SLBP: Mitsunari sad end

The happy ending was happier than I expected, the sad ending was sadder than I expected.

( I am feeling personally attacked by this storyline )

Fortunately so far the Hideyoshi route is so far the opposite of this, I'm four chapters in and it's mostly been watching him clown around and flirt and manipulate people. I imagine eventually it will get dark and terrible once he invades Korea for no good reason, but so far I'm giving this game the benefit of the doubt that it will handle that responsibly. And that's a while out yet.

Hakuouki on different levels

I've been chatting with scytale about Hakuouki and I realized it's time for more Hakuouki posts. One thing that has been on my mind: I keep saying that Hakuouki works on many different levels. So let me try to list them.

Levels on which I read Hakuouki:

1. Kinky porn. I never was into the whole vampire thing when I encountered it in western canons but Hakuouki made blood drinking sexy to me. No shame. :)

2. Character studies. Just about every route featured a character that was lovely and worth getting to know.

3. Love stories. Let's not forget the obvious. One thing I like about the genre of otome novels is that what love looks like and means is different on different routes, so it makes clear that there's no one (or no best) way to love. And since routes keep getting added, the possible ways to love are potentially infinite.

4. Thinking about history from different perspectives. The different routes experience the same historical events but the characters understand what is happening in different ways. I find this very powerful.

5. A philosophical dialogue about the meaning of honor and the nature of the good life. Each character embodies different virtues and has very strongly felt opinions about how to live honorably as a warrior in difficult and complex circumstances and they often change over the course of the route. Since I've been playing (and replaying) Haukuouki I've often found that when I'm dealing with a tough real-life question I feel an impulse to replay a certain route, and that might lead me to realize what virtue and what understanding of honor and the good life I need right now.

6. A meditation on the consequences of war and the struggle of living with war-related PTSD. This is a topic very close to my heart and I appreciate the varied possible responses to it in the different routes. Although reading it this way is part of what makes me partial to Sanan for obvious reasons.

Any I'm missing?

I find that my reactions to the routes can go back and forth depending on which level I'm reading on and what I'm looking for. Hijikata, for example, has swung back and forth from being one of my least favorites to one of my favorites.