Tues, 10th July
According to Wiki, the historical Hijikata died on June 20th that day, 1869 (no mention how). But in the anime, he seemed to have lived. His hair and eyes turned back to human. And he seemed asleep. Who wiped the tear from Chizuru's cheek? Yet his voice... seemed he spoke to her from beyond.
But going by the anime, he should still be alive. At first, I thought he died, but considering... the Rasetsu die without turning back to human (Heisuke and Sannan) and turn to sand.
Hijikata turned back to human after he killed Kazama. He didn't die and at least have a little more time left. Probably because Chizuru had given him her blood earlier, strengthening him in ways that they probably didn't realize.
I would love for Hijikata to have lived in the anime. Forever with his Chizuru.
My thoughts as I watched the final few episodes last night:
Ep 19 : The Sun's Blade
My god. It's Tsuruga-jo! Saito was there on the top deck with the Lord Katamori. I was there on that deck! Oh my god. Saito was there... They draw the top floor the same as the actual.
I can finally see what they did in those rooms. So large rooms... So, it was for practice. Training.
The moat goes around the castle. But... the moat doesn't go around anymore. It's just a short length front and back. They filled it in?
Morikawa's voice (seiyuu) cannot escape. :) Heard it right off as Lord Katamori speaks. It's Conrad's voice (Kyou Kara Maou) and the Emperor's adviser in Saiunkoku Monogatari.
Wah.. Ishida seiyuu as Masaki, is soo nice.
Seeing Saito rushing into bullet-fire. Ah, shit. How are you going to win running into bullets? *tears* He's going to die...
Ep 20: Sendai castle?
When I visited, it is no longer there. Sendai... has no castle, except the stone bases.
*tears up* Sannan-san... Heisuke...
The lousiness of the Oni is their inability to heal others, except themselves. What use is that? How powerful is that? The Oni have no right to be so prideful when they don't even have any healing power to help people. And stay aloof, mocking humans. Not helping, just staying uninvolved when they can help... (but if some of them take the side of the opposition? It works both ways...causing more harm, more damage.).
But at least, if they don't take sides, at least... help those they feel should be helped. Shiranui should have saved Sanno.
Chizuru could have saved Sannan and Heisuke just by putting her hands over Hijikata's. Tears alone, are for humans. If Oni can only cry, then they are no better than humans.
These later episodes are making me want to find out the historical truth about the Shinsengumi. Were they really heroes as portrayed? What sort of men were they? Did they really die at those places like in the anime?
Ending of Ep 21... Hijikata is very cute. Such a proud, stubbornly reserved man, hugging Chizuru by his side without acknowledging outright his love for her. :)
I love the part about the tea... when Hijikata turns into Rasetsu and leaves in the middle of a meeting, suffering in his room. Chizuru appears... so real, presenting hot green tea at his side... the cup of tea lingering even after she's gone.
EP 22 : Last episode. 薄桜 Bo Ying... means Sakura. Ying 櫻 (Chinese writing)... Ying Hua in Chinese means Sakura Blossom. (桜) This word must be the Japanese word for Sakura.
Wow.. the way Chizuru moves aside her hair with a sweep of her hand.. and a strand of hair falling back... it's so natural the animation.
Ohh... so Hakuouki is the name given to Hijikata by Kazama. Pale Sakura Oni. Oni (鬼) means ghost in Chinese writing. I finally see the scene that was on the cover of the artbook that I didn't buy in Japan (for some reason. Why??). It's not quite the same as the book cover (I remember he looked cool and not bloodied), but it's from this scene.
Hijikata = Hakuouki
This scene is beautiful... Kazama falling from Hijikata's blade beneath the Sakura tree. I think Kazama got tired of living as an Oni with nothing to do, and just let himself be killed. The good excuse was to go after Hijikata. And the reason he kept after Hijikata, I think was because he was jealous that Chizuru chose Hijikata over him.
Beautiful scene, their hair flowing in the anime. Kazama with a smile like it went as planned.
Just before Kazama acknowledges Hijikata as an Oni and giving him the name Hakuouki.
Hijikata... died? Or only asleep? But his voice at the end.. sounds like he died. Then... the tear that was wiped from Chizuru's face? Ahh.. why must they end like that?
What happened to Shinpachi?
----
In Wiki, Shinpachi and Saito didn't die, together with Shimada.
In the anime, it seems a little difficult to believe Saito, such a genius of a man who has promised to stay alive, would blindly gallop into a hail of bullets. Surely, he would have had a plan of ambush or something?
The same theme of rushing into a hail of bullets is prevalent in this anime... Hijikata later rushes in as well, on top of a horse! Of course, he got shot. Would a military genius ride high on a horse waving his sword arm into a hail of bullets?
-----------
Hijikata's Kiss: Hijikata's hairstyle actually looks like Sebastian's in Kuroshitsuji.
