#Hakuoki Game Translation

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku - Conversation in the Rain v2 - Okita/Toudou/Kazama

translation is from Kyoka-Roku... I suppose I have to go beat one of the routes mentioned in this to finally unlock this content... 

Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku - Conversation in the Rain v2 - Okita/Toudou/Kazama

Translation by KumoriYami

Keiou, early summer——

After the rainy season, the present blowing winds in Kyoto also imbued with the moisture of the rainy season [check mtl.]

Strong winds not only ravaged the streets, and even the skies hadn't been spared.

Each time I looked up towards the sky, I could see that it had been painted with a new colour.

I don't know if it was because the sky was clear and cloudless this morning, but the sky had now become a sea of black clouds.

Seeing this situation, it was only a matter of time before it rained——

Yukimura:.....It's raining?

I was walking Okita-san and Heisuke-kun, on our way back from buying groceries.

As the rain began to fall, we hurriedly set out back towards headquarters——

Heisuke: Hey~ Souji——! Chizuru——!

Toudou: You [both] need to hurry! If we can't find somewhere to take shelter, we're going to get drenched!

Yukimura: Ah, yes! [check jp mtl]

Souji: Really. I undoubtedly reminded you to bring an umbrella before leaving headquarters.

Souji: It's all Heisuke's fault for saying that we should be able to rush back before it started to rain...

Toudou: I-It's all my fault, alright! The most important thing to do now is run quickly!

The amount of rain gradually increased, and the rain beat down on our faces and shoulders.

Speaking of which, I was obviously running very fast...

But looking at the two people who were barely panting as they ran and talked, I could feel the gap between their physical strength and mine.

After——

Yukimura: Ah...!

I pointed toward the tree that happened to come into view and spoke breathlessly.

Yukimura: Ok-Okita-san, Heisuke-kun, if we run beneath that tree...

In the place where I pointed out, there was a towering tree with lush branches.

When the two of them saw it, they understood what I meant, and lightly nodded their heads.

Souji: Nn, if we go over there, we should be able to shelter from the rain.

Toudou: From when it started raining, we've been running, so it's likely that Chizuru's strength has reached its limit:

Toudou: Then let's go under that tree and hide from the rain for a while!

Toudou: Fu.... We're just in time to hide away before it starts pouring [reword later].

Souji: Is everything okay, Chizuru-chan? You look like you're out of breath.

Yukimura: It, it's okay... sorry, it's my fault...

Toudou: No no, we're also tired of running, and we found this place to rest just in time. Right, Souji?

Souji: No. I don't need to rest.

Toudou: Hey, I'm telling you... at a time like this, you're supposed to lie and say that you're tired!

Souji: Eh, you really want me to lie.

Toudou: Tsk...

As I listened to two o them bicker, I finally managed to adjust my breathing.

In the meanwhile, the rainfall became heavier and heavier, and in an instant, puddle after puddle formed on the ground.

Toudou: But we really have some bad luck/out of luck. It's just after we leave that we got this heavy rain.

Souji: Yeah. Although we found a place to take shelter from the rain... the rain however is really pouring, and we can't move.  

Yukimura: Yes...

As we looked up toward the sky, and only saw that the skies were grey.

We all sighed in unison as we avoided the rain that had been brought by the occasional blowing winds.

Yukimura: Yesterday, and the day before yesterday, it was also raining... It's been raining a lot lately.

Souji: It's called the rainy season because there's a lot of rain. But I still think that it's raining too much.

Toudou: This season is really unpleasant. The weather's so humid that I can't go outside.

Apart from our conversation, the only things that could be heard were the sound of raindrops pattering on the leaves.

As we observed the scenery from the rainy season, we chatted away [check jp mtl].

Our casual chatting likely lasted half an hour.

When Okita-san suddenly sighed as he looked up towards the sky, our conversation was suddenly interrupted.

Souji:...The rain hasn't let up at all. In this case, there's no point in continuing to avoid the rain in this situation.

Toudou: Oh.... then, that's it! If someone passes by this way later...

Souji: To rob them and snatch away their umbrella? Heisuke, your tastes are too heavy.

Heisuke: No/It's not like that! I just wanted I would just want them to stop and let us go beneath their umbrella [check jp mtl]!

Yukimura: With the three of us together...?

Souji: That sort of thing is completely impossible if you think so [check jp mtl. 80% sure this is wrong].

Souji: Besides, who knows if anyone will come by.

Toudou: Sigh... Th-Then what other solution do you suggest?

Heisuke-kun furrowed his eyebrows as he directed the question to us.

At this time, we should——

Select:

[Wait until the rain stops]

[run back/return]

[Find an umbrella]

#hakuoki #hakuouki #Hakuoki Kyoka-Roku #hakuoki game translation #Okita Souji #Toudou Heisuke #Yukimura Chizuru

[salty-hakuouki]

Hi! I recently got into the Hakuouki fandom and I really appreciate you taking time to translate the game for us who can't play it. Thank you!

How is your cat Hillys? I hope she'll recover soon ♡

Anyway, I've been meaning to ask if you know where is this CG from and what's the context? We all know Harada is the short tempered one, but it seems weird to me that he's acting like this towards Chizuru

Hello ! Thank you for your concern for Hillys. She is still very ill from her eye but she is seeing a specialist. She’s been suffering from an agressive bacteria in her left eye since October 17th that is dissolving her cornea. The bacteria is now eradicated but the reconstruction process takes time. She might stay blind from one eye, which will stay blurry and white if it’s too destroyed to heal completely. Her next appointment is December 26th with a vision test so we’ll know then.

Here is a pic of Hillys with her eyes before she got ill. She’s 11 years old and a beautiful lady who loves when I make her some salmon soup with my leftovers.

