This thread is for those of you with questions about the Hanasaku Iroha anime or manga. There are many questions that don't need a whole thread to discuss them. A simple practical answer straight from the anime or manga without any speculation can solve these connundrums. If someone has such a question about Hanasaku Iroha which can be solved by answering with facts from an official source, then please ask that question here.

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This may sound like an epic fail but I just never bothered with it. What does Hanasaku Iroha actually mean? Google translation ftl.

I think this was mentioned some time ago from an official source (the production of this show).
It can be meant as "Blooming Flowers" (main) or "Colour of Flowers" (alternative). Combining them it becomes something along the lines of "Colour of Blooming Flowers".

On the net, I've seen it referred as "Blooming Flowers ABC" or "How to Bloom a Flower" but I believe the above ones are more accurate.

What are the ages of the characters? I know that Ohana is 16. Since Minko is in the same class, she's probably 16 or 17. What about Nako and everyone else?

Wikipedia has all the characters and their ages listed.

^ Thanks so much! It even has the future episode titles! OAO

"Hobiron" is a made up word by Minko, right?

Yeah she takes the first kanji out of other insults to spell Hobiron which is a Balut to us, or a fertilized egg or as I always thought of it as, "gross".

I don't get it being called a balut then. How do you go from a made up word to a real one??

This should help,

http://hanasakuiroha.wikia.com/wiki/Concepts

Scroll down a little bit and you'll see an entry for Hobiron.

Question:
If the tittle of this anime is really "the colour of blooming flowers", should it be...... "sakuhana no iro"?

Absolutely.
The title is a bit ungrammatical and, as you know, has double meaning.

1. "the color of blooming flowers is..." (ellipsis)
2. "the ABCs of blooming flowers"

The word "i-ro-ha" is a ordering of kana letters in old Japanese -- you can learn more in wikipedia.

For your information:
According to the official blog, there were many title candidates such as below.

1. "Mayoiro Palette" -- I think "Mayoiro" is a shortened form of "mayoi no iro"(lit. "hesitating color")
2. "Colorful Days"
3. "Kikan ko" -- lit. "Stubborn girl"
4. "Orumasshi!" -- lit. "Stay here!"(dialect in Kanazawa)

So it's an use of words pun + double meaning... i see

Thank

Re. Episode 10

Did this series sell well? Anyone know the #?

It sold well. Current home media sales are hovering around the 9,000 mark per volume (BD+DVD), which is quite respectable for an original anime.

Does somebody know why Ohana and Koichi are often defined as childhood friends? How long do they know each other?

So is this show licensed or not?