. Yay, dark shows! The mood in this episode is so... thick and heavy, I feel impressed that Chizuru didn't break down from all that immense pressure. Especially where there's a dude threatening to kill you almost every single time he speaks (lol Okita). Among all of them, Kondou Isami seems like the most decent and rational among all of them. This is especially PROVEN when it's found out that Yukimura Chizuru is a GIRL. Harada Sanosuke suggests that she strip so that they can confirm it. Kondou forbids any maiden's bare flesh to be shown! Yay Kondou! Kondou Isami looks rather similar to Kondou Isao of Gintama.

Basically, the show starts with Chizuru running away from what appears to be thugs(?). She hides behind a barrel and peeps out to check her situation but instead, she sees berserk Shinsengumi members killing them off in brutal ways (lol seriously, watch it). Before she becomes a victim herself, Saitou Hajime (waii! Toriumi Kousuke!!) kills the berserks. Okita appears shortly and mentions something about Saitou-kun being quick in his work. Saitou-kun replies that he's only doing his job. Chizuru averts her attention only to see Hijikata Toshizou pointing his katana at her. He mentions killing her if she tries to run (Jeebus, my awful Japanese is NOT helping me AT ALL).

OP PLAYS!!!!!!

gee, did you see the scene before he put on his clothes?? teeheehee!!

Now that's fangirling.

Chizuru faints from the shock and Hijikata orders to have her taken back to the headquarters after disposing the dead bodies. Okita informs him that Chizuru has witnessed the berserk members and questions if it's alright not to kill her. Hijikata replies that he'll decide later.

Chizuru wakes up to find herself in a BDSM situation. Whoops! No, actually, she wakes up to find herself gagged and bounded. Fortunately, a person called Inoue Genzaburo removes the restrains before introducing himself. While untying her, he mentions something about it being Okita's doing. He also tells her that she's currently in the headquarters. He brings her to meet the Shinsengumi authorities. Kondou makes a lengthy introduction which Hijikata protests to.

Kondou requests Saitou-kun to report the situation, which he mentions is a failure (most likely because "innocent" victims were killed). He explains the entire situation till the point where Chizuru was found. She denies witnessing anything. Okita doubts her but Chizuru claims to have never seen anything. Nagakura Shinpachi too doubts her because according to Okita's report, she was saved after Saitou-kun exterminated the berserk members. Chizuru explains that she was running from the thugs before getting saved by the Shinsengumi. Okita smirks. Shinpachi continues to say that she would've surely witnessed the extermination. Chizuru looks dumbfounded, which lead Sanosuke to say that she's too honest. Okita suggests killing her to shush things up. Kondou rejects the idea immediately. Okita tries to brush things off as a joke but lol, Saitou-kun doesn't think that it sounded like one.

Chizuru swears and promises not to tell anyone as long as they let her go. Hijikata orders for her to be taken away. Saitou-kun drags her out and pushes her into the room she was earlier in (geez, you're not a gentleman at all! but lol, its still not known she's a girl). Meanwhile, the discussion of Chizuru continues. Hijikata decides not to dispose of her despite being a witness. Let's just make it simple here. Hijikata thinks brats are stupid. Sannan Keisuke sees through Hijikata and mentions that letting Chizuru live was his very intention from the start, thus explaining why he even brought her to the headquarters in the first place. Hijikata went "Tch!"!! Keisuke prioritizes on protecting the secret and Hijikata seems as if he has an idea of what to do.

Chizuru sits in the room obediently but decides to escape since she believes that even if she waits, she'll still get killed. And it seems to her that the Shinsengumi prioritizes their issues more than her welfare. But as soon as she walks out... She's caught by Hijikata. Fail. He recalls telling her that he'll kill her if she tries to escape but seeing her determination to accomplish something even if she loses her life, he decides to listen to her story.

She introduces herself as Yukimura Chizuru, explains that her dad's gone missing ever since he left for the town. In the beginning, father and daughter wrote letters to each other but it suddenly stopped. Feeling impatient, she left for town in men's clothes. Aaaaaaaaaaand it's finally revealed that she's a girl. Kondou gets shocked and expresses his regret. Okita thinks its obvious. Saitou-kun remains silent. Shinpachi says that there isn't any proof. Sanosuke suggests that she strips. Kondou rejects the idea in an agitated manner! Keisuke gets Kondou to calm down and asks Chizuru if her dad is Yukimura Koudou. She says that he is. Hijikata immediately asks Chizuru about how much does she know about Koudou. She seems puzzled and Saitou-kun makes the situation clear by mentioning that Koudou went missing a while ago. And so, the Shinsengumi are looking for him as it's believed that he's involved in something. Since Chizuru's also searching for him, they agree to help her, under the condition she says nothing about the incident last night.

The group discuss about women being weak and so on (you bunch of sexists >:| ) and so, they'll need someone to watch over her. Well, since Hijikata's the one who mentioned watching over her, he'll be the one (forced) to take the job (not because he was willing to XD). Chizuru wonders what would happen to her.

In his room, he discusses the situation with Okita and Saitou-kun. He thinks it's rather suspicious according to the series of events.

Chizuru's ordered to dress as a guy for convenience. Apparently it's only normal for a guy to carry a sword around. As she stands at the window, talking to herself, Okita interrupts! Well, no, actually, he's sitting there, guarding the door and overheard her. She gets embarrassed. And Saitou-kun has also been there all along with her food (aww Saitou-kun ≥w≤). He, too, overheard everything. Heisuke comes to invite Saitou-kun and Okita for dinner but they both have work (lol Chizuru) to do so they can't come. Toudou Heisuke suggests that Chizuru eats with them too since they're to constantly watch her. And she agrees.

Everyone (Shinpachi, Okita, Sanosuke, Heisuke, Saitou-kun and Chizuru) enjoy their meal for the moment. Chizuru feels happy watching Shinpachi and Heisuke have a small scuffle over their food. Sanosuke tells Chizuru that that's the first time she smiled since she's arrived in the headquarters. He assures here that the Shinsengumi won't do anything bad to her (lol protect her from Okita please!). Chizuru feels a little bad for misunderstanding them all this while. Inoue Genzaburo appears and reports some casualties experienced by Sannan Keisuke who seems to have been shot at with a gun at his left hand. Though he will have problems holding a sword, his life is not in danger. Chizuru thinks it's a good thing until Heisuke tells her that it isn't. Saitou-kun backs it up by saying that in the worse case scenario, that member will never be able to swing his sword again. Okita mentions something about "when the time comes, we'll have to consume the medicine huh.."

Chizuru is surprised as she thought that Keisuke was part of the team (or something like that, fuck my limited knowledge). Just when Heisuke's about to explain the Shinsengumi's actual situation, he gets punched by Sanosuke ("YUKIMURA!! OYAKATASAMAAA!!" PUNCH!). The punch seemed to have been on impulse. The two apologize to each other. Shinpachi requests for Chizuru to not question whatever that has almost been said no matter how interested she is. Okita explains that the "Shinsengumi" Heisuke was talking about is about unfortunate... Sorry I couldn't understand the last word he said...

Lol sorry for that awful long post. Hopefully the anime will do the game justice. Or else... the PS3 and PSP game sales are surely gonna drop, I guess. Eagerly waiting for episode 2!