Hanasaku Iroha

What was hailed as one of the best series from Spring 2011 finally comes to a close. Produced as P.A. Works' tenth anniversary project a lot of effort was made to make this a memorable series. Did all their hard efforts succeed? Jump over the break to find out.

What is it: A young girl is forced to live with her estranged grandmother out in the countryside when her mother leaves her to elope with a new boyfriend. Unbeknownst to the girl, her grandmother runs a hot spring inn and forces her to work there as payment for living at the inn. Hanasaku Iroha is an original work created by Mari Okada, screenwriter, and Mel Kishida, character designer. 26 episodes were produced by P.A. Works in 2011.

Why is it special: A slice-of-life story that isn't so ordinary. Not many people can say that they were forced to work at a hot spring inn just to live there. Other than that, there isn't anything too special about Hanasaku.


Plus One:
The simplicity: Rather hard to mess this one up. A tale about a girl who lives and works at a hot spring inn. Sure it is a slice-of-life story, but it is good to see that it didn't try to become something else.


The diversity: Despite having a fairly large cast, most characters are written well enough to stand out from the rest. While some viewers may not like certain characters, they do work well as a group. Each character has something that makes them noticeable and not blend in as a background character.


The scenery: This could also be classified with animation quality. Everything about Hanasaku oozes quality. It really does feel like P.A. Works put a lot of effort into making this show. There are some scenes where it is just about the scenery and it feels, and looks, great. 


Minus One:
The drama: The second half of the show veers toward unnecessary drama. As if to make it more interesting, the writers made it so each character had some sort of problem they had to deal with. Despite getting some character background from this, it felt forced and many times boring.

Two cour: At first I was happy to see Hanasaku getting a second season, it quickly became evident to me that they should have only done 12 or 13 episodes. Most of the drama mentioned above comes in the second season. Not only did it feel like it dragged on and on but there really wasn't any progression. 

More drama: To hit it home harder, the drama in this show sometimes got unbearable. Perhaps being an anime I give it a harder time but I think the story would have been better for a live-action drama. For some reason I just feel as if this show should have been live-action instead.  

All for One:
Overall Hanasaku Iroha is a decent show. There are about as many high points as low points in the show. Despite nearly dropping it towards the later half, I stuck with it and enjoyed it to the end. It is a show that was pleasant and had some amazing animation and scenery. Probably a show for those looking for an animated Asian drama.