#that's Edo Castle btw

[storyknitter]

Who's got two thumbs and is visiting her in-laws in Japan for almost two weeks?

This lucky bitch 👍👍

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

PRESENTING THE SCREAMING YELLING THIS IS SO GOOD HELP SECTION

(So many many spoilers, so many good scenes HELP)

THIS WAS SO PRETTY

THE TINY TINY SMILE IS SO CUTE

EDO CASTLE IS THE SHIT OKAY that was SO COOL and after when Tokugawa is like to his minion “If I don’t listen to him I’ll die.” I MEAN HELL. HELLO. So good.

EVIL

THIS WAS SO. YOU HAVE TO RUN THROUGH THIS!! YOU HAVE A BOSS BATTLE INSIDE THIS. INSANE.

“Because this is Sakamoto Ryoma’s story”

GOD FUCKIN HELL BALLER DIALOGUE

Then we find Kondo and he dies and then we fight Izo and he dies and that fight is AMAZING and I did NOT EXPECT HIS DEATH TO HURT THAT BAD but Im putting that in another post because UGHHHHHRGHSHSH RGG!!

No words, this was just sick as SHIT. And again I have to shout out the sound track I want to eat this soundtrack for breakfast the music has been INCREDIBLE throughout.

(Heisuke’s still actually on our side btw because Kondo it turns out was eight million steps ahead of everyone else. figures)

[hedgebelle]

Cultural References in “They Are Out There Saying”

It took me forever to compile it, but here it is! A brief explanation on all the references to Japanese culture I made in my JayDick Summer Exchange fic “They Are Out There Saying”.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707886/chapters/62420596

When I got the prompt from @paperempires​ calling for the Batman Ninja verse, I was like, you want 16th century Japan? I SHALL DELIVER.

Ok, so first, let’s talk about geography.

Right now, Japan is divided into prefectures, but in the past there were provinces. Check out the map below.

Green: Hida Province

Aka the province where this fanfic actually takes place. Nowadays the Hida-Takayama region in Gifu Prefecture.

Located there is the hidden village of the Bat Clan, the calligrapher's house, as well as real places briefly mentioned: Takayama city with its castle (ruins) and Tenshōji Temple (associated with True Pure Land school of Buddhism), and Shirakawa Village (diamond shape on the map).

Btw, Shirakawa Village is a UNESCO world heritage site and overall a lovely place. If you have a chance to visit it, please do. Here, check it out 😊.

Also, Hida is one of the two places in all of Japan where gneiss, a type of metamorphic rock, can be found. A piece of trivia I learned from my best friend (who might or might have not dared me to fit gneiss somewhere in the fanfic) 😉. The second place where gneiss can be found - again, true fact - are Oki Islands, the archipelago north of the Grand Izumo Shrine.

Dark red: Owari Province

Nowadays part of Aichi Prefecture.

According to the Batman Ninja (the version with Japanese voice over) Joker made himself a feudal lord of this province. Which is kinda interesting, seeing as Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), one of the key players during the warring states period who started the unification of Japan, was a lord of that domain.

Located in Owari is also Alfred's teahouse 😊.

Yellow: Kai Province

Nowadays, it's Yamanashi Prefecture.

Penguin made himself a feudal lord of this domain. In Batman Ninja he really commanded penguins wearing samurai armour 😂.

Violet line: Tōkaidō Road

A tract that linked Kyoto, a seat of the emperor, and Edo (present day Tokyo), the seat of shogun.

So, traveling the Tōkaidō Road didn't become a thing until the 17th century ^^". But I figured, if castles can be weaponized in this verse, then I can send Jason down this road 😊.

On the side note, travelling the Tōkaidō Road became quite a subject in the culture of the Edo Period (1600-1868). For example, check out these famous ukiyo-e.

Star: the Grand Shrine of Izumo

Very much a real place. One of the three most important Shintō shrines in all of Japan. Worshipped there is Okuninushi no Okami, god of marriage. When praying in the Grand Shrine, a pilgrim is supposed to clap their hands four times, not just two like everywhere else. That's because in that Shrine one is not praying just for themselves, but for their destined partner too. 

The Grand Shrine is located in the Izumo Province - nowadays a part of Shimane Prefecture. 

*Even today Izumo is called a place where fates are being brought together 😉.

Circle: Mt Hiei

Again, a real place, located very close to Kyoto. The Enryakuji temple located on that mountain historically had big influence also due to the fact, it commanded its own army of warrior monks. Some further reading on them, if your interested, is here.

(Btw, the Enryakuji Temple is also a UNESCO world heritage site.)

It was emperor Shirakawa (1053-1129) who one said that the only things he does not have control over are the roll of dice, the waters in Kamo River and the warrior monks of the Enryakuji Temple.

*Kamo River flows through Kyoto.

Square: Inabayama Castle

Nowadays called Gifu Castle, located in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture 😊. One of few castles built on top of a mountain.

Triangle: Mt Osore

A real place, considered one of the most sacred in all of Japan. A site of Bodaiji Temple. Due to the volcanic activity in the area, there's sulfur both in the air and in the lake right by the temple - hence its striking colour. Otherwise, the landscape is barren. 

It is said that Mt Osore matches the description of Buddhist hell, and holds the entrance to the afterlife. For some further, light reading check here.

If you think to yourself wooow that's a lot of references then fear not - there's more 😂.

Other references

Fuke Sect of Buddhism 

Monks of this sect, as a part of their practise, wore basket hats, played flute, and were on constant pilgrimage. 

Travel, however, used to be heavily restricted, so in exchange for a special travel permit, monks were asked to spy for the shogun. Also, ninja (and other people involved in espionage) were known to donn on the attire of a Fuke Sect monk. For that reason, monks were sometimes asked to play on their flutes to prove their identity.

In Batman Ninja Jason is operating undercover as one of those monks.

Check this, for some further reading.

Direction of the Demon’s Gate

It’s north-west. It was believed that demons and evil spirits enter through that direction, hence it was considered unlucky.

Rokuyō (lucky/unlucky days)

A circle of six days, three of which are thought to various degrees lucky, another three - to various degrees unlucky. The most unlucky one is called butsumetsu and apparently is meant to symbolise the day Budda died.

Ri

Old unit of measurement. 1 ri ≈ 3.9 km ≈ 2.4 mi

Sexagenary cycle

A cycle of 60 years. It was traditionally used in China for time reckoning, and was known in other South-East Asian countries too.

For some further reading click here.

Golden leaf

Kaga Province (north-east of Hida; now part of Ishikawa Prefecture) is known as the biggest producer of golden leaf in all of Japan.

Zen Circle

On the photo below:

It’s an important symbol in Zen Buddhism that stands for enlightenment, absolute, the void. In Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e (ink painting), drawing the circle is seen as an expression of absolute freedom of the mind that lets the body create. If it’s closed, it symbolises perfection. If not, it becomes an expression of wabi-sabi - a concept in Japanese aesthetics that translates to beauty of imperfection.

Kappa

One of the fantastic creatures that appears in many Japanese folktales. Kappa is a water demon that (unsurprisingly) dwells in lakes and rivers. It is rather mean and known to cause mischief, but surprisingly enough - very fond of cucumbers.

