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Sep 2, 2010
I really wanted to like Hakuouki since it presents a lot of interesting ideas. Ultimately however, Hakuouki never decides on a main plot. Instead it flirts with subplot after subplot, ultimately failing to adequately develop or resolve any of them.
Story - 3/10 (Poor)
The story is difficult to describe, because of the apparent lack of one. The anime begins with Chizuru, our appointed "protagonist", leaving her home and venturing to a city foreign to her in order to find her father. With this kind of opening, you'd expect that this quest would make up a significant portion of the anime.
...
After all, it is Chizuru's main motivation. Instead, Chizuru meets the Shinsengumi and she becomes merely the observer of their deeds, without having any real impact on their actions.
Of course, she's supposed to be relevant and there is a story line to suggest she's the most important person in the series, complete with high-powered "evil" after her. However, like the rest of the subplots, it is never really developed, fully explained, or concluded.
The fact that Chizuru is merely an observer for most of the anime could be acceptable. The Shinsengumi are embroiled in enough martial actions and political intrigue, not to mention a fair number of secrets, to carry the show. However, like Chizuru's story line, their actions are disjointed, never flushed out, and lack an overarching narrative. To the show's detriment, it's never really made clear what they're fighting for. Flushing out the ever present camaraderie of the Shinsengumi's members, perhaps giving a bit of background to their relationships with each other, would make their sacrifices and the ending meaningful. As it is, the conclusion doesn't conclude anything and all the noble actions of the Shinsengumi are left feeling hollow.
Art - 6 (Fair)
The characters look nice, vibrant, and fairly distinct from one another. Everything else is entirely forgettable.
Sound - 6 (Fair)
Nothing's wrong with the sound, but nothing stands out either.
Character - 6 (Fair)
The characters are easily the best thing about this anime. While Chizuru herself is the typical damsel in distress heroine, she isn't as annoying as some. Of course, that is mainly due to the fact that she is overshadowed by the Shinsengumi. The members of the Shinsengumi, while falling into the typical stereotypes, are given a sense of depth through their relationships with each other and their own individual conflicts.
I would rate the characters higher, but again the lack of a cohesive plot gets in the way. Many of these characters have subplots of their own that begin to flesh them out and make them genuinely likable. However, all of their stories are only partially developed then ignored completely. Which begs the question, why bother?
Enjoyment - 5 (Mediocre)
The lack of a solid driving force behind the events that occur in Hakuouki is a serious detraction and gets in the way of enjoying what the series does well. Even though the camaraderie between the Shinsengumi is interesting to watch, the fact that the conflicts faced by each member are summarily dismissed without resolution makes any attachment to the characters seem irrelevant.
Overall - 5 (Mediocre)
Hakuouki tries to do too much and in the end fails to deliver anything noteworthy. Perhaps if you've played/read the source material, you may find more enjoyment out of it. I am only considering the anime as it stands. There seems to be a sequel that may rectify the lack of any resolution to the plot, but considering how bafflingly mishandled the story development was in the 12 episodes this series was allotted, I don't have my hopes up. Overall, if you're interested in this anime, I suggest to wait for the sequel and see if its plot/subplots are sorted out in that one, otherwise you're bound to be disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 30, 2009
What starts out as an interesting supernatural mystery/action romance quickly devolves into the "I'm the main character and only useful one" cliche with a such a feeble plot that anyone with critical thinking skills will be disgusted.
Story - 2/10
The plot is paper thin. High school kids are randomly transported to the Red Night, a red mirror world of danger and isolation, where they must fight for survival against random threatening things and, of course, the Black Knights. Although, it is explained later that these kids are "special", it is never explained why the kids, who'd lived lives of relative normalcy, are
...
suddenly whisked away on some random day to The Red Night. (Must be the power of adolescence.)
The big reveal of the story is as poorly implemented as it is predictable. Instead of undermining the heroes' determination by causing confusion and guilt, there's merely a glaring dissonance between the bad guys' actions and their supposed motivations. The bad guys' actions should have taken on new meaning and made the heroes make a choice that would forever define their characters and wrap up the themes of survival, self-sacrifice, and friendship. However, it is handled so poorly that the Bad guys create the things they're supposedly trying to guard against. This dissonance precludes any type of meaningful conclusion because the series has apparently run against simple logic since the very beginning, rendering the conflict irrelevant.
Art - 6/10
The art is fairly bland. There's nothing particularly wrong with any of the art, but there is nothing distinctly memorable either. The Red Night is unremarkable, merely a copy of the real world with a red tint, and the Black Knights' sanctum, if it can be called such, is never defined except for some red giant stalagmites. The most interesting things art wise are Misuzu's swords, summoned by the power of nail-polished symbols. (Hurray!)
Sound - 7/10
The sound is good. Usually unnoticeable, it does a good job setting up the atmosphere.
Character - 3/10
In a rare stroke for the 'highschool kids save the world' genre, the main character isn't given an immediate power up. Instead, he acts with a realistic mixture of fright, confusion, and desperation when he and his childhood friend/love interest are transported into a world that is serious about killing them. In fact, for their first few encounters with the Red Night, they must be protected by a kick-ass female swordswoman, who's competence and prudence is the only thing that keeps them alive, as the main character trains to be able to protect himself and his girl.
This characterization was the first thing that drew my attention and gave me hope that we'd see mature character development throughout the series as Kakeru worked under Misuzu's guidance to become independent and a protagonist worthy of protecting what he held dear. Unfortunately, the main character becomes the most powerful of the heroes through a power up while the kickass female slowly loses her competence and independence for really no other reason than to make the main character look more manly and heroic be comparison. (Did the creators want to keep the suck ratio of the group constant?) Meanwhile, all the other characters who had their own strengths and quirks, regress to worthless, crazy, withering piles of fear and despair. Still, this could have been salvageable, by sticking to the harsh realities of the main character's unrealistic goal of protecting innocence, but the ending made whatever tragedies happened to the characters null.
Enjoyment - 3/10
As someone who dislikes fanservice, this anime's constant use of panty-shots was an ever present annoyance. The anime never missed an opportunity to take off clothes and even used the cop out of "you must have sex to save the world" excuse to maintain the main character's integrity even though he was getting some from a girl he obviously didn't love. Although fanservice annoys me, I will tolerate it in anime where the plot and characters are genuinely interesting. However, since that is not the case with 11eyes, the fanservice sticks out as another detraction.
Overall - 3/10 (Poor)
While the first episodes look promising, the anime loses all sense of itself by failing at drama and backing away from the harsh themes they set up by its poorly written plot. You're better off looking for another supernatural series for entertainment as this one is a big disappointment. There are plenty of better ones out there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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