Playing Hanachirasu ~ Somebody Hug Me =,(

JAST Games Game Discussions
#1

I just finished another chapter of Hanachirasu. I will avoid spoilers, except the ones you can deduce from my mood. I can't say whether you should, or shouldn't read this topic to making deductions and effectively spoiling yourself. I'd rather tell you, if you're worried of such things, just go play this game right now.

Context:

Hanachirasu was a random buy for me. I wanted a game that wouldn't be so full of sex as my other collection, so I could play it openly on my laptop while people are around. I also wanted to provide some coverage on my blog for a new JAST USA release. This game was within my acceptable price range, so I picked it up in a bundle.

Analysis:

The ride so far has been... awesome, but also the definition of depressing. I don't mean that the story is always grimdark, offering no glimmers of hope, but because the characters, despite being strongly modeled caricatures, are so very human. It creates this horrible contrast to learn to like someone, then watch their fate unfold. What I think makes these plot turns particularly emotionally grueling is that these fates are personal. You see this character, their little traits and hangups, and what happens to them is like a continuation of who they are. Of course, this is basically just classic drama, and even the ancient Athenian playwrights wrote theater like this.

About violence:

Violence is an odd trope. Depending on the type of plate you serve it, you can either be entertained, or harrowed by it. The old Tom and Jerry cartoons had funny violence. Jackie Chan movies are happily violent - I mean, comedic. And then there's Quentin Tarantino with his Hostel, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, etc. I've always avoided harrowing violence. I have a particular problem with fiction depicting torture, as due to my perhaps higher-than-average capacity for empathy, I'm actually capable of imagining people's pain... in detail. When I watch a character in their dying straits, I literally feel what they feel, ie. my breathing grows faint, I start thinking of my loved ones, reflect on my life, etc.

The way this story is headed, I can see myself crying my eyes out by the end of it. I hope I will cry. The feelings I have bottled up now, due to the brutal reality of this fictional Tokyo, are already messing up my sleep. I hope there's catharsis at the end, a release from pity and anxiety, like in all the best Athenian plays.

#2

Did they release this and I didn't even realize it? Welp.

#3

Lol, yeah they did. If you follow JAST USA twitter or their Tumblr, they changed their backgrounds and avatars to promote the game. :slight_smile:

#4

OtakuApologist wrote:


The ride so far has been... awesome, but also the definition of depressing. I don't mean that the story is always grimdark, offering no glimmers of hope, but because the characters, despite being strongly modeled caricatures, are so very human. It creates this horrible contrast to learn to like someone, then watch their fate unfold.


I'm still waiting for mine to arrive. It's well know that I like stories where hearts are broken and people die, so I guess I'll have a good old time with this game.

#5

Their email notifications aren’t going out properly. I had to file a ticket to get them to tell me “your game already shipped” and they didn’t even respond yet to my followup asking “great, what’s the tracking number”.

But yes, it looks like they actually met the release date for the game. Bravo Jast USA!

#6

@Nandemonoi: Yeah, it’s broken, I had the same issue. I think they sent the codes via e-mail on the same day, though.

I’m at the final chapter I think. I’m now at the point where listening to the songs makes me cry. Listening to Thunder King literally made me weep last night. 0_o

#7

Finally got the e-mail from RightStuf--telling me my credit card had expired and that I needed to call customer service to fix the order. JAST as expected.

#8

Because obviously, it’s their fault your credit card expired. :confused:


#9

My only complaint so far is that Itsurin’s sex scene wasn’t steamier. I actually bought the game just to see her fucking. Red-haired girls in leather are my ultimate weakness. @_@

#10

"Because obviously, it's their fault your credit card expired. :/"

Why do you think preorders aren't usually opened 3 years before a game launches? It's because by the end of that period, all the orders will be void.


I actually don't care--I could've just let the order expire and reordered the game without calling them. But I wanted my free shipping, and Hanachirasu was part of an earlier order with free shipping due to the total price exceeding a certain amount. I should add that it wasn't even the first order I'd added Hanachirasu to for the free shipping...

#11

@OtakuApologist: Right there with you, brother! Maybe we could pull a phrase from Sherlock Holmes and start a "Red-Headed League"? Ohohoho...