Ogre (oni)

One of the fantastic creatures featured in Japanese folklore. Usually portrayed with red skin, horns, and a tall, hulking figure; as a concept somewhat similar to demons or devils, as they represent everything evil and harmful (and also, oni reside in the eight great hells). It was believed a human wicked beyond any redemption might turn into an ogre.

Haikai-no renga

A genre of linked verse poetry. It is made of 18 or 36 verses that alternatively have 17 (5-7-5) or 14 (7-7) syllables. It is less formal than an earlier genre, renga, and as such is supposed to be lighter, witty, comical even. There aren't as many rules dictating which verse is supposed to have a direct allusion to which, how many times and in which verses certain motives (like flowers, moon, seasons) can be mentioned. 

Still, the first verse is supposed to contain kigo, so a word or phrase that indicates the season - in the fanfic it’s May (rice planting season) which is classified as early summer in the old lunar calendar - or in some other clever way gives an allusion to the environment the poetry meeting took place in. The first verse is also supposed to be written by the guest of honour which is why Jason was asked to compose it 😊. Important is also the third verse, as that’s where the theme of the whole haikai-no renga is officially established. 

From the first verse of haikai-no renga evolved possibly the most recognisable form of Japanese poetry - haiku.

Lovers’ suicide

A suicide committed together at the same time by the lovers whose shared affection defied the rules of society and/or obligations to their families. Before commiting the act, they would usually pray to be reborn together on the same lotus flower in the Pure Land. 

Lovers’ suicide is a theme featured in plays for pupper theater bunraku, most prominently The Love Suicides at Sonezaki written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

Pure Land

In a nutshell: According to some schools of Buddhism in Japan, Pure Land where people can be reborn and practice pure version of Buddhism, thus are able to finally gain enlightenment (which is impossible when alive, because the practice in the land of the living is warped, impure).

Please, take my way too short explanation with a grain of salt. It might not seem that way, but I’m not all that knowledgeable about Buddhism ^^”.

Nenbutsu prayer

Practised in True Pure Land Buddhism. It’s basically a recitation of a short phrase that translates to “I take refuge in Buddha Amida”.

Kannon

The bodhisattva associated with compassion.

Vengeful ghost

It was believed that a person who harboured a deep grudge or hatred in their last living moments towards those who had wronged them could become a vengeful spirit.

 *Hoichi the Earless - one of the traditional horror stories. In this story, vengeful ghosts (of the fallen Taira clan) want to take with them a blind monk because he beautifully plays on biwa (traditional instrument). Once his brethren realise the danger Hoichi is in, they paint his whole body in Buddhist sutra, safe for his ears. Because of that, when the ghosts appear again, Hoichi - safe for his ears - is invisible to them. Spoiler alert, the ghosts take Hoichi’s ears, thus the earless in the title. Check out here for some further reading.

Ten Virtues of Tea

Text attributed to a Buddhist monk Myōe (1173-1232. It lists all the properties of green tea beneficial to the human body and soul. 

Translation can be found here.

Portuguese firearms

Historically, the first Europeans Japanese people came in contact with were Potuguese traders. They introduced many European goods including firearms. 

On the unrelated note, the Potuguese in that time period were referred to as Nanbanjin (南蛮人) which translates to southern barbarians.

Eight great hells

...are the concept of hell in the traditional culture in a nutshell. The concept itself was heavily influenced by Buddhism. 

Further reading is available here.

Shinto wedding ceremony

While it incorporates many rites, the most core one (as far as I know) features the groom and the bride taking turns drinking sake (rice wine) from three cup, each slightly bigger than the other. When drinking, they are supposed to sip three times. 

In feudal times, wedding ceremonies started with an elaborate bridal procession to the groom’s house. There, the dowry would be presented, blessings would be given, and then the bride and groom would take turns drinking sake as described above. 

...Okay, I believe that’s it. Thank you for reading!

[incantavaxx]

Also yes, fuck the not going home thing, I mean, him staying at Ele is cute and all, but IT’S TIME FOR THE KING TO TAKE HIS RICH CASTLE BACK AND THROW OUT THE INVADER (who is already hiding in another country if he’s smart btw, because Edo’s little grin when he was talking about justice was very suspicious, I feel like the justice he believes in is a giant chair on Andrea’s back, and honestly, same.)

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms Part 8 - Iba Hachiro Route

I’ve always admired the perseverance of Hijikata, so hearing Iba talk about how the shogunate guys have been refusing meetings with him and not seeing eye to eye with the Shinsengumi and Iba, it’s pretty depressing, but it really shows how much Hijikata is unwilling to yield. On the other hand though, seems like Iba’s new Demon hand is acting up on its own and can even control his actions? Doesn’t sound good… Damnn, both CGs of Iba drinking her blood or enduring it are so pretty😍 I feel so bad, here he is suffering and I’m just relishing in how good he looks🤣

It’s always so funny how Motoyama (hatamoto alongside Iba) is always so scared when it comes to Hijikata🤣 Niceee that Chizuru will be living with Iba whilst the Shinsengumi march to Kofu Castle~ They can bond more now since they had been separated for months when they all moved to Edo. It’s true that it’s kinda like a casual honeymoon since they’re living together, she’s cooking for him and they’re spending quality time together hahaha. It’s so heartbreaking to know that the shogunate didn’t expect anything from the Shinsengumi and were ready to give away Edo Castle to the enemies, so essentially they allowed all those people in the Shinsengumi to die on a mission that wasn’t meant to be fruitful at all. They got Hijikata and the Shinsengumi’s hopes up that they were fighting for the shogunate when they themselves had already given up… No wonder Iba is so mad at them and himself.. It’s the worst that Iba definitely wants to participate in all this, but he can’t since he promised that he won’t interfere with human history and conflict since he has the Demon arm now. So it’s awesome that Chizuru asked him to be her bodyguard as she reunites with the Shinsengumi, so that technically all Iba is doing is protecting her and not intentionally changing history, it can’t be helped if she has chosen to go and he has to protect her hahaha. Very good idea, Chizuru! You know Iba well! Since he promised Sen that he wouldn’t interfere anymore, his beliefs would never allow him to go back on that, but with this, he’ll be able to see how the Shinsengumi and the rest are doing, and possibly support them indirectly. Funny that he doesn’t realise (or maybe he just doesn’t want to since that’ll go against his principles) what she’s trying to do and sincerely just wants to bring her to the Shinsengumi lmao.

