Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Teramol
As a Shinsengumi fan, Hakuouki had always been somewhere down low on my radar. Despite not having seen or read any otome/reverse harem stuff before, this was a good show to get some kind of experience from that front.
The show features an ensemble cast of mostly the known Shinsengumi members but not all of them as it takes place later in the depicted history of their story. And regarding the historical aspect of the show, it keeps major events fairly intact but takes a lot of liberties including adding supernatural elements and of course, our female lead who I'll briefly talk about next.
Chizuru is a pretty straightforward case. She gets rescued by our heroes at the start and gets a job working for them so she gets closer to everyone as the story progresses. Sadly a lot of the times she…
Read at the sourcevanelya10
I think people will have mixed feelings about this one.
For me, coming back with a review in 2023, I still love this one. Not because of the all male cast or reverse harem but mostly because it kept me going on at the time I saw it, when a lot of animes were low story based.
Reporting today, it may seem cringe for you and lack of character development (Chizuru's case).
My favorite out of the entire series will be my one and only Hijikata Toshizou and an entire cast of great animation scenes, fighting and action packed episodes. I love the fact that there is a lot of history base in the story even tough we cant say this is a very accurate hisctorical based anime. I think its a good anime to try it if you are into long haired male guys and not cringe love aproach.
Read at the sourcePoppy_h1
For me, this anime scores badly in the story, in character and in enjoyment.
I feel that the anime has the potential to be mind-blowingly amazing. BUT there was a lack of development. The first few episodes as far as plot development goes were slow. Despite it opening in the middle of a fight scene and I was sat there thinking what is going on? Are they demons?
It did pick up speed around the 5th episode.
The second season just has no plot development. The focus is on killing and the honour of death and death and more death. That's it. In every episode, a handful of people die or are going to die and are definitely killed. They basically kill off every main character apart from the narrator because of this I want to put it in the category of Shakespeare's tragedies. However, the inter…
Read at the sourcePuhapoci
If you like historic animes, I really recommend watching this. Please don't be fooled by the genre description, this is no way a harem anime. Romance also very low in it so if you after that this is not for you. But you will get other wonderful things like friendship, loyalty, and pride.
Story: The story revolves around the end of the Samurai era when people start realizing that their sword getting worthless against new weapons. Accordingly to modern weaponry, people, politic and the values are changing. We can follow a handful of people's battles to fight for something which is definitely a lost cause. Very interesting and sad to watch.
There is some supernatural element in the story but in my opinion, the only reason for it just to make this anime more appealing to the general audience…
Read at the sourceanime2160
I watched the series maybe 2 years ago and I remember LOVING it so much I gave it a 10. I even downloaded the OST because I loved everything about the anime.
2 years later I'm re-watching anime after stopping, but my opinion of this anime has changed so much. The story itself isn't bad, but its badly executed. There's barely any action, all the episodes seem like filler ones and tbh it's kinda confusing distinguishing between most of the guys. All I can say is that the anime is WEAK.
Chizuru has no character development, all she does it yell out when someone is being bullied and then when they move to strike she just closes her eyes and waits for someone to save her. She's been with the Shisengumi for so long and yet never once used her sword, it just doesn't make sense.
The romance i…
Read at the sourceInayasha25
So just to clarify I didn't even know there was a game and this anime adapted the game. Which now makes sense. So my review is from a person that only watched the anime.
It's rushed, it's never goes deep in anything, and it's super boring omg this was a nightmare.
If you are looking for a romance this is not the place for you. It's a reverse Harem with no romance seriouly. GET OUT
Story is SUPER rushed like into 4 episodes it's already been like one year in the story line. Things happen just for plot convenience.
And the worse, the main character, the girl, IT'S A BAG OF POTATO. She doesn't do ANYTHING, she is just there to yell the other guys name in case you forgot.
Honestly disappointed. Art is great and maybe the game is good but oh boy just no.
Read at the sourceEikonic
Note-
If you do play/read the visual novel game on steam or elsewhere know this...
It's... 200x better than the actual anime. Being the degenerate I am, I only watch dubbed. Throughout all of time this has never changed, yet... this is the one anime that I could not physically stand to watch dubbed. The dub was so atrocious I actually switched to subbed. It was the one and only anime to ever make me do so.... that said... its pretty lackluster even subbed. Main character is absolute trash and honestly its sad to see after playing the game/reading the visual novel.... If they ever remade it though... it'd be worth so much like I'd give ANYTHING to see it remade and done properly. It has the potential to be a freakin' AMAZING anime... but they just had no funding or backing at the time to m…
Read at the sourceValyada
This is so right plotted that I couldn’t sleep the night before 1st and second season cause of curiosity and emotions (i watched them all in 2 days, I reccomend u to watch it in the release order, not in the cronological one) .
