First Impression – Hanasaku Iroha
Oh Ohana, I know you can overcome these trials!
The genre is slice of life, and the main character is a girl named Ohana. The setting is a hot spring inn called Kissuisou, where Ohana is going to start her new high school life. The supporting characters are the employees of the inn, who come in all shapes and sizes. The story? Presumably Ohana’s gradual integration into and understanding of Kissuisou, and the characters and events that lead her there.
I will be frank. It doesn’t sound all that interesting. Actually, it sounds very boring. I’m not usually one to enjoy slice of life shows unless they are hilarious, and this one sounds like it’s supposed to be deep and meaningful. However, as you all should know, I am a fan of Kanae Ito. An irrationally rabid fan of Kanae Ito. And, if you didn’t notice, Kanae Ito did not appear in the winter season.
I’ve been deprived. I’m going into withdrawal. I listen to my Kanae Ito playlist on my iPhone for like twelve hours a day. I’ve been reading light novels like crazy (finished four in the last 2 months). I’ve been playing video games to keep my mind off anime. I’ve been reviewing Gosick.
It’s about freaking time! I don’t care if Hanasaku Iroha is not my usual type of show, I am all over this one. And next week, Kaminomi season 2 starts. This is the moment I’ve been waiting like the past three and a half months for.
Ohana Matsumae’s former life. She is a fairly normal 16-year old high schooler in Tokyo, raised by a rather whimsical single mother who seems to write for a living. Their relationship seems almost reversed, with Ohana doing the housework and covering for her mother’s laziness. Outside of home, she peacefully enjoys her high school life with her best friend, Kouichi Tanemura.
Sudden change. One night, her mother takes flight with her indebted boyfriend, sending Ohana to spend the rest of her high school days with her grandmother. Is it too sudden? But this could be the pivotal moment of change in Ohana’s life, the chance to escape her gray city life to a dreamy existence in the countryside. What could go wrong? After all, what could she even leave behind?
A surprise. Kou leaves Ohana with a sudden confession as he realizes this is his last chance. But even with this in hand, Ohana has no choice but to continue her journey onto her new life.
A new cast of characters. Minko and Nako, two employees of the inn around Ohana’s age, the former being another resident. Their first meeting is a shaky one, Ohana quickly getting on Minko’s bad side and Nako seeming to be wary of strangers. Sui Shijima, the matron of the inn, and Ohana’s grandmother. We learn that Ohana’s mother was disowned by Shijima, making Ohana just another girl in the eyes of Shijima. Enishi Shijima, Ohana’s creepy (perverted?) uncle, her mother’s brother. Tomoe, another employee of the inn, and Ohana’s superior. She appears to be the most interested in Ohana, but purely on a mutually beneficial basis. She is dying to hear stories about Ohana’s loose mother.
Two-hit face combo!
Work. Work. As Ohana is not regarded by Shijima as a granddaughter, she becomes merely another employee. Ohana must work to earn her stay at Kissuisou, whether she likes it or not.
Reality. One falling futon later, Ohana quickly learns just to what extent she is an outsider at Kissuisou. Shijima maintains a strict rule at the inn as they are in the business of ensuring the comfort and enjoyment of the customers, and all of the employees are in it together. Ohana’s mistake brings misfortune on the customers and her new acquaintance Minko. Conflict is on the brink but averted because the success of the inn comes before individual disputes.
Ohana Matsumae’s new life. As a strong, independent city girl, Ohana is determined to succeed here despite her lack of family, friends, and support.
MORE PICS
Ohana’s many faces.
Actually, just one. I love her drooping eyes face.
Death upon you…
Quick… grope before she notices!
“Stop that.”
That makeup looks a little familiar…
I thought this picture from the ED sequence was nice.
END THOUGHTS
It exceeded my expectations. It really did. I was expecting some weird, distinguished cast of characters that Ohana would have fun interacting with and slowly understand on a deeper level, but instead I get a more realistic depiction of an overwhelming wave of hostility. That isn’t to say that they won’t eventually become friends, as they most certainly will, but I was expecting a more light-hearted, happy show from the pictures and PVs. This trial that Ohana finds herself in is something that I would much rather watch. Yes, I said slice of life is not usually my thing, but coming of age stories are a completely different category for me.
Let me briefly explain something. I was drawn in by Kanae Ito for two reasons. 1) Her singing voice and 2) her narration. Her first character to catch my attention was Ruiko Saten because of the introspective quality of her voice. In Hanasaku Iroha, this is even more pronounced, as Ohana frequently goes into internal monologue. Kanae Ito’s voice has this raw quality to it that makes it perfect for reflective dialogue or monologue, which, to me, makes it absolutely suitable for a story like Hanasaku Iroha. Plus, her normal speech is awesome.
Oh, the music. OH, THE MUSIC. Set aside the characters and story for a moment. The background music is beautiful, so peaceful. No doubt there will be some standard silly tracks on the OST later on, but our exposure thus far is mostly to calm piano or guitar tracks, plus several orchestral tracks. It’s like I’m watching a movie. In addition, we get not one, but two nano.RIPE songs. I’m currently addicted to their song “Yumeji” (if you recall, it was the song playing during this Hanasaku Iroha promo video). The singer of nano.RIPE is reminiscent of chatmonchy, but backed with a much fuller instrumentation. I can’t wait for this OP single come out.
Overall, I was mostly drawn in by the hostile character personalities. The wall that the employees have set up blocking Ohana out is something I’m very interested in seeing be brought down gradually. We haven’t seen her new school life yet, so I’m curious how that will turn out as well. The art style is also the kind that I like, and I didn’t see anything that put me off about the animation, so fortunately I won’t drop this series due to an artistic aversion (MADOKA). For now, I will be following this!