Awww, his new look is so not cute! He doesn’t have as much of that pretty boy in a Japanese way look now😪😪 Sooo boring. It must be so painful for Iba to drink Chizuru’s blood to curb his bloodlust every time though, he’s so devoted to being the one that will protect her no matter what, and yet every time he has these “attacks”, Chizuru has to hurt herself and give him her blood, it must really hurt him to have her do that. Why are the Odawara guys traitors too… That’s just so terrible, Iba and them were so hopeful to have gained allies, only to be backstabbed by them and the Imperial forces… I don’t blame Iba for breaking his vow to Sen, he’s his unit’s leader, how could he possibly watch them be slaughtered like this… Btw not a fan of Takeda’s new look either! His hair looks kinda funny haha😅

Considering the difference between Takeda’s and Iba’s backgrounds, which are pretty much complete opposites with Takeda being poor, seen as filth and he climbed all the way to who he is now through sheer willpower and strength he cultivated to not be looked down upon anymore, whilst Iba is rich and blessed with the opportunity to be a hatamoto despite lacking real fighting to the death experiences that I’m sure Takeda had to go through like every day I guess… So, really, in a sense, Takeda’s hatred runs quite deep even without all the things that happened before, he just hates Iba for everything that he is and everything that he himself isn’t and cannot be. OMG, lewd dreams of Chizuru?! Dang, Takeda, I don’t really want to know that. Did Takeda and Iba accept perverted Demon hands…? Lol. Even if Takeda drank much more human blood than Iba, could he be that much stronger than Iba to completely overpower him? Shouldn’t Chizuru’s blood be powerful too then?? Hmmm. Or maybe Takeda’s wrath amplifies his power as well? Since I feel like although Iba doesn’t like Takeda and really wants to protect Chizuru, he’s never been as emotional as when he first cut Takeda’s arm off, and he hasn’t accustomed himself to the new arm that much compared to Takeda I guess.

It was so heartbreaking to hear Iba have to admit and tell her that he’s having those lewd dreams as well…and to have to admit that she’s the safest away from him… Iba is so noble, such a gentleman and has vowed to protect her no matter what, so for him to have to admit that she’s safest away from him must be the worst… Is it just me or does Chizuru have a comprehension problem? Which part of Iba telling her to leave with Sen meant that he thought she was a nuisance and is overstaying the offer he had previously given??? He even pinned her down before because of the hand and she still doesn’t get that he just wants to protect her?!? Chizuru, are you an idiot? Anyway, I guess she kinda does understand… But damn, I love how Sen phrased it for Iba to understand, that just as he is willing to lay down his life for the shogunate with his loyalty even if there’s probably a very slim chance of them winning at all, Chizuru is the same, she as a woman has already chosen to lay down her life to stay beside him regardless of what may happen because just as he has chosen his path, she has chosen hers to be with him no matter what. Gotta thank Sen for solving their communication problems lmao. On the note of Takeda having those lewd dreams about Chizuru because of Iba’s innate feelings for her + the Demon hand’s power and this connection between the hands causing Takeda to feel a similar way to Chizuru is kindaaaa iffy but okay...

Omggg, Iba has been training himself since he was a kid all this time to be a worthy man for Chizuru! That’s so sweet!! No wonder why he feels so unworthy of her, she’s been like his goal all this time and he never really thought that she’d ever love him back but he still worked for it hoping that one day when he approves of himself, she will too, and his hopes were probably crushed when he became a Fury that always had to drink her blood and have an arm that constantly wanted to attack her, Iba has been really suffering… Anyway, so glad they finally told each other their feelings properly and kissed! Lovely CG as always😉 And so now the Demon hand recognises his emotional resolve and will allow Iba to use it at his will? So, all it needed was a kiss? Considering those lewd dreams, a kiss seems so innocent LOL. Hahaha, well it was more than a kiss I guess, since the kiss was only the result of Iba finally being able to make a breakthrough in terms of his feelings and his mental barriers.

It was so cute when they shared a bed together and he comforted her since she was crying about how so many of the Shinsengumi guys were either dead or had left and they’re unsure of their safety with how the situation is right now… The kiss was nice☺️ Omgg…I can’t believe Nomura was killed in battle and ripped to shreds?!?! That’s so terrible… He was such a happy little guy.. I can’t believe even Hijikata and Motoyama (Iba’s good friend in the Yugeki unit) were killed😭😭 What do they do now??? Oh, I’m really surprised that Saito killed Kodo already, totally thought he was still rampaging around, I guess it’s just Takeda then? Pretty nauseating to imagine him eating all this human flesh and taking their blood though, eughhh… I’m actually surprised that Iba really slashed/stabbed Takeda along with Chizuru when Takeda took her hostage. I really thought he wouldn’t be able to do it since he had always been so adamant on protecting her and never letting her get injured. And then it just kinda time skips to possibly years or so later when she finally wakes up from her comatose state due to the injury, and they can finally enjoy their happy and peaceful life together! Anyway, it ended rather abruptly and in an anticlimactic way tbh since they built up all this tension and the ultimate goal of killing Takeda and it just ended like that? Oh well though lol.

That chapter 2 game over though, I hatee the endings where the guy gets eaten by the Furies, it’s so disgusting and devastating😢 I did like it that Chizuru stabbed the kodachi into her heart to follow him in death though, since really, being tortured into having Takeda’s offspring is definitely worst than death, and you’ll be destroying other people’s lives with that offspring too, so yeah… Oh, well, I guess she does that in the chapter 3 bad ending where she gets tricked and is forced to be Takeda’s slave for the rest of her life😶 The way it happened was so silly though, Chizuru is always so silly😪 Fourth chapter ending was the worst, Takeda legit just killed her and started drinking her blood when he couldn’t win, like cooool🤨 Okay, unrequited love ending was disappointing too lol, not very dramatic at all.

Overall, I quite liked Iba’s route, maybe it’s also because it had a different story instead of the usual Kaoru or the Furies thing, but instead had Takeda and the Demon’s Arm thing, which I guess made it more refreshing. It’s definitely more violent with all the slashing off arms and torturing Iba though. But I did enjoy the “romance”. They didn’t actually spend much time “together” but I did enjoy how noble and kind of a guy Iba always was and how much he respected her and how strong his determination was to protect her. I always found it very endearing and sweet, but I guess that might be considered boring to others, since Iba never overstepped his boundaries and would always think that he’s unworthy of Chizuru, which is so not true! But yeah, he was a true nice guy that tried his best to hold on to his beliefs and also protect Chizuru and I liked that about him.

[queenofnohr]

for the detailed oc meme: 6, 15, 17, 20, 30, 43, 51 and 55. i love your girl btw, i hope she gets everything she's ever wanted!!

Thanks for the ask!!!! I’m so glad people like Fujimi as well :D

Small content warning for question 30; mentions of abuse

6. Headcanon VA 

I haven’t put too much thought into this, but off the top of my head, probably Haruka Tomatsu? She has fantastic range and while none of her roles are definitive Fujimi, I think I can cobble together the general sort of feeling from them. Fujimi’s regular speaking voice, pitch/tonally is probably along the lines of Zero Two (who needs no introduction) or Anjou Naruko from Anohana, with the inflection/acting that Piña Co Lada from Gate (I think?) though when she’s serious/troubled her voice can dip into Piña Co Lada’s range

When she’s channeling Benzaiten, her voice is very much Minamoto no Raikou activating her NP, however.

15. Can they sing? Can they dance?

She can do both due to training she received as a child and in adolescence! She doesn’t so much after joining Ashina, but she’s the kind of diligent person who sets aside time every week/every other week to practice acquired skills so they don’t rust, even if she doesn’t actively use them any more.

17. Can they fight?

Yep! She fights primarily with her naginata, though she has basic training in the sword and archery as well as basic (unarmed) self defense.

20. Clothing/Aesthetic

Fujimi is fun because I get to look at a ton of traditional Japanese bridal wear. Someday I wanna give her a formal iro-uchikake look! But. Yeah. Brides.