About the Harada CG, you’re in luck!

This CG is coming from Ginsei no Shou and is gonna be part of the route translated and posted on YouTube next !

For now, only chapter 1 of this route is posted on my channel :

And a Bonus chapter from Tsukikage no Shou :

But your CG will be posted pretty soon so Stay Tuned !

#hakuouki #hakuoki #薄桜鬼 #otome game #乙女ゲーム #hakuouki translation #haku trans #hakuoki trans #hakuouki trans #hakuoki translation #harada sanosuke #hakuoki harada #hakuouki harada

[lillartztranslations]

It took a long time but it's finally here! You can now 'play' chapter 1 of Hakuoki Tenun no Shou and explore Okita's, Iba's (sadly not finished jet...), and the common route. I hope you guys enjoy it. (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

#hakuoki Tenun no Shou #hakuoki #fan translation #translation #otome game #otome #Souji Okita #Hachirou Iba

[stars-and-clouds]

How to Play Hakuoki SSL on PC

I didn’t find a straightforward guide how to play Hakuouki SSL (modern day AU game with the shinsengumi) so, here is what I did:

I: Things to download:-

1. Download the emulator. I used Vita3k.

2. Download the english translation patch.

3. Download the game. In case the webiste is not working, here is the dropbox link for a copy of the pkg file.

II. Installation:-

1. Emulator:

The emulator should be easy to set up.

Simply follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure to download and install the files it asks you to.

2. Game

1. Click File > Install .pkg on the emulator.

2. Select the game file from step I.3. Let it complete its installation as per usual.

3. It will ask for a zRIF code which is this:

KO5ifR1dQ+d7BQDtN4TaYmRpDrLf083D0TvUP9TbMzjYB2QGHnBtR+hBCb/2qy136y9KbI85PRrjgxsAAGWlFesA

paste this in the box.

Game should be ready after this step!

3. Translation Patch

1. Extract the zip file of english patch.

2. In the folder, go to ‘HakuoGakuen.Otogelib.Hakuoki_SSL_English_Patch_v1.1\PCSG00297\data‘ and copy its contents. There should be two files- ‘GAME.cpk’ and ‘SYSTEM.cpk’

3. Now go to the game data folder location. you can do so by right clicking on the game in the homescreen on the emulator.

For me, it was here ‘C:\Users\AMY\AppData\Roaming\Vita3K\Vita3K\ux0\app\PCSG00297\data‘

4. Paste the two patch files into the data folder. Click ‘replace the files’.

Done! You should be able to play the game in english now.

Note 1: quicksaving was not working for me for some reason, so make sure to make regular manual saves!

Note 2: There are a series of mini games at the end of every route and since they use a randomiser, they are not translated. It is recommended to play Okita's route first for this reason as his games are the easiest (apparently). I have never played it past the mini games on my Saito route and my sister didn't either past the Harada route. It's not undoable ofc, we just don't have the patience for it xD

Once you finish one ending, you can skip the last mini games in other routes.

Note 3: The keyboard controls I could discern so far were:

c- enter

x- back

v- menu

arrow keys to move around the menu

q- quick save

p- emulator menu screen

#hakuoki #kazama #hakuouki #hakuoki edo blossoms #hakuoki kyoto winds #hijikata #iba #saito #okita #nagakura #todou #sanan #hakuoki SSL #hakuouki SSL #psvita #otome #game guide #harada #hakuoki SSL how to play #guide #psvita port #otome game guide #anime #is this illegal lmao

[fierce-little-miana]

may i ask you what u mean when you say that kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru? do you mean by not telling her of her true nature or something else? love your souji route commentary btw!!❤️

Hello anon,

I am glad your like my commentaries on Souji's route. I like making them too so at least two of us are having a nice time with them.

It is true that I must have said 3 or 4 times now that for me Kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru while raising her, without ever explaining what exactly I was referring to. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about this.

(However, please be aware that I haven't play the game in its entirety yet and I am playing Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi which is a ten-years-old game and far from the newest iteration that might explore the subject a bit more. So this is informed by the anime, the movies and the part of the game I have played as of today. Plus by some of the discussions I have seen in the fandom.)

Also, I am so very sorry for the long post.

When I say Kodo emotionally isolated Chizuru am I referring to him lying to her about who she is or to something else? The answer is both, or rather I think the lying and other things were tools he used to isolate her (emotionally and also physically to an extent) in order to control her easily.

First the lying. Kodo lied to Chizuru, and he lied to her constantly including on things that cannot be reframed as a safety issue for her. Let's list the extent of his lies:

Not telling Chizuru she is an oni: This could potentially be reframed as a way to protect her from a world that would hunt her down. However, Chizuru still knows she is not like other people because of her healing. She has to hide it from ´outside’ people. This means Kodo only gave her half of the truth so she can't have a full picture of herself while also being convinced the only person she can trust entirely is him.

