Hanasaku Iroha Episode 16

Weird flashbacks are weird.

3.75/5 Stars

Lot's of people are gonna be bored of this episode. And let's just say I'm not one of those people.

I admire that P.A. Works is developing this buildup episode. We haven't had one since the whole mama to Ohana arc that led to a great family reunion. This is no different. I am expecting great things from episode 17 because of this episode, so I actually enjoyed this week's flick.

I laughed at this bit quite a lot. Oh Nako, you are so awesome!

The weird thing is is that there's very little, if any, drama. Kissuiso is getting a movie done in their name and is sponsoring it with successful pacts and promises. The Okami okayed it, the reverse-weaboo manager okayed it, and everything is running more smoothly than ever before. It's just weird to see this happen in Hanasaku Iroha; a show that's all about the drama.

This episode also played a role in introducing the past of Enishi Shijima, the guy who always pussies out in problems. This episode gave a strong hints of character development cuz of his lack of flustering fits these days. He was pretty good the whole episode and gave a wink at his motivations for helping the inn itself. We've never seen the guy do anything fantastic before so it's great that he's played an interesting role for the episode as a whole.

But as a result of the lack of drama, I can see boredom running across the audience. I just hope we see a satisfactory end to this charade by the next ep. A conclusion of this arc worthy of P.A. Work's animation!

Plus, the whole pool cleaning was good fanservice, even though it was SO random and misplaced. I was surprised to see Minko being the playful type this episode. However, I haven't seen her have any fun for a while now. Still gotta love Nako though. Gawd.....

What's in store for the next episode?