Story: The story of Hanasaku tells the story of a young girl who works in a traditional Japanese inn in a small town. This setting itself is both important and not important at the same time. While providing context and a background for the story to take place, the plot itself focuses on the people of the inns in the town and their various struggles and problems instead of on the setting itself. That being said, the art lends a sense of realism to the town as if it was a living, breathing thing, something that is hard to accomplish in a modern setting. But in a drama such as this the characters are the real spotlight. Almost every character has some sort of trial that they have to go through and all of these are accomplished in ways that are not only realistic in the lens they are set in(this is anime after all) but relateable in someway. The problems that all the characters face are real problems that people encounter everyday and not some lofty ideal that seems to be portrayed in most dramas. But what I'm really getting at here isn't the characters, but more so the final episode. There is a silence left in the final episode when everything is done that really left a hole in my heart, something that I haven't felt since Angel Beats over 3 years ago. Everything is silent after all the commotion of the past 20-some episodes that leaves peace, a longing that is hard to recover. It's lonely but as a viewer I knew it was for the best. And that was the best part about Hanasaku.
Art, Sound, and Animation: As an artistic piece, Hanasaku Iroha is very pretty. The animations are well done, as are the great OPs and EDs by nano.ripe(no seriously, I love nano.ripe). As mentioned before, the art of the anime really brings out not only the inner spirit and nature of the town itself, but also the personalities of the varied peoples of it as well. It brings the inns and their people that visit them to life(which by the way is a great storytelling technique). Nothing mind blowing, but pretty regardless.
Characters: As mentioned before, Hanasaku Iroha's characters are it's selling point. Throughout the show the characters always have some hurdle to overcome in some way. And as a result each and every one of them overcomes it and becomes stronger because of it. While overdone to hell in coming of age stories, it works in Hanasaku due to the strength of its characters and the relateability of each and every one of them. Almost everyone has something to offer to the viewer in terms of both thematic depth and plot and as a result no one arc is wasted. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like Okada is writing these characters.
Closing Thoughts: I really liked this show. It's one of my favorite dramas. And I really don't like dramas. So if you like drama, if you like Japanese inns, and you nano.ripe, then watch this show. I loved it and it was one of the few shows to touch me emotionally.