PREVIEW
Who is the first person that Ohana will manage to befriend?
About sassy
Follower of both dark and mysterious horrors and funny and pointless comedies. Fascinated with ghosts and the supernatural. Friendly and talkative, but I will kill you if you get between me and Itou Kanae.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 209 comments
This show has the makings of a good coming of age tale and some good character development. Itou Kanae does a nice job with Ohana, a pretty strong likable character.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 53 comments
Art was so pretty, very good first episode! I wasn’t a huge fan of the insert songs, but I really liked everything else.
Gogogo squishy face!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 99 comments
I think it exceeded everyone’s expectations. Since Mari Okada wrote it, I thought it would be good but definitely not this good.
I’m really looking forward to this one. I’m glad you’re blogging it since whether someone at SJ will pick it up is unknown at this point. 🙁
Really nice picspam. I also love Ohana’s droopy-eyed face. She’s really adorable! 😀
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
Been looking forward to this coming out! Didn’t really know what to expect from an anime set against an inn but hey, slice of life? Im in on this wagon.
Oh, Ohana with headphones? Moe with cuteness~~~
Felt really bad for Kou, hopes he comes back into the loop somehow, since he was a little gipped…
Animation’s bright, like Angel Beats! (duh, PA Works did that one too) but not as obvious this time, so it’s a nice touch up. Looking forward to the rest of the season with all the drama and development!
PS That rich CEO chick in the car? I get the feeling she was that Zuka Club leader from Ouran High. Anyone else get that feeling?
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
perfect. this is perfect.
i thought it was some crappy shoujo where ohana will go through everything smoothly. I didn’t expect that. I can actually relate to it. LOVE IT
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
the drama XD
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
Was I the only one who didn’t like the singing in the ED?
Anyway I agree with everything here. If anything, this episode made me very aware of Kanae Itou, since I was instantly charmed by her rendition of Ohana. Her voice made her character much more believable and it seems like the perfect fit.
I can’t wait to see more of this. Does anyone know whether this will be a 13/24 ep show?
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 99 comments
No, you weren’t. It was too high-pitched for me. 😛
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Interesting comment on Kanae Ito’s voice and interior monologues.
Grandma is a bitch. Even if your employees make a mistake, and you have to bow. Don’t go around slapping people!
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
japanese style of life :3
it really was like this back in the days..
now it just looks wrong and immoral
but hey, it was normal for them at that time period
though still keeping that style of life is very regrettable but yet understandable due to their distance from the city life, and also their emphasis on “Tradition” : P
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
This is good. This is really damn good. I was so surpirsed to see a whimisical character (Yui like almost) have all her ‘dreams’ broken in not just one episode but the FIRST episode! I love seeing normally easy going characters gettnig pushed around once and a while, it makes the come back much more believable. I have much too much to say about this, so I’ll just keep saying ‘this is good’ 😀
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 88 comments
Haha the grandma is the coolest, she’s oldschool and looks like Hiruma’s aunt.
I always like characters who are a bit on the daydreamer side, since I can relate to them. Ohana’s hard-working and determined, even though she kind of sticks her nose where it doesn’t belong a lot, so she seems like a likeable character. I just hope this show doesn’t turn out to be like a crappy Cindarella story, but so far it looks well-written and definitely worth watching.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 21 comments
great first episode. looking forward to the rest of the season.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 75 comments
Mmmm… Interesting!
Thank U for the post ;3
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
WOoooo my favorite voices from Rail gun! Uiharu and Saten?! AWESOMEEEE <3 <3 <3
Good show so far! Agreed Grandma is a bitch D: so damn angry you can tell she didn't get many hugs growing up. Can tell this will be the drama of spring gotta watch moreeee.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
Another meru’s illustration based anime?
Im worried… thats what i thought anyways before i watched the show :3 (i was worried because the last time in Sora no Outo, the characters became K-ON-ized)
The staff actually did a great job at making meru’s style into an anime version one, very expressive, yet still looks like the original :3
For the content, this is sooo going to be drama material :3 This staff actually specializes in drama anyways so im not worried with story anymore XD
P.S. Ohana from her looks, voice, character, I JUST WANT TO HARASS HER she practically looks as if she wants to get harassed! doesn’t it?
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 131 comments
Just first episode and shit already got serious. Watching it for the sake of “doramatiku”.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Completely same opinion about the series here, though I wasn’t interested in this only because of Itou Kanae.
Man, those characters are just UNREAL! I would kill most of them in Ohana’s place(Firstly – the b*tch grandmother, secondly – an idiot mother)!!! ><"""""" *rage*
But I totally am watching this *~*
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 107 comments
Uwaaa,I feel so bad for Ohana! I’m a student working part time too, but I get treated WAYYY better. Time to appreciate my workplace more… ._.
Oh, and I love Ohana’s hairstyle! *w* It’s so cute!
POWUH: iLurker with 16 comments
UGH! Her personality makes me just a little frustrated! But I like it, surprisingly, everything about it is pretty good, the voices chosen were very fitting and the character design is cute.
I hope in the future she learns to READ THE ATMOSPHERE.
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
Itou Kanae <3 <3 <3 so much, a much more mature production the shinryaku ika musume, or to love ru or TWGOK, and beautifully played,deep and introspective, lets see this hopefully turn into a happy and outgoing girl! (and wow i feel like a pedo watching this)
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
[…] Met’Amour such a delight for the team. As Spring season has officially started with the Hanasaku Iroha and with some more new talent to be infused soon, I hope you keep on having an awesome time at […]
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m coming in very late on this one. My goodness what a charmer. I honestly didn’t think that any other character could replace Taiga Aisaka in my heart, but Ohana is giving that spunky wonder a run for her money.
Oh shit. I said that out loud. Well, I hope everyone will attend my funeral. It’s been real.