Not telling Chizuru she is not his biological daughter: Kodo is not Chizuru's biological dad. Biologically I am not even sure who Kodo is supposed to be for her. He is part of the Yukimura clan but he is not a pure blood oni. This means that the closest he could be to her is her uncle as the half-brother of one her parents. In the movies Kaoru calls him "Kodo-ojisan" (meaning uncle Kodo) but in Japanese as a younger person you can call middle-aged man ojisan as a mark of respect that is less formal than san (Mister/Sir). The official French subtitles translate this as "M'sieur Kodo", an informal version of Mister Kodo. In the game I am pretty sure Kaoru only calls him "Kodo-san". Which would mean that Kodo is not extremely closely related to the Yukimura twins (personally in my fic I made him the (half-)uncle of their mother who was born only a few years before her so they were raised as siblings more than uncle-niece, which meant that while Kodo is Chizuru's great-uncle he actually served as an uncle figure, I love family drama and complicated family tree). What does any of this matter? Well this lie does not serve any safety or cultural properness purpose. Adoption was extremely common in Japan at the time. Kondo Isami was adopted, Inoue (Okita) Rintaro (Okita Souji's brother-in-law) was adopted by the Okita family, Ito Kashitaro was adopted, Iemochi the Shogun at the beginning of the Hakuouki game was adopted, twice!, apparently Okita Mitsu was adopted by the Kondo family too so she could marry Inoue (now Okita) Rintaro... It would not have been shocking for Kodo to present himself as Chizuru adoptive father. What he actually is, btw. Yet he preferred to lie to her and say that he is her father, period.

Not telling her she ever had a sibling: as a follow-up to lying to her about being her bio dad, Kodo never mentioned to Chizuru that she had a brother. Reminder that Chizuru was 7 when her village was destroyed which meant she could have memories of her previous life (I can't remember if this is a popular headcanon or something backed by canon but it was Kodo who altered her memory right?). Hypothetically Kodo could have told her she had a brother (without mentioning the twin thing considering the negative superstitions surrounding them) adding that he died/disappeared. This could have match with snippets of memory she might have. It might also have salvaged Kaoru and Chizuru's relationship if they ever met again (something I believe Kodo was planning) because I personally thing that what definitely broke Kaoru was his sister not recognizing nor remembering him at all.

All of this accumulate to create a picture of "it was always just me and my dad and no one else" (why would she ever think she might need anyone else?) and "my father is the only person I can really trust". This is plain bad for Chizuru's development as a person and an absolute lie.

To this, one must add other ways Kodo used to make Chizuru dependent on him alone:

While Chizuru is well-educated and has attended a dojo for a short while, she has no (let alone close) friend. She never mentioned anyone back in Edo. I know some of this come from otome protagonists being some sort of a blank page so you can project on them but if we compare her to Hoshino Ichika for exemple (from Collar x Malice), Ichika does have friends and relations outside of the main cast that date back before the plot kicks in. Chizuru does not, besides Kodo.

The inclusion of Iba Hachiro in the new games might mitigate that but from my understanding Kodo did put some distance between the two at some point.

Chizuru had no prospect of her own, no goal with her future life despite being on the brink of adult life. Was the plan for her to live with her father forever?

While Kodo seems to be well-integrated in the medical/scientific community, no one seems to really care about Chizuru. No one seemed to have actually looked for her after she disappeared from the family home and went missing. Chizuru was 16 when she left Edo! She must have more or less run her father's household (which must have make her interact with people), maybe she helped him in the clinic and her father must have been a known figure in the neighborhood at least (as a doctor)... I understand that were more than troubled times but no one cared about the missing 16 years old girl they must have interacted with regularly? Really?

As a result we see a Chizuru that is an extremely strong-willed (she travelled alone from Edo to Kyoto by foot at sixteen years old disguising her gender in the middle of a deeply trouble political time! That takes guts!) and rather intelligent girl, yet she is also quite timid and does not seem to have a point of reference on how people should treat her.

The Shinsengumi kidnaps her and holds her captive for months for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and she is not deeply resentful to them? She thinks they are "nice men" deep down?

It takes her being physically put in danger in the place she is forced to live in to go:

???

She has no basis for what a sane relationship with someone should look like. She take being controlled as normal. Ironically, it is with the political militia who kidnapped her that she starts learning how to interact relatively normally with people. Because for what I think is the first time in her life since Kodo adopted her, she is allowed to interact with a multitude of people who have different opinion and act as if disagreeing with each other from time to time is normal (which it is). Hijikata gave the order for her to stay in her room? Well it is stupid order and we are not following it. Etc etc.

My thoughts about Kodo's behavior is that he raised Chizuru so she would be able to nominally be the head of Yukimura clan and his future oni/rasetsu kingdom (giving her Shotsuren, making sure she is passable with it, making sure she is educated, etc.) while making sure she could never really escape his clutches and would never even think about trying to do so.

#hakuouki #hakuoki #yukimura chizuru #yukimura kodo #anon ask #also thanks to this post I realized that is the slowest playthrough of the history of playthrough #sorry everyone

[mythicamagic]

Otomes I played in 2022

I thought I'd do some quickie reviews of otomes I've played recently such as: Hakuoki, Cupid Parasite, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, Sweet Fuse, Taisho Alice, Variable Barricade, Theory of Fear, Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB, Birushana, Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku.

Whew, I played more than I thought XD remember all this ranting is just my personal opinion.

Aight so Hakuoki:

For the most part I didn't mesh well with this one. The months in game felt pretty drawn out and slow-paced, and I didn't latch onto any of the characters except for the demons. I'm not entirely sure why. I think I just didn't feel like mc belonged there- and that she was way more invested in the Shinsengumi than they were bothered about her. I did enjoy seeing some historical events play out in Hijikata's route, and I liked seeing Kazama show up to wreck shit. Kazama was great, Kazama gave me a few months of brain rot. I did LOVE the music in this game though, dayme it was beautiful, and it goes without saying but the art style of the CGs were gorgeous. I'm glad I played this one because it's seen as a classic but I didn't personally get the hype sadly. I actually watched a playthrough of a fan-translated spin-off game (SSL) and actually PREFERRED it, despite it being just a comedy game. Whats wrong with me?

