So yeah, still haven't done most of the Izayoiki routes, but I FINALLY finished Tomomori's and can thus move on to Unmei no Meikyuu for a bit. HaruToki3 is a fabulous game; while I can't really see much of Tomomori's attraction (his ending was the only part of his route I actually enjoyed), just about everyone else has their endearing qualities, and the storyline is honestly extremely enjoyable and well-done. Nozomi makes an excellent heroine; not necessarily the smartest, but not stupid, and the game encourages the player to have her stand up for herself and others, which I find really refreshing. Yeah, there're still stupid stereotypical shoujo events (why does every main character have to trip and fall so a guy can catch her!?), but they're made up for in spades.
1. Kajiwara Kagetoki- Funnily enough, when I first started, I thought I'd like him the least (admittedly based mostly on his appearance), but he's the sweetest to Nozomi and is really easygoing, which I guess I like in my otome game bishies. He's kind of a huge coward at first (honestly not such a bad thing, since it's mostly because he cares so much about other people), but both his normal and his Izayoiki route involve his learning to stand up to Minamoto no Yoritomo. He's also very intelligent (both endings involve him being extremely clever to make up for his lack of brute strength), and he's actually a really strong onmyouji from what I can tell. (In terms of ingame stats, he has a spiritual power rating second only to his sister Saku and Hakuryuu.) I mean, he made a freaking gun that shoots fireworks! He's also a coffee addict in Meikyuu, and his seiyuu is Nyanko Sensei in Natsume to Yuujinchou. So he's easily my very favorite.
2. Taira no Atsumori- Heavens but he is adorable. He's kind of angsty (and not really without reason), but it's so worth getting him to respect himself; his smile is absolutely the most heartwarming in the game.
3. Ridvan- While I didn't love him as a character as much as others have, he's quite solid, and his story is one of the best, making full use of the game's major gimmick of time travel.
4. Musashibou Benkei- Sinister soft-spoken strategist? Yes please! His route was one of the more touching ones, and one of the most satisfying to complete.
5. Kajiwara Saku- Her storyline is full of angst and :(, so helping her reunite with her lost love is very gratifying.
6. Hakuryuu- His child form is the cutest character in the game. (With the moe quotient of Pikachu's seiyuu behind him, is that really a surprise?) He's very child-like for the whole game, even after he "grows up," so it was actually a bit hard to connect with him. His (almost!) unwavering devotion to Nozomi is pretty adorable, though.
7. Minamoto no Kurou Yoshitsune- Y'know, he's kind of a sexist jerk at first, but he's also a huge tsundere, and has the cutest blushing face. So he has his moments. You also have to win battles that you lose your first time through, adding to the historical-general appeal for me.
8. Hinoe- His storyline was okay, and he's another one of the very sweet, clever characters, with a healthy respect for a miko that makes smart decisions. I just don't care too much for flirty guys, methinks, and couldn't help thinking that he's better as "just" a friend.
9. Arikawa Yuzuru- He's the game's slightly yandere kichiku megane: a perfect student, responsible, and parental. He dotes on Nozomi to the point of being kind of creepily possessive, and yet is still pretty likable for some reason. (I like him a lot better than Tomomori, at least; actually, now that I think about it, their stories are quite similar in some ways.) His route gets pretty sad (though predictably so), but again, stalker =/= lover.
10. Arikawa Masaomi- His story was slightly dampened by the fact that it took more than a bit of inspiration from Romeo and Juliet, which is an overused, misused play with stupid main characters. He's alright, just a pretty typical nii-san type that, again, I'd like better if he weren't a love interest.
11. Shirogane- His identity is a huge spoiler, so I'll just say that while his story was pretty good, it had long stretches of nothingness and a huge recursive loop that became sort of tedious.
12. Taira no Tomomori- I don't get why people love him so much, but oh well, that's why there are eleven freaking guys to capture; there's one for everyone! I thought Shirogane was a pain to capture, but this guy takes the cake. He's kind of also really forceful (as in, "I will have my way with you" forceful D:), and I'm just not into "bad boy" characters. In addition, a lot of the choices you had to take made me kind of uncomfortable, partially due to the fact that I've been reading Twilight critiques and can recognize the dangerous aspects in this "romance." That said, his ending is pretty awesome, if only for super-badass Nozomi, but you have to sit through some boring/sketchtastic events to get there.