30. What was adolescence like?

It was Fucking Awful. Truly, truly fucking awful. Her being a human sacrifice means being offered as a bride to Ashina’s Great Serpent (aka being eaten alive by it), and so it’s, ahem, tradition for the Vessel undergo rigorous training from the time they can retain information to around 15/16 in all manners of things considered necessary for a premium wife to have (and some valued by the village, like the local specialty of weaving/dying clothing). However, because of Tamura occupation of Ashina and the prevention of practicing local rituals therein as well as albino twins not being present for a couple generations, the village couldn’t be properly “cleansed” of their accumulated kegare for a long time, and so she was sent off prematurely to be offered at age 8.

The snake rejects her as a sacrifice, and after days of sitting in her palanquin, starving, and having nowhere else to go, she climbed to the bridge that lays over the Serpent Valley in hopes that someone would notice her - being too afraid to actually walk into the castle town itself. A wealthy - and skeevy - samurai with an estate away from the heart of Ashina ends up picking her up, and her adolescence is spent being little more than a mistreated servant to the estate, with some of her training continuing (music, dance, etc.) for the purposes of eventually pimping her out or selling her off as a high price bride.

43. What pokemon would your character be (if they’re already a pokemon/gijinka tell us what they are, and how that’s affected them)?

An Absol, probably! People tend to regard her as some agent of misfortune/an inauspicious person because of her looks, her origin (which was made public during her trial), and her village’s history even though more than anything she wants to help. The color schemes (generally) match up too.

51. What were some inspirations for your character (people, movies, games)?

I think I’ve briefly mentioned it before with Higurashi (both the Sonezaki thing and Rika’s perceived deal as well as that village in general), the Noppera-bou arc of Mononoke, uhhhhh Bloodborne I guess (but Bloodborne feels like my general aesthetic when corruption/monsters are involved), I guess, weirdly enough the short story by Higuchi Ichiyou titled “Takekurabe” (depending on the translation either “Child’s Play” or “Growing Up” - warning: while not an explicit story by any means the story does deal with heavy themes like prostitution in the Edo period), and...... various Japanese legends.

55. What’s your character’s core trait? What’s their best trait? What’s their worst trait? When happens when these all interact with each other?

Her core trait is devotion, definitely. Which can be good or bad depending on what, exactly, she’s devoted to, but at her core I think she wants to be able to live for something and that “something” being of her own choosing after being told her entire existence is literally to die.

Her best trait is probably... her kindness? Mmmm, I don’t think kindness is the right word, really. She has a knack for reading situations and acting to do what she thinks is best; she sees the Ashina soldiers’ armor falling apart and while she can’t forge armor, she can do things like mend the leather straps/silk cords holding the kozane of dou together; she has a rather political mind that doesn’t serve her very well in a place like Ashina, but she can see that they need to be trading with other domains because Ashina in of itself cant support a lengthy war with its infertile land; she can see when morale is low and will do her best with what she has and take up cooking duty for the day because an army marches on its stomach....... etc. I guess you could say she’s intuitive? But because of that intuition and her willingness to act to make things better means it does transmute to kindness

Her worst trait....... aside from the usual suspects of having little sense of self-worth outside of being a tool forged to eventually break....... I think it’s being too single-minded? She’s at her best when she can allow herself to be clever and see all her options, but she has the bad habit of only seeing one option (and yes, it’s usually the most self-sacrificing) and sticking to her guns because of it.

At her best, she’s a force of nature, not by sheer force alone but because of her cunning and intuitive mind and her dedication to getting a job done no matter what the cost.

At her worst, she commits herself to bad courses of action and severs her own options because she thinks she’s right, and throws herself into this plan in an all or nothing gamble

the last of which leads to her role/path in Sekiro’s main plotline; instead of staying back and maybe trying to forge relationships with Okami, Emma, Kuro, Isshin and trying to think of something that would work, or at the very least staying back to be Ashina’s last line of real defense after Okami kills all their other generals/war plans, she instead fucks off with Genichiro to help him retrieve the Black Mortal Blade because of her complete faith that he can save Ashina

[izumi-ixa]

TROLLken Ranbu xD

In the current event “Edo Castle Investigation” (AKA Infiltration), Touken Ranbu make me return to Honmaru whitout reaching the Boss Node, allow me to reach Boss Node with my last/2 last passes or... give me so many passes that cannot even be used ┐('～`;)┌ .

And when this happen one after another... (”Not again, she said“)

BTW, nice event because, even if the EXP is not the best among events, it’s pretty usefull to level up low level swords because the enemies are not so hard even in “Extreme” and those Kunai nodes are SO GREAT in EXP, even more if the swords have the 2x EXP (✩ ์ ᴗ ์✩).

[thisisarealtagwhy]

day two

wow it’s been a wild day, we didn’t do a whole lot, mostly travelling by bus but the scenery was lovely, japan is so much cleaner and lusher than sydney.

so, first off we went to Matsumoto castle

it’s very pretty and old, but anyway we had to take off our shoes and carry em along and as you can see, the stairs were really bloody steep. the wood is very nice to the touch as well and it’s as old as the 17th century during the Edo period and was for the daiymoh (warlords), basically training etc. And at the top the daiymoh would retreat if the castle was under attack.

an example of the armour worn..

the view was so beautiful from the top, could see a lot of Suwa (i think that’s the name of the town lol), it’s kinda vintage looking, definitely not as busy as other cities.

okay, then it was time for the Daio Wasabi farms, and man oh man they go on for m i l e s. like, how is there so much??? it’s the biggest wasabi farm in the world and produces around 120 000 tons per day.

oh yeah, and i got wasabi ice-cream (hella good btw)

oof, there were some shrines inside the wasabi farm? some of them made me feel like i was transported into some horror film, because two were caves? and neither of us can read japanese so we didn’t enter just in case we weren’t supposed to

and i went to my first sushi train lmao, didn’t buy a whole lot but 10/10 recommend fermented egg, it was very eggcelent and god bless the staff, again, i hardly know any japanese so she was very patient with us.

i also weebed out on the second day bc there was a second hand store and so much fucking one piece stuff, had to restrain myself... and i now know the japanese equivalent of an antique store... those electronic stores with arcades... god i could live in one...

pssst... @dn-ky

[daeva-agas]

Hello! I've been lurking through your blog for a time and I'm curious about mobile games/video centered around the sengoku/edo periods and, well, I just wanna know your recommendations or favorites! (Your blog is so cool btw, I learnt a lot about Japanese history through you lol ♡)

Aw, thanks so much anon. I shitpost weird imagination stuff every now and then, though, so I hope you don't take those too seriously ahaha...

Do you want something with a plot, or are you fine with like... castle sim games? There's a lot of random Sengoku castle sim mobile games, but it's just more or less similar to things like Game of Sultan or something.

I have always been partial to Samurai Warriors. There's all sorts of history bending for cool factor and whatnot, but I like it. This is a PC/Console game.

With otome game, there's surprisingly few of them these days. There used to be more, but I guess they lost to competition and just fizzled out.

The only ones still active on mobile are Samurai Love Ballad Party and Ikemen Sengoku.

