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REVIEW: Hanasaku Iroha Episodes 8-13 Streaming




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mpg13



Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Posts: 61
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:05 am Reply with quote
If someone had told me that I would like this series I would have laughed at them but once I started watching it I was hooked. It is very well done.
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kazume



Joined: 18 Dec 2006
Posts: 129
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:03 am Reply with quote
Quote:
If someone had told me that I would like this series I would have laughed at them but once I started watching it I was hooked. It is very well done.


Exactly, the whole episode with the freeloader using the employees as material for his trashy novel that he cant seem to write just felt out of place, and I'm sure for a lot of people, resulted in them dropping it. But with patience and an episode or two more after that, I managed to find a gem among the shows that season, and am anxiously waiting for the second half to kick start, which it already has spectacularly.

To me it seems as if the whole deal with Ko is all said and done, and it's time to move on from that, but that arc (if at all finished, we dunno yet at this point) was handled nicely and really let Ohana blossom further as the shows main character.

Truly a show worthy of a purchase should it ever hit stateside, but a show of a girl wanting to find her place at an Inn and in life just doesn't sound marketable from typical U.S. standpoints. What a shame, I'd reserve any special boxset for this show in a heartbeat if I ever get word of it online showing up sometime at my local DVD store.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:43 am Reply with quote
kazume wrote:
To me it seems as if the whole deal with Ko is all said and done, and it's time to move on from that, but that arc (if at all finished, we dunno yet at this point) was handled nicely and really let Ohana blossom further as the shows main character.


Oh ho, I daresay it's only begun; people have a habit of sticking around in our lives.

As far as family goes, on the other hand... I really don't know if the resolution will be left as is. In either case, my positive opinion of the show remains strong.
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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:03 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The relationship between Ohana and her mother and grandmother has plenty of unresolved ragged edges—it is honestly written after all—but if the series has any sense they'll be left that way.


I get frustrated at people who say that "nothing happens" in this show. A lot does happen, but it's subtle - like real life. I like how Ohana realizes that, even with the best of intentions, she cannot fix everything, and worse, has hurt people who care about her. One cruel lesson that most of us learn growing up is that we can't always fix things that are broken. I thought the show captured this sentiment beautifully.

As far as the ecchi elements that some people complain about, they could be there purely for fan service. But, to me, it almost seems like the writers are poking fun at this expectation. Things like spoiler[Ohana tied up in bondage ropes, wannabe soldiers hunting down "maids", and Nako jumping off a cliff in order to get a shot of her in a wet t-shirt] are so out there compared to the rest of the show that it almost feels like some sort of inside joke.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:39 pm Reply with quote
First things first: Fantastic review, and not just because I agree with it 99.5% (the 0.5 percent being that I would give the show an overall of A, Story B+, Animation B+, Art A+, Music A) This is my favorite of the new Spring 2011 anime and if it keeps up will find itself in my top 5 of all time. It is marvelously done with breathtaking art; characters that are so realistic you feel you could call them on the phone and talk to them (oh wait, you could for a while... I don't know if that phone number is still in operation... LOL!); a well wrought slice-of-life story that tugs at your heartstrings without resorting to (too much) bald faced manipulation, leading to the feeling that the emotions it elicits are authentic and heartfelt instead of saccharine and contrived; and a score that enhances the mood; and an OP (original) that sticks in your head like an old classic that you heard on the radio yesterday. (The original ED, "Hazy" by Sphere, is unfortunately one of the week points of the score. I love the voices, but the song itself is unmemorable and was usurped so often by extra songs by nano.RIPE that it fails to satisfy in the long run, though any individual viewing of it, with the accompanying animation, is enjoyable at the time.)

