Hakuōki: Reimeiroku

Hakuōki: Reimeiroku (薄桜鬼〜黎明録〜, Demon of the Fleeting Blossom: Dawn of the Shinsengumi) is the prequel for the anime series Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan (Demon of the Fleeting Blossom: The Tale of the Shinsengumi) created by Studio DEEN and originally released in July 2012.

Reimeiroku is the 3rd season of the anime series with Hakuōki: Shinsengumi Kitan being the first and Hakuōki: Hekketsuroku (Record of the Jade Blood) being the second. The events of this season precede the events of the first two seasons and shed more light on the military unit from Edo that comes to Kyoto searching for new opportunities and trying to make a name for themselves (with the name being Rōshigumi at first).

Plot

Hakuōki: Reimeiroku follows Ryuunosuke Ibuki, a young man born into a samurai family who hates samurai and does not want to become a warrior. He was picked up by the Rōshigumi Head Commander Kamo Serizawa after getting robbed and left to die on his way to Kyoto. Having been rescued, he was forced to become Serizawa's assistant in order to show gratitude to his savior, and that is how the story within the Rōshigumi (later Shinsengumi) begins for him. Ryuunosuke meets the Captains of the Rōshigumi one by one, learns more about their lives and feelings, sees them in battle, witnesses the creation of the first Rasetsu, and comes to reconsideration of his own existence.