Hanasaku Iroha

[Kraco]

That's certainly the impression I got from the rating situation. That it was orchestrated one way or another by the constructors of the new hotel. However, I'm not sure why nobody mentioned it. Maybe the old people considered it too obvious to mention and understand it's all just business, nothing personal and can't be helped, but among the younger ones somebody should have said something about it. Ohana still has lessons to learn about dirty deeds, I suppose, no matter how horrible her mother is, but most of the others keep their feet closer to the ground. Maybe it's actually some sort of counter-reaction from Ohana against her mother that she doesn't believe people are nothing but small cogs in a big machine. Though naturally it's also a part of being young.

[shinta|hikari]

Ko isn't history. Ohana needs more time to sort out her feelings. Ko was just being shy and reserved as usual, but the reason he rejected the other girl is obviously because of Ohana. He can't admit to this (even if that is the best way to resolve the issue) because he is the roundabout type of guy, like he himself admitted in episode 1.

I want to kill Ohana's mother.

[RyougaZell]

When Ohana started to call her mother hag I was expecting the 'level-up' to bitch somewhere around the road. Heck... she sent Ohana to the Inn because she was eloping with a man and she suddenly isn't with him anymore and she didn't bother to tell her daughter? Damn...

The only reason I support the Ohana and Ko relationship is because Ohana seems to like him... but the guy isn't making it easy to support him. Sure its not his fault but... I keep getting dissapointed by his apperances.

I wonder what the real writer of the articles feels about her review turned into shit by greedy bastards.

[Buffalobiian]

I wonder what the real writer of the articles feels about her review turned into shit by greedy bastards.

I'm not sure whether to assume that writer was from the same magazine or not. She probably is, since Ohana and the crew didn't seem to bother with any other magazine's review.

I also see Ohana's mother in a less annoying light now, actually. Not saying I like her or anything, but my view has mellowed out a bit now. She's inconsiderate, but now has the "because it's what I do to get by" reason attached.

I too am thinking that Tohru x Ohana (or at least not Ko x Ohana) will win out in the end. Even if Ko and her like each other.. what they're doing isn't helping. It'll just end up being a "It couldn't be helped" kind of regrettable ending for them. Even when Ohana realised that her not giving him a straight reply was just as torturing for Ko, she didn't give one (even though she HAD one).

[David75]

About review... and guides. Sure they are important. But it's very rare you only have one source of data... only one guide.
The other point is that even if the score is poor, it's at least 50% when it seems everyone around didn't even get that. So reading
the guide, you'd factor the fact the reviewers were very severe and reajust your opinions.

Also, people a dumb to a point. It's very fishy when everyone gets a bad score and only one hotel/restaurant gets a high score!
In a way, creating a strong contrast might be the way Ohana's mother chose to counter the evil deed of cheating with the reviews...

Then there's the type of hotel you wish to go to. You might not want to go to the lastly built, ultra modern hotel.
You might also prefer a less expensive hotel, so you might discard the high score hotel and search among the remaining ones.

Then, it seems profesionnals in the region aren't too happy, they might react too, at least they had a meeting about it.
Customers from the area might also react to what they read in the guide.

Last but not least, there's the internet. My idea is that the woman staying at the hotel with her aged mother might be a web reporter...
just a hunch though. Even if the internet might not be as strong as a guide yet, it's still a source of information some customers or their relation might use before chosing a place to go to.

So at first, yes it's a hard slap in the face. But it might also be not that of a problem.


Ko vs Ohana?
Well they're young, Ohana doesn't have a father at home and can't trust her feelings too much, she also discovers everything.
But in a way, it was touching to see how she didn't want to involve herself knowing how she already was hard on him not realizing his feelings for her. I think it's a little early for her to be so aware and take such a decision, but this is anime after all. And Ko really needs to be more assertive.

Ohana's mother?
We mostly see her through Ohana's eyes. And remember Ohana is barely a teenager...
The X-mas gift grudge clearly is an indication that Ohana still is a child. Think about it a little bit.

