These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Hakuouki
Draco in Leather Pants: Kazama has a not-inconsiderable fangirl following, in spite of the looming threat of rape he represents in the common route and the fact that he's the main villain of Hijikata and Saito's routes and the cause of several bad ends in others.
Ensemble Darkhorse: Here's a fun game: Ask how many fans wish Yamazaki had his own route.
Fridge Brilliance: For all the criticism Chizuru catches for having to be protected so much by the Shinsengumi, the captains' attitudes towards protecting her foreshadow their attitudes toward the shogunate and the Boshin War - in both cases, having committed to the course of action, they refuse to be swayed from it even though they know it puts them at a disadvantage and may get them killed.
In the game's prologue sequence, after Chizuru speaks up for the first time to thank the Shinsengumi for saving her, Saito is surprised, Okita is amused, and Hijikata looks suddenly awkward - reactions which make much more sense once you know that this is the moment all three of them realize she's a girl.
Ho Yay: Inevitable in a Cast Full of Pretty Boys; Okita's idolization of Kondou is a particularly notable example, and there's a lot of it between Saito and Hijikata in the drama CDs and other bonus material, to the point that Okita is able to bribe Saito to turn a blind eye to the fact that he's lost a uniform by giving him Hijikata's book of poetry (with some indications that he's used the medicine made by Hijikata's family as a similar bribe in the past).
Values Dissonance: Poor Chizuru is called weak, stupid, slut and Faux Action Girl for not fighting... and the people who bash her "conveniently" forget that, well, this story is set in what would soon become Imperial Japan. If gender roles have evolved slower in Japan than in other parts of the world, imagine how more rigid they were back then. Please make some contextualization before judging a girl who lives in an historical moment with completely different values from those we have now.
