Shall We Date: Demon's Bond (Prologue)
Jun. 19th, 2019 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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SO IT TURNS OUT THERE'S A HAKUOKI PREQUEL PHONE GAME
(Which I am pretty sure I knew but forgot, because I didn't have the ability to play phone games yet)
It's set during the Warring States period of Japan, about which I know basically nothing (ok, I know there were multiple states, and they warred), and I am all set to be entirely overwhelmed by ten million names and events I have no context for. The protagonist and all the love interests are demons, and one of them looks like a more androgynous Sesshōmaru :D (The hot demon villain from Inuyasha, who I and many other 90s teen anime fans imprinted on)
This is one of those games where the prologue is free but the routes for each dude have to be paid for individually, they cost $5 each. The prologue is VERY short but quite promising so far, so I probably will buy at least one route.
I have a cold and am feeling self indulgent, thus starting a new game instead of finishing the pile I have waiting. I also may be a bit incoherent. But you don't need to know anything about Hakuoki to play the game or understand this post.
I used the default name, Yukino, they described it as "player name" but I was pretty sure they meant character, and they did. *very glad I did not name my warring states era Japanese demon princess "sqbr"*
The one thing I remembered from reading the summary ages ago is that the main character is from Yase village. THAT'S SEN'S VILLAGE. ARE WE HER GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDMA??? :D (Sen is the Yase demon princess in Hakuoki and I LOVE HER)
One of Sen's ancestors married a famous human general, I wonder if that's going to come up.
There doesn't seem to be any autoplay which hopefully won't ruin it for me. No voices but the art is nice.
Yukino has a pet hawk! Called Gin-o! HE BETTER NOT DIE TRAGICALLY, GAME.
She senses a presence near the gate to Yase village and carefully hides herself, hand on her sword :D :D Looks like there's some magic barrier that's supposed to keep out anyone but village members and high ranked demons.
It's a dude she's never met before, who I recognise as one of the LIs, Chitose. He attacks with his sheathed sword, and says "Better than I expected. Not bad for a woman" when she blocks it. SCREW YOU CHITOSE.
She outsmarts him and hides in the trees. HA!
???: They say that once you lose sight of a ninja, finding her again is like finding a leaf hidden on a mountain. But...one can say someone so preoccupied with the enemy in front of her that she fails to be aware of her surroundings...was unworthy of being Princess Yase's private guard.
SHE'S A NINJA BODY GUARD??? :D :D :D It's like I'm playing Kimigiku :D (Sen's bodyguard from Hakuoki. WHO I ALSO LOVE)
A cuter black haired dude (another LI, Kazuya) coldly puts his sword to Yukino's throat, saying that if they were real assassins they'd have gotten into the village by now.
Chitose: We are here on the invitation of Princess Yase. I am Chitose, member of the ten demon alliance and demon chieftain of the nine provinces of the western seas.
Me: *carefully writing this down in case it's important, having learned my lesson from Hakuoki*
Kazuya: I am Kazuya, another member of the ten demon alliance, demon chieftain of the Six Districts of Mutsu.
Mutsu...that rings a bell...ooh! It's the province Hakuoki's protagonist was from! Is he from her home village??? :D :D
Yukina: I am Yukina, member of the Ten Demon Alliance and head of the Suzumori Clan, private guard of Princess Yase.
How many demons are in this "ten demon" alliance?? Huh, looks like it maybe is just ten, the chieftans of the ten main regions? I guess they could still have not met, it's not like they have conference calls.
Chitose: We'll only tell you our surnames once we trust you. I doubt you could impress us with your skill but you could try seducing us ;)
Yukina: I will not do that.
Chitose: You could at least blush or stutter a little!
Yukina: I just stated what I thought. And never mind that, why did you attack me?
I LOVE YOU YUKINA.
"Testing your abilities as your senior" yeah whatevs, Chitose.
Aww, she's been head of the clan since she was SEVEN? But she has relied a lot on the village elders, and worries she doesn't know what she's doing.
Kazuya: The most powerful person in Japan right now is a child of just eight.
She takes them to meet the princess...and that's the end of the free story? I have to choose and pay for a dude to continue? I haven't even met most of them!
