Disclaimer: This is what I think so far after the latest episode 4. Maybe it'll get better. Probably not. Note that there may be spoilers.
Hanasaku Iroha is a slice of life show. What does that mean? It means no fantasy or any type of escapism and shitty fanservice. And no, its not a comedy (well it has comedy, but it isn't A comedy).
Okay so why do people watch the show? When you don't have sexy girls or explosions, you gotta have characters. Not drama, but CHARACTERS.
And right off the bat the warning signs appear.
Let's start with the interesting characters in order of appearance.
Ko chan or whatever he's called is roughly interesting simply because he tries to grow a pair. What happens afterward is anyone's game. Is he forever traumatized? Does he keep trying to go after her? Or does he deal with it and move on? Lots of interesting character development can happen here.
Ohana on the other hand will not change. She is still the same person. Whether or not she was confessed to will NOT MATTER for her character for the rest of the show.
So great right? Your only interesting person with character development possibilities gets shooed out at the very start. But don't worry it gets worse.
Next person they try to make interesting is Minko, obviously the "damaged goods" character. They try to make her seem really intimidating, but it just comes off as awkward, the second she repeats the same word twice. It'd be fine if the others were like "what's up with this bitch" or "that's a really awkward thing to say" but they seem to freak out that she wants them to die. They try to build her as the "awkward beauty" type later on, but the other characters don't react that way. Which makes me suspect the other characters are retarded.
This is most obvious in episode two, when Ohana pushes down Minko and Nako and forces them to tell her their most hated foods. Okay so imagine this, your mortal enemy has captured you and is about to torture you to death. He then asks what you think is the most painful way to die. Anyone in this situation would just scream FUCK YOU. But no, not Hanasaku Iroha. Oh no, they'll say "Well, since I've always had a case of claustrophobia, I think getting buried alive in an iron maiden would be the most painful way to die." See, when a person panics, they DON'T KNOW WHAT FOOD THEY HATE THE MOST IS. Actually, THAT'S THE LAST DAMN THING ON THEIR MIND. (I can't even think of it right now. Maybe veal) So watching a character give a fully thought out answer in that situation, not only does it not make sense for their characters, you can't even play the "panic, irrational" card.
Next up is the brother, or Ohana's uncle, who at least has an interesting back story, (Stays with mother when his sister leaves) but fails to do anything worth mentioning so far. This guy could be interesting, but no, they'll probably use him to move the plot somewhere, maybe have one episode to flesh him out and that's it.
The grandmother probably stands out the most by being basically a bitch, but that doesn't make her interesting. At some point she's going to warm up to Ohana because Ohana broke down her cold stone wall with that golden heart of hers and everyone's going to have a good cry. To make this kind of scene any good, it needs a good build up. Guess what, its episode four, and I'm still waiting for a hint of build up.
Now last is the writer, who's "arc" just finished. And what a shitty arc. The only reason they even put him in is for fan service to see Ohana tied up and some kind of weird NakoxMinkoxOhana orgy scene and a cliffhanger ending for episode two. Not only did they barely build up his character, he ends up more as a comic relief than someone that you're supposed to feel sorry for. But then again, he's not really funny, more like someone you tolerate only because it'd take more effort to get rid of them.
Now the rest of the cast is pretty much one dimensional. Nako is the shy girl, Tomoe is the gossipy girl, Ren is the "master" character, and Tohru is the skilled apprentice. I thought Yuina might be interesting, but instead she's just there to create a love triangle. She has potential, but I'm afraid her relationship with Tohru might overshadow any other traits about her.
So at this point, I have no idea whats keeping you guys into the show. The only thing I can come up with, is that like K-on, as long as there;s some cute girls with moe faces in a show, people will watch it. And the show sure is trying hard since episode three. Not to mention, its a freaking HOT SPRING INN. They don't even need beach episodes.
See here, when I get my fanservice fix, I like it with a side of action or comedy. If I want pure fanservice, there's touhou fanart for that. So I am lost as to why you people keep watching. Then again its not the worst thing in the world, but its just bland enough to make me hate watching it. If it weren't for you guys and your love for Iroha, I'd wouldn't hate it, but as of this moment, if you gave me a DVD of this crap, I would burn it while cursing your ancestors.
PS - The beginning of the opening makes me want to stab myself.
I like how you peg everyone as static dimensionless characters when Ohana has made an effort to change herself in every episode past the first.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the characters aren't fully fleshed out yet because we're on episode 4 of 26.
PS - Every time you begin to open your mouth makes me want to stab myself.
I didn't say that about Ohana. And her character changes have been to.....work?
ReplyDeleteYou said Ohana was static in the 2nd paragraph.
ReplyDeleteHave you not been watching? Episode 1 and 2 established her initial independent personality due to neglect, 2+ shows her attempting to become much more social.
My bad, I meant that event hasn't changed her character. Which is frustrating because it makes the side characters more interesting than the main one. Its like when L dies in death note, story just takes a nosedive because you removed the interesting personality.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I fail to see how Ohana is becoming much more social. Or rather, I don't see how her character has progressed. You can point to situations where you say "Look she's doing something!" but we don't know if she wouldn't have done that before.
Also as an aside, I think its hard to talk about her development at the moment, because we just barely got to know her. (And the new environment makes things harder)