Hakuōki (薄桜鬼 〜新選組奇譚〜 Hakuōki ~Shinsengumi Kitan~) is a video game series by Idea Factory, first designed for the PlayStation 2 and then later ported to PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS. It has been adapted into an anime series and animated by Studio DEEN. The first sries began airing in Japan on the TV Kanagawa and UHF stations on April 4, 2010. The second season began airing on October 10, 2010 and ended on December 12, 2010. The series has also been adapted as two different manga series. A third series based on the prequel, Hakuouki Reimeiroku aired in summer of 2012. Two new films are scheduled for 2013. The anime series has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America.

Overall Plot

Hakuouki ( pronounced Haku-Oki ) starts with our heroine Yukimura Chizuru who has come to Kyoto looking for her father, a doctor who has gone missing. While there, she witnesses a fight between the Shinsengumi and a group of white-haired, non-human creatures called Rasetsu. The Shinsengumi take Chizuru into custody and debate what to do with her until they discover that her father is the man they have been looking for as well. Chizuru joins the group in their search for the missing doctor, cooking for them and attending to them. A bond slowly grows between the captains of the Shinsengumi and Yukimura Chizuru. Throughout the series they face many Rasetsu and find that Chizuru's father has a darker purpose than she could have imagined. They also face oni, pure-blooded demons, who ridicule the Rasetsu for being crude imitations of themselves; Are the oni with or against the Shinsengumi? Will they work together, or will their differing values become apparent enough to spark bitter warfare during an already turbulent political period in Japan?