Non-mobile Sengoku otome are all in Japanese. I'm not sure if you are ok with that. Though, even then I can only recommend Geten no Hana. I don't have console so I don't play it, but I like the manga adaptation.

There used to be a bunch other Sengoku mobile apps in Japanese too, but they just fizzled away.

Nothing on Edo era though, sorry. I'm mostly Sengoku focused, and Edo era is not really my preference. Like, I do some reading on the Edo era too, but I've never really looked at Edo era media/games.

The only Edo-based games that I know exist are Shinsengumi-related media and Otomate's KimiYuki (English translation upcoming).

[ersatzlace]

Otogi PVP Farming Guide

Need Limit Break orbs but doing it the old fashioned way taking absolutely forever? Here’s the trick to grinding pvp points efficiently (a good honking 20 points per battle).

(Credit for discovering this trick goes to Desu and LadyAshla on Reddit)

Set your Attack team as your strongest 3* nuker, and only that 3* nuker.

The reason for this is because difficulty calculations are based on the star/rarity difference between the attacking and defending team. A 3* vs. a 5* guarantees an Awful rating for 20 points.

Some suggested 3* nukers: Sodium Elf, Tokarev Pistol, Yoichi’s Bow, Kuroneko

Set your Defense team as your weakest 5* healer. Priority should be on healers with an attack skill (Excalibur, Kaguya are ideal), while healers with a defense buffing skill (Edo Castle, Mazu, Orihime, etc.) should be avoided.

You can substitute with lower end, non status inflicting 5*s if you don’t have a suitable healer (Momotaro, Uesugi Kenshin, Onimaru Kunitsuna, etc.).

Leave your defense reserves empty unless you have a time extender: (lb1 Gyobu Tanuki, lb1 Old Clock Chronos). This is in order to give an edge to the attacker to guarantee that win.

If you decide to grind pvp points against someone, please make sure to configure your defense team properly so that they can grind back. Common courtesy, give-and-take and all that.

Note: If you want to up the difficulty rating from Deadly to Awful for 25 points per battle, you will have to change your attacker to a 2*. This is not recommended because winning consistently in this fashion is rather difficult.

With your consent, reblog/reply/send me an Ask with your in game name and I will compile a public list of players who are open to pvp grinding. By consenting, you promise to follow the farming guide standards and will leave pvp enabled (at the very least) in between events (events are the usual monthly events and guild conquest events).

This list will be maintained on good faith. If you’re going to be grinding regularly, please consider joining the list. If there is issues with someone on the list (farming against others but having an improperly configured defense team, not enabling pvp in between events) let me know and I will remove them from the list post-haste. Likewise, if you would like yourself removed from the list at any point for whatever reason, feel free to let me know.

Extra: Btw if you’re interested feel free to join my guild, Silver Phoenix, leader: Ersatz (a.k.a. me). If you join our LINE chat we have our own dedicated pvp list with some bonus farming resources *wink wink*. We’re a semi-casual guild in so much that activity is encouraged, but not required. (I just tend to remove people who haven’t been active in over a month is all.) ;)

Update (6/23/2019): Hey, please don’t ask about this anymore. I’m not as active on Otogi as I used to be and I don’t have anywhere near the time to maintain an up-to-date pvp listing. Fyi, there never was a formal one because there wasn’t enough interest when this post initially went up.

The guild is still existent and feel free to join if you’d like, but only if you’re actually looking to join a guild and not just to take advantage of resources. We’re not that kind of group and we’re not interested in leechers. (With that said, there’s nothing stopping you from farming against our member list on your own time, the guild is for those that are invested in the community aspect.)

[larimeke-blog]

Tokyo Talk .33

Mari from Team Lari here!

So, it’s finally happened. Time to talk about Tokyo. Now this is the one prefecture I could name from before I started this adventure! Sailormoon, Kagome from “Inuyasha,” and many other anime characters reside in the famous city. Thanks to these anime from my childhood, I gained an appreciation for animation and the Japanese culture. Hence, I feel so warm and fuzzy talking about Tokyo!

Did you know that Tokyo is the mot populous metropolis? There’s twenty three central wards and multiple cities, towns, and villages that surrounded the inner structures. Aka, it’s HUGE.

Since I don’t think I can possibly fit everything into one post, I’ll just split Tokyo into (hopefully) 3 parts. If I need more posts, I’ll add more. Hehe, so—10.33 of 47!

*Akihabara*

Honestly, have you seen how many anime references I’ve put up here so far? It’s a no brainer that when in Tokyo, I plan on going to Akihabara!

This district used to be known for it’s technological advancements (the age before anime, hehe.) It’s still known for creating and distributing the hottest new technology. For instance, Akihabara Crossfield hopes to be the focal point for global technology and trade. Oh! And the Yodobashi electronics store has a camera section to outshine all others! I’ll have to tell Laurel that. Maybe we can update her camera there…

No wonder why there’s so many tech animes! (Ahem, “Big O” for the win…)

Ooooo! Akihabara used to be known for technology, but now when you utter the word, you’ll probably hear the far off cries of an enthusiastic otaku (fan.) I would be one of those people shouting, btw. You what’s cool? There’s tax free shopping for foreign tourists. Hey, I’m a foreign tourist….aaaaah.

There’s anime and manga and games and trinkets galore at Radio Kaikan and Super Potato (I love that name.) If you set us free there, I’m not sure if there would be any coming back from that. If you can see us in Books A Million or a Barnes N’ Noble, triple the amount of foam from our mouths and barbaric gurgles, and you might have a better picture.

And, dangit, they have anime themed cafes! Do you know how much torture it was to sit here on my butt while I saw pictures of one of my favorite animes (Saiyuki) have their own anime café?

Do you see that? That could have been me. That could have been my Hakkai drink and coaster. But no. Only sadness and pain were my consolation prizes.

*runs off to a corner*

I can’t continue. Akihabara is my weak point. Let’s move to something else. *sniff*

The Imperial Palace! Unfortunately, the original Edo Palace is reduced down to ruins now, and the Imperial Palace that replaced it is also gone to history. Imperial Palace version two is still up and running. It is not open to the public, and it does let the public come in twice a year, once for the New Year and another for the Emperor’s birthday in December. What is open daily for the public are the Imperial Gardens. The gardens are placed over where the Edo Castle used to call its home. You can see the leftover foundation of a guard tower among other lost structures in the flower and foliage filled garden.

I would like to include the famous Fish Market on my list of places to go, but I heard that they are moving in mid to late 2018. I’m not sure when Laurel and I will eventually get to Japan, but I’m sure we’ll arrive after the market uproots to its new location. Le sigh.

That’s all for now. Part 2 will come soon. Until then, see you lovely folks later.

Also, you know who else lives in Tokyo? My character from "Drawing a Line." Kanako Hiragana wants to switch jobs, no longer interested in being an anime character designer. That is until a famous director approaches her and offers the most insane plan; to produce a self made anime in less than two years. It's an offer she can indeed resist, but the question is, can she resist the man attached to it? The story is currently on hiatus due to busy life stuff, but make sure to check it out. There can always be another chapter out when you least expect it!