Best boy: Kazama

Cupid Parasite

I remember having mixed feelings about this one, it was a mixed bag. Pretty ok! I really liked Allan's route and the voice acting was solid. Art style was interesting but it hurt my eyes after a while XD I think for me I just didn't find much of a 'replayability' factor. I enjoyed it fine, but it won't stay with me as one of the special otomes I love, capisce? I just couldn't stand Gil or Ryuki. Raul was fine and Shelby was fine, so overall it was just 'ok' for me.

Best boy: Allan. Really enjoyed Jupiters voice acting tho (from Yangs VA hehe)

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

I remember while playing this game my friend hated its art style but man I LOVED playing this one. It felt really unique in terms of atmosphere, with mystery/suspense elements. It took me back to the earlier days of visual novels because I didn't look up a walkthrough for a bunch of this and it led to a lot of frustration and dead ends, but even that was kind of fun to figure out. Loved its twists and turns and bittersweet moments. I also loved having a voiced heroine with Beniyuri (which was one of my first experiences with the feature) and wish more heroines were voiced. Also this one had a BANGING OP, whooo! Reminded me of early 2000's nostalgia cheese, love it.

Best boy: Hikage and Yamato

Sweet Fuse: At your side

Hi um WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THIS OTOME? Yeah I think its a bit of a lost gem but if you have a PS Vita, I totally rec buying this one. It's such a fun ride, and with a great MC to boot. The Love interests in this game were all very unusual and not typical otome pretty boyz but I really enjoyed the way they were written. The groups chemistry was great as well. The age gap thing might bother some people though so keep that in mind before playing. Anyway, the setting and plot reminded me a little of Danganronpa 2 and I had a real fun time with it.

Best boy: Mitarashi

Taisho x Alice

Hooo boy people were excited for this on the otome subreddit. I sat down to try it and...

Well, I didnt think it was possible for an MC to ruin my game experience but here we are. I couldn't stand this game's heroine. Yes I understand why she was written that way, yes I enjoyed some of the guys and the end reveal was unique and impressive- but was it worth suffering through Yurika? Mn...possibly not. She seems to be somewhat divisive though and if you can stomach her 'memeing' and 'I'm not like OTHER GURLS' energy as she twirls, winks with both eyes and shouts to the world that she's SOOOO Quirky guyz- maybe you'll like this game. Thing is, even putting all...that, aside, I didn't like her attitude with Red by invading his personal space, and a certain thing she did in the last route made me incredibly uncomfortable but of course it was brushed aside bc she's the HEROINE GUYS.

Best boy: Ryoushi and lil gremlin man Alice- actually while I'm here, if you can stomach the MC, Alice's VA had probably the best performance I've heard in an otome. He was hilarious- and had super great range

Variable Barricade

Boy I was super hyped for this one, it was probably my most anticipated game of the year. Great art style, great common route, great voice acting...and then the routes went on. I've noticed people seem to share the same sentiment that they usually enjoy the boys routes but then shit hits the fan and the boy is insensitive, the main heroine is too harsh or dumb- the boy LEAVES, the guy is manipulative- point is, something sours the routes and they're hard to recover from. I really liked Hibari as a heroine at first but as the routes went on I was actively wanting her to NOT be in a relationship, as she demonstrated time and again that she just wasn't ready for one. I ended up selling this game as soon as I was done with it, which I feel sad about, because I really wanted to like VB.

Best boy: Taiga

Theory of Fear

I don't know why I played this game. XD I actually played a couple of 'indie' otomes like Trapped with Jester, Blooming Panic and Boyfriend to Death (the latter I wouldn't uh...call an otome...plus it awakened unpleasant revelations that I might be into some disturbing tropes so THANKS for that game. Never have I been more uncomfortable with being asked if I'd prefer a Hammer or Drill)

Anywho, Theory of Fear isn't discussed much. It's this awkward lil game with Russian voice acting you can find on Steam. Very 'this is someone's first fanfic' vibes, rife with sexual assault around every corner. Every time Yuki showed up I was like - oh boy here we go again. I found Sadaos route quite interesting in some ways though due to his way of 'fear exposure' and quite literally exposing the mc to her worst fears and mingling that with pleasure. I dunno, a twisted concept that made my brain itch in a good way. The game is bad no doubt about it and I don't rec it but I at least took something away from it. I really enjoyed Blooming Panic though and would totally rec that any day.

Best boy: Sadao- look don't you JUDGE ME

Diabolik Lovers HDB and MB

In keeping with this trend of dark romance stuff that shouldn't make my brain go brrr but does is Diabolik Lovers. It's not English Translated but with the first two games in the series now on Switch, I used fan translations to play through the games and had a grand ole time. This franchise is only for people who like trash men ok. These boys are awful in every way and quite frankly you can't defend any of their abuse or actions BUT... it's fiction. And if you enjoy your fav VAs whispering degrading things in your ear, moaning and blood-sucking noises (wear headphones for these games oml) then you'll lurve this series like I do. I found myself enjoying Reiji more than I thought I would and Shuu a little less than anticipated, considering I used to love him in my earlier fandom days. Subaru remains the undisputed champ though.

Best boy: Subaru

Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei

This game was aight! Better than Hakuoki in my opinion but I know people will come for my head by saying that lmao. It wasn't a perfect game and holy hell did some battles drag on (hi Benkais route) but it really introduced some unique elements plus the best Rivals/ Enemies to lovers trope I've seen so far in otome with Noritsunes route. I recommend this game just for his route, to be honest. I thought Tomomori would be my favourite but he fell a little short for me.

Best boy: Noritsune and Shigehira

Ongoing- Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku

I haven't finished all the routes in these mobile game otomes but yup they're my latest addiction. I'm obsessed.

