I love the Hakuouki franchise!
And now that I have my Vita (thank you, wonderful husband!), I was excited to play Hakuouki: SSL!
This game is about enjoying the characters that you have come to love and letting them be happy! No war. No death. No furies. No tuberculosis. No real plot or character development.
And that is fine.
This game is for the fans of the Hakuouki franchise. We can just sit back and relax while the characters we love enjoy their sweet school life!
As always, character and plot analysis and spoilers after the cut! There will also be a few spoilers for Hakuouki: Kyoto Winds and Hakuouki: Edo Blossoms and, well…essentially all other possible Hakuouki content in general.
Hakuouki is a massively successful otome franchise that I have completely fallen in love with. Now, my devotion to Hakuouki is based upon my love for these characters. I don’t dislike a single love interest (though I do find some average and boring, I don’t dislike them), which I can only say about a select handful of games.
SSL isn’t a traditional otome game. Otome elements are there but, if anything, this game is an addition or a supplement to the main historical games, like the remake update: Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms (though not all the characters featured in those games are in SSL, because SSL was created before the remake was made). This game makes the most sense, and has the most meaning, within the context of the world created by the historical games.
When you go into SSL with all the prerequisite knowledge, the game takes on a magic all its own. You can appreciate the modern adjustments made to the historical characters. You get all the references to the plot, characters, and internal relationships in the historical games. The fact that everyone is alive, healthy, and not fighting tooth and nail for survival warms your heart with happiness. Everything just means more, because you have the background knowledge from the historical games.
In Hakuouki SSL, Chizuru is a first-year high school student. She’s the first woman to go to Hakuo Academy, which has recently become co-ed. Kondou is the principal of the school. Hijikata is the vice-principal, Okita and Heisuke’s homeroom teacher, as well as, the teacher of classical literature. Sannan is the school nurse. Harada is Chizuru and Ibuki’s homeroom teacher, and he also teaches PE. Shinpachi is Saito and Yamazaki’s homeroom teacher, and he also teaches math (not sure how that fits the historical analog). Inoue is the school’s chef and everyone loves his cooking (Awww!). And Shimada makes an appearance as the school janitor who everyone relies on to keep the grounds looking beautiful. Even, Chizuru’s evil twin, Kaoru, is a student at Hakuo Academy and still has an obsession with his sister. I mean, in this game he’s trying to keep his sister safe from the flirty boys. But still. I don’t like him. Sen and Kosuzu are Chizuru’s close girlfriends who attend an all-girls school nearby. Kazama is the student council president, who in some way is still in school in spite of his perfect grades. Amagiri and Shiranui follow along as his begrudgingly subservient posse.
Honestly, I think Kazama, Amagiri, and Shiranui were the hardest for the writers to fit into the high school setting. Instead of trying to mold Kazama into a typical high-school student, they lean into his arrogance and ridiculousness. This makes him more of a comedic relief character, very different from his menacing presence in the historical games.
SSL is very episodic with each chapter centered around some event in Chizuru’s life: Prologue; Chapter 1 – School Exams; Chapter 2 – Summer Vacation; Chapter 3 – School Cultural Festival; Chapter 4 – Christmas; Chapter 4.5 – New Years; Chapter 5 – Valentine’s Day; Epilogue – Graduation
Each chapter, except 4.5 and the epilogue, have some sort of min-game that fits into the game’s light-hearted, fun nature. While the mini-games fit into the story and were creative, I didn’t care for them. I just want to read my stories, not desperately try to beat a game! Thankfully my husband played the games for me, and he DID enjoy them! Though, the Valentine’s Day min-games were hard, and gave my gameplay-savvy husband a run for his money! After the first playthrough, if you’ve earned enough points, you can buy a “mini-games pass” from Ibuki’s store. With the pass you can skip the mini-games in all the following routes.
Due to the episodic nature of the game, there isn’t a grand, dramatic plot in this game. There really isn’t a plot at all except the framing of Chizuru’s life as a high-school student. You’re getting a peek into important moments of her year as a high-school student. This is not a detailed day-to-day, plot heavy story.
Of course, in the romance routes, there is the thin plot thread of Chizuru and her chosen hero falling into love throughout the year. The love development is cute and sweet, but not very deep. And that’s because the writers rely on the reader’s knowledge of these relationships from the historical games to make the emotional impact upon the reader.
I chose to read Okita’s route first, not because he is my favorite, but because I heard his Chapter 5 mini-game is the hardest. And if you want to avoid it, you need to read his route first and then get the mini-game pass. Okita is brought to life by voice actor Showtaro Morikubo. He does a fantastic job with Okita’s complex character!
I’ve always liked Okita, and honestly, this game made me like him more. He’s still his mischievous, too-smart-for-this-world, complicated self, but in SSL he is softer. He still craves Kondou’s approval, and has a respect-hate relationship with Hijikata. Kendo (sword fighting) is still very important to his life. However, in SSL he’s not the same emotionally lost eight-year-old-child-in-an-adult-body that he was in the historical game. He’s as emotionally well-adjusted as any average high school boy. He gets great grades, except in classical literature because Hijikata teaches that class (HAHA!), and earns a collegiate kendo scholarship. It’s wonderful to see him reaching his full potential. This is something you don’t see in the historical games, in large part due to the fact Okita has tuberculosis and it ends his life prematurely.
