Hanasaku Iroha - Episode 14 Discussion / Poll

[sikvod00]

^ Let's be fair here. It's not Ko's fault that Ohana turns into such a downer when she thinks about him, so I think calling it an "influence" is iffy. But I do agree that Ohana is a wonderfuly delicious female character, and I continue to love Itou Kanae's voice.

[EroKing]

I wouldn't mind seeing developments in Ko's relationship as long as it isn't with Ohana

Also what was with Yuina jumping on Ohana saying she wanted to be "better" friends, man I sensed some cool yuri vibes there

Look at the ED too, Yuina and Nako so close? A yuri pairing would be really awesome

[frubam]

I found the Minko confession scene hilarious . I just loved how nervous and desperate his voice conveyed it, as well as misunderstanding 'balut' to be a good thing. I kinda feel sorry for that guy(they need to give him a name =0\); he keeps confessing and getting shot down. The first time, she barely flinched at his confession, but this time, she seemed flustered. Because of all the her classmates were there? Perhaps. But I'd like to be optimistic in that his persistence is 'winning the day'. This makes me kinda wonder if it's better to take what you can get as opposed to striving for what seems like the unattainable.

I do find Yuina enjoyable, and I like delving into her char a bit, but she seems a bit too whimsical for this serious situation. It feels.... I dunno, 'out of place' for her I guess =0\.

And did anyone else get a Minko/Tohru vibe from that head clerk and the main part-time waitress girl?

Originally Posted by Mi-nin

You could tell the part-timers were going to be trouble because of the way their eyes were drawn.

Wow, such discrimination! Nevertheless, it's very 'sharp' of you to see that .

Originally Posted by Ghostfriendly

Ko is still in the opening...haven't seen the last of him yet.

It won't be the end of Ko until Ohana personally reveals her feelings to him.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Hmm, trains, a long distance relationship doomed to fail, ...

Spoiler for I can see the ending:

You saw it here first.

Sorry, but that ending is in another castle =02. We all know that Ko is going to take the money he's been saving for months and move to Yunosagi to support Ohana's new life.

[Midonin]

Originally Posted by frubam

Wow, such discrimination! Nevertheless, it's very 'sharp' of you to see that .

I noticed it in the final scene. Ohana and Yuina had big, round "anime" style eyes. Expresive, friendly, charming. The other four were narrow (it doesn't help that their faces were drawn to give them a perpetual scowl either). The aesthetics of something can tell you a lot about it. Not always, but often, and it definitely holds in this case.

[RegalStar]

I love how the dicussion of an episode which has absolutely nothing to do with Ko still turns into another Ko/Ohana relationship or lack of debate again within just a few posts.

[sikvod00]

Omg, that Minko confession was hilarious! Gotta give props to the guy for having such courage. I could never do something like that, especially not with an audience. Well, at least the people were receptive and seemed to cheer him on LOL.

[Roger Rambo]

It should have been obvious that Yuina would be getting major character development after all this time. Her presence has dominated in the opening and ending credits, so it's about time that she actually showed up.

In a way Yuina reminds me allot of Ohana before she got her shit slapped by her Grandma. Ohana had that same kind of flippancy for what kind of things she wanted to do with her life, transforming into one of the most motivated and hard working people at the inn. It's an interesting contrast to how Ohana seems to think that Yuina has her beaten in nearly every category BESIDES the Inn, when it's really much more even than she imagines.

Yuina's fiancee was actually a rather interesting, if unobservant individual. He's a rather nice individual personally but it seems that he doesn't quite got his work personality down. I know it's important to want to keep your workers on task, but blowing them off like that is rather inappropriate considering that there ARE things an employee might need to inform a boss about that supersede their immediate orders. Especially when he see's time to chat it up with his Fiancee one work hours (which is a valid point of criticism). I rather LOL'ed at how critical Minko was of his lecturing of the waitresses nail polish when she herself constantly received (albeit milder) criticism from Tohru.


Though you gotta love the humor bits in this episode! Ohana obediently putting Minko into a full nelson at Yuina's order and Ohana's "Kappa" encounter.

Originally Posted by Blaat

Damn, that person appears in the opening.

Spoiler:

And here I was hoping they'd get rid of the consultant character.

I do find it interesting that Kou is now more lonely and disconnected from Ohana in this trailer than he was last season.

Originally Posted by frubam

Sorry, but that ending is in another castle =02. We all know that Ko is going to take the money he's been saving for months and move to Yunosagi to support Ohana's new life.

Ohana seems to be getting along with her new life perfectly fine. If Kou ended up moving in 7-8 episodes from now, it'd only be painfully obvious that Ohana has developed personal strength well in excess to what Kou used to offer her.