I think Ikesen is my favourite of the three (I'm not touching Ikerev sorry) because of its writing being stronger in terms of just how fun and lively the world feels. Mc helps in a big way with that, and her chemistry with most of the guys is great to witness. Ikesen's menu layout is defo the worst though and could do with an update.

Ikevamp is aight, I didn't enjoy Comtes route like I thought I would and Leo made me sad but I'm loving Arthurs route, what a good boy. I have no gripes with the layout and the music is cute. I've spent the least amount of money on Ikevamp but still had a great time, which I feel is important if you want to be a free to play player. Also Faust route localisation WHEN?!

Ikepri's layout is the best no contest, everything looks super clean and stylish and the gacha systems are dangerous bc holy hell the cards look so good and pretty. Ikepri has hurt my wallet the most though and I defo feel the most pushed out of all of them to spend money. I think the writing is fine for Ikepri but oddly I enjoy the Events more the Routes themselves?? anyone else feel that way? I like it though, I just need to be stricter on myself not to get sucked into gambling because of it loll

Best girl and light of my life: Ikesen's MC Mai Mizusaki.

Best ikevamp boy: Faust

Ikesen: Mitsuhide or Motonari

Ikepri: Chevalier

#Otome games #otome review #ikesen #ikevamp #ikepri #diabolik lovers #sorry for the rant people

[otome-asylum]

Piofiore: Fated Memories Review

Preface: More detailed, character-specific posts are to follow (excluding the Finale and Henri routes), but here are my thoughts about the game over all.

Piofiore: Fated Memories is an Otomate game from Idea Factory, localized by Aksys Games for the Nintendo Switch.

Overall Score: 8/10. I really liked the game in general, romanticized mafia is super fun! I loved the mafia premise and the thrill of illicit activities, haha. The love interests and side characters were excellent, too. The voice acting is fabulous! Two of my favorite VAs voice love interests: Showtaro Morikubo as Gilbert Redford (also voices Souji Okita in Hakuoki and Impey Barbicane in Code Realize) and Ryohei Kimura as Nicola Francesca (voices Kageyuki Shiriashi from Collar x Malice). Even fell in love with the voice acting of a new guy--Nobuhiko Okamoto as Yang (also does a side character's voice in Collar x Malice).

What I was not expecting was the somewhat heavy emphasis on Christianity and religion. That makes it sound a little more intense than I mean, but considering I wasn't expecting it at all, well. It wasn't the way one might expect, but it was enough that it was completely out of left field when I was expecting, you know, mafia. Honestly, had I known it wasn't just straight mafia, I might not have bought the game, but it was easy enough for me to ignore most of the time. There were some very--I mean very--minor translation issues, mainly typos, but it was good overall.

Heroine: 6/10. To start with, my opinion of the Heroine varied depending on the route. She was my favorite in Gilbert's route, and I liked her enough in Yang's, but she was kind of pitiful in the other three (not including the Finale/Henri endings; admittedly, I didn't read the Finale). Frankly, I found myself annoyed at her most of the time. It's annoying when a character that's meant to represent the reader, as a general rule, does, says, and thinks things that I never would. She has decent points at least once in most of the routes, but especially in the beginning of each route, she's so naive it makes me want to throw up. There are in-game reasons for why this is, so I understand it, but I still dislike it.

By the end of each route, she comes to terms with the fact that she's fallen in love with an incredibly dangerous man and gets over the fact that she's inadvertently complicit in organized crime, but the road to this acceptance long and annoying. At the end of it all, she's still a bleeding heart. Not that I really thought that would change, but still. Progress.

I'm just bored to death of many otome MCs' main (and often only) strength being strength of will and/or character. Mental and emotional toughness are good, but could the MC also be useful and have more interesting qualities? Just once, I'd love to play a badass MC, who's a bit hardened, not a bleeding heart, and isn't shocked by the sight of blood... Yeesh...

Narrative: As it typical of these console games, the plot caries slightly from route to route, though there is an overarching plot. Without giving too much away, MC is Special™, and that comes out/is relevant in only 3/6 routes. All of the routes were well written, though I didn't find all of them that interesting. The overarching plot bored me to tears. I just wasn't into it. In a world of what I assumed was just your standard period mafia piece, there was a lot of weird mysticism and Christian mythology. There's not magic or anything like that, but there are sacred relics that can only be retrieved from their super secret locations with specific "ingredients," if you will. MC has one of those ingredients, and in a game where it really advertises the mafia (that's literal the entire pitch of the game, there's no mention of anything else on the game case), it feels very out of place.

I can tell they were trying to do something different with the mafia premise, and I commend the writers for that, but I think it fell a little flat. I found myself enjoying the routes where there was more of those organized crime attributes--smuggling, drug and arms dealing, counterfeiting, etc.--most, while the routes that heavily focused on MC's specialness were a slog to get through. Of course, this is my own personal opinion, so others may feel very differently. Despite that, I truly enjoyed the game and can't wait to play the sequel!

Love Interests: I adore these characters, period. They're all very unique and interesting, even if a few weren't my type. There are technically six love interests: Nicola Francesca, Dante Falzone, Yang, Gilbert Redford, Orlok, and Henri. Gilbert is locked until you completed Nicola, Yang, Dante, and Orlok's routes, and the Finale/Henri is locked until you complete Gil's. You don't get a feel for who Henri is at all until you play the Finale route, so I personally didn't care for him. I had no vested interest in him, so full disclosure, I mostly skipped his route...

The other characters were wonderfully varied, so I think there's a personality type to suit nearly everyone. I can honestly say that, although not all of them are for me, I can pick out a quality I like in all of them. Dante is the kuudere of the guys; Gilbert is gallant and chivalrous; Yang is selfish and craves violence (in the best way, though); Nicola is a flirt; and Orlok is the quiet, shy one. Henri is mysterious, though not in an interesting way for me, personally.