I have high hopes that P.A. Works will continue to pour love, talent, and I presume money into this 10th anniversary project so it will stand at the end as a shining example of entertainment done right and a lovely demonstration of what this fairly young and obviously well run animation company is capable of doing. I wish all anime were given the kind of careful, loving treatment to allow the artistry of all of the contributors to fully bloom on screen, creating a flower of unique and delicate beauty... Just like what is happening to Ohana.
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JiseiHakushaku



Joined: 28 Apr 2011
Posts: 19
Location: Kentucky, USA
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 4:03 pm Reply with quote
I'm so glad to see this series getting such great reviews. A lot of reviewers don't tend to see the beautiful simplicity or realism in shows like this, and I'm quite happy to see it getting a fair shake.

Love this show! Now maybe I can use this review to convince some friends to watch it. <3
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 5:55 pm Reply with quote
The second I saw the design for the series, especially Ohana, I knew this was a special series. Carl hit the nail on the head with the "simpler is better" as I noticed immediately the care of making the backgrounds stand out.

Thus, and this certainly is no complaint, I'm curious as to the bar's position when it comes to Art. I felt the "B" grade seemed low only because it's been quite a while we've seen a series look this good and this certainly sets the bar for anything else coming out, as I see it.

At any rate, to those who haven't seen it, check it out on CR. It's free, after all. Now, if only FUNimation will hurry up and license it and allow me to own a copy before 2023.
Twisted Evil

I'm very glad to see there are more episodes to go. I thought 13 was it for the season.

Time to float.
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MaxSouth



Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 1363
PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:15 am Reply with quote
i have tried to watch this show, but i gave up on about sixth episode, when things got be either really non-interesting or tacky/ridiculous/bad/taste/filler...
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:20 pm Reply with quote
Wait, so... since I gave this up because Ohana was the most utterly self-involved, spoiled, unlikable character I'd seen in a long time... has the thrust of the series thus far been her growing into a less self-centered whiny brat? Because in that case I may try re-watching it.

(sorry that this is delayed, I've been... out of town for a while)
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:44 pm Reply with quote
@ vashfanatic - given your rather extreme distaste for Ohana - one that I don't share - I think I can safely say there's nothing that's happened since you dropped it that would change your mind. Whenever I see an over-the-top reaction to a character like yours - especially when I know such an opinion is absolutely unsupportable by anything that happens in the show, I realize that the reaction is a result of some particular "deal" the pathological hater has going on in his or her mind and not as a result of what is going on onscreen. Why would you even think for a second that anything could sway your original aggressively negative impression?
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:58 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
especially when I know such an opinion is absolutely unsupportable by anything that happens in the show


Let me repost something I wrote after the first episode:

Quote:
Where do I begin...? Well, first, when Ohana discovers she's about to be packed up and shipped out of Tokyo overnight, she gets excited and happily talks about how great it will be to leave her boring life for something that's finally "dramatic" to her best friend. No "I'll miss you" or "We should keep in touch," just "Yay! I'm finally leaving this lousy place with no regrets!" It's only when he confesses that he's fallen for her that she feels bad -- not for having been a callous jackass to her best friend, but because she feels awkward knowing that he now likes her. How will it effect her?

Hell, everything in the episode was about her. Why should she have to work to earn her keep? Nevermind that all indications in the episode are that most of the kids in the village work part time somewhere to help make money, nor that this is common among anyone whose family isn't either very well off, thereby making her a spoiled brat. Why should she have to be considerate of guests in an inn and put them first? Shouldn't her needs be the most important? The clincher is when she protests her grandmother's abuse of Minko, not for Miko's sake but because she feels bad that someone is being punished for something she did. Of course, Ohana is then horrified when her grandmother follows through on her request to punish her instead (and okay, child abuse is wrong, but still), and when Minko calls her out for being a selfish little whiner, she cries and doesn't know why Minko could possibly hate her. And we're somehow supposed to feel bad for her??


So yes. Totally unsupported by what's on the screen. I admit that the "unlikable" part of it is subjective, because maybe people do somehow like characters who spend the entire first episode acting self-absorbed, or maybe you instead interpreted her as sympathetically immature, but I don't and I didn't. If you want to dismiss that as just some particular "deal" rather than an interpretation of a character, fine, be that way. It won't be the first time you've decided to dismiss any opinion other than your own as deranged rather than just different.