Ok I am too tired to decide and the other game I was downloading is ready so will stop here!
Me when I started this game: So this Hakuoki sequel is set like 300 years earlier, time to learn more than I ever needed to know about the Warring States period.
Cam: Come on, you love that shit. Learning new things? About other cultures? You're there looking things up by yourself just to understand it better.
Me: OK FINE MAYBE
And lo, here I am, googling the Warring States period to learn about this 8 year old...emperor, I guess? It's too early for it to be a Shogun. EDIT: Nope, oops.
Ok! So! The Warring States Era/Sengoku Period. Which is...too complicated for my sick brain to properly read. But it was the period around the 1500s. There WAS a shogunate, but states tended to be more independent than they became later and fought a lot. I have vaguely heard of these guys.
Ah the wiki says it's set after the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, which was in 1598. They did actually mention that I just didn't write his name down.
Here's the various LIs. There's more info on the wiki.
Senkimaru
"You really are trusting aren't you... Even though I've spent the last six months lying to you."
"Head of a clan that was banished. Has a chip on his shoulder and always looks down on others".
Omg he really is Sesshōmaru. I'm not sure I want to throw myself into that right off the bat.
Kazuya
"I'll stay by your side until the the moment the last breath leaves my body."
"He rarely expresses his feelings and will give you the cold shoulder at first, but that makes his smiles much more worthwhile."
I am getting some definite Saito-y kuudere vibes :D
Chitose
"I don't want to hear you say that you'll fight alone again. You said that you'd stay by my side until the end, didn't you?"
"Chieftain of the Western Seas. Easy going but overconfident."
Too arrogant and flirtatious for me thus far.
Kazutake
"I thought I'd finally be able to get you out of danger... looks like that's not gonna happen"
"Known as the Wayfarer. Like a big brother....He is also very gentle...He is so perfect that you sometimes feel distant from him..."
So I am not 100% sure of my ability to recognise yandere/secretly creepy flags, but that sure is a lot of them.
Shin
"You're one of the few demons that I trust. Have a little faith in yourself!"
"Known as the Living God of the Western Provinces. His clan is worshipped by humans. Despite his refined and elegant appearance, he is very forward with you. He also loves to deal out venomous quips, making it difficult to tell when he is truly serious."
I am curious but idk if I want to date him.
WAIT. THE WIKI HAS AN EXTRA LINE ABOUT SENKIMARU THAT I DIDN'T SCROLL FAR ENOUGH DOWN ON THE GAME TO SEE. "HE SECRETLY HAS A CRUSH ON KAZUYA"??? HE'S BI? IN AN OTOMATE GAME???
Oooooh I do not trust them to handle that well but I am also super into it OH NO.
I feel like the fact they only show you Chitose and Kazuya in the prologue is a sign they might be the best place to start.
So the sensible thing to do would be to date Kazuya. Orrrr I could date the androgynous bisexual disaster.
I mean I can definitely date both, it's only $10, but I have to pick one to start and I don't knooooow. It is too late to make this decision, I'll sleep on it.
(I usually sleep very badly when I'm sick so we'll see if I cave at like 2am)
OOH and while I was writing this up I realised Shin's clan name is Shiranui, so he's presumably related to the Shiranui character from Hakuoki. I can kinda see the resemblance, too.
Also lol at all the short hair, even I know how incredibly anachronistic that is. But I guess demons have their own rules etc.
SO IT TURNS OUT THERE'S A HAKUOKI PREQUEL PHONE GAME
(Which I am pretty sure I knew but forgot, because I didn't have the ability to play phone games yet)
It's set during the Warring States period of Japan, about which I know basically nothing (ok, I know there were multiple states, and they warred), and I am all set to be entirely overwhelmed by ten million names and events I have no context for. The protagonist and all the love interests are demons, and one of them looks like a more androgynous Sesshōmaru :D (The hot demon villain from Inuyasha, who I and many other 90s teen anime fans imprinted on)
This is one of those games where the prologue is free but the routes for each dude have to be paid for individually, they cost $5 each. The prologue is VERY short but quite promising so far, so I probably will buy at least one route.