Game Mechanics: The "Status" page is difficult to understand, especially when you first start playing and have no idea what you're looking at. I had to look up how to interpret the status of the character. The more colorful the flower on the status page is, the higher the affection, and the clearer the page (in this case, how much blood spatter is visible) is related to the tolerance level. So, full-color flower and no blood spatters are very good.

I also don't love the Meanwhile side stories. While you're plaything through every story, periodically you'll get a pop-up that is sometimes automatic, sometimes optional, that takes you to a different perspective--something that's going on at the same time as the main story. I like the idea in theory, but it sometimes felt like they came at inopportune times and broke the story flow.

Music & Art Style: The music is jaunty and fun, very 1920s jazz, screams mafia, too. If that makes sense. If you decide to play it, you'll see what I mean. The art style is beautiful! It looks very similar to, if not outright the same as, Hakuoki: Tales of the Shinsengumi/Kyoto Winds/Edo Blossoms. Since that's the game that started my love affair with these types of games, I love that it looks so similar. The CGs are gorgeous and worth collecting all of them, so 100-percenting the game is worth it. Some of them get pretty hot, too, like aaahhhhh. So 10/10 on the art!

#Piofiore: Fated Memories #otome games #otomate #aksys games #idea factory #english otome #review #dating sims #romance #visual romance

[lessapander]

Sitting here looking through otome fanart and thinking happy thoughts. Realised I actually really like all of the pairings in Hakuoki with Chizuru and don't have a particular dislike among them (except that Sannan and Yamazaki's stories didn't feel quite as fleshed out as they could've been; the actual interactions and dynamics of their stories were fine). This is unusual, because there's usually at least one LI that I'm kind of lukewarm about or actively dislike in the games I've played so far (Gill in Cupid Parasite, Frankenstein in Code:Realize, Ines in Steam Prison, to name a few).

I'm wondering if this is a bias based on Hakuoki having been my First Real Otome game (that is, not a poorly translated and chopped up mobile localisation) or something like that, actually. Or if the storytelling was just that good for the series? There's nobody in the cast of LI's that in particular makes me feel confused, angry or annoyed that they end up with Chizuru. They all somehow fit by the end of the route, and they all have at least one scene that really touched me on some level.

#lessa musings #otome games #hakuoki

[kurayami-no-ko]

Translation of Sannan’s sample voicelines from Manyou no Sho

I am kinda hyped for Manyou no Sho for extra Sannan content so I will translate his three sample voice lines here. They might be incorrect though as I don’t have the text or the context.

Here is the link for the audio:

https://www.otomate.jp/hakuoki/shinkai/manyou/chara/?page=sannan

These are the translations for all of the Sannan’s sample voice lines.

First sample: Oh, it seems like you remember my face. That is such an honour.

Second sample: Oh my, I thought you would be suggesting something decent. (Kinda confused what he means without the context.)

Third sample: Because at some point, you will definitely be able to return to Edo. Correction, I will return you to Edo.

My thought: I feel like his first voice line sounds really sarcastic, the second voice line sounds kinda frustrated so he is definitely not happy with what the speaker is saying. And in the last sample voice line, he is basically trying to get Chizuru to go back to Edo and leave the Shinsengumi. So, I assume the voice lines are not representing the most romantic section of the game lol.

#Hakuouki #sannan keisuke #Manyou no Sho

[leedonghae1986takecaerefl-blog]

[Charade Maniacs] Contacting IFI Regarding Translation Issues

Hi everyone!

I’ve been playing Charade Maniacs since its release and I’ve noticed that the translation is unnatural with stiff prose and incorrect verb tenses/word usage. To be honest, the translation reads as if it’s an edited MTL. The problem is with the translation itself rather than only with quality control. I’ve emailed IFI and tweeted to them about the issues and asked them to consider releasing a patch, which I understand may be hard for them to do since they would basically have to redo the translation. However, in its current state, the translation is very awkward and often doesn’t make sense. The game is priced at $49.99 USD but honestly, the quality of the translation doesn’t justify that price.

IFI informed me that they will look into the situation. But it would be great if the otome gaming community could come together to raise their voices regarding this issue in a polite and professional manner. If possible, I encourage you all to email IFI or send them tweets in order to convince them to patch the game and improve the translation quality of their future otome game releases. After all, this isn’t the first time IFI has released otome games of subpar localization quality (eg Hakuoki, Cupid Parasite, Birushana). Since they patched Cupid Parasite in the past, I hope they might be willing to do the same for Charade Maniacs if there is enough voiced disappointment. 

I have posted some examples of the translation issues at hand. There may be spoilers in the screenshots.

If you’d like to email IFI, their email address is [email protected].

Thank you for reading 🙏

#charade maniacs #otome game #otomate #idea factory #otome armada #video games #visual novel #otome fandom #otome games #otome

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Drama CD - Shimabara Disturbance Track 6 Translation

Well, this is the last track of the second drama I really wanted to have translated... which I honestly did first and finished back in May 2020. Lol. I did this one first since the tl I had was missing the cast comments but then someone uploaded it so i was able to finish this completely... 

Anyway, here’s the conclusion!

Hakuoki Drama CD - Shimabara Disturbance Track 6 - Chizuru’s Misunderstanding

translation by KumoriYami

Saito: Yukimura? Were you looking for me? What for? Did something happen?

Saito: Thanks for what happened a few days ago? What do you mean by that?

Saito: Ah! What happened a few days ago was indeed something I proposed....  W-Why do you know about this?

Saito: You saw Osen...?

