Hana-Kimi

Episode 6

1. He calls Mizuki a “tomboy” despite her wearing a baby pink frilly dress when she goes to meet him at his hotel.
2. He's creepily obsessed with Mizuki and controlling her choices.
3. He's a raging homophobe in the manga, although this has thankfully been cut from the anime.
4. He thinks it's acceptable for an unauthorized adult to wander around a high school campus.
5. He grabs Mizuki by the wrist.
6. Not just that, but he does so in anger, and it looks forceful enough to hurt.
7. He makes the completely unreasonable demand that she return to the U.S. if Sano, who is still recovering from an injury, can't make the high jump.
8. He, an adult, insults Sano, a child, by calling him an “eyesore” because he is recovering from an injury.
9. After all that, he leaves without even saying goodbye.

Sorry, Mizuki, your older brother sucks. He's possessive, controlling, and mean, and no amount of calling him “protective” will excuse that.

Umeda, meanwhile, remains the sole reliable adult present for Mizuki. She can turn to him when she needs help, even calling on his little sister to bring her a dress when she wants to wear one to meet her brother. He calls out Shizuki and provides context on what's happening with Mizuki and Sano. He may act brusque, but when Mizuki needs an adult, he's the one she can turn to.

All that said, I really hope the person he was making out with in his office is another adult and not a student, because the gay school nurse dating a student is a trope I've encountered more than once.

The main story of Hana-Kimi, of Mizuki supporting and encouraging Sano in his mental recovery, is starting to feel a bit like a sports series. The plot with Shizuki drives him to train and jump high enough to compete in his first track meet since his injury, even if he doesn't clear the height to advance to the preliminaries. Kagurazaka himself seemed relieved that Sano was participating as well, making him come across more as a friendly rival than the antagonistic one he had seemed.

Examining the story through that lens transforms it, at least in my eyes. Sano is the protagonist, not Mizuki; he is the one on the journey, the driving force, the one with the emotional stakes. Other characters react to him most strongly. Mizuki is a secondary character in her own story; she is there to offer support to the boy she likes. Even her gender is barely an issue, since Sano already knows it; the way he pulls her into an embrace after his successful jump may lead to some emotional confusion about his feelings, since Mizuki still thinks he thinks she's a boy, but it's hardly the kind of stuff that drives a story forward. That's all him so far. It feels like Haikyuu!! or a Run with the Wind as told through the eyes of the obligatory female helper.

If only Hana-Kimi had animation even close to the level of those series! This may be the ugliest episode yet. Behold the stiff walk cycles! The compositing of two-dimensional characters in three-dimensional environments makes them look like paper dolls in a dollhouse! The nonsensical lighting makes Dahlia in Bloom look competent! At this point, I'd almost preferred Hana-Kimi had stayed a manga, remembered fondly by those who read it, rather than mistreated by the production, rejected, and ignored by modern anime audiences.

Rating:

Hana-Kimi is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.