GENERAL KNOWLEDGE/SPOILERS GALORE:
Furies – They're a little test experiment of the Shogun on the Shinsengumi. Those who would commit seppuku (ritual suicide) or who are near death usually take the “Water of Life” that will turn you into one of these things. They become able to regenerate wounds at the cost of draining their life and they become quite fascinated with blood to the point of madness. At this point I've only been through Okita's route but I think whoever you go after becomes one.
The First Three Chapters: This is the general part. You can rack up points with members but it isn't until the third chapter onto the fourth that you have to narrow down to one character. Personally, I used this to collect Cgs for other characters or just to have a taste of other people's routes. Though, honestly if you have one guy in mind you should try to pursue as many possible points with him as possible.
Demons: There are furies and there are real demons. Which I might as well point out now, Hijikata isn't a real one but everyone likes to joke he is. Demons were abused and used by humans. Some took advantage of it but most just wanted to be left alone. That's a big key to the storyline...oh and you're a demon. That's important too.
Fumbling through Okita Souji's route and my general opinion:
 |
| Source |
Actually Okita was definitely not my first choice. He was sexy and all but I was a little more interested in the demonic Commander Hijikata or to the dutiful Saitou. Wouldn't you know though? Okita wormed himself into my heart with his sparkling green eyes, devilish attitude and his soft voice. Actually, no lie, it is most likely his voice that drew me in. Listening to it still send shivers with its slow, steady pace. I'm ridiculously weak to great voice acting! On the note about him kind of convincing me to play his route, I feel like that's a real big draw for the game. It's the same for all the love interests, them and you do not start off all buddy-buddy. In fact, you can have your biases towards characters but for them to fall in love with you and you to them, you've got to keep trudging through. This isn't a story where all the leading men are interested in you at first, you work for it. This is something I learned through Okita's route.
The first introduction to Okita is when him, Hijikata and Saitou save Chizuru. For the sake of this summary I'll refer to the protagonist as the default name. She had been running away from rogue rounin who end up being killed by strange satanic-like men with white hair and evil laughs. Thanks to seeing them though, the three men are very interested in shutting her up. Okita votes for Chizuru's death...a lot. When she's taken back to headquarters he sounds joking but is still with that idea. Apparently it seems far easier to kill her off and save the Shinsengumi the trouble of her accidentally saying something about what happened. In the end, obviously, she doesn't die. They find out she's Doctor Kodo's daughter and that she'd be far more use to them alive.
The story progresses, and to get Okita requires a lot of time spent with him. You as Chizuru have to pretty much ignore anyone else in the story. His path is rather solitary. He is diagnosed with tuberculosis, something the real Okita Souji had and I was really hoping he wouldn't have, so to chase after him Chizuru has to stay home a lot and follow him about. Persistence is the key! So is a lot of guess and checking because, some options to gain his affections are a bit surprising.
Anyway, there's a whirlwind of adventures awaiting this journey. Chizuru finds out she has a more than slightly evil twin brother, the Shinsengumi pretty much falls apart, and Okita becomes a fury to save her. By the end of the fourth chapter, Chizuru is off to Edo to be with Okita whose recovering from being shot by her brother. The story really picks up at the fifth chapter and you find out a lot of things about the two. I was really disappointed in the way that Chizuru and Okita don't really have any contact with the rest of the Shinsengumi except for Hijikata and Yamazaki at the end! There's plenty of plot twists to keep the ending(s) exciting enough.
The confession scene is touching and the kiss is so beautifully tragic that it really stands out. I was sobbing at both. In fact in risk of looking even more like a loser, I was in fact shaking my PSP telling Okita that we'll live “happily ever after and you need to shut the sugoi up before I beat you!”. In the end, I won't ruin it for you but getting a bad ending seemed really likely if I hadn't had stumbled onto a guide at the last part!
As for the ending, I can't hype about it enough. The “bad ending” is tragic but didn't "WHAM" me with sadness. It didn't really effect me as much as the “happy ending”. Maybe because I did the latter first. Still the “happy ending” is realistic in the way it isn't a “happily ever after” ending. It is bittersweet and leaves such a stinging, delightful flavor on your maiden palate. The ending made all the threats and PSP throwing scenes so worth it.
"Didn't think I'd be getting pushed down into bed tonight, least of all by you."
"You're saying I'm so damn good-looking that you've gone and fallen in love with me?"
"Yours is the only blood I'll drink, and only when you choose to give it to me. I trust you."
"...Sorry." His voice was a whisper in my ear. "I just really felt like I had to hold you."
RATING: (out of 5)
Overall Route: ***
Character: ****
CGs: *****
Voice Acting: *****
Feels: **** 1/2*
Overall, I enjoyed the path. I was just severely disappointed to learn you wouldn't have much contact with the rest of the Shinsengumi pursuing Okita. I felt like I missed a good chunk of this storyline going after him. Still, his route kept me on my toes and I enjoyed the plot twists. I about threw my PSP across the room (...okay I almost threw it several times) when Kaoru also turned me into a Fury. I also about tried to murder Okita when he told me he had tuberculosis.
Character wise, I was a little off put with his attitude towards others and he was a bit stereotypical with the whole “I'll protect her by pushing her away” bit. Still his confession scene and his loyalty to me is touching. I also like the touch about his past with the Shinsengumi and why he's so obsessed with protecting Kondou. He lacked some depth, I felt, until they revealed that part. He's a very “read between the lines” character.
As for CGs, I can't rave enough about Kazuki Yone's art style. The color and depth to the scene totally enraptured me. There were some awkward posing but all is forgiven with the level of commitment spent to capture the details of pain, love, and mood in the images.
I also can't help but rave about Okita's voice acting. That's one of the main reasons I went after him first. It's very soft but manly and mischievous. I felt like his voice actor captured many of his moods about perfectly. When he was angry, I felt chills and when he wasn't joking about killing others I could tell. The voice acting alone helped fill in other places were the art or text couldn't exactly convey what was going on with him.
Feels is a bit of an odd category I realize. It pretty much means, how much did I react to Okita. I can honestly say I was all over the place. I raged at him, raged FOR him, cried, became joyful and had an arrange of emotions through his route. He lacks half a star though because in the beginning I felt like other people's routes were just a tad bit more interesting than him. In the end, I have to give him four and a half stars for feels. It was the ending to be honest, I really, really enjoyed (I'm not even sure if that accurately describes the mix of emotions) the bittersweetness of it.
For a guide of his route or other characters I suggest
this one. I heard from a friend many follow the japanese guide but I think this one is sufficient enough.
Images are not mine! You should be able to click the image and be brought to the link!
