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As an anime viewer who personally likes the Slice of Life (SoL) genre the most, Hanasaku Iroha was an enigma of an anime for me. At first glance, the plot seemed bland and without focus, and I had doubts about whether it was able to provide a solid and fulfilling watch. Hanasaku Iroha turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me, though it does not come without gaping flaws.

Based on a personal interpretation, I've come up with two underlying themes Hanasaku Iroha tries to explore. Firstly, the anime highlights a fundamental aspect of human nature : we all seek a place where we feel ... valued. Many characters in Hanasaku Iroha merely want a place where they feel needed by others, a place where they can be themselves. In that respect, Hanasaku Iroha manages to deliver motivational moments through aspects of the work of the characters in Kissuiso (the inn where they work at). We understand through the anime that working hard is important, and that striving for your dreams yields favourable results. People will appreciate you if you try your best, and this is a message that Hanasaku Iroha emphasises quite a fair bit.

The second theme of Hanasaku Iroha would be the courage to step out of your comfort zone. Ohana is suddenly sent to Kissuiso, where working ethic is treated with utmost importance. Her struggles and experiences show us the clear answer to a question; "When faced with a challenge, do you sink or swim?" Ohana is fazed by the things that come her way at first, but she eventually overcomes them to show that hard work prevails in the face of challenges. That is the power of the SoL genre : to bring across a powerful message that enlightens/impacts viewers in a positive manner.

Of course, no anime is perfect, and Hanasaku Iroha is no exception. The melodrama, while needed in this anime, felt forced at times. One only has to recall the number of times Ohana cries over matters, whether trivial or not, in order to drive the plot and to move the story forward. Effective melodrama is when it allows the viewer to emphatise with the characters in question. In this case, it just feels hollow and superficial at times, and thus fails to achieve its intended effect.

To wrap things up, the working life depicted by Hanasaku Iroha where hard work will bring good results is but a bed of roses, the sad truth is that real life simply isn't that rosy. However, that doesn't stop people from trying their best. Likewise, Hanasaku Iroha is a series that tries hard to bring across its intended message, but fails to do so at times. That does not make its effort any less laudable. It succeeded in resonating with me and made me think about certain aspects of life, and that, in my humble opinion, is the defining factor of an SoL series.

Yes, the unstriking yet powerful nature of Hanasaku Iroha remains an enigma, but it's an enigma that I enjoyed immensely, and it will have a special place in my list of favourite anime. If you haven't given it a try, I'd suggest it's time to fest it up!

Alright, just like many others, i've decided to give a review of Hyouka after I've finished watching the whole series. I'll stick to keeping the review spoiler free for the sake of interested users who haven't watched the series yet and just want an idea of what the anime is all about.

Hyouka is an anime that definitely starts off slow. We are introduced to our male lead called Oreki who seems to be devoid of passion of any sort as he just follows the same old boring routine everyday without having any interest in life. We are exposed to his way of life, as well ... as his principles of energy conservation. His quote about himself sums it up nicely: "I don't have to do anything i don't have to."

Joining him in the classics club are Satoshi, his witty and knowledgeable sidekick, Mayaka who is a outgoing and friendly girl. Last but not least, the female lead Chitanda, who can be described in one quote, "I'm curious!" (watch the series and you'll understand why). At first glance, Oreki seems like the outliner among the group, considering that he is the only guy who is so unenthusiastic among all of them. The story starts when they try to solve the true mystery of the classics club from long ago...

The mysteries in Hyouka are not your typical mysteries which are action packed, but they do give you a run for your money as the simplest of all matters can actually involve a lot of thinking behind it. The mysteries in Hyouka turn out to be pretty trivial matters at times (in fact, one of the mysteries solved was just through a conversation between the two leads). However, what is impressive is how the characters show great thinking by analysing every nitty gritty before coming to the main conclusion (in which Oreki always wraps things up nicely). Events which seem insignificant at the start could just add up together and end up being the key to the entire mystery. When it all connects, you just have a "wow" feeling and find that the mystery aspect is really well-done.

The most important thing in the slice-of-life genre is the character development in my opinion. Hyouka has just the thing. The characters show changes after episodes and episodes of hanging out together. We start to see love in the air. We understand why Satoshi plays second fiddle to Oreki and is contented with not being the best, we understand why Mayaka is so determined in her feelings towards Satoshi as well as why she feels so strongly towards manga, we understand why Chitanda is so curious in finding out all these little mysteries that happen in their daily lives. Even Oreki gets influenced by the personalities of the 3 that he even takes the initiative to do certain things at later parts of the show, something which we would have never seen in the early episodes.

