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Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan (TV).


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Mister V



Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan

So, anyone watching this?
So far, it seems to go down well-trodden paths. In fact, they're so well-trodden, I'm quite surprised they decided to make another show like that. To me it seemed like the whole samurai-and-demons thing was overdone in the 90's, and by now would be live only in hentai parodies.
And by the way, I think they sort of referenced that. If you look at the way she's tied - if that's not suggestive of Souji's preferences, I don't know what is. Razz

Also, I can't help but giggle at times, because anything related to the Shinsengumi will be perpetually compared to Gintama in my mind, so there's that added value. Not sure I can take this seriously, despite the show obviously being dead serious about itself.

Anyways, here's to hoping for more action scenes. No matter how great Sword of the Stranger was, one movie can't sate my appetite.

[EDIT: Added the Encyc. entry for ya'. -TK]
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LaFreccia



Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 324
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:59 pm Reply with quote
I liked it. The show looks really good, and for all the talk of it being a reverse harem, it seems to have a political/supernatural plot at its core.
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 11293
Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:34 pm Reply with quote
Interesting, another Shinsengumi anime. The last one I saw was Peace Maker Kurogane, which sucked ass with all the kiddy stuff they wrote into it. The voice cast looks good, as does the musical composition, and it's by Studio DEEN. Not to mention the character designer doing this also worked on Kenshin Smile.

I'll download it right now...
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Bento-Box



Joined: 08 Sep 2009
Posts: 1049
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:29 pm Reply with quote
Kenshin... Deen... Shinsengumi that isn't looking to be made of complete fail like PMK? Hmmmm.... Haven't seen a good one in a great while.

*sneaks off to look it up*
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:25 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
I'll download it right now...

Hmm, didn't you stay like 2 years without buying or downloading any anime?

Well, I'm downloading it as well(and I've realized that I've been quite fond of Deen since Umineko). For now I don't have any hopes, as Peacemaker kinda sucked and I'm still kinda traumatized with anime related to Shinsengumi(except for Kenshin, of course). I'll edit this post if the first episode is entertaining enough.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23749
PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:53 pm Reply with quote
I liked it. I haven't seen a whole lot of samurai-demony stuff, so it's kinda new to me. But if those dudes honestly couldn't figure out their captive was a chick from second one, then there should be more than just one character wearing glasses. Wake up and smell the estrogen, lads.

Mind you, Chizuru isn't the cutest one of the bunch. That honour goes to saucy little turquoise-eyed Heisuke - he of the luxuriant ponytail. Rowrrrr!
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:12 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
Hmm, didn't you stay like 2 years without buying or downloading any anime?

Probably longer. The last fansub I downloaded was the first episode of Gundam 00 season 2. And I don't think I've bought an anime DVD since.. '06? Though I did buy a few titles on Blu-ray since then.

Coincidentally, my girlfriend started reading my Kenshin manga, which got me to looking it up on Youtube, which got me to thinking of the Shinsengumi, and then I saw this thread.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:26 am Reply with quote
I have to call false advertising on this one. A big part of what got me excited about it was the absolutely gorgeous original promotional picture.



Yeah...not so much how the show actually looks. The show itself looks okay but terribly generic. Especially the main character. At least Harem lead characters are equal opportunity boring. Again, I feel a little ripped off here. The fact that this girl disguises herself as a guy made me think...I dunno...she might act like one too? Actually do something? Fight? Something? Anything? No. Her contribution is about 90% sitting there quietly. The other 10% is blushing. Although to be fair, nobody really does much in this show. After a very brief early fight, basically nothing happens for the rest of the episode. I've watched a whole episode and I don't even know what this show will be about besides pretty pretty men.

I'm also more that slightly bothered by the lack of effort in actually making the girl look disguised. Although for that matter, this entire plot point seems pointless. It's never actually explained at all. Why exactly did she have to disguise herself to look for her father? They all just act like it's an obvious requirement. It isn't even vaguely relevant to the plot either. They basically realize it right away. None of the earlier stuff wouldn't have worked just fine if they knew she was female. It's just...really weird that they even include it.

I don't mean to totally dump on the show. It's not the most awful thing. It's not even that it's bad. It's just...there. Empty. No real appeal.
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LKK



Joined: 31 Oct 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Virginia, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:21 am Reply with quote
ikillchicken wrote:
Why exactly did she have to disguise herself to look for her father? They all just act like it's an obvious requirement.

I think the answer to your first question is easily guessed at. A young woman traveling by herself from Edo to Kyoto could easily encounter serious trouble along the way. She dressed as a boy to increase her safety.

As for why she has to remain disguised as a boy while staying at the Shinsengumi headquarters, I think we can presume that women are not permitted to live at the headquarters compound. They want her close by in order to keep an eye on her (and not solely for her own safety) but they don't want to get in trouble with their superiors over violating regulations. Therefore, they order her to continue the deception.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:18 am Reply with quote
I wonder if we watched the same show. She has to stay disguised so she won't distract the troops within their headquarters(trainees, etc.)
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:29 am Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
I wonder if we watched the same show. She has to stay disguised so she won't distract the troops within their headquarters(trainees, etc.)


I would grade her disguise attempts as fail. Sheesh, even Superman at least slapped on a pair of glasses to become Clark Kent. This chick puts in, like, ZERO boy effort.
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LKK



Joined: 31 Oct 2007
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Location: Virginia, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:57 am Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
I wonder if we watched the same show. She has to stay disguised so she won't distract the troops within their headquarters(trainees, etc.)

Was that comment directed towards me? I hadn't thought of that possibility, but it also makes sense. I guess I hadn't thought of it because I didn't think of there being trainees at the headquarters.

Blood- wrote:
I would grade her disguise attempts as fail. Sheesh, even Superman at least slapped on a pair of glasses to become Clark Kent. This chick puts in, like, ZERO boy effort.

She was wearing boys' clothing, had a boy's hairstyle, and carried a sword. All this at a time when young women did not dress that way (perhaps may have been forbidden by law to dress that way) and did not carry swords. I'd say she made an effort better than Clark Kent's. I do agree though that she was impressively unconvincing as a boy.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 11:15 am Reply with quote
It's not a possibility, it's what the second in command said.
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LKK



Joined: 31 Oct 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Virginia, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 11:56 am Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
It's not a possibility, it's what the second in command said.

I don't remember the line even though I watched the episode twice. (Maybe it wasn't in the sub I watched??) But that's good that it was explicitly mentioned.

Edit: I checked the sub I watched. The line there is
Quote:
Even though it might not be intentional, we cannot have a girl disrupting the discipline of our headquarters.
I interpreted that line differently than you, I guess.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:53 pm Reply with quote
Yeah...that could sort of justify it I guess. It's just sort of a reach. I mean, they initially plan to make her stay in her room anyway. Also, there doesn't actually appear to be anyone else at their headquarters but them. I'm not saying it's inexplicable. It's just that their justifications felt very half assed to me. Again, it just felt like they could have dropped the entire premise without even changing anything.
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