The premise involves 16 year old Matsumae Ohana, a very eccentric and wild teenager who resided in Tokyo with her single mother. Due to circumstances her mother and boyfriend run away and leave Ohana on her own. She is forced to live in an inn known as “kissuiso” which her grandmother runs. Hanasaku Iroha is primarily about Ohana adapting to her new lifestyle while also helping her fellow staff members in dealing with issues that can be problematic in an inn. At first glance, Hanasaku Iroha looks like a generic teen melodrama that everyone is accustomed to seeing from Mari Okada. There is definitely no shortage of drama. The majority of the conflicts the characters face are all drama based and involve common plot threads that have been seen countless times. The drama on its own came off as very hit or miss, ranging from genuinely heart-warming to disgustingly melodramatic. Thankfully, the latter only really ever occurred once. While most might look at the series in this fashion, Hanasaku Iroha is primarily more of a story about searching for dreams, adapting to a new life and conflicts that arise in a working environment. This is what it should truly be assessed on as it is these core themes that really drive the plot along. In the first half of the show it was mostly dedicated to exploring how one can familiarize themselves with a new lifestyle through the lens of the main character Ohana. Okada did transport this to the viewer in an engaging fashion credit to its diverse an interesting cast, but what some have criticized in this execution was how improbable the personalities of the customers were and how unorthodox they behaved around the characters making the situations awkward and hard to take seriously. It is a very understandable criticism and one that I myself also unequivocally agree with. And is the main issue that I consider to be what made the first half weak in its execution.
In the second half the series focuses much more character driven and delves into its other core themes. What gave made the cast so memorable and genuine was that despite them being based on hackneyed archetypes at first glance, they evolve into genuine people each with their own aspirations and fleshing out their characters by giving us an insight on how they live in and feel about their situations made them a more authentic flavour than the typical casts seen in most anime made today. Because they are not particularly involved with the main plot thread of the show that revolves around Ohana, they are more authentic by feeling like real people with their own problems that all tie back to the show’s main theme of aspirations rather than being used strictly as pillars to support Ohana’s goals. They are all developed very well throughout its course and their chemistry together never once makes the show feel dull. The messages the show attempts to convey through its themes is manufactured in a heart-warming fashion and told through many different scenarios that the characters are placed in. Overall it’s handling of this was great. It was powerful and followed through with it all the way until the end giving catharsis in devastatingly bittersweet fashion, which left me with a painful sensation that took a while to heal.
Looking at the cast of Hanasaku Iroha they are all fairly generic when it comes to their personalities and their character traits can easily be identified in plenty of other anime. You can find all of your typical tropes present in CGDCT such as the obnoxious tsundere, the shy girl who finds it difficult to express her emotions to other people and an eccentric teenager which you would most likely have better luck finding in a shounen rather than a slice of life but nonetheless it is still a common trope, just not one you would discover in these kinds of settings. What is impressive about this anime is how it manages to take characters that seem basic on first viewing and bring the best out of these archetypes by giving them characterization beyond the standard requirements and perfectly integrating them in the setting. They are not simply ‘there’ for the sake of it. They are there to play a part in the narrative by interacting with the setting around them, thus making them far more likeable and authentic. And as a result, the setting itself is an important part of the show. Apart from finding a path of their own to take a lot of the character’s internal conflicts link to another of the show’s central theme which involves coping with the different types of engagements that can arise in a working environment. The characters learn and develop through these hardships and the way these plot threads were tackled was both heart –warming and insightful to learn about how conflicts that can take place in an inn can be resolved. Hanasaku Iroha went into territory that many slice of life anime don’t delve in. It fleshed out it’s setting wonderfully and slotted the characters into it superbly. When characters go hand in hand with a setting that feels apart of the story, it makes the characters way more relatable making their conflicts feel more important and strengthens the foundation in which they exist in. This delicately crafted backbone is what sets Hanasaku Iroha far above the majority of slice of life titles.
Visually Hanasaku Iroha looks gorgeous. From the attractive character designs to the extremely detailed backgrounds, it looks as if P.A works poured in everything they could and as a result it gave the anime a sense of delicacy and luxury while viewing it. The use of CGI was definitely noticeable but not off putting in the slightest, and the character designs were crisp and never dipped in art quality. I really liked the use of the colour palette. It was bright enough to not make the viewing experience feel dull, but never felt too colourful to where it would feel like the show was throwing rainbow’s in your face. It gave the show a sense of realism and helped immerse you more into the setting and supplying Hanasaku Iroha with a nicely crafted atmospheric world. The animation was consistent all the way through its runtime and was a pleasure to watch. Its OST was used effectively to help create a soothing mood but apart from that it wasn’t very memorable. I didn’t really like the OP’s and ED’s but they did set a nice warm and fuzzy feeling.
As much praise as I have given Hanasaku Iroha, there are certainly elements in it that viewers will perceive as flaws. The most noteworthy one being the melodrama present throughout the anime and especially near towards the end. Some emotional moments come off as tacky and unrefined. A common trait that can be found anywhere wherever Okada has dipped her hands. They are not obnoxious enough to destroy the entire story. Only Minko is really damaged by Okada’s heavy handed sentimentality as she was at some points reduced to a plot device for forced drama. Its methodical flavour at first hand can be understandably off putting to potential investment and many would easily see this as a generic “cute girls doing cute things” title with nothing to offer. However Hanasaku Iroha evolves past what it began as both from a character sense and a thematic sense making those flaws feel very inconsequential in the long run which don’t hurt the series at it’s very core.
I cannot deny that I thoroughly enjoyed Hanasaku Iroha and only really ever complained when melodrama was on screen. I never felt bored watching it. Its atmospheric setting combined with its gorgeous backgrounds gave me a feeling of luxury while viewing it which I have only ever gotten from Amanchu. The characters all had a sufficient amount of depth to keep me invested and always put a smile on my face when they interacted with each other. Hanasaku Iroha isn’t the most intricately written anime you will ever witness, not even close to that. Nor does it have the most complex characters. But what makes it stand out is how it is able to take a mundane premise with what looks to be basic characters and bring the absolute best out of them, making all of them shine brightly throughout its run and without the need for taking shortcuts. If you liked Hanasaku Iroha for its atmosphere and charm, then I point you to Amanchu which gives off a similar feeling in terms of its delicacy but otherwise it is a completely different show. Any fan of the Slice of Life genre should definitely check this out; it is something a little different compared to the norm so it will certainly not be for everyone. And even if you are one of those people that criticize slice of life for feeling too dull and inactive. Hanasaku Iroha might have enough charm and potency to keep you glued to the screen all the way through.
So where does Hanasaku Iroha fit into all of this? I cannot say for certain as I have not seen all of P.A. Works’ titles but I can assure you it is written far better than both Charlotte and Angel Beats.
Overall: 7/10