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3310417/1/Drawing-a-Line

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds Part 8 - Iba Hachiro Route

Ibaaaa! He seems like an upstanding and honourable guy so let’s see how this goes! I was pretty happy that Chizuru chose to apologise to him about Takeda’s actions at the inn. Regardless of the fact that it was Takeda who did it, he’s doing it under the pretence of the Shinsengumi, so it’s their responsibility, so apologising on this account and wanting to clarify that not all the Shinsengumi are like that is something important imo.

It’s too bad that Chizuru doesn’t remember him, but I like his positive attitude! He’ll just keep visiting her here and she’s bound to remember him this time around haha! Lmao at him seeing her trying to practise being more rough and masculine so that others like him won’t notice that she’s actually a girl😂 Very nice of Iba to check up on the Yukimura clinic to see if her father was there. He even found an excuse to get Chizuru to get out of the compounds and actually have some free time for herself, he’s so nice! Can’t blame her for being uncomfortable though, she barely knows him but he’s being so kind to her for some reason, but still, c'mon Chizuru, hot guy taking you out, accept it and go on a nice leisurely stroll! At least she’s aware he knows her from when they were children, so it’s not creepy but it is crappy to not know about him at all when he seems to be rather fond of her…

Ohh how cool! I guess that’s natural, this was the mission where they were protecting the shogunate (since he guards the shogun) when Kazama and the others appeared trying to grab Chizuru for the first time, so it’s expected that Iba would be here to protect her too! I’m actually pretty shocked that Iba has actually never killed anyone before… Hachiro’s voice is so soothing, I think anyone could fall asleep peacefully listening to it hahahaha. Never thought he was the one who told Chizuru as a kid to hide the fact that her injuries healed so quickly, he’s been protecting her for a long time with that promise huh? I guess Hijikata is right, they’re too far in with the experiments with the Furies that if they were to quit now, what would they do with the guys who are Furies right now? Stopping everything pretty much means leaving them to fend for themselves and essentially die with no hope for a cure… Although I understand, I’m still on Dr Matsumoto’s and Iba’s side though, these experiments should not continue, they’re just creating even more of them, causing more problems and bringing pain to all involved.

Pretty cute that when Takeda covered her mouth from screaming, the person she wanted to call for help from was Iba, guess she really is warming up to him already haha, it was so sweet when he heard her kinda call for him and he said he was really happy about that☺️☺️☺️ I think it would be hard to find anyone who can best Okita with the sword, but it still doesn’t change the fact that Iba is lacking the experience of fighting between life and death all the time. Takeda is really shameful btw, to use training as an excuse to try and hurt Iba, glad Kondou didn’t take his bs. It was so cute when Chizuru got left behind by the others and Iba found her and took her to eat Castella with him before taking her back to the headquarters lol! She really does need to learn to relax a bit more though, she can’t let that prisoner mindset take over her!! I appreciated Sen’s frankness with Iba that it’s going to be difficult to protect Chizuru considering her lineage, so he’ll have to be really prepared if he is serious about protecting her. Not sure what and why he’s insistent on this promise he made to protect her but you can see his resolve to do it and that’s enough. I wonder if they promised to be betrothed to each other as kids and that’s why he’s so adamant about risking his life to protect her no matter what🤔

I was really shocked when Iba actually lost his cool and sliced Takeda’s arm off when Takeda wanted to hurt Chizuru to demonstrate that she’s a monster. Gotta admit that I’m really disappointed in Takeda and his weak aspirations when he is/was a Shinsengumi captain, to think that he would fall to being such a human with so less pride and only care for money by wanting to sell the info on the Furies he had found. Not sure if Takeda will come back for revenge later on, but if he is, he’ll have to get an army of Furies or something lol. I’m still kinda shocked at seeing Iba so bloodthirsty, like it was really daunting but also cool I guess lol, to see that she is someone that can make him so seriously want to take another person’s life to protect her. Maybe it’s not exactly a good thing since he’s ready to kill others for her, but it also shows how important she really is I guess.

Considering how significant of a figure Sakamoto Ryouma was as the man who apparently kinda united the Satsuma and Choshu, it’s a bit weird for them to just mention/introduce his existence suddenly and then for him to be assassinated within the next minute by the Mimawarigumi (another pro-shogun group). The repercussions of his death will be terrible for the people of Kyoto though, since him being murdered gives the Satsuma-Choshu an excuse to go all out against the shogunate and their supporters. You can see why it’s so depressing and difficult for Iba to take in all of this… The whole fate of the shogunate and even Kyoto itself will be changing after this night with the death of one person, well two, since there was another person with Sakamoto that died.. Seeing Iba say that one of the reasons he so often visited the Shinsengumi (besides to see her) was because, compared to the other men he works with, the Shinsengumi have this unyielding determination to fight to the death for their cause that the others have not even an inkling of, probably. As usual, it’s always saddening to see how dedicated the Shinsengumi are for the shogunate and yet they themselves lack the fire for their own fight.

His desire to protect Chizuru, his persistence on treating her as a normal girl even if she doesn’t is just so admirable and touching… I have to agree with Iba that she should really leave Kyoto though lol. I’m not the biggest fan of Chizuru but I guess you can understand why she wants to stay in Kyoto with the rest of the Shinsengumi. Still though, she causes trouble lmao😂 But I really love how respectful Iba is of her wishes, he even asked her whether she really wanted to go to Osaka Castle with Kondou and Okita since he wanted her to make her own choice instead of just listening to Hijikata’s orders. She’d be much safer there but yeah, Chizuru always chooses to stay at the most dangerous places, so what can he do haha. Seeing Gen always sacrifice himself to buy time for Chizuru to escape is always saddening…

I knew Takeda would return, but I didn’t think he’d receive a Demon’s arm in place of his lost arm from Kodo, and I also didn’t expect him to slice off Iba’s left arm… It was so sudden, yet so devastating to see the agony and pain he went through in that CG and the screaming, it was terrible…. Thankfully, Sen finally appeared and saved them from a pinch. So it seems the Demon’s arm actually comes from a Demon Lord from long ago, he lost his arms in a fight with a clan of humans and so the Yase village has preserved these limbs all this time since it’s said to bring about catastrophe to any creature hmm… I’m actually surprised Sen offered the left Demon hand to Iba to use to defeat Takeda, didn’t think it was something she couldn’t handle by herself anymore, especially since like, is it stronger to turn a human into a Fury and give the hand to them, instead of giving it to another Demon?? Iba’s not wrong that the the shogunate army will lose, so him losing his humanity and thus his ability to interfere with human history shouldn’t matter but I’m surprised he doesn’t desire to fight with them until the end regardless. I guess Chizuru is just his highest priority? But I guess he doesn’t really have a choice since he’s lost the arm he uses to wield a sword anyway, so he might as well at least try and stop Takeda and Kodo.