Of course, Chizuru and Kondou both see the kindest and sweetest sides to Okita. While he teases and enjoys making Chizuru flustered, and at times wants her to read is mind, he does care about what she thinks of him and he never crosses the line of being cruel to her. Yet in true Okita fashion, he does go around annoying and aggravating everybody else to some varying degree (HAHA!). And in the short time given in the story, he learns to embrace his own way support Kondou, which is through his kendo abilities. As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed SSL Okita!
I would say nothing much changed about Chizuru, though she is more forward with her thoughts (especially when it came to Kazama). She’s a good student who does her best in everything. She’s very responsible and lives alone due to her father (Kodo Yukimura) being away for an extended time as a doctor. She’s still kind, compassionate, thoughtful, and becomes important to everyone at Hakuo Academy.
Hands down, Chapter 2 was my favorite! The story revolved around a summer trip to a water park and nearly the entire cast was involved. The banter between the characters had me constantly laughing, and this is the chapter where Okita and his mischievousness truly shined! It was nice to see Sannan take charge and be the strategic, level-headed man he is always referred to as in the historical game. In the historical game we are always told that Sannan was a kind, strategic man, but we never get to see it because his injury happens so early in the story and he becomes bitter and mean. I think SSL really flushes out Sannan’s character nicely!
And while I love this game, it isn’t flawless.
Honestly, I’m not a fan of how the writers handled Ibuki and Serizawa’s relationship. Serizawa and Ibuki are “one-off” characters from their own Hakuouki game, which is the prequel to the historical games where Chizuru is the main character.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have not played Ibuki and Serizawa’s game.
Serizawa is very abusive towards Ibuki in the historical game and their relationship is one of essentially forced servitude for Ibuki. In SSL, Serizawa is Ibuki’s foster parent, and while not as bad as in the historical game, Serizawa is still emotionally, verbally and physically abusive towards Ibuki. And when Chizuru sees Serizawa being verbally abusive towards Ibuki in the courtyard of the school, and she’s about to voice her concern, Hijikata tells her not to get involved because it doesn’t concern her. While sympathetic to Ibuki, Kondou and Hijikata both believe they can’t say anything about the way Serizawa treats Ibuki. Both men do their best to draw Serizawa’s attention away from Ibuki, but they don’t come out and say what Serizawa is doing is wrong. I understand historically, due to power dynamics, that Kondou and Hijikata wouldn’t be able to say something to Serizawa in the 1860s.
But I mean, hey, this is the 21st century, not the 1860s. I would totally call the authorities and report this foster parent abuse towards the minor in his care.
Ibuki’s situation is treated as a joke throughout the game. Ibuki is called “mutt” and is constantly having to keep up with Serizawa’s outrageous demands. And if Ibuki fails to meet Serizawa’s outrageous demands, he is verbally berated. He’s constantly hungry, and never has enough money for food…once again this is the 21st century and not the 1860s. Him being properly fed by his well-off foster parent, should not be a problem.
I understand what the writers were trying to do. They were trying to remain faithful to the historical game.
However.
Serizawa’s treatment of Ibuki has no place in modern times, and I truly believe the writers should have gone in a completely different direction with these characters. Because the bottom line is that Serizawa should not be a foster parent. No one should be under the care of this man.
Thankfully, Serizawa didn’t have a big presence in the game. But the moments he was in the game were my least favorite.
Also, I’m not a fan of how Hijikata, Harada, Shinpachi, and Sannan, who are romantic options in the historical games, are teachers in SSL. This creates a weird power dynamic with Chizuru that didn’t exist in the historical game. Now, I don’t think that Hijikata, Harada, Shinpachi, and Sannan being teachers in SSL is going to make me like them any less as characters. I understand the writers were trying to stay true to the age gap between Chizuru and these four men in the historical games. And I don’t have a problem with Hijikata, Harada, Shinpachi, or Sannan’s relationship with Chizuru in the historical games. It’s just unfortunate and not my favorite thing.
But besides these two issues, I genuinely enjoyed SSL!
This game made me smile and laugh more times than I can count. It’s so refreshing to enjoy these characters without the sense of despair hanging over the story.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love the historical games. Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms are the two games that make me cry in every single route. These stories and characters have made a huge impression on me and no matter how gut-wrenchingly sad they are, I always come back to them. And even all the fan discs of the original historical game and its update, Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, hold a certain sadness because you know no matter how happy they seem at this moment…the pain is coming later. In the historical games, no one escapes the loss that the Water of Life or the war brings, with some characters losing more than others.
This is why SSL is so wonderful. As I said before, there is no war, no death, no furies, and no tuberculosis. Yes, it is to be expected that these characters will have the trials and tribulations of any modern person living their life. However, whereas you know the tragic outcome of the historical games, SSL leaves you with happiness and hope for the characters’ future. And that’s not something that any of the fan discs of the historical games can give you.
SSL is certainly not perfect and it’s not as compelling and emotional as the historical games.
And that’s okay.
Sometimes I just want my otome characters to be happy. And this game allows me to smile along with my favorite samurai and I love it for that reason alone.
Otomes as Novels 