Reviews

Nov 23, 2013
We often look at movie spin-offs as unnecessary, thoughtless, and maybe even a little bit greedy. Do we really need another addition to an already concluded story? Not usually. There's an undeniable sense of indifference whenever we hear that a spin-off movie has been greenlit, and who can blame us when "movie" often simply means "bad adaptation with a couple new scenes".

Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home is not one of those movies, but do still keep your expectations in check before digging in. Most of what was frustrating about the main series remains here.

Taking place somewhere in the time-frame of the TV series (no indication is really given as to when), Home Sweet Home decides to show us a little bit more of an oft neglected character: Ohana's mother, Satsuki. While cleaning one of the inn's storage rooms, Ohana happens upon a set of diaries from her mother, telling the story of Satsuki's rebellious teenage years to the birth of Ohana. We see in greatest detail how Satsuki met Ohana's father, but the message is never in the story itself - it's how it relates to Ohana's own struggles. Like mother, like daughter, or so they say.

There's an inherent sense of maturity to Home Sweet Home that was not present in the TV series. We see the beauty of childbirth (reminiscent of Mamoru Hosoda's "Wolf Children") and the toils of an adolescent girl trying to find adulthood in a world alien to her. Growing up has always been the central theme of the series, but the movie achieves it with much more clarity than the TV series. Few stories evolve the conflict beyond existential angst and into parenthood. There is a reason for us to care this time, and there is finally a message to be drawn by the end of the story, unlike the ambiguous "Huuuh?" of before.

Being a product of P.A. Works, of course, it is impeded by melodrama. Plenty of screaming, crying, and more screaming for your hearing pleasure. Why do they always do this? Home Sweet Home is a better story than that. I understand that it is mainly a story about teenage girls, but come on, you can convey emotion through thoughtful dialogue instead of this nonsense. It doesn't always have to be two characters screaming at each other. It's a shame that an otherwise intelligent story had to be bogged down this way.

The biggest problem however is that Satsuki's story only takes up about one-third of the overall story. Ohana, Minko and the rest of the inn are often given the spotlight instead for whatever reason. This naturally creates issues when the runtime of the movie is just 60 minutes. Large sequences of time are skipped by in a flash, numerous questions are left unanswered, and we never do fully understand the relationship between Satsuki and Ohana's father. Why does she fall in love with him so quickly? And why is an adult like him even interested in a highschooler suffering from a severe case of teen angst? Who really knows. Maybe we could have if the movie didn't spend its time on irrelevant subplots.

I just have to wonder, why? Ohana and the rest of the inn already had plenty of focus in the main series. It's merely a repetition of what we have already seen. The worst offender is the Nako subplot, based on her issues at home and relationship with her siblings. One of her sisters runs away at random, generating us ten minutes of the inn screaming and searching for her, only to end with the tired message of "Nako is mature". The audience knows that already. It is verbatim. Why not show us something new about the character, or instead spend that time developing the relationship between Satsuki and Ohana's father? There was plenty of potential here for something great and in the end it is pushed aside for the familiar.

The audio-visual quality fares much better. Even when it's only "pretty good" by Hanasaku Iroha standards, it still looks better than many animated films released these days. The lighting and reflections are the art's greatest asset as they often have the ability to enhance the story itself (one particular scene has Satsuki's confused face mirrored in the bus that her love interest is leaving in). The animation is merely serviceable, however, and distant shots will often have the characters drawn without a face. This laziness feels especially out of place when contrasted with the beautiful backgrounds.

As for the sound, while I can't imagine there will be anything to stand out in anyone's memory, there is a certain beauty to the background music when one listens closely. There's a subtle sense of melancholy to each piece, never relying on loud, sappy music to make the audience feel something. It makes the quieter moments all the more powerful, and these quiet moments are unequivocally the strongest piece of the experience.

At the end of the day, is Home Sweet Home worth your time? Certainly. If you had problems with the TV series, there is nothing here to change your mind in any significant way (there may just be more melodrama than before), but at only 60 minutes long it's hard to go wrong with more Hanasaku Iroha. It's just unfortunate that P.A. Works decided to play it safe for the fans instead of trying for more. Is that so much to ask for? I don't believe so.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice Nice0
Love it Love it0
Funny Funny0
Show all
It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login