Hijikata looks more like Sebastian in Kuroshitsuji here:
Chizuru's Kiss:
Every time I watch an anime like this, it always surprises me how far the characters have come from Episode 1. The change is truly amazing, just like real life, but fast forwarded. Only thing is, in Hakuouki, they don't age. Their age don't show on their faces regardless of how much they have been through, how sick they are, how little sleep they get, how the years pass.
Their faces still look same as in episode 1, but change is there. Their clothing, their hair, longer faces, strain under their eyes, less happy, more serious as the episodes progress. The strain can be seen heavier and heavier on them.
Then when they look back in flashbacks, it's amazing how far they have come, how much they have gone through... as though in years, even though it's just been in episodes. I feel as if I have gone with them for years, as they have. Wow.
I don't know how the animators/creators do that. And it gets the heart going, filled with the pain of the years that these people (these characters) have gone through. I guess it's because of the heart motions that create this magic of time in years as we follow the episodes. When the heart and emotions are involved... it feels like a long time.
Hijikata Vampire (Rasetsu) once more:
By this time, Chizuru has come to enjoy it, I think. :) The camera shows her closed eyes and a breath that sounds like pleasure as Hijikata begins to suck.
4 comments:
I think Hijikata died because in the good end of his route he and Chizuru are wearing kimonos and looking at the sakura tree after the battle with Kazama. In the bad end he just dies D:
Historical Hijikata died because of that bullet he took.
Sannan-san didn't have my sympathy... I hated him during Heisuke route (he kidnaps Osen-chan and Kazama, Heisuke and Chizuru go to save her). Osen-chan and Kazama are pretty funny when they are together (in the 3rd episode of Hakuouki Sekkaroku you can see it).
Next month an otome game about onis called Toki no Kizuna is going to be released:
The era is Sengoku Period. It’s been a little over a year since the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and a time when the history of the people is moving greatly once more…. The Oni got swallowed by that wave and made their move too. Oni are clans that live in the shadows of history; the backstage of the world.
Among the ten clans, the heroine is the leader of the Suzumori clan. She is a guard for Yase-hime, the head of these ten clans. Anxious about the involvement into the fight of humans, Yase-hime decided to gather together the clan leaders who are scattered across the land, in order to tell them to break away from human contact. On the night the demons followed through with her orders, Yase-hime was attacked and fell into a deep sleep. The ten clan leaders started to search for the attacker, which means clearly coming into contact with humans. On one hand, Yukina has two missions to carry out—-“Search for a way to revive the sleeping hime” and “Stop the demons’ involvement in the human society.”
Shouldering a burden by herself, she departs her hometown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUQmjBBioU&feature=player_embedded
Connections between Hakuoki and Toki no Kizuna which otome gamers have discovered:
- One of the villains is called Nagumo Shuu, Nagumo is the clan which adopted Chizuru's brother
- Kazama addressed Osen-chan as "Yase no Hime" in-game (also mentioned in official settings). In anime Sekkaroku episode 3, around 08:50, Kazama called her "Yase no furuki onna oni", literally "ancient female Oni of Yase".
The background of Toki no Kizuna is Battle of Sekigahara, which took place 264 years before Hakuoki. Therefore Yase-hime could be Senhime's grandma or great-grandma.
- From page 72, Hakuoki Tsuisouroku, Official Settings:
For someone born in one of Oni's direct descendant families, he/she is given a name with "千" in it as a proof.
Although the word seemed to hint long-living and immortal, that's not how it is. Ancient Oni with blood pure and strong could live up to 150 to 200 years. But nowadays, after blending with human blood, their life span isn't too different from human's.
Hakuoki: Senhime (千姫), Chizuru (千鶴), and Chikage (千景). Kaoru's (薫) "sen" is hidden inside the kanji.
Toki no Kizuna: Chitose (千歳), Kazuya (千耶), Kazutake (千岳), Kazuha (千羽), Senkimaru (千鬼丸), and Yachiyo (八千代) are shown.
Shin (秦), Shiomi Akito (秋士), Kotoura Touma (透真), Tsukishima Isao (勲朗), and Nagumo Shuu (秀) are hidden
Hmmm... very interesting about the names. Sannkyuu.
I also watched the Youtube link.
I didn't quite get what you mean by "good end of his route". After the battle with Kazama... Chizuru sat by Hijikata who was lying as if asleep, still in uniform.
In the game, there's 2 ending with each guy (the good and the bad).
The good end is like this: http://gallery.minitokyo.net/view/466086
The bad end is that Hijikata dies (it has no image).
Since the anime ended quite strange, I just suppose that they made the bad ending (if not, then why not show that image of the two of them happy after everything they suffered?)
Sano, Chizuru and their baby :3 http://gallery.minitokyo.net/view/463873
Oh... you mean the game.
In the anime, the ending was strange, but... based on the anime Rasetsu idea... Hijikata still returned to human and someone has to have wiped that tear from Chizuru's face.
Post a Comment