Anime Breaking News

Flash animation studio DLE's official YouTube channel began streaming the second episode of the Hakuōki: Otogisōshi television anime on Tuesday. The four-minute episode has three animated shorts with separate stories.

In the short titled "Kagami" (Mirror), Chizuru puts up a mirror received as a present from Nagasaki in the headquarters. Okita tries imitating Hijikata, leading him to laugh because he thinks his impression is so accurate. Hijikata looks in the mirror, only to find markings drawn on his face. He immediately blames Okita, but finds that he has already disappeared.

In the second short titled "Bishokuka, Kazama" (Kazama the Gourmet), Kazama mentions a new sweet that is becoming popular among the citizens, called "castella." Because he keeps speaking about it, Amagiri offers to go purchase it for him. Kazama says over and over that he does not need it. However, he says after a moment of silence, "The store is closing soo-," and Amagiri heads out to buy him one.

In the third short, "Okita no Itazura" (Okita's Prank), Chizuru wonders where the konpeitō candies went as she delivers tea. Chizuru finds Okita throwing pieces of the candy at Hijikata while he sleeps. He explains that he's playing a game: try throwing as many konpeitō as possible at Hijikata without waking him up. Chizuru protests his actions and tries to force the bowl out of his hand, only to have it fly toward Hijikata, who has woken up to yell at the two that they're being too loud in front of his room. Seeing danger, he cuts the bowl with his katana. In the end, Chizuru and Okita are ordered to pick up all the pieces, though Okita says the reason they fell everywhere was because of Hijikata.

The anime will ship on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 13 with all 12 episodes for 3,800 yen (about US$34) and 7,000 yen (about US$63), respectively. The Blu-ray Disc will include a booklet, and first printings will also include an outer case and three rubber straps.

The series premiered on April 5, and will air on Tokyo MX on Tuesdays at 9:55 p.m., on Mie TV on Tuesdays at 11:10 p.m., and on Sun TV on Wednesdays at 2:30 a.m. The show is also streaming on YouTube, Niconico, and bilibili.

Parako Shinohara is directing the series and handling series composition with Yukiko Nonomura.

Houko Kuwashima as Chizuru Yukimura
Shinichiro Miki as Toshizō Hijikata
Showtaro Morikubo as Sōji Okita
Kousuke Toriumi as Hajime Saitō
Hiroyuki Yoshino as Heisuke Tōdō
Koji Yusa as Sanosuke Harada
Kenjiro Tsuda as Chikage Kazama
Toru Ohkawa as Isami Kondō
Nobuo Tobita as Keisuke Sannan
Tomohiro Tsuboi as Shinpachi Nagakura
Norio Kobayashi as Genzaburō Inoue
Takayuki Suzuki as Susumu Yamazaki
Takeshi Ohba as Kai Shimada
Ryusaku Chijiwa as Kashitarō Itō
Ryū Yamaguchi as Kyūju Amagiri
Hiroaki Yoshida as Kyō Shiranui
Hasumi Itō as Kaoru Nagumo
Ayano Ishikawa as Senhime
Akiko Katsuta as Kimigiku

The series of anime shorts features the characters from the Hakuōki games in chibi form, and features a completely new story with the theme "A normal every day that might have existed."

The story of the game franchise and its anime adaptations center around the historical Shinsengumi samurai group in Kyoto during the 19th century.