Hakuoki – Analysing Saito Hajime route

Recently I chanced upon an ad pushing a game app called Gossip Girl and decided to download it.

It was only later that I found out that this genre of apps are what we call otome games or games for girls or dating simulation games. It was my first time coming across such games but being a hopeless romantic, it wasn’t long before I was hooked to the myriad of otome games in the market.

Most are similar in nature. You pick one of several guys that you want to date and then advance the story using passes/tickets (5 per day) with this character, making choices about what to say and do along the way.

Some of the apps have capitivating storylines which is rather gratifying and thus keeps you coming back to continue reading daily especially if you don’t want to spend money on purchasing more tickets. 

It was then that I chanced upon a 3DS game called Hakuoki of a similar genre and seemed to have positive reviews. Since I could get it off Carousell affordably I decided to make the investment so as not to have to keep waiting impatiently each day to reset the ticket counter.

Set in the backdrop of the end of the Edo period of Japan’s history, it follows the story of the protagonist (you) unwittingly joining the Shinsengumi or some kind of samurai organisation that supports the shogunate. It is led by a group of captains (inspired by real life people) of its various divisions which you will eventually come to love to advance the story.

Unlike the other mobile apps however, you don’t pick which of these men you want to be with from the start. In fact based on choices you make through the game, you will find yourself somehow gravitating towards one over the other. Which was really kind of interesting way to check your personality profiling. What kind of guys attract you/you attract.

And so at the end of about 7 hours of intense reading and all the roller coaster emotions that come with it, I found myself having a happy ending complete with kiss scene with the character Saito Hajime.

Which I suppose shouldn’t be quite a surprise considering that Saito is the loyal brains of the Shinsengumi. Quiet, stoic and seemingly void of emotions, I did find myself drawn to the portrayal of the character and the tragic circumstances that befell him. I have always been a sucker for intelligent men who seemed aloof and indifferent but secretly in need of a woman to open his heart. Perhaps Theo is that man in my life.

In any case, since there are about 6 different storylines and possibly 12 endings for the game, I figured it might be interesting to map the journey and discover if the game provides any insight on real life courtship. (spoiler alert)

1. Saito and Okita (another possible beau) are the first two faces you meet in the prologue. First impressions count perhaps? The third is their commander Hijikata whom I had originally targeted from the start. I mean usually you go for the leader yah but somehow my choices didn’t pave the way there. Destiny perhaps?

2. Something else about Saito attracted my attention – his seemingly shy looks and deep voice. Though I have to say that comparing him and Okita, the latter being more talkative and expressive did catch my attention first. Then again after further thought, certain actions by Saito showed that while he may not be very vocal, his actions were considerate of the protagonist.

Such as getting her to return to room so that she doesn’t unwittingly get mired into the affairs Of Shinsengumi, testing her skills so that she can go outside the house to look for her father, stopping her from eavesdropping Okita’s conversation with the doc so to save him his honor. Aww….

3. The first two decisions I made somehow led to an increase in the romance meter with Saito (signalled by presence of the cherry blossoms). Deciding to explain the situation about my presence in Kyoto (instead of revealing my identity as a girl) won his favor. Hmm.. Is it because this seemed like the most intelligent/obedient thing to do. The second time I won favor was when I was caught by Saito listening in to Okita’s conversation about his failing health discreetly and thus being considerate of his feelings. Up to this point in time, I was gunning for Okita and this was the turning point. I guess at the end of the day I am someone who is won over by actions and not words.

4. I suppose the game is designed to have the player determine her partner by the end of Chapter 3 when the characters have to flee Kyoto. I chose to go look for Saito and somehow led to him being cut up so badly by Kazama that he had to drink the Water of Life and become a fury (think vampire) to continue to protect me. I mean at this point, how can such a selfless action not just win your heart over?

The rest is pretty much history. The protagonist continues to help Saito lead his new life as a fury and adapt to the new political history of Japan when the way of the samurai becomes obsolete. Saito risks losing hope in meaning of life until the protagonist helps him to understand that a warrior is not just about swords but about standing up and defending what is right.

Ironically Saito is left handed and during his time, he was ostracized for not conforming to the norms of being right handed. He continued to master his own style of swordsmanship because using his left hand gave him greater strength. Don’t you love a man who stands up for what he believes in regardless of social pressures?

I admit the part about trying to coax Saito to rediscover himself was a bit tough. I had to redo these decisions because at this point I was afraid of losing favor with this character this far in the game as I was already so committed to advancing with Saito. Actually this is pretty similar to real life. Sometimes we are so afraid of losing the one person we love that we say what we think he wants to hear.

It was the same dilemma on whether to give Saito blood or not. Personally I thought that the medicine would be the better option since I mean you don’t really want him to forever be addicted to you, yet I gave in because this ups the romance counter more. Sheesh. The things we do for our men.

5. Towards the last part of the game, I had to make another painful decision as Saito and Hijikata parted ways. I mean how to choose one over the other since Hijikata was my original goal? But I went with Saito at the end. If I had gone with Hijikata, there would have been no future since I hadn’t earned any favor with him up to this point.

I think this is also reflective of real life. In love, one has to be committed to the person you choose to spend your life with, come what may. Spreading yourself too thin over several possible candidates to hedge against risk might end up harming your future in the end. Come to think of it, in the latter part of the game, Okita stopped making an appearance. Maybe it is the game developers’ way to not distract the player.

So who says that you cannot learn life lessons from games? Now that I know who me as a real person would end up with, let’s see who no. 2 in line would be? I’m thinking Okita.