I have a cold and am feeling self indulgent, thus starting a new game instead of finishing the pile I have waiting. I also may be a bit incoherent. But you don't need to know anything about Hakuoki to play the game or understand this post.
I used the default name, Yukino, they described it as "player name" but I was pretty sure they meant character, and they did. *very glad I did not name my warring states era Japanese demon princess "sqbr"*
The one thing I remembered from reading the summary ages ago is that the main character is from Yase village. THAT'S SEN'S VILLAGE. ARE WE HER GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDMA??? :D (Sen is the Yase demon princess in Hakuoki and I LOVE HER)
One of Sen's ancestors married a famous human general, I wonder if that's going to come up.
There doesn't seem to be any autoplay which hopefully won't ruin it for me. No voices but the art is nice.
Yukino has a pet hawk! Called Gin-o! HE BETTER NOT DIE TRAGICALLY, GAME.
She senses a presence near the gate to Yase village and carefully hides herself, hand on her sword :D :D Looks like there's some magic barrier that's supposed to keep out anyone but village members and high ranked demons.
It's a dude she's never met before, who I recognise as one of the LIs, Chitose. He attacks with his sheathed sword, and says "Better than I expected. Not bad for a woman" when she blocks it. SCREW YOU CHITOSE.
She outsmarts him and hides in the trees. HA!
???: They say that once you lose sight of a ninja, finding her again is like finding a leaf hidden on a mountain. But...one can say someone so preoccupied with the enemy in front of her that she fails to be aware of her surroundings...was unworthy of being Princess Yase's private guard.
SHE'S A NINJA BODY GUARD??? :D :D :D It's like I'm playing Kimigiku :D (Sen's bodyguard from Hakuoki. WHO I ALSO LOVE)
A cuter black haired dude (another LI, Kazuya) coldly puts his sword to Yukino's throat, saying that if they were real assassins they'd have gotten into the village by now.
Chitose: We are here on the invitation of Princess Yase. I am Chitose, member of the ten demon alliance and demon chieftain of the nine provinces of the western seas.
Me: *carefully writing this down in case it's important, having learned my lesson from Hakuoki*
Kazuya: I am Kazuya, another member of the ten demon alliance, demon chieftain of the Six Districts of Mutsu.
Mutsu...that rings a bell...ooh! It's the province Hakuoki's protagonist was from! Is he from her home village??? :D :D
Yukina: I am Yukina, member of the Ten Demon Alliance and head of the Suzumori Clan, private guard of Princess Yase.
How many demons are in this "ten demon" alliance?? Huh, looks like it maybe is just ten, the chieftans of the ten main regions? I guess they could still have not met, it's not like they have conference calls.
Chitose: We'll only tell you our surnames once we trust you. I doubt you could impress us with your skill but you could try seducing us ;)
Yukina: I will not do that.
Chitose: You could at least blush or stutter a little!
Yukina: I just stated what I thought. And never mind that, why did you attack me?
I LOVE YOU YUKINA.
"Testing your abilities as your senior" yeah whatevs, Chitose.
Aww, she's been head of the clan since she was SEVEN? But she has relied a lot on the village elders, and worries she doesn't know what she's doing.
Kazuya: The most powerful person in Japan right now is a child of just eight.
She takes them to meet the princess...and that's the end of the free story? I have to choose and pay for a dude to continue? I haven't even met most of them!
Ok I am too tired to decide and the other game I was downloading is ready so will stop here!
Me when I started this game: So this Hakuoki sequel is set like 300 years earlier, time to learn more than I ever needed to know about the Warring States period.
Cam: Come on, you love that shit. Learning new things? About other cultures? You're there looking things up by yourself just to understand it better.
Me: OK FINE MAYBE
And lo, here I am, googling the Warring States period to learn about this 8 year old...emperor, I guess? It's too early for it to be a Shogun. EDIT: Nope, oops.
Ok! So! The Warring States Era/Sengoku Period. Which is...too complicated for my sick brain to properly read. But it was the period around the 1500s. There WAS a shogunate, but states tended to be more independent than they became later and fought a lot. I have vaguely heard of these guys.
Ah the wiki says it's set after the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, which was in 1598. They did actually mention that I just didn't write his name down.