But right after writing that, I also added:

Quote:
Now, maybe this will be the point of the series: that Ohana needs to grow up, realize how her actions affect others, develop true empathy, and grow into being a better person who can, ultimately, stand up to her grandmother. And it is perhaps realistic to have a teenager be this self-involved, especially when her mother has set such a lousy example to her. And so if ANN runs one of their later reviews of the first six episode or so and this turns out to be the case, I might return to it.

So when I read this review, and it seems that Ohana may indeed have grown up, since it sounds like she now cares about the inn and other people, I am genuinely hoping that my original evaluation of the main character was incorrect, and that the series develops her into someone I would like more.

Dang, in 10 days I forgot how much of a stressor the ANN forums can be. *sigh*
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:20 pm Reply with quote
@ vashfanatic - I'm glad you reprinted your original impressions because they show to me how your hate filter simply warps every reaction Ohana has to fit your view of her as, like, the worst person evar.

So Ohana's incredibly flaky and undependable Mom is shipping Ohana off to a grandmother she doesn't even really know so that she can do a "moonlight flit" with her lover. Sure, Ohana - if she really was the spoiled, whiny brat you claim she is - would have an actual justifiable reason to whine about her treatment, but she doesn't. She expresses the optimistic hope that things might actually be better where she's going - wow, what a bitch! So then her male friend who hitherto has given no indication to Ohana how he feels about her, confesses his feelings and according to you, the ONLY thing Ohana cares about is that fact that she now feels awkward. Because you've got the Ohana hate googles slapped on, you would never consider that perhaps this young girl who has absolutely no experience with boys in that way is simply at a loss to even figure out how she feels, let alone express it.

I mean, you even managed to find an uncharitable view of Ohana pointing out that Minko did not deserve to be punished for something that she, Ohana, did! Laughing That's kind of when I knew you had left Rational Land.

So yeah, believe me - there are lots of good things that Ohana does that you would doubtlessly twist to show that actually she is a horrible person who eats puppies for breakfast and votes Republican. Because the show is not interested in portraying her as perfect, she does things that even a sympathetic viewer like myself rolls my eyes at. I can't even imagine what you would make of those.

So yeah, don't waste your time and don't waste the show's time in watching something that you have already inflexibly made your mind up about.
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Mad_Scientist
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 3011
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:12 pm Reply with quote
I don't know Blood-, Carl himself also had the view of Ohana as whiny and spoiled somewhat, and he obviously feels that she's grown into a more likable character. Of course, he also felt she made great strides as early as the second episode, and never disliked her as much as vashfanatic did.

Personally, I think he's totally nuts, and that he and most of the other people who really hated Ohana must have been possessed by alien parasites that twisted and distorted what they saw. Or a chasm in space-time opened up and they actually watched a different show than I did. Or I've lost touch with reality completely and it's actually myself that is insane, not them.

But regardless, Carl had a view of Ohana that was similiar (though much less harsh) to that of vashfanatic's view, and still grew to like and appreciate the both show and Ohana as a character, so it's possible that vashfanatic might like it if he watches more. Unlikely, but possible.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:19 pm Reply with quote
Mad_Scientist - as a general rule, I try to abide by the belief that, "anything is possible," but when you're dealing with someone who somehow finds a negative interpretation of Ohana's protest over Minko being unjustly punished for something she herself did, I think the odds are somewhat long! Laughing
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HaruhiToy



Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 4118
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:24 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
First things first: Fantastic review, and not just because I agree with it 99.5% (the 0.5 percent being that I would give the show an overall of A, Story B+, Animation B+, Art A+, Music A).


I don't get how the reviewer can write a review like that and fail to award an A or A+ in any category. This is aside from whether I agree or disagree. The review says one thing, the scores another.
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