YMMV / Hakuouki

• Adorkable:
  • Saitou is, by and large, very stoic and serious. Even as his route progresses, it can be hard to see, but the adorkable is definitely there. See his ending in Zuisouroku, where he asks to be upgraded to First-Name Basis with Chizuru by basically pouting until she does, or his fanboying over swords.
  • Despite looking like The Stoic, Yamazaki's flustered reactions to Chizuru saying or doing something sweet are adorable. And just look at his attempt at saying he wants to kiss her:
  Yamazaki: I suppose what I'm saying is, I want something more than 'loyalty' to come out of our, erm, relationship. If I were to be more direct, I was hoping to, well...um, that spot on your face. Er...
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • The historical Hijikata did in fact compose the collection of haiku that Okita and the others keep making fun of - including the "ume ume ume" poem that so baffles Saito in the Drama CD - and those who have read it generally agree that it's pretty bad.
  • Isami Kondou really was known to be able to put his whole fist in his mouth as a party trick as he does during one of the Shimabara scenes in Zuisoroku.
• Base-Breaking Character: Chizuru is an ongoing source of disagreement and debate within the fandom. Many fans feel that she's too weak and passive a Player Character who spends too much of the game playing the role of Damsel in Distress, and that her demon powers provide her character with potential which is criminally underused. Others feel that her serving as emotional support to the Shinsengumi is an equally valid form of strength, pointing out that she's a very proactive woman by the standards of the time period and that a couple of years of sword training would hardly make her equal to the villains, almost all of whom are themselves demons or furies with years of extensive combat training.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Kazama's an example that shows why Tropes Are Tools. Despite being the main antagonist in Hijikata and Saito's routes, a more personal antagonist for Chizuru, and the cause of several bad ends, he has his own route which does show other sides of him without losing the core of his character. Naturally, the 'other sides' have earned him a not-inconsiderable following.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • There are still plenty of fans who are unhappy about Shiranui not getting his own route.
  • Even Kaoru and Itou have their fair share of fans!
• 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).
• Periphery Demographic: Two groups. The male fanbase who are here for the sword and history and the Yaoi Fangirls who ignore Chizuru and ship the Shinsengumi with each other instead. (Or who Take a Third Option via slashing their favorite guys and stuffing Chizuru with one who's not in their main yaoi ships.)
• Values Dissonance: Chizuru is frequently criticized for not fighting when, as a demon, she has physical potential greater than that of humans. However, the story takes place in Bakumatsu Period Japan, in a culture of very strict gender roles and social classes. In the context of the time period, that Chizuru dresses as a boy and carries a sword, travels to Kyoto alone in search of her father, hangs out with the Shinsengumi and occasionally takes a swing at the villains in a pinch would actually make her quite the tomboy.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: After all the pain and suffering, one finds it hard to believe that Hakuouki is marketed as a Romance Game.
• The Woobie: Pretty much everyone in the show. This is a story about the Shinsengumi we're talking about after all.

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