Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 6....
I don't post in here as often as I used to, which is a shame, and entirely because I'm a lazy person (or busy person, depending on which way you look at it). But this merits a post at the very least.
I'm sure that by now all hardcore intelligent Haruka fans will already know about this, but I felt the need to babble a bit anyhow.
Haruka 6.
I did wonder if this would actually ever happen, to be honest. With the merging of events with other games and such like, and all the recent focus (from how I've looked at it) on Koruda, I wasn't sure. Haruka 5's manga appears to have disappeared into the ether for whatever reason - which is a shame, because I actually think that wouldve made a decent manga and a good anime adaptation. Probably better than the original anime adaptation (despite how much I love original Haruka, the game has limitations and the manga was unfinished when the anime was made).
I really should be quite excited about a new Haruka game - and I suppose in some ways I am. But it's slightly tempered by their choice of setting.
Taishou.
Twentieth Century Japanese history is absolutely not my thing at all. I kinda saw it coming, to be honest - that it had to be Meiji or Taishou or something around that time - but I'm a bit iffy about it for now. I will probably get it and play it, but we'll see how it pans out. At least the cast from 5 appear to have been kept the same for 6, which I am happy about.
I realise a lot of people will tell me to shut up and go away regarding the setting, but I think you can make a game like Haruka too close to the modern era. Other games cover this concept - I don't see the need for Haruka to delve any closer to the present than the Bakumatsu. Bakumatsu needed to be done, it was done, it was done well (in my opinion). I'm well prepared to be proven wrong with this, but right now I'm reserving judgement of Taishou as a setting.
Honestly, though, part of it is the fact I feel they missed an era that was absolutely glaring in my mind. Possibly two, maybe even three, if I'm honest. True, Four delved back into what was probably the Yayoi or thereabouts, which is far older than Genpei Japan or the two games that came before it (Insei and mid Heian), but that also focused on the mythical and therefore somehow got away with its slightly odd chronological position. This is probably a good time to admit that, aside from Yuuya and Nagi, I'm not a big fan of Haruka 4, not least because of the switching positions of seiyuu. Ironically, and despite being a massive fan of most of the Haruka original seiyuu, I preferred the complete replacement of them in 5 to the reshuffle of 4, but there we go.
Going back on topic...so we've already seen that they have delved BACK in past after doing something chronological with these games. Bakumatsu was sort of a given, because of how popular Bakumatsu stuff was at the time. Can't avoid Hakuouki and it's impact in this, either, so I'm sure that was a factor. But in doing that jump from Yayoi and Genpei (1185/9 at its latest) to the 1860s or thereabouts is huge. And it misses out some really potentially awesome Haruka settings which I had hoped they might go back and investigate. Them doing Taishou now makes me think that the next one will either be a highly controversial decision to step into WW2 (unlikely) or something futuristic (unnecessary), both of which concern me. Or there won't be a next one after 6. That's possible too.
So anyhow, back to these missing settings. Obviously, the Sengoku Jidai over which so many people obsess is a potential option. Also, the end of this and the founding of Edo would have been a logical one. Even the era of Saikaku and Basho might've been entertaining, albeit not so filled with obvious conflicts (unless Saikaku and Basho were going to have a haiku fight...)
But the one I really wanted to see most of all - and still do, bearing in mind the huge success of Haruka 3 - is in the Muromachi...the period known as the Kemmu Restoration.
To me this is perfectly set up for Haruka. You have several different factions involved. The original Houjou Shogunate, who are crumbling and - allegedly - dissolute by this time, struggling to hold onto power. You have great historical Japanese figures such as Ashikaga Takauji, the forger of the future Ashikaga dynasty, and his slightly rebellious brother. THere's also folk hero Kusonoki Masashige, whose statue stands somewhere proud in Japan, who fought and died for the Emperor - loyal to the end. There's the Emperor himself- Go Daigo - who escapes from exile to form his own government and who, with help from Takauji and Masashige, manages to overthrow and destroy the Houjou Shogunate. And then there;s the subsequent defection of Takauji to form his own Shogunate, and his battle against Masashige and also his fellow Genji rival Nitta Yoshisada.
Already there are key roles coming up which you could easily ascribe to Hachiyou. Takauji, Masashige, Yoshisada for three. There's Sakaki...I forget his name but it might be Takauji too - who is written up as being flamboyant of dress and character. He sounds promising to me for a fourth. There's Go Daigo's warrior prince son, Moriyoshi, who operates guerilla-style in his father's defence.
All in all, the Kemmu Restoration seems like a perfect Haruka setting, with plot and intrigue and yes, I'll admit it, bushi and swords to play around with.
The first 3 games of Haruka are chronological, and each about a century apart. If they had continued that pattern, the fourth would've been Houjou Tokimune and the Mongols, probably - but that might have been hard to do. So breaking with the pattern made some sense. What doesn't make sense to me is why Haruka 4 was mythical and not chronological...and why, if the jump to the Bakumatsu had to happen for 5, there's been no attempt to scroll back to perfectly servicable historical eras before resorting to such a modern setting.
My apologies to anyone who is in love with the Taishou era and modern Japanese history. But I'm a warrior girl at heart...and honestly...I expect to miss them in this new game.
But, Koei, I live in hope of being proven wrong on this...