Hakuouki (Seasons 1 & 2) - Final Thoughts

To tell you the truth, I was going to drop this anime because in the beginning of season one, it was kind of slow and boring. I was literally going to fall asleep in the middle of a episode. Finally, around episode eight, it started to get much more interesting as the show first introduces a plot twist in their story. I think that's when I finally got into the series and decided to keep watching it until the end of season two.

The story is based on an actual historical event such as, the late  Tokugawa Shogunate, the final years of the Edo period. As well as, most of the main Shinsengumi members are based on real historical figures. Also, it has fantasy element combined with the historical period. Chizuru's father, kodou, is a doctor who is responsible for making a potion known as "ochimizu", which gives a person superhuman strength. But at the same time, it gives them a vampire-like qualities called rasetsu. And, it's up to the Shinsengumi to stop kodou-san from producing an army of superhuman soldiers. As well as, fighting against the Shogunate war.  

I thought that season two was definitely much more better than the previous season. It's much more action packed, and more plot twists. As well as, we get to learn a little bit more about the members of the Shinsengumi's personality and also learn more about Chizuru, the main female protagonist. However, there's really not much of a character development. It seems like Chizuru is the only character that gets any kind of development. While the other members of the Shinsengumi only manages to scratch the surface of their development, but not much depth to them. But it does have a lot of emotional moments, due to a lot of deaths. Which almost made me teary eyed. Yet, I was surprised that the characters still had the strength to carry on and complete their mission. I guess the moral for this story is that everyone sacrificed themselves in order to protect something that was important to them.

But if you are interested in bishounen characters in Feudal Japan, with supernatural, action-packed samurais, and a little romance on the side, then you might enjoy this anime. But don't expect too much out of this series. After all, it's based on a otome game.