[Deconstructor]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I admit no such thing. While 3 was an aberration - and that's putting it kindly - I thought 4 was totally consistent in style with the first two episodes. First of all, there was comedy in the first two eps and there was drama in the last one. Second, the presence of comedy does preclude a series being dramatic - and vice-versa. There were hilarious moments in True Tears but I haven't heard anyone ripping it for being a mindless comedy.

Well, maybe I can't get you to admit there's a shift in style. But several people (including myself) note how different it is to watch Ohana work at an inn and Ohana going to high school. Just feels significantly more lighthearted at school than it does back at the inn. Indeed, some of episode 4 was dramatic... and those were usually the scenes away from school. Most of all, the important thing is how much drama and comedy there is an episode. In episode 1, there were about nine parts drama to one part comedy. In episode 4, the ratio seems to have flipped around.

I thought it would be about how she, her mother and grandmother would all come to understand each other through Ohana's interaction with Grandma. I saw nothing in episode 4 that made me think otherwise. Ohana's interactions with her HS colleagues are being treated as some sort of sign of the apocalypse, but her school life is part of life. This series is about her whole experience and I have no issues with her school struggles being a part of the depiction of that.

I don't see Ohana struggling at school. She seems to be playing the gossip girl and prying into Minko's love life (sometimes unintentionally, of course). To be blunt, some of us didn't come here to see Ohana act like a typical teenage girl in high school. We want to see Ohana become more mature - and at high school, we don't see that happening yet. Ohana exchanges casual banter with her fellow classmates, but that's uninteresting for some viewers. Yes, it's part of everyone's life. Some parts of everyone's life are boring. You mention the apocalypse... trust me, Ohana's high school life is not near as dramatic as the world's end. Otherwise, I'd be far more intrigued.

We have two cours to work with here. It's too early to make final decisions about everything that's going to happen. That's plenty of time to tell a complete, balanced story that has many different facets. I don't consider that a negative - I think it's great.

Sure, but it's never too early to make some judgments on what has already aired. Some people don't like what they see now, which may or may not be reflective upon future episodes. They still have the right to be displeased with the anime at this very moment.

Being balanced can be a negative, mostly because it takes more skill and effort to sustain multiple themes, ideas, and moods. If a show is significantly better at coming-of-age than slice-of-life, then why even put in slice-of-life? Just stick with what you're great at doing. Don't ruin the tension by inserting some strange, out-of-place jokes (episode 3).

It can of course work positively when different facets are executed with high caliber. But there's also the problem of whether these facets mesh in together well. Truthfully, I think Hanairo is great at gripping drama and good at casual school life. Do these stylistic opposites really mix in together to create something better than just the drama alone? You answer yes... and I answer no.