@Dark_Shiki: I think everyone involved learned a valuable lesson about too much optimism/overconfidence on release times with this game. Still, I'm pretty sure RightStuf didn't open their preorders until sometime mid-to-late last year... In any case, hope you got it sorted out and get your copy soon.

#12

Without spoiling anything (in other words, a simply yes or no will suffice), does Kaigen have any sex scenes? And I don’t mean that single nip-slip during oosaki shin'ya, igarasu yoshia, ishima kaigen, hanachirasu, nitroplus, game cg, non-web source, 1boy, 1girl, all fours, bad end, bangs, black hair, blood, blood from mouth, blood on clothes, blood on face, blue hair, blunt bangs, breasts, cannibalism, death, eating, empty eyes, flat chest, guro, hat, japanese clothes, kimono, long hair, lying, military, military uniform, nipples, no bra, on back, open clothes, open shirt, peaked cap, red eyes, shirt, short hair, small breasts, uniform - Image View - | Gelbooru - Free Anime and Hentai Gallery (image probably contains spoilers).

#13

@jacksprat1 - Jast has done this sort of thing before. Preorders for Little My Maid were open for almost the same length of time.

#14

It was great to read Hanachirasu after waiting awhile. After finishing it, it is hard to describe what I felt. It was a sad ending for sure. Similar to what I felt from Saya no Uta.


The most interesting part about this VN was the analysis on the art of the sword. Reading about how they do their seemingly inhuman techniques in certain scenarios and how the style they were taught influences the techniques they develop with using your whole body rather than your arms. The only other anime/manga/visual novel related series I can think of that goes deeply into analyzing sword techniques is Rurouni Kenshin which I was reminded of as I was reading. It was really good at making every fight feel long even though the significant battles pretty much ended within a few seconds.

#15

Yeah, it’s crazy how much strategy goes into every slash and footstep. I felt really sad reading all that, knowing the craft is long gone by now. On the other hand, I felt like the final battle illustrated the whole point the authors wanted to make. I mean, the epicness built around the confrontation was really just a smokescreen, in my opinion. The whole idea was to show the single-minded stupidity and irrelevance of the characters. Just read the that final dialog Igarasu and Akane had. Like, what the fuck?

I think the narrative was really subversive. It basically feints you and then slices your… heart off? The ending was very cathartic for me, which is an amazing feat from the authors considering the whole journey that led to the finale. I stopped feeling so miserably sad after the credits had rolled.

If you’re interested, I wrote an analysis on Wordpress (no spoilers).
The Death Of Old Japan: Hanachirasu Analysis
And a review. This is my SFW blog, so anyone can read it even lacking a Tumblr account.
Visual Novel Review: Hanachirasu (epic sword drama)

#16

Yeah, that is what the ending felt like. After the match ended and the credits rolled, I was sad, I felt empty. Possibly from the realization that the art of the sword will never be taught today like it was taught to Akane and Igarasu. Also from seeing the fate of what felt like everyone in Tokyo intertwined with these two swordsmen. Possibly other reasons I'm not aware of as well.


The analysis and review were interesting reads. Part of the sadness felt from reading the visual novel was seeing the spirit of Feudal Japan die that your analysis discusses. WWII ended without the dropping of the atomic bomb in this story, but what follows instead is the spirit of Old Japan being corrupted by the ideals of western nations. As a result Kaigen desired to keep the spirit of Japan alive by denying western ideals. Guns as the symbol of Western ideals were banned in Tokyo that lead to crime only through swords. And holding a gun made you an outcast among outcasts. During Yasaka's fight when he pulled out the gun, the social punishment he would receive afterwards made a ton of sense in the Tokyo of that world.


I agree the soundtrack was very great. Plenty of themes suitable for several types of sword battles from Demon Warrior to A Tyrant's Joy. And listening to Nemesis seeing Akane and Igarasu face each other really makes you feel the tension and bloodlust within them. Yet the story somehow ends peacefully with Hotarubi sung by Itou Kanako.



