So, this was a silly episode. Still, I enjoyed it. Considering what this series is doing at the moment (building up for its second half), this was an episode well spent.
My big problem with the previous episodes was not that they suddenly turned into slice of life. Instead, I got the impression that they just didn’t have any inspiration to fill their time. The drama was forced, the new characters, and the scenarios and settings that were used to spice up these episodes actually just backfired. The soldiers in this episode was as flat as a pancake, but for the first time in ages I got the feeling that the characters were genuine again.
By far the most annoying part about this series is the innuendo, which really feels out of place. What have the creators already done to Ohana at this point? Tied her up? Put her in a china dress? Having middle aged guys peep on her? This is the kind of fanservice that I dislike: it’s not about how explicit it is or not, but it’s just consistently out of place and consistently breaks down the mood.
The most important thing though, is that this episode showed a nicely different side to many of the characters: beyond the silliness it actually did a great job in fleshing out the cast without making them go out of character. It’s not just Tomoe: the rest of the cast also got these tiny scenes that revealed more about their characters, and this time the episode actually made good use of it. This show seemed to have struggled a lot with keeping its characters enjoyable and interesting to watch, and this episode was well spent, despite the very stereotypical guest characters.
Rating: * (Good)
I am not ashamed to say that this was not a good episode. –
There was a lot things that did not make sense in reallty,
-If you see a group of people carrying guns who are spying on people in a hot spring. Your initial response is to call the police! Not let them continue to harrass staff and customers.
-If those soldiers have been competing for some time in these games, how did the got ambushed so easily by a hosepipe? Is Tamoe a trained soldier too?
-Jimaru (spelling?). @/@ I don’t want to see him on screen anymore, let alone his ass. He really the only character I don’t like.
-From the preview (some spoilers) It looks like that Ko is heading to the inn, which is sooner than I have expected.. This could be a sign that the scriptwriters are running out of ideas and not really sure which direction to go. Right now, there are a few episode that have seemed fillerish, so even though I would have like to have seen Ko later on, I am happy now that the story is going to progress.
This wasn’t a great episode, but I kind of liked it because of the focus on Tomoe. She was a lot of fun to watch this episode and some of her facial expressions were priceless. Hell, even the writer made me laugh once. I’m still not happy about the show going from drama to comedy like this, but I can live with a ridiculous comedy episode or two as long as they’re actually funny. Just hoping we get some substantial drama from the next episode, though, the previews seem promising for that.
I’ve been very critical of Hana-Saku Iroha, because it has been giving us an average episode after another, but this week’s wasn’t so bad. Getting to know Tomoe’s background was nice (her marriage issues were believable) and not only it reminded me that she exists, it also made me start caring for her.
Besides, the customers didn’t bother me, I thought “survival gamers” were an original idea. Which leads me to the question: are these people real? Do “survival gamers” exist in real life? I kept wondering that.
I guess the reaction to this episode could go both ways and you might say it’s bad, or you might say it’s good. For me, while it was a lackluster episode if you’re looking for story development, it was still enjoyable. And those survival gamers were a riot. This episode helped to show just how important Kiasuiso is to Tomoe. I also talk about this more in my blog as it might get longwinded in this comment box. Check it out. http://aniphiles.wordpress.com
The first episode of this that I’ve truly hated. It was totally implausible for all the reasons that shiz outlined, so much so that it felt like a George Lucas-esque attempt to TELL you to care about Tomoe’s problems rather than MAKING you care about them through good storytelling. This bothered me worse than the third episode. I may abandon Iroha if next week doesn’t make me do a 180.
Hmmm… I actually liked it. The comedy worked for me and the focus on Tomoe was very welcome and nicely done.
I didn’t hate this episode, but it wasn’t really that funny or interesting for me either. At this point, it’s really become obvious that this series doesn’t take place in a realistic world but rather in an anime setting where all sorts of weird things are forgivable, so I’m just going to suspend my disbelief for future episodes. The only thing I have to say is that all these over-the-top events have no meaning if they’re not funny or interesting