Saito: Ah... you don't need to say thanks... I didn't do anything of importance.  

Saito: Ha? Wait, Yukimura. What are you saying?

Saito: The next time there's an operation for sneaking into Shimabara...

Saito: Ah! No, there's no need! The other day wasn't a rehearsal/precursor for you to sneak into Shimabara again! That... then because you'll get to wear a beautiful kimono, you'll be happy to do it...

(Chizuru runs away.... [err.... takes off])

Saito: Ah, wait! Yukimura!

(Chizuru exits)

Saito: Ah... why is there such a misunderstanding...? Although I didn't tell her the real reason for this...

(Footsteps)

Toudou: ah! Hajime-kun, back from patrol?

Saito:....Yeah....

Toudou: What's wrong? Your expression looks very complicated...

Saito: Mm....it's nothing....

Toudou: When I chatted with Chizuru just now, she seemed very happy... Did something happen with Hajime-kun?

Saito: I haven't done anything... Yukimura, she was happy?

Toudou: Yeah! She sad "I'm happy that there's something I can do".

Saito: Is that...so?

Toudou: What is it? Is there something you're not telling me?

Saito: (The purpose of this was to make her feel happy, but even if the results weren't as intended, wasn't the original objective achieved?)

Toudou: Hajime-kun?

Saito: (But, even if she's happy to have something to do, I don't want her carrying out an infiltration mission again. But, if she's full of enthusiasm to do so, would it be better to let her sneak in again?)

Saito: ：(No, wouldn't that be decided by the vice-commander?)

Toudou: Oi~! Hajime-kun?

Saito: (Compared to that though, wouldn't she be happier if she could wear a nice kimono? As expected, I should directly ask her.)

Toudou: Off in his own world... Hajime-kun must really be tired...

..............

Hijikata Toshizou, Miki Shin'ichirō This time was also very delightful, thank you for listening to this.

Okita Souji: Morikubo Shōtaro What happened after the Shimabara Incident, please look forward to it.  

Saito Hajime, Toriumi Kōsuke This time I had many lines, it would be great if everyone enjoyed this.

Toudou Heisuke, Yoshino Hiroyuki This time is funnier than usual, please enjoy this.

Harada Sanosuke Yusa Kōji Everyone worked hard, and there were a lot of important parts in this. I also had a great time.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Tsuboi Tomohiro Everyone worked hard, this was a heated and enjoyable job.

Kazama Chikage, Tsuda Kenjirō This is the sequel to the game's Shimabara Incident, what do you of it? Thank you very much.

Princess Sen, Ishikawa Ayano I'm very happy to appear on this drama cd, please call me next time. Thank you very much.

Officer/ Storekeeper, Fuse Masahide I had a great time, thank you very much.

--end---

this drama is about 50 min long... geez this is officially the second longest thing ive translated now. 

also, like Shinsengumi Oni-tan, the video for this drama will be uploaded to my other blog since uploading it to youtube will likely give me problems (when I get to subtitling this). 

#hakuoki #hakuouki #hakuoki drama cd #hakuoki drama translation

[salty-hakuouki]

Hakuouki Ten’un no Shou translation and playlist

I have finished the translation and upload of the Saito route of Ten’un no Shou. I put it in this playlist for those interested to see when it is chronologically with the other fandisks event. This playlist will also be updated with Manyou no Shou content when it’s released (and I decide to work on it.)

I feel like it’s more interesting to mix the games up and keep a clean timeline instead of watching all games individually.

Here are the CG’s you’ll find in the Ten’un route :

#hakuouki #hakuoki #薄桜鬼 #otome game #乙女ゲーム #saito hajime #hakuouki translation #hakuoki translation #haku trans #hakuouki trans #hakuoki trans #saitou hajime

[lillartztranslations]

Surprise! Here is another Hakuoki Reimeiroku side story, this time featuring Kazama! Enjoy(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

#fan translation #translation #otome #otome game #kazama chikage #Kazama #hakuoki reimeiroku #hakuoki

[camuslittlesister]

All the Okita in Otome, ranked. Or not.

I had a bit of a hiatus while dealing with real life and shit, but I finally got around to playing all the games I know have been translated into English. Here’s the ultimate ranking of all the variations of my otome husbando.

Destined to Love (Cybird)

Please please please can you pull this app and redo it as Ikémen Bakumatsu with Yamada doing the art? I cannot deal with Okita, Sōji Okita of the Shinsengumi, whose swordmanship is nothing short of legendary, looking like some edgy marshmallow. C’mon, guys. You’re taking all sorts of liberties with history already, why stop there and not make him look the part? Just make Hijikata even hotter, everything will be fine.

Era of Samurai: Code of Love (Voltage)

Still one of my favourites even after venturing into the realm of premium games, although he looks too much like Leon for my liking (I guess that’s what you get with Voltage and also a byproduct of my refusal to even contemplate ever liking that lion even though, like for Iori in SITS, I clearly do and I just refuse to admit it, although I did exactly that a moment ago). His modern AU stereotypical indie kid version is everything. It’s like they made him for me.

Hakuoki (Otomate/Idea Factory)

Why do I love this Morikubo-voiced jerk more than my actual life? I have many questions to ask of myself and I don't even know if I really want to know the answers, but I have spent about £50 so he can be on my wall alongside another less jerky Morikubo character in what is slowly and not deliberately turning into a shrine to the man himself since his characters dominate my merch purchases. (Author’s note: This post has been a cumulative draft over a year or so, and I wrote this pre-Piofiore. It’s only gone worse since)

Hakuoki Sweet School Life

The god of chaos and love of my life. That’s it.

The Amazing Shinsengumi

Side note, what is it with games making Harada the hot one? Also let me romance this Hijikata please and thank you.

