Hanasaku Iroha Episode 24--Stubbornness

I think that the heron should be the final boss (in a video game sense), but maybe that's just me.




While Ohana and Ko have finally met up again, it looks like the confession scene is going to be saved for the bonbori festival, a.k.a. the finale. I'm perfectly fine with this (since it's been hinted at all along) and there was still a cute scene between the two of them, with Ohana stating that she wants to be the one to "say things" to Ko. With that out of the way, Ohana goes home only to find that the inn suddenly got an excellent review in a magazine and now they are swamped with reservations. This turn of events is courtesy of Ohana's mother, and, by extension, Ko, since he was the only one who could have told her that the inn was going to be closed down. Despite this, Madam Manager still wants to close the inn after the festival in yet another showcase of the stubbornness she's had about how the inn is run over the course of this series. However, the scenes that follow finally break past that tough exterior and get to the heart of the matter; in reality, she simply doesn't want to force anyone to follow her and her husband's dream and to go out into the world and find one of their own.




Of course, she's ignoring the fact that everyone's dreams are tied up in the inn's future, which Ohana points out, but the revelation behind her actions makes Madam Manager a much deepr character as opposed to the ice queen that's been shown throughout the series. There's been glimpses of it here and there, but now that we're getting towards the ending it's a nice touch. So what we end up with at the end is a standoff of family stubbornness, and when the doors close at the very end Ohana suddenly realizes that she may have made the wrong decision. While I do applaud Enishi for finally acting like the next owner of the inn and taking matters into his own hands, this is just a different type of stubbornness. While Madam Manager has never been forthcoming in her reasoning until now, the fact that her intentions are for the best even though it's the wrong way to go about it made for a somber end. Like I've stated before, it looks like the finale is going for some sort of resolution for this disconnected family. And maybe a boyfriend for Ohana as well.


It's like I'm watching Mary Poppins. Images from Crunchyroll.com.