Monday, June 27, 2011

Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12--Love Pentagon

Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 1

Dealing with the fallout from the previous episodes, Ohana finally makes a decision about Ko while Minchi continues to hesitate around Tohru. Oh, and Ohana's mom continues to make random choices out of nowhere.

Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 2
Hanasaku Iroha Epiosde 12 Screenshot 3

While it wasn't the emotional roller-coaster that was the last episode, Ohana's double realization that 1) she's getting in the way of Koichi's possible happiness, and 2) despite her resolution to "fest it up," she still heavily relies on the people around her. This is a pretty interesting move to make, since most series try to portray the protagonist as always being in the right. I'm glad that it did make this move though, since it provides some much-needed character development for Ohana.

Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 4
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Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 7

Minchi, however, is still stuck in her tsundere attitude, even though it's clear to her that the clock is ticking if she ever wants to have a chance with Tohru. At this point, it's pretty much a given that Tohru and Ohana will eventually go out, and judging by the way that Minchi has acted so far, she will probably get irrationally mad at Ohana when that happens. I really hope that this doesn't happen though, since this show (baring the random episodes at the beginning) has proven to have better writing than that. It more likely that something unexpected will happen, like in this episode, when Ohana's mother spontaneously decided to go back to the inn with them.

Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 8
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 9
Hanasaku Iroha Episode 12 Screenshot 10

Now that we're almost halfway through the show, I think that it's safe to say that the plot has moved away from the randomness of the first few episodes and is instead focusing on character relationships, namely the underlying family issues and the brewing romantic drama (despite Ohana's decision, I don't think that this is the last we'll see of Ko). Ohana's mother's statements as well as the episode preview hint that the next focus of the show will be on reconciling the family, but with Ohana's mother the way that she is, it's doubtful that this will be resolved quickly, if at all.

Screenshots from Crunchyroll.com.

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