[Buffalobiian]

About review... and guides. Sure they are important. But it's very rare you only have one source of data... only one guide.
The other point is that even if the score is poor, it's at least 50% when it seems everyone around didn't even get that. So reading
the guide, you'd factor the fact the reviewers were very severe and reajust your opinions.

The thing was that the whole region was given a bad score though. If the magazine was reviewing a wider area, then it would drive away tourists in the meanwhile, only to attract them back later when this ultra-modern hotel is apparently the only non-shitty place around.

And given the scoring system of achieving half or less, well why go to a 5 star one when there's an 8 star one right? Also, in many people's eyes, I think anything less than 10 stars is considered imperfect. Especially considering the way most Asian countries think of exams/tests, you don't give stars. You deduct them.

[shinta|hikari]

And I think the large hotel was going to rent rooms for cheaper prices? Or was I just imagining that?

[Buffalobiian]

And I think the large hotel was going to rent rooms for cheaper prices? Or was I just imagining that?

I don't remember hearing that in the episode (is it normal for places to advertise prices when it's still under construction?), but all the more reason for hurting the surrounding competition early to deplete their funds, only to launch an attractive special for some time once the construction is complete.

[Ryllharu]

The thing was that the whole region was given a bad score though. If the magazine was reviewing a wider area, then it would drive away tourists in the meanwhile, only to attract them back later when this ultra-modern hotel is apparently the only non-shitty place around.

If I'm not mistaken, the new ultra-modern resort was being built in a neighboring region/prefecture. If the backers of that resort are behind this, they are trying to permanently drive business from the Yunosagi region.

[animus]

That mom's a class act.

[MFauli]

First of all, I disagree with anyone who tries to somehow justify Ohana´s mother´s attitude. Unless she´s been forced to be a sex slave for all of her childhood, there is NO excuse to be THAT villainous to your own child. A big what the f***. When Ohana told her about her real feelings that she held back all these years, even started crying...and her mother had the same apathetic, distant look on her face...pure rage on my side, I wanted to punch the bitch in the smug face. Unfortunately, Im sure the show will come up with some bs-excuse at the end to explain her mother´s behavior, but as far as im concerned, there´s not a lot of possible explanations that could excuse her.

As for the whole Ko-chan matter: I dont see how he is history. The situation is basically Ohana´s fault, and even though she realized what she did to Ko ("you didnt even properly answer!"), she just ran away from him AGAIN. Quite annoying. For such a cheerful, direct girl, it seems out of place to be that shy to give him a proper answer.

And lastly, yeah, the whole "I gave the inn a shit score because someone told me to do so" was crap. On one hand, it´s just unrealistic. No magazine big enough to influence an inn´s well-being would fake such articles. On the other hand, if I was Ohana, I´d take this to the public. Meh, really annoyed me, specially combined with her mother´s attitude.

[shinta|hikari]

Wow, for the most part, I agree with you. WTF...

[RyougaZell]

Wow, for the most part, I agree with you. WTF...

Likewise. I guess there is a first for everthing... or is this a sign of the apocalypse?

[Kraco]

Episode 12v2 - HorribleSubs (truly horrible subs this time with missing lines).



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While watching this, I started to feel like Ko isn't yet history like I said earlier. However, towards the end the older feeling returned, perhaps even more so. This is also partially why I can't like the bookstore girl; she's no better than Ohana, in the end. Ohana leaves Ko hanging but the other girl wouldn't let him decide. Both are equally selfish even if in different ways. Yet the bookstore girl seems like she proactively likes Ko, while Ohana tries to come up with reasons why she shouldn't like Ko. Ko is a pretty passive guy, so it's sad to say it, but I wouldn't mind if he ended up with neither. Though since this is Ohana's story, we won't ever know unless Ohana decides to pursue the issue. At the moment it seems to me like she would rather postpone doing anything until time solves the issue of her behalf, no matter how bitterly. Not that Ko would impress me much either.