#Spoiler
2nd season was all just crying for me. Im still so sad..but after watching the rest of the series and the 2 movies I feel a bit better…still it would be worth watching a next season to see what happened to Hajime kun and the rest..and how did Toshi and Chizuru escape then and if they made it back to Edo…. What did they do there… id really like that Hajime, Shinpachi and Harada to live again with Toshi and Chizuru and all get married and have childern, and y not to get all along with Kyo and even Kyuju....I am still crying…
Read at the sourceSmall-Sailor
A poor adaption of one of the most well written visual novel's out there.
Watching this before I played the VN, I did feel it was "alright" if not a little frustrating a times. But even back then I could see charm and decent plot shining back through, so I got the game and found out myself. Even the old first version of the game that was released on psp (and has been vastly improved upon in a PC version released more recently) was leagues better than this pathetic excuse.
Chizuru as a character does lack a lot personality (she's not quite a card board cut out like many VN protags, and I'd say her passive personality is more reflective of the attitude of women at the time) but thats kind of the point. In game, you made up for that with your own feelings and choices. However, the anime r…
Read at the sourcecitycat
I really wanted to like this series. Maybe it was my fault for starting the first episode with high expectations.
Pros: If you're into ikemen, then this is a fine show for indulging your fancies. In fact, there's a gratuitous episode where the shinsengumi need to get topless for a physical. However, the pros end there. Beyond the beautiful faces, there's not much else. As there are many characters packed into 12 episodes, you never really get to know any of them.
Cons: I'm not sure what they were thinking when they thought they could pack all that Japanese history into a dozen episodes. At any rate, it's not good as a historical anime. It's also no good if you're trying to watch it for romance or drama because there isn't enough of it. Again, way too overarching, packing all the charac…
Read at the sourcePosey_MayLove
I was looking for a romance anime and to be honest there is no romance at all. There are little hints like blushing, but that's it.
I'm not sure if this is one of the tags, but it dose start to add in supernatural beings. I like this since it adds spice to the already story line.
The story is really interesting since it's based upon which I think is true events since it mentions many city names and dates.
The characters are not really generic harem qualities. All like her, they all protect her, tease her, etc. None get romantic.
I like the art style. I love the old anime style.
-Watched DUB version-
Read at the sourceBlueSwallow
After playing this game I started to watch and I loved it. All series are great and the characters are perfect. The story is also very good. The characters gave me a feeling of family. Has a warm story. This anime can make you cry like laugh.
Easy to connect to characters. Very good anime according to time of publication
Hakuoki impressed me a lot. There are a lot of scenes I can't get out of my mind.
Thanks for this lovely anime.
Oyununu oynadıktan sonra izlemeye başladım ve çok sevdim. Tüm seriler harika ve karakterler mükemmel. Hikaye de çok güzel. Karakterler bana bir aile hissi verdi. Sıcak bir hikayesi var. Bu anime seni güldürürken ağlatabilir.
Karakterlere bağlanmak kolay. Yayın zamanına göre çok iyi anime
Hakuoki beni çok etkiledi. Aklımdan çıkamadığım pek çok sahne var.
Bu güze…
Read at the sourceValentineWiggin
First of all, I played the game. I'm totally not an otome fan, to be honest, when one of my friends suggested me to play it, I was totally scared. I was a little prejudiced like "It's a dating sim. How on earth can a dating sim have a really good story?". But then she started to speak about the historical references, how it takes place during the Bakumatsu (I think this part of Japanese history is one of the most interesting ones), and then I decided to play. And the game is great. It really has a complex story line with philosophy, a really deep message, symbolism, history, good voice acting... in the end, I realised, I just couldn't care it was a dating sim.
And then I started watching the anime. Honestly, that game is hard to adapt. Every storyline shows one character, developes his st…
Read at the sourcedks_dptmej
If you're looking for an anime like Akatsuki no Yona with a strong female lead, don't watch (at least for this season).
