Idea Factory has released a large new batch of screenshots showing off two characters in Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms. The romantic visual novel is coming to the PlayStation Vita on March 13th in North America and on March 16th in Europe. It supports PlayStation TV and will be available in both physical and digital formats. Physical copies come with a reversible cover sleeve with beautiful art on the back.
This latest screenshot dump focuses on two characters. They are Hajime Saito, the quiet lone wolf, and the reserved and logical Keisuke Sanan. Hajime Saito is the captain of Shinsengumi’s 3rd Division and a man who is not big on conversation. In spite of being mocked for being left handed since it was considered a disadvantage, he went on to become a master in the sword style “iai.”
On the other hand, Keisuke Sanan is formerly a Sendai doman warrior and now the Shinsengumi colonel. Wracked by guilt over what he did to the Fury Corps., he is now obsessed with finding an antidote for the Water of Life. He is isolated and can only move by the darkness of night. He eventually overcomes his guilt and accepts himself to be a Fury.
Idea Factory’s Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms press release today also included the following sinopsis of the story:
Chizuru Yukimura travels from Edo to Kyoto in hopes of searching for her father who had mysteriously vanished. Along the way, she encountered the Shinsengumi, and spent the next four years working with them to locate her father. In 1868, the final year of the Bakumatsu Period, the Shinsengumi, with Chizuru at their side, took part in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi to decide the future of the Tokugawa Shogunate against the rising tide of Imperial Nationalism. Unfortunately, defeat for the Shinsengumi came swiftly at the hands of the Imperial Army, and they retreated back to Edo in shame.
It was a bittersweet homecoming for both Chizuru and the warriors of the Shinsengumi, as the city of Edo resembled very little of its former self, engulfed by the harrowing winds of change that were sweeping through the country. As the Shinsengumi’s survival came under threat, they were faced with a choice: discard their principles, or give up their lives. Some of them had no such choice, and they cloaked themselves in darkness to protect the Shinsengumi’s greatest secret: the Furies.
This is a story about a girl who allies with the warriors of the Shinsengumi, who are struggling to uphold their faith in an era of rapid social change in Japan, and the fate of those who sought to resist that change…