This is the weakest part of OhanaXKo that often gets ignored. Ohana's gone through significant character change, all without Ko really being aware of it. Even Ohana explicitly mentions herself around Ko in Tokyo when she saw him again was a totally different person than who her real self is. A major thing that's been stressed for nearly half this series so far is that Ko and Ohana haven't had a very successful first hand flow of information back and forth. That most dramatic thing Ko is going to notice is that Ohana is a VERY different person than the girl he confessed to and ran away from on the streets of Tokyo.

Originally Posted by sikvod00

Omg, that Minko confession was hilarious! Gotta give props to the guy for having such courage. I could never do something like that, especially not with an audience. Well, at least the people were receptive and seemed to cheer him on LOL.

It was a bit awkward, but one has to give the fellow props for at least not waiting for Minko to move away before confessing

[deadite]

The part in the OP with Ren, Tohru and Minko in the market cracked me up. Who would of thought the plateau beauty/class idol is being used to carry things for 2 older men.

[Lessing-love]

Originally Posted by deadite

The part in the OP with Ren, Tohru and Minko in the market cracked me up. Who would of thought the plateau beauty/class idol is being used to carry things for 2 older men.

'Tis Minko's lot in life. She's pretty much their mule.

[Triple_R]

Not only is Ko in the new OP, but Ohana immediately thought of him after...

1) Two young people implied to be in love playfully raced by her.

2) Ohana thought about how she's not making good use of her youth.

Oh, and when thinking of Ko, Ohana starts to tear up a bit.


The implications here are quite obvious. Ohana is by no means over Ko.

It doesn't guarantee an Ohana/Ko ending, of course, but it does mean that it was way too soon to rule it out after last week's episode.


I'll probably have more to say about the episode as a whole later.

[kk2extreme]

That's what happened for part timers, no enough paid, turnover rate is high

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

The implications here are quite obvious. Ohana is by no means over Ko.

Obviously. Ko and Ohana's relationship IS a big part of the show (Though I'd argue how it's relevant is very different than what some people have argued).

Originally Posted by Triple_R

It doesn't guarantee an Ohana/Ko ending, of course, but it does mean that it was way too soon to rule it out after last week's episode.

I'll be EXTREMELY surprised if Ohana/Ko happens at this point honestly. Even though Ohana's clearly got allot of strong feelings about Kou, they spent nearly half a year separated and their one face to face interaction is bassically text book total miscommunication. Half the series is over and that's the highlight of their interactions. Given the themes that the show has presented so far, a Ohana/Ko ending doesn't thematically make sense. A coming of age story about going to a new place, learning to love your work and the people around you doesn't seem to match up with "Hooking up with your childhood old sweet heart whom you've had barely interaction with at the last second".

The writers have had plenty of time to make Ko a love interest. But so far they've seemed more interested in making him a beloved thing from Ohana's past that she gives up tragically.




And more to the point. KissiouXOhana is practically canon now


Consider this carefully. After the initial shock of finding out Yuina was in an arranged marriage, the big thing she focuses on is the fact that would make her the Inn's Madame. Practically being married to it. Ohana finds this more romantic than the idea of being married to a childhood sweetheart.

Even if Ko and Ohana DID get together, the inn would end up coming first. Ko would simply be a convenient vessel to carry Ohana's offspring to term.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Highly enjoyable episode. The show really may be hitting its stride. Good development for what looked like a mere beach/onsen episode.

I've always thought of Yuina as a fairly smart and mature character. She is mature enough to have an intentionally carefree surface. Nice voice work by Tomatsu Haruka to get the various aspects of Yuina to coexist in her voice. She and Ohana really are a match made in heaven, whether as friends or as more than friends (unlikely, in this show). They are the two characters with the most inner force, among the younger generation.

I loathed the fiance's management style. I've seen it. I hate it. I was happy when he was dumped. And it doesn't matter what age a manager is, what matters is how they act. Treating employees with disrespect damages their pride and makes it harder for them to do a good job. The manager's job is to help employees do their jobs well, not to be the big man. That bossy attitude usually comes from fear, in my experience. He should have more confidence in himself and in the work.

By the way, I'm sure he really was her fiance. Arranged by their parents to unite the two great hotels. They've probably known they were intended for each other since they were little. But she doesn't have to go through with it if she doesn't want to.

I was certainly happy to see Kou-chan in the OP, but it doesn't mean he and Ohana will end up together, just that he is still part of the story. More richness to explore. It could go either way. I personally love it when Ohana gets serious and weepy, thinking of him. She can't just be happy, energetic, and simple all the time. This big emotional conundrum makes her character much more interesting. By the way, I thought nearly nude Ohana was both beautiful and normal. Tasteful and effective fanservice, it seemed to me.