While Yona grows tremendously by the end of the series Chizuru does not. Yona is more like a leader of the pack while Chizuru is just a random girl living off of the guys. Chizuru has a sword and says she's been trained, yet I haven't seen her wield it to protect herself once. All she does is say she wants to be with the guys while not making any efforts to become stronger or polish her skills to protect herself to not be a burden to the guys. She has no awareness of the surroundings and gets others in trouble. Girl, just leave and join the other side to bring out your inner powers.
By the end of 12 episodes, I'm still left with this pathetic, weak girl. The story is ok…
Read at the sourcehaniyeszer
Overall, I really love and enjoy watching Hakuouki! I rewatched the series for so many times! 😊
Honestly, I don't know whether the Shinsengumi's story portrayed in Hakuouki is based on facts or not but the demon parts are definitely added to make the whole story more interesting... I love the storyline... There are happy and sad moments, but truly, I pity Shinsengumi and its fate...
About Chizuru, I don't really despise her (she is a weak character and hated by many MAL users...hihi!) From my perspective, Chizuru did her best to help Shinsengumi and stayed with them through ups and downs until the end although there is not much that she could do...
The art is very nice... I love the characters especially Hijikata-san! 😙😙The OP & ED are good... The seiyuus also are good... The backgro…
Read at the sourceVorodor
So when i started to watch this, i was really not sure if i was going to like it or not. It's a little old so i wasn't sure if the art styles would be as good as i am used too, on that account i was wrong to be concerned. Once i started watching it, i just loved it. The fighting is really well done and i like that the plot loosely follows historical events while adding in a good slice of fantasy. It was enough to keep my hooked the entire way threw. I don't think you have to be a girl to enjoy watching it either, although its certainly catered to that audience. If it has any major flaw, i agree with others who don't really like the female lead very much. Although i don't think she is so bad as deserve some of the criticism. She is a little washy washy at times but she also has good moments…
Read at the sourceatKatlin
I was bored to death. Seriously, watching this anime makes me told myself "please end it soon". I feel like the 23 minutes is too long. Although, I still did manage to finish watching it even all the prequels, if you are not aware of the history of Shinsengumi I would recommend you to watch other anime. So, what did make me watch this. I was drawn again by the art and synopsis of it. I was expecting a historical gender bender anime but was disappointed by it. The gender bender thing is just an accessory. I think the art is the one that lifted the anime. The sound is just so-so. The characters are likable except the heroine my goodness. Given the fact that she is weak okay, fine but if she will carry out the story I think I cannot barely watch it. Her only major part is to narrate the story…
Read at the sourceShinseina
This COULD have been a great anime. I appreciate how difficult it is for an anime adaptation to be made from games. I really do. However, it is not impossible. As such, I really wish the Shinsegumi warriors were a little more fleshed out. Otherwise non-game audience will not be attracted to this, and also find it difficult to understand without the necessary background information.
Honestly, I would still have given it an overall 8 had it not been for the annoying heroine. Yukimura Chizuru is one of the most useless female protagonists I have seen to date. Why such a strong character like Hijikata Toshizou would go for her... Oh well. In the realm of anime anything is possible.
Great visuals, great costumes and style. Fight sequences could have been much better, given the ronin backdrop…
Read at the sourceKinta_Minami
As an Otome based viewer, I can say Hakuouki is one of the best Otome games adapted anime. I played the games countless time, re-watched the anime from season 1 till the movies countless times and this series never cease to stab my heart with all the feels and deaths of the story. Many of you would disagree with me since we are different kind of audience, Hakuouki also highlighted on the historical moments in Japan although the story plot maybe fictitious, but the events took place in the series did exists. Don't believe me? Google it up. Each character has a unique personality and how they would interact with the main girl, Chizuru is also amusing to watch. Comparing Chizuru with other otome heroines like Nanami Haruka from Uta no Prince-sama, Chizuru has a wonderful personality trait. Ch…
Read at the sourceVegetaOver9000
Hakuouki in a word: Disappointing
I expected this to turn into the typical reverse harem situation (especially since the female lead is an airhead, that's usually a dead give away), but alas, it never did.
It didn't have an specific quality that stood out. Action was a'ight, no romance at all, "funny" moments never made me laugh, and I had trouble keeping track of so many guys. There were at least 4 that I kept mixing up.
To sum up: You aren't missing anything if you don't watch this. In fact, I would recommend removing this from your list if it is on there because it's not worth the time. No, it wasn't terrible, but it still wasn't worth it.
Read at the source