#17

@Aurora: Yeah, and if you extend your thinking to crafts that’re useful today, but will be gone in tomorrow’s world, it’s definitely sad, because there’s tons of culture lost in the process. However, I’m not sure I can agree that the vanishing of swordcraft is a bad thing. I don’t think the story implied that either. What the sword enabled was psychopaths like Akane to gain immense power. Guns leveled the playing field, taking power away from those dedicated to the mastery of a murder weapon.

The more time I spend analyzing this story, the more I lean towards the interpretation that it was actually a big “fuck you” to Japanese traditionalism. Fact that these “super epic” battles get decided in one draw is so, so fucking stupid. What sense does it make to swing a sword your entire life, just to have everything you’ve learned tested in one strike?

The premise was constructed such that you’d think the authors just wanted entertaining sword matches in a modern world, but… Tokyo was such a fucking gutter. Everything good that the policy of isolation enabled was offset by violence and crime. I mean, it was even said that the city’s police force is too busy keeping foreigners outside that they have no time to deal with crime inside the city. That’s a massive political failure and misplacement of priorities. The topmost requirement for thriving business and societal prosperity is stability. You can’t do business in a shitty crime-infested dump, which was exactly how Tokyo was.

Another thing. I feel that Igarasu and Akane had motivations very similar to Ishima Kaigen: they clung to the old like demented idiots. What good did Igarasu’s vengefulness do him? Same with Akane, what the fuck was his deal? Both of their passions ran wild, like their goal to kill the other actually meant something, but when they finally met, what was the point? There was nothing material for either to gain, but they still fought.

The emotional ride was definitely epic, but I think even more epic was the thematic suckerpunch that I’m beginning to see here. I might need to replay this story and gather more reinforcement for my interpretations.

#18

It could just be dedicated to being realistic. I mean, that’s the way things tended to work in real life. Real fights are nasty and short - especially with swords; whoever gets the first good hit in usually wins.

#19

@Nandemonai: That is certainly possible. I think a couple of hints point towards another conclusion however.


I think the dialogue and some of the narration said it pretty clearly. Like, after Igarasu and Akane had done their draw, the sheer bluntness of the sentence "it was just another flip of the coin" suggests to me that their duel was a proverbial punch in the reader's face. Akane treated the sword like it was all about skill, as that's what sportsmen want to think. I remember in Starcraft 2 this was often the notion among pro players, which is why random build order losses infuriated them. To say that luck decided a duel is an insult to someone that's dedicated to martial arts.

#20

This comment bears spoilers, so I’ve blackened the background. Hover over and select it, so you may read it. I just had a MAJOR realization. O_O
____

I just remembered!! Itsurin offered both Igarasu and Akane her services, to improve their blades. Igarasu didn’t take her on the offer, but Akane did! So, what Itsurin did was, she removed metal from Akane’s blade, making it lighter, so he could swing it faster. There was a technique that Akane had been honing in an earlier scene, which he then perfected at the conclusion of his encounter with Yasaka Ryuki. He was only able to execute that move because his blade was now lighter. Remember how Akane’s sword in his original duel with Igarasu was weakened with a whetstone by the dojo master’s daughter (can’t remember her name)? His final duel with Igarasu was ALSO tampered by a woman!! This means that their fight never decided which of them was stronger, making its conclusion completely meaningless!!

Even bigger spoilers beyond this point, be careful.
Okay, this is conjecturing, but maybe that’s why he killed himself at the end?! Maybe he realized what Itsurin had done had rendered the result of their duel totally obsolete? I found it odd how calmly melancholic Akane was at the end, like he’d resolved himself to a bitter end. He no longer seemed to give a shit about actually winning, he just wanted to kill Igarasu, because there was nothing else left in his life to accomplish. Fuck me. Considering his motivations, which at the end he revealed to be nothing grander than jealousy. I think he knew Itsurin had affected the duel, possibly given him an edge, and I think he accepted her assistance, so he could finish off Igarasu. People driven by jealousy don’t act honorably, so an extra outside help is okay to them, except that it made Akane conflicted, hence the melancholy. That’s why he killed himself at the end, because he realized his life’s greatest passion, the art of the sword, was complete bullshit and the fights nothing more than coin flipping!!