[Anh_Minh]

Clearly, Ko is saving money from his part time job to buy an inn to get Ohana.

[HandofFate]

sucks for the hotel manager guy.
I was on his side, his managing decisions was in the right place, but probably shouldn't talk bad about the part-timers in front of them, maybe do it behind their back lol.

Wonder how Kissiou is doing with its whole waitress staff gone (other than the head one)

[Anh_Minh]

Maybe they don't have any clients either...

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

^ Let's be fair here. It's not Ko's fault that Ohana turns into such a downer when she thinks about him, so I think calling it an "influence" is iffy. But I do agree that Ohana is a wonderfuly delicious female character, and I continue to love Itou Kanae's voice.

I agree it's not his fault, or rather, Ohana and Ko are both at fault. Both of them are far too passive, and yes, so is Ko. Sure, he confessed, but it was mainly because it was his last chance to do so, and then that was it. He never brought up the subject openly again. As a result, their relationship stayed frozen, and when Ohana was finally confronted with the issue again, it hit her like a hammer and she didn't know how to react. What I thought was a rather sweet relationship in the early episodes turned into borefest. This is by far the weakest aspect of the show for me.

I like the attitude of the guy who confessed to Minko better. He's already been rejected and yet he's still going for it. Ko went for it once and has been on stand-by ever since. He even appears to have given up without even getting a reply.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Not only is Ko in the new OP, but Ohana immediately thought of him after...

1) Two young people implied to be in love playfully raced by her.

2) Ohana thought about how she's not making good use of her youth.

Oh, and when thinking of Ko, Ohana starts to tear up a bit.


The implications here are quite obvious. Ohana is by no means over Ko.

It doesn't guarantee an Ohana/Ko ending, of course, but it does mean that it was way too soon to rule it out after last week's episode.


I'll probably have more to say about the episode as a whole later.

You can't exactly expect her to forget about Ko overnight. If she did, even I would complain.

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Obviously. Ko and Ohana's relationship IS a big part of the show (Though I'd argue how it's relevant is very different than what some people have argued).
I'll be EXTREMELY surprised if Ohana/Ko happens at this point honestly. Even though Ohana's clearly got allot of strong feelings about Kou, they spent nearly half a year separated and their one face to face interaction is bassically text book total miscommunication. Half the series is over and that's the highlight of their interactions. Given the themes that the show has presented so far, a Ohana/Ko ending doesn't thematically make sense. A coming of age story about going to a new place, learning to love your work and the people around you doesn't seem to match up with "Hooking up with your childhood old sweet heart whom you've had barely interaction with at the last second".

The writers have had plenty of time to make Ko a love interest. But so far they've seemed more interested in making him a beloved thing from Ohana's past that she gives up tragically.

You make good points (in your previous post as well). Ohana and Ko have only communicated sporadically over those past six months; Ohana has already changed a lot, and presumably, so has Ko. Do they even know each other anymore? Not to mention, they are going to interact even less in the next months, if at all. Let's not forget that Ohana treasures the inn more than Ko. That's just how much she loves him.

I honestly fail to see how a romantic relationship could happen at this point. Nonetheless, I won't go as far as to say there is no chance it'll happen, if the writers want it to happen, they will, even if they have to use a device as unrealistic as Ko moving out just for Ohana.

Originally Posted by TheEroKing

Also what was with Yuina jumping on Ohana saying she wanted to be "better" friends, man I sensed some cool yuri vibes there

Look at the ED too, Yuina and Nako so close? A yuri pairing would be really awesome

I was surprised Nako wasn't the one getting "yuri attacked" in this episode.

There was still the ED though, and the same thoughts crossed my mind while watching it. We must wear the same brand of yuri googles

Originally Posted by RegalStar

I love how the dicussion of an episode which has absolutely nothing to do with Ko still turns into another Ko/Ohana relationship or lack of debate again within just a few posts.

Hey, he was in the opening and Ohana thought about him, so it's not entirely off-topic!

I'm sorry...

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Ohana seems to be getting along with her new life perfectly fine. If Kou ended up moving in 7-8 episodes from now, it'd only be painfully obvious that Ohana has developed personal strength well in excess to what Kou used to offer her.

This is the weakest part of OhanaXKo that often gets ignored. Ohana's gone through significant character change, all without Ko really being aware of it. Even Ohana explicitly mentions herself around Ko in Tokyo when she saw him again was a totally different person than who her real self is. A major thing that's been stressed for nearly half this series so far is that Ko and Ohana haven't had a very successful first hand flow of information back and forth. That most dramatic thing Ko is going to notice is that Ohana is a VERY different person than the girl he confessed to and ran away from on the streets of Tokyo.

