Hanasaku Iroha

"Like father, like son. Like mother, like daughter"

There's an age old belief that certain traits are passed down from parents to children, and like most ancient convictions, there's an element of truth to this one. It's a well known fact that much of a person's future behaviour is learned during their formative years, and while it's true that children will instinctively copy the mannerisms and behaviours of the role models closest to them (which in most cases means their parents), even trained professionals and researchers can't fully explain the "inheritance" of less tangible traits like stubbornness, temper, perspicacity, etc.

But what does all that have to ... do with a show about a girl who goes off to work at a hotsprings inn? Well, not enough to be honest, and that's biggest problem.

Hanasaku Iroha (The ABC's of Blooming), is an original anime from P.A. Works that tells the story of Matsumae Ohana, a 16 highschool student who, due to a variety of circumstances regarding her mother, is forced to move away from Tokyo to live with her estranged maternal grandmother, Shijima Sui, at the hotsprings inn that she owns. Knowing that she has no choice in the matter Ohana tries to make the best of her situation, and at the request of her grandmother she begins working at Kissui Inn.

It all sounds like a fairly straightforward set up for some teenaged melodrama, and for the most part that's what viewers will get. The plot is functional, but the anime can often have difficulty getting to the point or sticking to the storyline, and there's little in the way of originality where the narrative is concerned. In addition to this there appears to be no real direction or cohesiveness with the progression of the series, and these factors may cause viewers to wonder when the story will offer up some actual development.

That said, there's a surprisingly interesting subtextual thread that runs through the plot (which we'll cover in a bit), but because of the numerous issues with the main storyline it's often overlooked. The sad part is that Hanasaku Iroha would have had a much, much better storyline if Okada Mari had simply removed certain events from the screenplay and tightened up the narrative.

Thankfully, some thought seems to have gone into the visuals.

P.A. Works deserve some applause for the effort they've made in producing Hanasaku Iroha as it's easily one of the better looking anime of 2011. The artwork tends towards realism rather than the cartoonish offerings of several titles I could mention, and while this allows for some rather picturesque backgrounds and settings, there are numerous occasions where the usage of various lighting effects create some truly stunning imagery. The animation is fluid, and unlike many other shows of this type, there's a surprising range of movement for both people and animals.

The characters are an interesting mix of styles and shapes that can sometimes appear a little plain, but in actuality there's a method to their design that may not be obvious at first glance. The thing to bear in mind is that the story takes place at a working hotsprings inn, and because of that Sekiguchi Kanami has tried to create a contrast with the picturesque surroundings.

One of the notable aspects of Hanasaku Iroha is the background music, or rather, the lack of it. There's a nice variety of styles on offer ranging from pastoral pieces (which in some cases sound a bit like elevator music), to upbeat little ditties, but it's the lack of musical accompaniment in many scenes that fits very well with the often quiet tone of the series.

Which is why the number of tracks used for the opening and ending themes seem ... a little too much.

Like many 26 episode anime, Hanasaku Iroha features two main opening and ending songs that change over at the midway point of the series. The show begins with a surprisingly well put together sequence that introduces the more prominent characters, but the track used for this, "Hana no Iro" by Nano Ripe, is a fairly bland piece that only works because of some good audio/visual choreography. In contrast to this closing sequence is a simple montage of Ohana and her three friends that has been set to "Hazy" by Sphere. From episode fourteen the opening track changes to "Omokage Warp" by Nano Ripe (again), which is a far more upbeat song than the previous one, and while the animated sequence is different to that of the first OP, the quality and content are pretty similar. The closing song, "Hanasaku Iroha" by Clammbon, is a feelgood ballad set to an animated image of Ohana and her friends, but unlike the other sequences it doesn't seem like much effort has been put into this one.

There are also two more ending themes, "Tsukikage to Buranko" (episode 6), and "Yumeji" (episode 8), once again performed by Nano Ripe, but there doesn't actually seem to be any real reason for their inclusion so one has to wonder why they were used in the first place.

Given the fact that this is a highschool drama, one might expect a degree of overemphasis when it comes to the acting, but there's surprisingly little of this in the dialogue. The script is well balanced between each of the roles, and while there are occasions where the seiyuu "fest it up", in general the voice actors deliver some very good performances. In addition to this there's a surprising, yet clear demarcation between the adult and teenage roles that is apparent not just in the manner of speech, but also in the language used.

One of the problems with the lack of direction and cohesiveness in the storyline is that it has a direct impact on the prominent characters, and this is the main reason why some viewers consider Ohana to be a very lacklustre lead role. Unfortunately, there's little in the dialogue that can actually raise her above average, and while there are clear efforts made to develop her character, these can often seem contrived or unnecessary.

That said, it's the supporting characters who really steal the show.

From Ohana's mother, Matsumae Satsuki, to Kawajiri Takako, the business consultant for Kissui Inn, the adult roles are defined from the start of the series, and this makes a nice contrast to the somewhat vague characterisation of Minko, Nako and Yuina (Ohana's friends). The series also makes the effort to further develop several of the supporting roles, and because of this the subtextual thread in the plot comes to light.