He’s hella cute and double-faced, which I tend to like, but also he appears to go through every trope I don’t like in the span of a conversation. 6/10, although solid 10 for looks. In fact, make it 20/10. Top 3 for looks with Voltage and Hakuoki.

Ninja Shadow

I keep forgetting that I did play this Okita (and it was my first while at that...) but even with that dream ponytail it’s not the greatest version. He’s a jokester, which is fun, and he hides a big dollop of angst as it’s right and just, but he was a bit OTT with the humour and it’s a strange storyline that does him a disservice.

Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi

If he doesn’t threaten to kill you is he even Okita? I’m living for that one CG that looks like he is Kondō and Hijikata’s kid, but aside from it being probably the most historically accurate of the otome portrayals (at least in localised games) he started off a bit of a disappointment for the same reason as Destined to Love. He was also not helped by the fact that Shinpachi has a brain, Sakamoto and Yamazaki exist and (omg, can’t believe I’m saying this) Hijikata and that line about loving his woman in Sanan’s route. However, when actually playing his scenes etc, he grew on me. I would happily go raise cats and babies with him like I would with his Hakuoki and Era of Samurai incarnations.

Dateless Love

I have questions. Why is this version Iba’s lovechild with Saito?

Why is he like Gin in Ayakashi Gohan if he was a soldier? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a major sucker for lovely characters going full on deadly from a moment to the next, so I’m digging it, I’m just extremely disoriented because Voltage is my canon Okita personality (Hakuoki took that and turned it up a notch and ruined my life in the process) and every deviation I’m like “new number who dis?”

It took him 10 chapters to show a hint of the teasing we all know and love. TEN. Out of like 15. I have had three kids with Tokugawa by now (and I don’t even do blondes. Except Ayumu. And best boy. And omg I’m still in the Kiro phase but also could be a Helios phase soooo 🫣 okay, fine, I do blondes). It was really cute tho and I watched him die in the good ending which is a plus.

[meteormemoirs]

Look, I KNOW that the latest release of Hakuoki for the Switch is the same goddamn game they’ve been releasing for years now but with slightly more content, like always. I’ve even already read fan translations of the bits I’ve cared about. I just want it in English please I’m dying.

Anyway, I finally got such an otome jones that I started looking at Amazon reviews (bless the hardcore fans who leave them) and after passing on Café Enchanté because when I saw it in the Nintendo eShop it looked like very bland coffee shop/issekai fare, I see this review that’s like “be warned this game looks harmlessly cute but it gets surprisingly dark in places”

Me:

So I look up an otome review blog and it turns out there’s A MIDDLE AGED MAN AND his route features MY FAVORITE TROPE (I won’t spoil it but if you know me it’s easy to figure out)?!

Anyway I bought a used hard copy for cheap because the eShop never has sales and I stg localizers don’t even try anymore the English versions are always riddled with typos and if you think I’m paying $50 for that you’re joking. What really makes me sad is just looking at that blog for the review showed me dozens of interesting games that may never get localized.

#otome #hakuoki #visual novel woes #cafe enchante

[wangan]

Gonna be a petty bitch for a moment and just reiterate how much people don’t know how to fucking read. Yes this is about me scanlating.

I’m gonna be honest and say I only started scanlating Turnabout on a whim because I really was shocked by how bad the only translation available was and then realized how many people WANTED to read it, so I was like sure! I’ll do it. But in the end no one gives a shit? Which is fine too.

I didn’t start scanlating for clout cause normally all I do is post the translations in a private server I have with some friends and that’s the end of it. I just thought it’d be nice to give back to a community that I’m honestly not even a part of. I don’t do it to get THANK YOU! or attention. I just wanted people to read it? I was super excited to see SERRA of all people in Turnabout cause he’s REALLY FUNNY and just want to be able to talk to people about that stuff. I can’t even do that cause all the social media I have right now is literally just tumblr.

This is not my first scanlating project, I’ve been part of even fansubbing since 2012 when my Japanese was non-existent. I’ve had my subs ripped and reposted. At least people were SEEING it.

I get that the community might not be on tumblr, but I am seeing people LIKE posts without REBLOGGING them. Can you guys just use your brains for a moment. Even on twitter it’s like... barely existent. I just don’t understand? I’m not here to beg for notes or anything, but it’s the only indicator I have that people are still interested. I can’t even SEE the interactions on twitter because I’m NOT EVEN ON THE PLATFORM. It does NOTHING for me.

This is a completely different experience than when I was translating Hakuoki content. People are still THERE and CARE about the series, no matter how few, and I just wanted to repay them by using my skills. There are still people translating the most OBSCURE content or entire GAMES. A person who’s translating stuff kindly gave me their raws to work with. I was really happy.

But I don’t know man. Turnabout? That’s NOT obscure. It has an official translation. Has no one put scans up of the weirdly rare English translation? Am I not looking hard enough? I simply do not understand.

In the end all I was doing was looking for Turnabout raws because the tl was bad which also led me to look for YouthQuake raws because PLEASE DON’T GET ME STARTED ON HOW BAD THE TRANSLATION IS ON THAT ONE.

It’s really unfortunate but I don’t think I’ll be working on volume 2 any time soon, or at least probably not gonna be releasing that publicly. You’re going to have to be solving my riddles and getting out of my SAW traps before I even give you the first chapter. I kept my word and released one volume. That’s enough for now. Thanks for the support though. 

Maybe it is an ego thing. I don’t know. Just pretty dispirited about it! I just wanted to share something cool with other people... I seriously thought more than 5 people were interested.

Also please fucking remove the atrocious translations on mdex. I am fucking begging you.

#blog