Sometimes some stories are likely best told as films, but the studio that hatched such a brainchild is actually a visual novel studio. So the studio in question has to work with what it has. Hanachirasu is one such story. While it's an interesting take on the 'samurai' genre, it might have been better served in another medium. Nevertheless, it's still an interesting story worth reading, even a decade later after it's initial release. 

 The setting takes place in an alternate modern day Japan. One where Japan lost the Second World War in the worst possible outcome for the island nation. Instead of getting bombed, It was taken over by US and Russian forces during the Cold War following a series of other events. In an effort to press back against Western influences, Tokyo has a wall erected around the Capital to have it be the last bastion of preserving Japan's 'purity'. Although this actually has the opposite affect and turns it into a lawless zone. Even the surrounding areas outside the capital has also changed drastically, and the art of the sword and other martial arts have been popularized. Of course, this increases the number of swordsmen in the country. And some of them are employed by government or corporate factions. It's here where the story truly begins.

The story focuses on two swordsmen who were once friends, but an incident tore them apart, and now they possess an enmity toward one another. Akane is a man who obsessively lives for the art of the sword, and will do absolutely anything to find an opponent that is worthy of him. The other man, Igarasu, wants to exact vengeance upon Akane for the incident in their past. The story flips between the perspectives of both of these characters, but it's mainly Akane's story more than Igarasu's. One one hand, Akane is a terribly flawed individual. On the other Igarasu is a tortured man who has sunk into darkness. While there are supporting characters, they don't get much screen time or much back-story. They are merely vehicles to push Akane and Igarasu to their inevitable final duel. There is some adult content, but it's about as light as most R movies usually are. It's inclusion doesn't really seem all that necessary. The game is a bit of a kinetic visual novel, with the only choices you make either giving you a dead end, or moving the plot forward. More options open up during a second playthrough, but these endings are just one more dead end, and two goofball endings. It might have been nice to have the story split into wholly different paths, but the core story is good enough.

 While there is very little to complain about, there are some things that can either be loved or hated. While the story is short, the game makes a point to describe in great detail about the real-world combat theory of these sword martial art disciplines. Since this is a visual novel, this is necessary to describe the action. It does somewhat take the reader out of the action though. It might have been better than letting the readers look at some in-game lexicon though. I do appreciate learning more about the arts more than I would have otherwise though. Just like it's low run-time of about 10 hours, the game is adequately priced at 20 USD. So If you are interested in a story about swordsmen and care to learn about the art, it's a pretty good deal.

The Bottom Line: An interesting visual novel that could have been a bit longer to flesh out the world's character's a bit more. 

Acquisition Method: This game's review copy was a digital code provided by JASTUSA.