On the surface Hanasaku Iroha is nothing more than another teenaged melodrama, but underneath it's also a story about family and role models, and that aspect of the series is far more intriguing than much of the exisitng plot. The relationship between Sui, Satsuki and Enishi forms the cornerstone of everything that happens at Kissui Inn, and unlike many other anime out there the series handles the dynamics of this in a very realistic manner. Thanks to the efforts made to highlight how each person affects the other two, several minor but key clarifications of the storyline become apparent, the most notable being the reasons for the estrangement between Satsuki and her mother, Enishi's desperate attempts to win his mother's approval and finally step out of the shadow of his sister, and Ohana's festival wish at the end of the series.

Hanasaku Iroha isn't as good as it could have been, but that doesn't make it bad. If one is able to tolerate the tangents in the storyline then it really is a pretty decent show at its core, and it's a fairly good depiction of working life in a hotel. That said, at 26 episodes this series really is far too long, and it can often feel like certain events or situations were added only to fill the required number of episodes. Unfortunately the detrimental effect this has on the character interactions may lead to some viewers giving up on the show entirely,

The sad part is that if the series had been trimmed down and the subtextual plot given more prominence, this could easily have been a contender for the best anime of 2011, but as it is right now it's nothing more than another show that joins the ranks of "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda".

Let's cut to the chase, Hanasaku Iroha has its moments, but ultimately it lost its direction midway.

The story can be summarized as a group of cute girls working in an inn doing a bunch of things that normally wouldn't be interesting in real life. However this is Anime, so something like wiping the floor becomes extraordinary exciting all of a sudden and there are plenty more real life boring activities the show will make it incredibly exciting.

The other component of Hanasucku 's story are the romantic dramas. There are romantic dramas that are fun to watch, but if you have seen any romance Anime, ... you can figure out pretty much figure out who will end up with who.

By midway, Hanasaku's almost episodic nature becomes more and more boring and it didn't feel like any of the arcs were going anywhere (other than the romance ones). Watching a cute girl washing dishes while ogling at her man or cleaning the windows early morning no longer excites the viewers. Fortunately the pace picks up near the end with all the inn drama; still, the drama was a bit cheap (not to mention forced to create a plot) in my opinion.

Now let's talk about the characters

The characters were all unfortunately either recycled characters from some other show or just plain old archetypes.

Ohana - typical pretty peacemaker, needs to get into everyone's ways until everyone is happy.

Minchi - violent tsundere, but cute

Nakochi - timid miss perfect.

There is this other girl named Yuina, but I don't think she could even write her name properly, so she does not deserve a mention (oh wait...)

The surrounding visuals is very well done, the character designs are okay. The first opening song really fits the show, but the second opening is terrible. I also liked Michi's VA, it expresses her character well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Anime because I watched one episode per week. Had this been an Anime that was already completed, I do not think I would even pick this up.

Hanasaku isn't a waste of time, but not worth watching either.

Having watched a variety of slice of life shows I went into this anime with some decent expectations, and despite the high average score on MAL I was disappointed and confused at the end. The first episode starts in a formulaic drama style: spunky girl gets put into an unexpected situation with a funny cast of characters. Add in a uptight and strict (but badass) grandma, and you are looking at a decent slice of life. After two straight days of binging this show, I'm more confused at how it got such a high score when the story of this anime is ... jumbled, the characters go from lovable to hate-able, and most plots introduced relatively unresolved... As a warning, I did not previously read the manga and this is just the random opinion of someone on the internet, but here is some reasons I thought this anime was beautifully animated garbage. -Minor Spoilers-. First, the relationship between Ohana and her mother is awful, and while it is explored, Ohana basically sweeps it under the rug by the end of the show. We're talking about some serious trauma that's never touched on, and when Ohana and her mother do have a confrontation her mother basically admits that she values work more than her daughter and Ohana accepts this answer. This plot alone could have been it's own entire anime, but instead it's just a plot device they use to bring Ohana to the inn, but then decide to sloppily resolve it in the end. I also found the relation Ohana and her grandmother initially intriguing, but they don't actually build a relationship until the end of the season. Ohana never once asks her grandmother anything about herself or her mother. It's an employer / employee relationship after episode 2 until the end the series. Still a heartfelt moment, but one that could have better been built over time. I think overall the characters relationships in this anime are all hot and cold. While each character is generally a classic anime stereotype, they all consistently hate our main character at the beginning, and then AGAIN at the end. It was as though they got amnesia and decided to hate her again. Particularly Minko, who I'm assuming is the waifu of the show, goes through such hot and cold attitudes towards the main character I want Ohana to slap her. Sure, Ohana is the annoying kind of cheerful character, but having someone openly say to your face 'go die' repeatedly deserves a slap. Or just don't be friends. On the whole, each episode wavers between trying to be a daily look into the lives of running an inn, and full out DRAMA that just gets swept under the rug. On the whole, I don't think this anime was awful, but the writing / character development was just scattered. You could easily have fit the story they dished out into 13 episodes and not missed much. Episodes 1-3 were the roughest to get through in my opinion, most scenes making go 'wtf did that just happen?' (see all of episode 3). Maybe I'm missing something and maybe it's Maybelline. 4/10