It’s nice to know that Iba has always protected her since they were little and always thought of her as an ordinary girl. He even decided to pick up the sword because he wanted to protect her. She’s the reason he’s come this far, huh? Regardless, they’ll be heading to Edo whilst wishing for a better future… Other endings just revolved around them dying in the usual typical way, so, not interesting haha. Overall, I liked Iba’s route, it was refreshing and nice to see that instead of creating a bond together, Chizuru was rediscovering the bond she once had with him and building upon that. Undoubtedly, Iba would do anything for her, so seeing him work so hard to protect her, care for her and be considerate of her was very sweet. He’s a really nice guy and I’m interested in how this Demon’s arm story will go in Edo!😊

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms Part 6 - Sanan Keisuke Route

Hijikata writes haikus (poems)?! It’s so hard to imagine! I guess that’s why he hid them under floorboards until Okita found them lolol. Guess it’s good that he did, since that inspired Sanan to look at the floorboards in Chizuru’s house to find some info on Furies. Btw, gotta admit that for the western uniforms, I really think Sanan matches really well with it, suits him so well! You can’t really blame Sanan for not taking it well when Hijikata said they weren’t going to deploy the Fury Corps with them to siege Kofu Castle, in a sense, it would feel like it’s only when they can’t do it that they will then ask for the Fury Corps and so when they don’t need them right now because the Shogunate gifted them guns and cannons, then they just leave them here because they’re an inconvenience if discovered.

I’m happy that Chizuru so desperately plead to Sanan that she believes that he’s not the one behind the gruesome murders in Edo at night, but you can’t blame Hijikata and Heisuke for suspecting him. They definitely wouldn’t hope for it to be him, but really, better to be safer than sorry and as a rather lonely Fury before Heisuke came along, you really have to wonder how he dealt with the bloodlust reactions for the past 3 years since Chizuru never gave him blood until now…and they didn’t know about the medicine until they went to her house… I’m happy that Chizuru believed in Sanan when no one else did (serial murders in Edo), it seems that the Imperial Army had their Furies running away and devastating the town and Sanan and Amagiri were dealing with them. Not that it’s any better since that means Sanan was working with Imperialists behind their backs and getting info about Furies that way. Guess there was no way about it besides leaving since the Shinsengumi guys made him go on house detention. It was cute how he bothered to say goodbye to Chizuru though. Too bad he doesn’t believe that the living and the dead (since he’s a Fury) should be together so he left without her. Although I guess without him there, Chizuru felt that there was no more reason for her to stay either and left too. Still kinda amazed that Sanan actually left with all the Furies in the Shinsengumi though.

I’m glad Sen and Kimigiku were there beside Chizuru to look for Sanan since he’s most likely with Kodo anyway and they’re looking for the latter because he’s producing Furies against the Demon clan rules etc. I was worried when Chizuru was looking for Sanan herself but I’m happy that she’s got nice reliable allies now haha. I seriously didn’t think Sanan would betray her like this and bring her to Kodo and her brother, I also didn’t expect him to have given his Fury Corps to them to experiment on either…. I’m not surprised that Heisuke came to save Chizuru and help out Sen and Kimigiku, but it’s really nice to know that it was Hijikata who told him to stay and look after Chizuru, he’s so soft-hearted but that’s what I love about him hahaha. Nice to know what Kodo’s goal was all this time though, he wants a perfect serum to make everyone in the world to drink it so that there would be no more distinction between Demon and human and they can live in harmony. I guess the humans destroying the Demon clans really changed something in him, and so everything he’s done til this day was for this… It’s just saddening I guess. It’s not like he wants to take over the world, he just wants peace as the ultimate goal, except he’s killing so many to achieve it, whether it be Furies or those sacrificed to the Furies’ bloodlust…

I see… There was no choice for Sanan and a lot of the other Furies, they had to join Kodo to find a way to save themselves from withering into ash, their times were running out… If Heisuke is really dead though, I’ll still never forgive Sanan. Not all the Furies are Sanan’s responsibility! Even if their time were to expire then that just means that the extra time they were given has ended, how could they sacrifice so many innocent people who were killed because of bloodlust to further their own lives? Honestly, I don’t understand and I don’t want to either because it’s not something I’ll ever accept. As for Chizuru, I’m not sure why she’s so persistent with wanting to be with Sanan etc but okay, whatever she wants. I never realised that Kodo could have taken in Kaoru as well but he chose to leave him with a second rate Demon clan (that ended up abusing him) because he thought he was useless. No wonder why Kaoru is so obstinate about hating Chizuru. They’re twins, they’re practically the same, but she got lucky and was the girl and got to live a happy life. It’s such a small but significant difference…

Anyway, as expected, Sanan didn’t kill Heisuke and they’ve been planning to stop Kodo and save Chizuru from them. Similar to the other routes, Kodo always seems to help them out only when he’s on the brink of death, otherwise he barely cares for anything besides his goals. I feel like Kodo is so flexible for most of the routes lol, it’s like most of the time, he’s obsessed with his goals but when it’s convenient for the plot, he’ll care for Chizuru to make us feel a bit sad for their relationship lol. I find it hard to connect with him lol. Not surprised that Kaoru ended up being the one to kill Kodo considering the hatred of being abandoned by him as a kid and having to suffer all that abuse from the Nagumo clan because he did that. I’m surprised that Sanan and Chizuru went all the way to Europe to try and discover an antidote for the Furies though, like wow, that’s a super long journey. They were super cute together in the snow though haha, with him wanting her to say that she’s cold so he can hug her tight😊

Oh yeah, I quite enjoyed the unrequited love ending though because it was kinda nice to see how apathetic Sanan was to running out of time and turning into ashes, but seeing Chizuru cry for him made him a bit touched but sad about having to leave this world before her. So in the end, he just told her to forget about him so she could continue living her life even without him.

Overall, I’m not sure what to think of Sanan’s route. I think I’m confused as to what I feel lol. I like Sanan since he’s cold on the outside and tries to have a cold heart too but he can’t help but soften up to Chizuru because she shows him that there’s still at least one person who unconditionally believes in him. Which I guess kinda felt unrealistic since I don’t feel like they interacted that much that she could believe in him so, but it’s unconditional so okay, I just don’t feel the romance in this route either lol. I also don’t think I can really feel for his reasons as well, like it’s not that I don’t understand, and anyway, him going to Kodo ended up allowing them to defeat the whole camp from the inside anyway so it’s good in a way but I just feel like, it doesn’t show Sanan accomplishing anything at Kodo’s place? Like, I don’t really see much change in his character? I guess it was just to show Sanan going down a supposedly wrong path initially but understanding that there was something more important than what his initial reasons were? But I don’t think it showed it well enough for me to think, yeah, I can see his solace in Chizuru? Yeah, I don’t know, I just know I didn’t really like the route or think much of it really lol😅😅 All I really know is that I’m excited for Yamazaki because I like him and other people seem to like him too so yay lolll.

[atopearth]

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms Part 3 - Harada Sanosuke Route

(Note: Yayy, back from Japan, so I’m back to posting now XD) Like, I don’t doubt how manipulative Sanan is and by telling Chizuru of Heisuke’s “condition” that he will eventually succumb to bloodlust if she doesn’t offer her blood to help his research, but really, I’m sure if Heisuke was in such a condition, Harada would like to know even if it hurts him to know! It was pretty saddening when they both ignored each other for a bit because he confronted her and she didn’t tell him what her problem was. Like, I understand that it must have hurt him that she didn’t seem to trust him enough to tell him but ignoring her did seem rather childish of him lol. Especially since that only allowed Sanan more chances to sneak up and try to manipulate her! Luckily she still rejected him, but really, it was pretty scary when Sanan called her ungrateful since they took care of her for these four years. Really though, they’re the ones that forced her to stay here and would kill her if she tried to escape so he has no right to say that lol.

