Hana-Kimi

Episode 8

If you have a history of disordered eating, this episode has a minor subplot where Mizuki restricts her food intake over weight concerns. It doesn't go anywhere, but take care of yourself.

This show exists in the no-man's land where it's bad enough that I'm not enjoying it, but not bad enough that it's fun to pick apart. I like the Hana-Kimi manga! I don't want to tear the anime based on it to shreds! And yet, I've been left little choice by the folks at Signal.MD, whether it be thanks to a lack of care, a lack of resources, or a lack of general competence.

Take, for example, the animation in this episode. Yeah, I'm grousing about the animation again. Who's going to stop me? The episode abounds with baffling camera angles, jump cuts, and split screens. A viewer who isn't used to such tricks may think they're being artsy, but I know the truth: they're avoiding animating difficult motions, like Sano shucking off his shirt, which is represented as a third still frame when he was talking to Mizuki in their room, already depicted with a split screen. He sits shirtless on his bed, the camera slides over to Mizuki, and then slides back to him now dressed.

I could forgive it, or even admire its clever use of animation shortcuts in the face of a lack of resources, if everything else didn't look so poor. All of my usual complaints continue to apply, of course, but did you notice that the ocean looks like blue jello? Or the way that Nakatsu is surrounded by artifacts from the animators cutting and pasting him against the computer-generated backgrounds? You definitely saw that Makita's mouth didn't move when he saved Mizuki from the beach pickup artists. The production just feels so loveless to me, with zero regard for the elan that made the manga's silliness enjoyable.

Although I wouldn't be surprised if Makita arranged for the beach sex pests to harass Mizuki so he could come to her rescue, the boy is definitely playing the long game. Since she doesn't have actual dysphoria, being misgendered isn't triggering for Mizuki, so she seems willing to forgive him for patronizing her when she claimed to be a boy. He's slowed down his flirtation tactics, buttering her up with small favors like checking in on her after she faints from starving herself. Sano regards him with suspicion, but all Mizuki sees is an older boy who's being kind to her. I can't blame her for not catching onto his intentions; she's the kind of person who assumes the best in everyone, after all.

But I can be mad at her about one thing: she's convinced that Tamami Kagurazaka's flirtation is working on Sano, all because she has bigger breasts. It's so unbelievably obvious that Sano wants nothing to do with this child, who chases him and clings to him as he tries to get away. At one point, Mizuki watches jealously as he grips her wrists to keep her from grabbing onto him. I may wish death on wrist-grabbers 99 times out of 100, but I can't blame him for this one, since she's constantly throwing herself at him even when he tells her to stop. Mizuki may not be the most emotionally intelligent of characters, but it's getting a little ridiculous.

Kagurazaka, on the other hand, is surprisingly emotionally intelligent in this episode. He notices that Mizuki lacks her usual fire, and seems to have given up in the face of a middle schooler who developed early. Without Umeda around, I suppose someone has to be the one to point out to Mizuki that she's being silly.

And well, this is a live realization now that I've stepped away from my exasperation at the bad animation, but it's just occurred to me that perhaps Mizuki isn't worried about Tamami taking Sano away from her. No, she's upset that Tamami is free to flirt with Sano at all. Even after cutting off all her hair and crossing an ocean to be with him, Mizuki can't make the same kind of move on him because she believes he thinks she's a boy. Bust size and forwardness have nothing to do with it. Tamami gets to enjoy her girlhood. Mizuki does not.

Rating:

---

Hana-Kimi is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.