Shinsengumi/Japanese History Information Repository (Recommendations?)

[rii_no_ame]

Wow, that's a hideous title for a post.  Anyway...

I know that, for a lot of people in this community, loving Hakuouki goes hand-in-hand with an interest in, or a desire to learn about, the shinsengumi in particular and Japanese history in general.  Maybe you tuned in to Hakuouki and now you'd like to find out more about the historical Shinsengumi,

Comments

[arclights]

Oh my god, I was so excited when I came across it; seriously I was all over that from the moment Watanuki mentioned it as being his bible when dealing with the Shinsengumi in Kenshin back in like ... jesus, 2000? FOREVER AGO, and yeah, the lack of it sucked. But then this happened and I was ecstatic. I really dearly wish there was something to be done that could convince him, but ... life and stuff, it's a pain in the ass. I'm sure dollars would do it, but dollars are sort of elusive. This is what I get for not sticking with that Japanese major

I'm kinda torn between PM!Hiji and Haku!Hiji, myself, but probably leaning towards Hakuouki because I adore how ... painfully human he is. I get that the boys are going to get nice'd up since, y'know, dating sim thing but they miss a lot of good stuff in sweeping out the bad. Moeyo Hijikata is fucking glorious, a total egocentric ass at times but full of tactical prowess and cunning and cold-blooded dedication that tends to get overlooked. Kondou gets shafted in Hakuouki in comparison as well, though I love him dearly, and think they got the gist of him well enough. Surprisingly ... surprisingly, I think, of all of the different Shinsengumi incarnations out there, Hakuouki's Okita is truest to form in the manga/anime I've seen so far. Smiley boyish, yes, but the boy's got an edge that could cut diamond, and a temper. Also, tiny random things -- like the fact that Saitou was damn near six feet tall. I died.

I honestly enjoy the writing style; I know Japanese novels tend to be kind of sparse in comparison to what I'm used to reading, but it's a pleasant change. On the other hand, that spareness kind of feels academic sometimes, and it's easy to forget I'm not actually reading a history book, sob.

skldjf sorry, I rambled a bit. I do love all the different canons, as much as I might tease. x3 And ... yeah. Oh, Romsy. How come our preeminent English-speaking Shinsengumi scholar couldn't be a bit less ... irritating? At least most of his information is considered accurate -- enough to fill in some details, at least. I will still probably buy his Ryoma book, just to fill in the gaps; I was all over the Choshuu/sonno joi business back when I was writing for Kenshin, but man, I forgot most of it years ago. .___.