Hanasaku Iroha in Review [6/10]

This was a long run, I should really stop doing 2 cour anime if I'm not certain I will like it.  I felt committed after 10 episode and my need to not drop something halfway kept me posting and watching even though I had long lost interest. Alas I have finished it, at least it had a very strong ending.

Hanasaku Iroha 26 - An End to my Torment

Exactly how I feel :3

This episode was much better then I expected but that still didn't justify the brutal rest of the season. The second half was extremely well done to wrap things up nicely with an open ending for a potential season two. If season two happens, there is no chance I'm covering it unless I see Godzilla and Gundams battling it out in the PV. I was lulled into this by that awesome first episode, never again!

Hansaku Iroha 25 - A Lesson in Perespective

Wow, this anime just feels more and more excruciatingly painful to sit through. I actually paused this episode at least 5 times to whimper in pain. I don't get why helping for the bonbon festival = enemy, burn her! It is like your typical school yard "you're not my friend anymore!"  logic. It just hurt so hard watching this episode and the absolute idiocy they turn into super suspenseful drama.

Hansaku Iroha 24 - Unwavering Resolve

Just noticed how tiny she is...

This episode took unexpectedly long to watch, probably because of how uninterested I was in it. It also started off on the worse note possible. I care less about Ko and Ohana now that their ending is obvious. On a side note, I went a full week before I realized I mis-numbered my last post, go go high quality control! Another day in Ohana's boring life tsk tsk.

Hanasaku Iroha 23 - An Unrequited Love

The only character I ever liked in this show...

Wow did this episode start off slow as hell. I think I fell asleep twice in that first half of this episode. It started off extremely boring with very little outlook of it getting better. Thankfully we had a decent scene and an amazing one liner to make things slightly better. Still was an overall extremely boring episode for me.

Hanasaku Iroha 22 - This Is Why I Had No Hope...

I agree, that is a very rare thing for a guy to do... There's no such thing as platonic relationships!

I prayed beyond all reason that they would play up the drama; there's nothing but despair left within me now. With only a few episodes left, it would be meaningless to drop it now. I have trudged through this anime that was clearly not meant for me. Aaro would have probably found this anime awesome, since he thinks everything is awesome. Damn his low standards.

Hanasaku Iroha 21 - Enishing Can Happen!

The deep look of hate...

Well, things are really picking up, with the marriage between the young master and that useless girl with tons of useless ideas. It was just another episode to set up the new arc, like we have seen before so many times. I really hate arc-based stories like this; I like things flowing more smoothly. These very obvious breaks in the story really stop you from wanting to continue on.

Hanasaku Iroha 20 - Omurice

Already eating before everyone has food; that is why they are background characters.

This was an episode dedicated to Minko's love/hate for omelet rice. I still can't tell if she really likes it. D: I mean, she claims that it was a crucial moment to her child. Most the characters had their personalities exaggerated for their arc, but I see absolutely no difference in her bitchy attitude. I guess she was that terrible of a character to begin with.

Hanasaku Iroha 19 - Super Tsundere Minko

So, this episode was the start of the arc for the culture festival. It was a pretty standard boring episode all the way up until the end. Maybe if the episode started on a high note, I wouldn't be so bored watching this anime every week. For the sake of completeness, I must endure!

Hanasaku Iroha 18 - A Mermaid's Dream

She looked horrible in that. The hat was the only thing tying it together.

So, it was an extremely short one-episode focus on Nakochi. I guess even the writers knew how boring this would be but felt obligated to throw it in. This episode was just brutal; watching Nako just squirm under pressure was a flimsy-as-hell plot for this episode. It was just brutal, from start to finish.

Hanasaku Iroha 17 - Scammed!

This movie looked awesome.

Wow, this arc turned out much better than expected. I didn't see the scam coming, It made for an enjoyable episode with the twist and turns, watching all the characters cope with learning that they'd gotten scammed. It's interesting how calmly most people took it, though; it was almost too calm.

Hanasaku Iroha 16 - A Chance to Prove His Worth

So, the new arc began with Yuina looking pretty bored; I would be bored if my time in the spotlight was over, too. At least she was rightfully bored with a new plot that has come rolling in. Maybe if the movie being filmed turns out to be some interesting story, although I highly doubt that...

Hansaku Iroha 15 - Yuina's Revelation

This arc was so obviously dedicated to her character growth that she even got a final monologue at the end of this episode. She was my favourite character for being pretty cool-headed and having an answer to everything. It was nice, though, to see her finally lose her composure for the first time. In the end, though, this anime is still feeling pretty boring.

Hanasaku Iroha 14 - Yuina's Story

I guess my like for Yuina really helped me with this episode. She was one of the characters that I did wonder about, and we finally got her story. Even with the story focused on the best character in this anime, I still had trouble getting through this entire episode. I think I've just lost interest in this anime in general.

Hanasaku Iroha 13 - Like Mother Like Daughter

This episode seems to mark the end of another arc. I am really disliking this entire arc-based approach, though. It's way too disjointed and you don't get a need to continue watching the anime since the flow is broken.

Hanasaku Iroha 12 - Ohana the Antagonist

Tohru wants the entire family at once!

This happened to be a nice turn of events for me. These last few episodes are starting to flow together instead of being just individualized, which is much better. Ohana finally seems more resolute and it also helps to learn that the Tohru X Ohana is sooo happening.

Hanasaku Iroha 11 - A Bit of Insanity

I agree.

Finally, an episode to reignite my flame for Hanasaku. It has been quite some time since I found an episode enjoyable. Maybe it's because they finally decided to add some drama to the story, moving back to Toyo (and staying for at least the next episode).

Hanasaku Iroha 10 - Why Didn't You Take the Dramatic Route?

This episode was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. For a moment, I thought that this anime was going to take a really good turn for the better, but then they chose to go the "drama-free" route. I guess I'm not alone when I think that this anime has been going downhill. Even the pre-orders for this BD were pretty low (almost one FRT low) for such a high production anime; hopefully, they will make it passed the anime-saving line.

Hansaku Iroha 08 - Beta as...Lollipops

A nice out-of-context line. Yay~

I'll keep profanity out of the title. Ha-ha-ha-ha. It was the only way to describe this episode, as I watched Ko-chan fail miserably. This episode seemed too anti-climactic to warrant a two-episode span complete with a full minute-long recap. What were they thinking, anyway, with that recap?

Hanasaku Iroha 08 - Ohana Becomes Assertive

Finally, it seems like they were running the same arc over and over again for the last few episodes. Almost every episode so far has been self-contained, with the huge "dilemma" solved by the end of that episode. It is refreshing to finally get a longer story.