The anime itself also touches on many aspects and themes. Expectations is one of them. Expectations are something heavy, whether it is placed on yourself or on others. Does having expectations on yourself motivate you to do things even better, or does the notion of having expectations of someone make you feel dejected and admit that you are no match for that person? Expectations is a theme that will be talked about in the show, albeit not the only one.

The other aspect i would like to mention is one's true feelings. When faced with an important choice you have to make, would you follow your heart and accept it with all you've got, or will you take the easy way out, afraid that if you accept something, you might make the mistakes you made in the past and screw things up. "I am obsessed with being obsessed over nothing." After all, sometimes avoiding things is the easiest way out. However, is this truly the right decision to make? Sometimes, trying new things out might not be so bad after all. Following your true feelings instead of letting your head make the decisions might be better at times.

The art is fantastic in my opinion. The animation that left me in awe was the cherry blossoms under the purple sky, along with the flower petals flying around during the last episode (no spoilers =D). Plus, its KyoAni doing it, so details are generally well-done and will not disappoint viewers who use the art of an anime over its plot to determine its watchability (if there is even such a term, but i digress).

Both OPs and EDs are upbeat songs which suit the theme of the anime, which was honestly never meant to be dark despite it being of a mystery genre... They are really nice to listen to and somehow leave you addicted. (happened to me for the second ED.)

I understand that some might be skeptical over how slow-paced Hyouka is compared to other series, but as the story progresses we start to have attachment to the characters since we start to relate to them already, thus enhancing the plot in the progress. So even if slice-of-life/mystery has never been your cup of tea, i still recommend giving Hyouka a go!

Hyouka is an anime that shines in how simple it is, yet so entertaining. The characters are only thrown in typical real life situations that have happened to us as well in one way or another, yet the mystery aspect does not feel any less dull despite that. The series being short and sweet appealed to me. As they say, "Simplicity is beauty."

Wow, it has definitely been quite the long review. To sum things up, Hyouka was a series that kept be hooked from start to finish (me being a sucker for its genre). For fans of slice-of-life and mystery, there's nothing to hesitate about for i'm sure you'll be able to enjoy Hyouka! I hope this review was a good read as well as being informative to you, the reader. To end things off on a random note, my favourite characters are ironically the supporting characters Mayaka and Satoshi xD. Once again, hope you enjoyed this review!

Note: At the time of writing this review, i have only watched up to 11 episodes. Thus, the review might not be too accurate as more episodes air, but i will try my best to give a good review with my understanding of these first 11 episodes. (at the time when this review was initially written, it was only 6 episodes watched, i added in several things about the new arcs in the series this time round.)

To be honest, Kokoro Connect was not in my list of anime to watch for the season initially, nor did it catch my interest at first. When reading the ... story synopsis, i was expecting it to be a light hearted series overall with mainly humorous events when the characters swap their bodies.

How wrong i was.

The episodes pace pretty quickly as the anime starts to get dark. This whole body swapping business starts to get worse as time progresses with even more implications in the daily lives of the characters, as well as how they interact with one another. For those who like a fair share of drama in their anime, Kokoro Connect is your cup of tea.

The characters have shown distinct character development as the story progresses. We get a deeper look into their lives, and their personalities as well. We come to understand why the characters behave the way they do because of circumstances in their lives, and that makes the viewer attached to the characters. We can emphatise with them, and it draws us in to want to watch even more.

The anime enters a new arc in episode 6. Just when we thought body swapping was the worst it could get, the series throws us another curveball. This lets us think even more deeply to what might happen to the characters we know and like. Kokoro Connect sure is addictive to watch.

Unleashing your true desires makes you aware of how you really feel and what you really want. However, it brings fear at the same time. Fear of unleashing these desires at the wrong time. Its interesting to see how the characters cope with the inevitable, as even though there is the fear of being unable to suppress one's true desires, one cannot distance themselves from people forever. All humans are sociable in nature and enjoy company. No matter how anti-social a person is, he/she will get lonely eventually. We gain a nice insight on how the characters takes things in their stride and face the events that happen in their life, as well as how events slowly unfold and true feelings are revealed.

Coincidentally, episode 11 is another new arc, where the characters periodically revert back to their young selfs for a few hours at a time. The catch is that they are able to remember things from when they are young even after they revert back to their original selves. This brings forth a lot of new possibilities. Everyone has things from the past which they want to conceal from others, as well as themselves. Everyone wants to avoid thinking about bad memories from before. However, as memories from the past surface and haunt the characters again, how will they deal with it? Will they stand up to it bravely, or will they shy away and avoid the truth? We shall see in the later episodes.

In my case, Kokoro Connect is a hidden gem. If you are a person who likes a nice mix of drama and humour in the premise of high school life, i definitely recommend Kokoro Connect. I enjoyed every minute of it (even when up to episode 11 so far), and i'm sure you would too.