Harukanaru Toki No Naka De 5 [slight spoilers ahead]

First off, I have to admit, I have a problem.  I'm completely obsessed with the Harukanaru toki no naka de series. and I thought I'd give you guys proof.  This is my manga wall.  I collect 70's manga, Nakayoshi, Chao and Ribon magazines, 80's toys and cartoons, art books from various animated movies and games and regular manga that I like the art of.  I have a bad habit of buying one volume of a manga just for the art and then never finishing it.  If I REALLY like the story or art, I would get the second volume and stop there.  Usually not in order either.  (hence why I have two of kimi ni todoke that are vol 1 and 5)  but this... this just proves how much of a fanatic I am for harutoki.

  This semester, I gave my self 5$ for each test I took.  With that money I would buy a vol or two of harutoki.  The first two went for mere pennies however as the books have progressed, the price escalated at a 90 degree angle. 70$ for some of the later volumes.  Why did I have to get into THIS series?  Most of the volumes are library rejects so they were covered with stickers and bar codes.  8 here was the worst!  however, I was able to clean it up and it's just like new.  I've got 7 and 9 in the mail as we speak but after vol 9 I think I'll have to stop because of the price jump in those volumes.  They don't even have them available new and they're nowhere to be found on ebay or amazon.

As for other Harutoki crap in my room, I have two of those plastic paper protectors that school kids stick in their folders so they don't smear.  (good heavens, I've forgot the name of them.)  I got them about 3 years ago at a local anime convention and I'm kicking myself for not getting more.  I had just gotten into the anime at the time and I didn't think much about finding these.  Also, Yasuaki was my favorite at the time so I got the ones of him.  As for my last bit of compulsive buying due to college stress...

I imported Haukanaru toki no naka de 5.  So the reason I chose 5 was because it was
1.) the cheapest
2.) had a smarmy English guy with really good pronunciation.
3.) Left to right text with quick saves and and a fast forward button.
4.) Fukuchi and Ryouma

PRESENTATION

The game is just absolutely beautiful.  While it's not fully voiced, I wasn't expecting as much so no gripes from me.  Especially coming off of rune factory 4 where they only say little words here and there.  It's also helpful to know if you're going into something important when they suddenly start speaking. POSITIVE THINKING DANG IT.  The music, while it doesn't have many tracks and repeats, is beautiful.  One track in particular will get annoying with it's straining flute but it's not bothering me much.  The background and art are so smooth and beautiful.  I also love just hearing the sound effects of people walking, moving fabric, swinging swords.  I can see it all in my mind.  As for how easy it is to follow, I was absolutely worried that I would be so lost in this game.  However the tutorials are easy enough to follow even if you don't know much Japanese.  The voice acting leads the mood and even if you can't read what's going on word for word, you can tell what's happening just by how they phrase things or how their character sprites react.  I've only taken 3 years of high school Japanese and a basic semester in college a year ago and I was not at all confident.  I thought I was going to be so lost but there have been times in the game where I've surprised myself on how much Japanese I really do understand.  I've been able to follow the story, understand what's going on.  I keep a notebook of the kanji that I don't know to look up later and of places and events since some a based on real things.  I'm so beyond pleased with the presentation but then again, I don't think I could ever hate anything Harutoki. 

STORY

I thought I knew what I was getting into.  Your basic thrown back in time romance with a bit of action in it.  I was suprised by some of the predictable twists of who ended up being good and bad ( that's because I'm gullible, not because it was written really well.) I have to admit I've gotten myself a little too emotionally invested in this game because I'm a lonely fangirl with a lot of feelings.  There's a part that just absolutely ripped out my heart because I thought I could get a certain guy on the first run and he ended up DEAD or maybe just horribly wounded... and then I thought I had ended up in the Trap Rout.  I was seriously in tears, wanting to give up on this game and sell it I was so upset.  I had to go rummaging through Japanese walkthroughs to learn that I was not in the trap rout and that I just had to play the game first to the end... or the middle.  I did not pay high amounts of shipping and wait a month and a half to have my favorite guy die and end up with my face in the hands of another woman two seconds after my heart has been crushed... because I WANT MY BEAUTIFUL MAN DANG IT and I'll go after the girl when I DECIDE.  dang it ruby party!  P.S. Don't trust the shota.

CHARACTERS

While harutoki 3 had English walkthroughs and the best reviews and was even cheaper, I decided on 5 because of the the guy design.  None of them appealed to me in 3 and I almost got 4 because I loved the design of all the guys but I really didn't like their personalities.  This game was the perfect balance between looks and personality.  

The main character is kinda bland as expected since she's suppose to be you.  However I'm all about cutesy sweet sugary girlishness so I don't have much say in how much you'll like her as a character.
She is accompanied by two guys and a trap (alright I'll stop calling her a trap but I was so convinced that she was a he because of the voice and body shape.  I spent the whole first half of the game trying to psyche my brain into recognizing her as a girl and when it finally did it, stuff happened in the game and my brain went on a complete fritz.)  She's actually a really great character and I like a lot of the interactions with her. As for the guys I plan on going for first, I can't decide between these two.

Such beauty.  Such perfection.  I just love these sweet babbys.  I have to admit, I love really tall shy and beautiful men. (speaking of which... I'll type up some stuff about my experience with rune factory 4 later) and spunky "I do what I want" kind of guys.  But you all already know this from my previous posts.

All the voice acting is fantastic in my opinion.  I know that it was one of the biggest gripes people had with the game.  The only character I felt like they didn't have the right voice for was Komatsu (his name too, my gosh).  I am especially pleased with Ernest's English and how well pronounced it is even if it is suppose to be an English accent.  I'm still happy whenever he says something in english.  He's even got snark in there.  Crap he's such an awesome jerk.  Some of the stuff he says in English I'm like "whooo, I'd smack this guy if I could."  Those who play this game with limited English knowledge are missing a whole side to his character.  It's like, he's just being nice to you because you're a woman and that really upsets me that under his little green eyes he considers you a barbarian and only humors you because of your gender.  GAH WHAT A JERK.  but it's fun.  

P.S.  DON'T TRUST THE SHOTA

THOUGHTS SO FAR

I'm so absolutely pleased with this game.  I play it for hours non stop and get my family mad at me because of my reclusive nature now. As much as the I hate JRPGs this one is set up in a really refreshing way where you can fast forward through he battles and arrange fun combos.  I also don't have to worry about healing much because I've been able to level up without feeling like I was grinding like I was in Fuun Kabuki Den.  other than that I love this game. Even when it horribly upset me, I still had to pick it up and keep playing.  Or it could be that I worship this series and I'm extremely biased and uneducated one what GOOD otome games are like or whatever.  I'm having a lot of fun so whatever.  Maybe it's good that this is my first Harutoki game so I don't have any sort of previous influence.  Maybe I'll buy myself 3 for my birthday.  Now if I can figure out how to get these guys... hmmmmmmmmmm....