Oh, well, perhaps the next ep will present some funny scenes between Ohana's mother and grandmother.

[shinta|hikari]

Ko seems devoted to Ohana. He is passive, but very loyal.

I really dislike the scenes where Tohru acts all shy and giddy towards Ohana. It's like a slap to Minchi's face. I would have welcomed that before, but she has been decent recently. And Ohana does not care about Tohru at all, at least in comparison to Ko.

Ohana is too immature in terms of understanding her feelings. She feels them and lashes out, but does not understand the reason why. If she had a clue, she would know that the worry, gratitude, and jealousy she feels when it involves Ko is romantic love.

[Kraco]

Ko seems devoted to Ohana. He is passive, but very loyal.

He does seem loyal from one point of view, but from another I find it suggesting he's not sure of his own feelings anymore and would rather let either time or Ohana to end it. He's so damn passive it's hard to tell.

I really dislike the scenes where Tohru acts all shy and giddy towards Ohana. It's like a slap to Minchi's face.

Indeed, very much so. It's so sad to watch. Michi's admirably strong to still remain friendly toward Ohana. She can't hate Tohru, so in a lesser story she would hate Ohana instead. Good thing that hasn't happened.

[Ryllharu]

I really dislike the scenes where Tohru acts all shy and giddy towards Ohana. It's like a slap to Minchi's face. I would have welcomed that before, but she has been decent recently. And Ohana does not care about Tohru at all, at least in comparison to Ko.

A slap in the face? Really? I think that's taking it too far. Minko seemed to have figured it out by the end of the episode, even if she took the wrong conclusion for the sake of a joke. It isn't that Tohro necessarily likes Ohana, or women of Ohana's family. It's that he is bad with women period.

Minko is likely excluded from that boundary because she doesn't register as "woman/girl," she registers as "subordinate/student." Some of the other girls/women at Kissuisou are probably viewed as "co-workers," but he gets a little weird around Nako too. It isn't just Ohana's family because Tohru rolled right over for Yuina's whims all those episodes ago and drove her around on his bike.

Tohru never thought of their outing as a date, it was work. Once Minko figured that out, she knew he wasn't viewing her as a girl, but as a co-worker. If she had been able to convince him otherwise, we might have seen something different.

[MFauli]

This episode really showed that Ohana is her mother´s daughter...siiiigh. Saying "in a movie I´d be the antagonist" really doesnt make it any better in the real situation. And she had enough opportunities to clear up the mess with Koichi. At this point, she´s equally a bitch as her mother.

And Tohru is starting to become unlikeable to me, too. Maybe he should fuck Ohana´s mother to make the mess perfect, lol.

[Kraco]

A slap in the face? Really? I think that's taking it too far.

Minko is likely excluded from that boundary because she doesn't register as "woman/girl," she registers as "subordinate/student."

While what you say most likely is true, I'd say it makes it even more a slap in the face. She's not even a girl in Tohru's eyes. Well, that's probably largely due to how she got accepted into the staff in the first place, so she can't really blame Tohru alone. It's largely her own fault. But it doesn't change the fact Ohana is managing to appear a girl perfectly before Tohru.

[Buffalobiian]

And Ohana does not care about Tohru at all, at least in comparison to Ko.

This cycle of people being oblivious to the other pisses me off.

Indeed, very much so. It's so sad to watch. Michi's admirably strong to still remain friendly toward Ohana. She can't hate Tohru, so in a lesser story she would hate Ohana instead. Good thing that hasn't happened.

I fully agree here. Minchi hasn't said "balut" to Ohana at all this episode. I suppose there wasn't any place to say "Die!" (as that's what balut is a substitute for), but still.. for keeping it and stopping the spread of the unfair-lashout-flowon effect.. good on her. And I love that hair-behind ear look.

Maybe he should fuck Ohana´s mother to make the mess perfect, lol.

/me nods.

I just can't wait to see Ohana's mother go home and just mess the place up. (Particularly her brother).