[Triple_R]

That was a refreshing, relaxing, rewarding watch. Sweetly sublime sentimental charm to end off the weekend with.

Slight superfluous streaks here and there, though, so I'll settle on 9/10 for this episode.

More thoughts below...

Spoiler for Hanasaku Iroha Episode 10:

The first thing I want to mention here is the artwork and the animation.

That is genuinely godly.

The realistic, pristine architecture, and its serene surrounding setting, are truly a pleasure to behold, and watch animated.

In particular, I very much liked the opening scene where Ohana is cleaning that large, spacious hallway. The way the artwork, animation, and direction of that scene coalesced together left me feeling like I was actually there. And that's an absolutely amazing achievement for an animated work to pull off.

This has become one of those very rare anime shows that I'd watch, and like a lot, for the artwork and animation alone, even if I found the anime otherwise dull or boring.

Thankfully, though, I also find Hanasaku Iroha to be a frequently engaging watch.


Granted, the mood in this episode was decidedly low-key, and it probably needed the glorious artwork and animation to help accomplish its subtle aims, but accomplish them it did.

In particular, I found Ohana's two dreams so very telling and poignant.

This episode makes it crystal clear how, in Ohana's mind, Ko now represents her pre-Kissuiso past. Now there's a couple competing ways of interpreting this:

1. Ohana is emotionally drifting farther and farther away from her former world, including Ko. This is setting the stage for a romance between her and Tohru.

2. Ko is the one element of her pre-Kissuiso past that Ohana dearly misses. And that's why she cries in her second dream. Kissuiso now means more to Ohana than Ko alone does, but in her ideal world, Ko would still be part of her day-to-day life.


What I think Okada might do is leave the viewer guessing as to which of these two interpretations is the correct one, and then have the anime essentially confirm one or the other near or at the end of the anime.


In addition to the above, this episode also makes it plainly clear, but in an eminently realistic fashion, that as much as Ohana loves Kissuiso, the other people at Kissuiso are similarly coming to love her. Even Minchi was downright nice to her in this episode. The Tohru and Nako moments with Ohana were, in particular, very amusing and heartwarming.

One slight specific critique though: I question the wisdom of having the Management Consultant as a permanent cast member, which this episode suggests may be happening. A character like her works best as a recurring character, in my view, not as a cast fixture.


Still, I'm very much looking forward to how Okada continues to intermix character development with relationship development for Ohana.