I’m glad Harada caught her before she really tried to leave, and she finally vented her feelings. The kiss was really sudden though lol, but I guess that shuts everyone up lolol. Too bad she doesn’t think Harada thinks anything of it, which I don’t blame her since Harada always acts as that mature adult that it can be hard to believe he took it seriously, especially since he frequents Shimabara haha. He was so manly when he took it to Sanan and told him to stop treating Chizuru like a monster to draw blood from. But I think what most struck a chord in me, was when Harada said, had the Shinsengumi fallen so low to rely on draining the blood of a civilian woman in order to survive through this? It’s true that the Shinsengumi is really lacking in manpower with the lack of recruits and technology since the Satsuma-Choshu have guns and cannons etc but that doesn’t mean Sanan should forget what the Shinsengumi is really here for! Why is everyone losing sight of what the Shinsengumi really is for? It really breaks my heart.

I think I can finally understand why Harada and Nagakura were so angry at Kondou, enough to leave the Shinsengumi later on. It was nice that he was happy to have become a daimyo, a recognised samurai rather than being the poor nobody he once was, but to elate in this excitement and say that he’d promote the guys as his retainers was just…insulting. The guys recognised Hijikata and Kondou as the chief and commander because they respected them, but it wasn’t a total hierarchy or anything. They discussed things together and made decisions together. Suddenly telling them that he would promote them into something like his subordinates was just..sigh. I mean, their relationships were never solely based on a superior and subordinate connection, it was through mutual respect, gratitude and similar goals and by allocating roles depending on their strengths. It’s just that Kondou and Hijikata had a better head on their shoulders. I know why Kondou is happy, but in a situation where the Emperor is the ruling body with the Shogunate considered practically gone, his title doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It was something he always wanted but to forget what the Shinsengumi was for because of it is just so not worth it….

Harada’s dream is so cuteeee! It’s like the maiden’s dream! No wonder why he doesn’t want Chizuru telling Shinpachi and Heisuke. They’d definitely laugh at him ahahaha. I’m sorry Harada, I laughed at how innocent you are. I mean, wanting to meet a beautiful woman, start a family with her and live somewhere quiet and nice is just so cute hahaha! Gotta admit though, I might like Harada’s western uniform more than the Japanese clothing. I’ve never really liked the bare chest look hahahaha. I like them all sleek, fitted and nice😉 Lmao at him popping a few buttons because it was too tight, c'mon Harada, you don’t do that in front of a girl!🤣 Not surprised at how agitated Nagakura was at Kondou for wanting to continue the siege on the castle with half the amount of men and with the castle taken already. But yeah omg, it was so cute when Harada said they’d be closer to their dreams if he made Chizuru his wife then, since she told him that she wanted a normal, quiet and happy life too hahaha. Tell it to her more seriously, Harada!

I think Chizuru in this route frustrates me sometimes, like it’s not that I don’t understand that she feels like a burden but Harada was the one who chose to protect her, so it’s pretty rude of her to just want to up and leave when he left the Shinsengumi to protect her from Sanan. And omgg she cries every time lol. The only thing that’s good is that Harada finally expressed his feelings to her that he loves her and so she can stop guessing things lol. On another note though, I’m kinda disappointed. Harada always leaves the Shinsengumi with Shinpachi and I always wanted a better look into his reason, and I was hoping to see that in his route. Sure, they show times where he is in doubt and disagrees, but in this route, Harada wasn’t completely on to the idea of leaving until Hijikata showed him that he needed to leave with Chizuru to protect her from Sanan since they won’t be able to always keep constant watch on him. Now it’s more like he left to protect her, rather than because there was a irreconcilable difference like Shinpachi.

It’s good to see Shiranui have more of a personality now and to see that there is something he cares about, alike Kazama and them, he doesn’t like the idea of Furies taking over either, but instead of it being because they’re fakes, Shiranui seems to dislike them more for what they are and how they could destroy the world around them by existing and preying on innocent people. Btw, it was so heartbreaking when both Harada and Shinpachi had dreams of Kondou apologising or standing quietly looking at them. Kondou must have felt so terrible that he was the one that made them think there was no choice but for them to leave. I wonder at the point of his death, how he really felt and whether he had a lot of regrets…

I agree with Harada though, the heroine keeps making these decisions on her own without even talking to him first, thinking it’s the best for him but never really considering his actual feelings or ever talking to him when she should. It’s kinda frustrating tbh. It seems that the greatest dilemma in this route is Harada choosing love and peace or to continue fighting in the war. But I feel like more than the peace part, he just wants to be with Chizuru so much for some reason I can’t comprehend, mainly because her personality in this route really hasn’t impressed me, so if I was Harada, I’d never give up fighting beside my friends that need me for Chizuru. Kinda makes me disappointed in Harada as well tbh. I know he just wants a happy life and be with her but… Sigh. First route I’ve encountered where they actually sleep together though! Guess Saito and Heisuke were too innocent and shy for it lmao.

I’m not surprised that Shinpachi is so angry at Harada for not going to war with the Satsuma-Choshu with him. They prepared everything, trained together and now he’s backing out. I think I would have accepted it better if Harada felt really tired from fighting all these years and has lost his reason to continue fighting rather than leaving because of a girl. It’s just so disappointing imo. You know, I always thought for Sano, what he wanted was to protect everyone’s families, everyone’s wives and kids, all the townspeople etc, that’s why he couldn’t take that the Shinsengumi was starting to disregard that. But for him to now prioritise only his own future wife and kids first and foremost kinda makes me think, isn’t he also giving up his original purpose as the others have had too? The fact is, he’s giving up everything he used to fight and work for from the beginning for a girl and I really don’t respect that. Nagakura’s such a great and kind guy, I’m really sad they’re leaving him, sigh…

The only good thing about this route for me are the amount of pretty CGs hahahaha. I guess the good thing about them leaving Shinpachi is that they’ll be going back to Edo to deal with Chizuru’s father who is wreaking havoc with his Furies and pretty much trying to do the same thing as what Sanan wants They should just join teams as the villains who want Furies to be the most superior beings lol. Everything ended quite anti-climactically but I did feel a bit more respect for Chizuru when she tried to kill her father to try and stop the further insanity he was trying to bring about. Aww Chizuru with her hair down and them having a baby peacefully somewhere was pretty cute! As usual though, the unrequited love ending is the only one that’s different and not typical. I mean, the thought of Furies slashing at Harada’s body to the point it was beyond recognition and then Chizuru committing suicide to be with Harada forever was quite chilling to say the least…

Overall, not a fan of Harada and Chizuru’s relationship. Their so called depth of love that drives them is rather questionable and I honestly couldn’t feel it or care for it against the bigger picture of things, so I honestly wasn’t interested or invested in their relationship, which made this route rather redundant to me because it mainly focused on their romance lol. So I guess if you like it more romance heavy, you might like this one? Otherwise, it was just a pretty standard and basic route where love is the most important thing I guess. Honestly, I’m kinda disappointed haha, the Kyoto Winds part was nice though, didn’t mind that.