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Hakuōki: Otogisōshi TV Anime's 1st Episode Streamed

Flash animation studio DLE's official YouTube channel began streaming the first episode of the Hakuōki: Otogisōshi television anime on Tuesday. The three-minute episode has two parts titled "Otōsama o Sagashite" (Search for Your Father) and "Zoku - Otōsama o Sagashite" (Search for Your Father Continued).

The episode introduces Chizuru, who spends the episode trying to find her father with no success. She at first mistakes other monks for her father, then eventually starts mistaking her father for anything round, including a statue and a watermelon. The video plays Renka's theme song "Don't Cry."

The end of the video is an ad for the DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases, which will ship 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.

The cast includes:

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.