You make a good point(though I was only saying it as a joke in reply to what Kanon said, which I thought s/he was half joking). The 'marriage to the inn' ideal you mentioned supports this quite well. However, by no means does this insinuate he CANNOT support Ohana, his support is not needed/wanted, or she doesn't want to be by his side. We see that Okami is practically 'married to the inn' to the point that she placed it over priority over Satsuki(at least from Satsuki's point-of-view) and that mentality seems to have carried through to this day. Even so, she still had enough love and desire to go after Satsuki's father, even after being rejected 4 times, and despite the fact that she seems like the last woman to need any emotional support from anyone.

Though Ohana is different in some respects, at the core, she's still the same, as evident when she went back to Tokyo and hung out with him a little. Her feelings about Ko are as strong as ever. As long as that's the case, and she hasn't shown herself to move past those feelings, it's still the strongest possibility out of them all.

[Lessing-love]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I agree it's not his fault, or rather, Ohana and Ko are both at fault. Both of them are far too passive, and yes, so is Ko. Sure, he confessed, but it was mainly because it was his last chance to do so, and then that was it. He never brought up the subject openly again. As a result, their relationship stayed frozen, and when Ohana was finally confronted with the issue again, it hit her like a hammer and she didn't know how to react. What I thought was a rather sweet relationship in the early episodes turned into borefest. This is by far the weakest aspect of the show for me.

I like the attitude of the guy who confessed to Minko better. He's already been rejected and yet he's still going for it. Ko went for it once and has been on stand-by ever since. He even appears to have given up without even getting a reply.

Ohana and Ko have only communicated sporadically over those past six months; Ohana has already changed a lot, and presumably, so has Ko. Do they even know each other anymore? Not to mention, they are going to interact even less in the next months, if at all. Let's not forget that Ohana treasures the inn more than Ko. That's just how much she loves him.

I honestly fail to see how a romantic relationship could happen at this point. Nonetheless, I won't go as far as to say there is no chance it'll happen, if the writers want it to happen, they will, even if they have to use a device as unrealistic as Ko moving out just for Ohana.

I'm sorry...

Agree with everything. It's bitter, but Ko and Ohana really don't know each other anymore. I found Ohana not dwelling on him too much this episode really refreshing after her emo fest recently.
Also especially agree on the guy who likes Minko. You have to admit, he'd be creepy in real life, but when you compare him to the likes of Ohana, Minko, Koh, and Tohru, his behavior comes off as honest and tenacious.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I honestly fail to see how a romantic relationship could happen at this point. Nonetheless, I won't go as far as to say there is no chance it'll happen, if the writers want it to happen, they will, even if they have to use a device as unrealistic as Ko moving out just for Ohana.

Well I COULD be working under the assumption that the writer for Hanasaku Iroha is a bad writer. But I don't think that's a very fair assumption to make while examining a series, now is it?

(More to the point. If the writers wanted Ohana/ko to happen, they've had PLENTY of opportunity to keep them more connected...opportunities that seemed to have been deliberately gone unused. That suggests to me that the writers ultimately have a different idea of the purpose Ko has in the story than being a triumphant love interest).

Originally Posted by frubam

You make a good point(though I was only saying it as a joke in reply to what Kanon said, which I thought s/he was half joking). The 'marriage to the inn' ideal you mentioned supports this quite well. However, by no means does this insinuate he CANNOT support Ohana, his support is not needed/wanted, or she doesn't want to be by his side. We see that Okami is practically 'married to the inn' to the point that she placed it over priority over Satsuki(at least from Satsuki's point-of-view) and that mentality seems to have carried through to this day. Even so, she still had enough love and desire to go after Satsuki's father, even after being rejected 4 times, and despite the fact that she seems like the last woman to need any emotional support from anyone.

That's a key thing to remember. Grandma was in close enough communication with Grandpa TO get rejected four times.

Originally Posted by frubam

Though Ohana is different in some respects, at the core, she's still the same, as evident when she went back to Tokyo and hung out with him a little. Her feelings about Ko are as strong as ever. As long as that's the case, and she hasn't shown herself to move past those feelings, it's still the strongest possibility out of them all.

Wasn't a big point that made in the next episode that she WASN'T acting like her *real* self when back in Tokyo with Ko?

And having rewatched the first episode awhile ago, I don't really think that you can say that Ohana is fundamentally the same person as she was when Ko confessed to her at the start of the series. I'd think its more prudent to say that she has a similar exterior but at her core she's really changing. Early series Ohana was MUCH more like Yuina, with nowhere near the serious attitude about anything.