Here's the various LIs. There's more info on the wiki.
Senkimaru
"You really are trusting aren't you... Even though I've spent the last six months lying to you."
"Head of a clan that was banished. Has a chip on his shoulder and always looks down on others".
Omg he really is Sesshōmaru. I'm not sure I want to throw myself into that right off the bat.
Kazuya
"I'll stay by your side until the the moment the last breath leaves my body."
"He rarely expresses his feelings and will give you the cold shoulder at first, but that makes his smiles much more worthwhile."
I am getting some definite Saito-y kuudere vibes :D
Chitose
"I don't want to hear you say that you'll fight alone again. You said that you'd stay by my side until the end, didn't you?"
"Chieftain of the Western Seas. Easy going but overconfident."
Too arrogant and flirtatious for me thus far.
Kazutake
"I thought I'd finally be able to get you out of danger... looks like that's not gonna happen"
"Known as the Wayfarer. Like a big brother....He is also very gentle...He is so perfect that you sometimes feel distant from him..."
So I am not 100% sure of my ability to recognise yandere/secretly creepy flags, but that sure is a lot of them.
Shin
"You're one of the few demons that I trust. Have a little faith in yourself!"
"Known as the Living God of the Western Provinces. His clan is worshipped by humans. Despite his refined and elegant appearance, he is very forward with you. He also loves to deal out venomous quips, making it difficult to tell when he is truly serious."
I am curious but idk if I want to date him.
WAIT. THE WIKI HAS AN EXTRA LINE ABOUT SENKIMARU THAT I DIDN'T SCROLL FAR ENOUGH DOWN ON THE GAME TO SEE. "HE SECRETLY HAS A CRUSH ON KAZUYA"??? HE'S BI? IN AN OTOMATE GAME???
Oooooh I do not trust them to handle that well but I am also super into it OH NO.
I feel like the fact they only show you Chitose and Kazuya in the prologue is a sign they might be the best place to start.
So the sensible thing to do would be to date Kazuya. Orrrr I could date the androgynous bisexual disaster.
I mean I can definitely date both, it's only $10, but I have to pick one to start and I don't knooooow. It is too late to make this decision, I'll sleep on it.
(I usually sleep very badly when I'm sick so we'll see if I cave at like 2am)
OOH and while I was writing this up I realised Shin's clan name is Shiranui, so he's presumably related to the Shiranui character from Hakuoki. I can kinda see the resemblance, too.
Also lol at all the short hair, even I know how incredibly anachronistic that is. But I guess demons have their own rules etc.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-19 09:19 pm (UTC)Otome games are a good incentive for learning about history! I find it much easier to remember historical figures once I've dated them, ha.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-20 05:27 am (UTC)Same! Now someone needs to write a yuri game about important Japanese women, to fill in the gaps :) (Or m/f but I can see that going to some...odd places)
no subject
Date: 2019-06-20 12:27 am (UTC)I think the clan names of all the love interests are supposed to be spoilers, since if you know them you'll know from Hakuoki what happens to their clans. But I looked them up before I started anyway.
I'm really liking Yukina, she makes rather a lot of mistakes (at least on the route I'm on) but she's serious and trying hard to do the right thing and take responsibility. And I'm getting the impression that people making mistakes while trying hard to do the right thing might be the theme of the game.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-20 05:18 am (UTC)No spoilers beyond whether you liked it, please! And I guess any big nasty surprises like "Even the good end is tragic", rape warnings etc.
He reminds me of Okita too, so I'm fully expecting to be won over. But I didn't want to spend the start of the route sadly wishing I was with Kazuya or Senkimaru. And I LOVED Saito, so :)
I like Yukina a lot so far too, she has a lot to learn but is plucky and determined.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-24 12:53 pm (UTC)One warning - there are a lot of unexplained and unmarked POV shifts which left me a bit disoriented until I realized that not every scene is from Yukina's POV.
I'm going to do the Chitose bad ending next and then the Kazuya route.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-25 12:49 am (UTC)Oh that's good to hear. Thank you! The speed I'm going at you'll probably finish Kazuya before me, this cold has destroyed my reading ability.