Hanasaku Iroha

Ohana is truly bipolar. The moment she becomes even slightly emotionally unstable, she wants to flee to Ko. On the other hand, her meeting Ko causes her to have an intense desire to flee. Even when Ko clears up the misunderstanding AND she notices how she's a hypocrite who hasn't been treating Ko very well, she still runs away from him. Poor Ko, even though he actually did a pretty good job noticing Ohana and stopping her from running away once, he still didn't get anything out of her about their relationship. Ohana is on a whole other level of playing "hard to get".

She isn't actually doing it all on purpose, she just didn't know how to react to the emotional stimulation she's been getting from everything she's endured that day. Basically, she's just a teenager who's beginning to get more acquainted with the harsh taste of reality.

Imo, her real life is just beginning. I just hope that, by the end of the series, we get to see a mature, but still good natured Ohana.

Parenting and Maturity 101. Personally, it's hard for me to get behind a character that bears immature ideals, even if they are understandable. Even worse, it doesn't appear like she's going to face reality anytime soon, judging by the imagery that the animators decided to put at the end of the episode, and her actions. Even if the show is progressing as it should in its own nature, I'd very much like to get on with several aspects of the show (for example, Ko, like OBK said).

Depending on how things go, I might drop this series. The only characters with a spine right now are Ko and his co-worker. Neither Ohana, Minchi, Tohru, or Ohana's mom are getting their relationships straightened out. The way things are going now, Ko will probably get written out of the series and Ohana will find a new romantic interest or fall for Tohru. Ohana's mom was being a terrible parent and a great troll, but now that the anime is trying to give her a sympathetic background it feels like they are ruining what I liked about the character. And she conveniently goes to Kissuiso willingly without needing to kidnap her, which makes the fuss about Ko seem meaningless.

That's just life: full of unnecessary things that eventually play out in a certain way. You weren't actually expecting Ohana's mom to be evil, were you? To me, this is all very believable and realistic, though a bit too kiddy and juvenile when it comes to Ohana's and Minchi's "dramas". Even though Ko was straightforward with his worker girl, I think that he's a bit of a wuss (though he's just a teenager, so it's understandable), whereas Tohru, while not as direct about his feelings (probably because of some personal complexes), is definately stronger, as a character(true, he's older).

Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of this series at this point, but I'm guessing that they are trying to show what adolescence is like for some people. I do remember being confused, (although not to this extent), back then. Also, I'm wondering if next week will be the last episode before the supposed time skip, and if that's the case, I don't think that Ko will be written out completely.

I think the complete opposite. As time goes on, Ko is looking to be the stronger character, while Tohru is being the wussy "I can't tell her how I feel" character. Sure Ko did run away after confessing, and that's the only cowardly thing he's done. He can't be aggressive about things since he's already stated his feelings and is just waiting for an answer. And it's not like he can force Ohana to answer him no matter how proactive he is.

Sure, Tohru has some restraints in telling his feelings, but, other than that, he's alot more straightforward and mature than Ko (see how he bluntly told Ohana that her face betrays her thoughts and how he dismissed Matsumae's initial excuse for coming to Kissouso, as a lie, and was right). I say Ko is a wuss mainly because he's "devoutly" waiting for a girl that, in his case, is clearly not worth the effort, which is one of the biggest mystakes a guy can make in his courting/sexual life.

Quite easily the series' best episode yet. I cried a bit at some points.I really liked the subtle display of emotions, like Matsumae's face after greeting her mom and teasing her in hopes of getting some sort of reaction, but ending up receiving the cold shoulder. There are other things that I liked about this episode, as well. I also realized that the biggest wuss in the series is actually Matsumae's younger brother. He is taking way too much shit from all the women around him, including Takako and his mom.

Regardless of some negative aspects and the fact that the ending kinda killed the mood (goddamn Ko and Ohana's stupid fixation on him), this is, as I've said, the series' best episode yet.

Okay, I'm going to watch the swimsuit episode and then I'm done with this series. Ko as a character and as a romantic interest has just been completely manhandled. Ohana jumps to the conclusion that she's been rejected just based on a single phrase. She also cries about it even though it was her fault in the first place for not answering him properly. Then the narrative contradictions begin as Ohana's grandmother states that a single rejection is nothing and that Ohana can always try again. And then Ohana basically says good-bye to Ko without even talking to him! Ko is getting written out, yet he isn't even in the loop at all! Even though the series finally made up its mind about how to handle Ko, they did it so terribly. Ugh.

Mm, I agree that is definitely was one of the best episodes so far, and it was nice to see the family all together, but the one thing about the episode that bothered me was that Ko was rejected just because of the fact that Ohana decided to stay at the inn. She could easily call him and fix things, and he could travel there again and see her, but for what ever reason she really wishes to just cut ties with him for now, even after she admitted that she loved him at the end of the episode. It's odd, but can be considered a typical adolescent reaction; they often don't make sense and make irrational decisions.

- The old adage was true - you can take a person out of his home but you can't take his home out of that person. Satsuki was charming in this episode. And even if she acts too irresponsibly at times, she knows where to assert her motherhood at.
- Ohana gets drunk on juice. Kind of reminds me of the old days when my friends tricked my sister that citrus juice can make her drunk, and the placebo effect happened.
- Granny still pines for her daughter to come back, I think. She yearns for it even if deep inside she knows it's just a fantasy. Maybe it's part of a reason why Kissuiso still remains as much as is when Satsuki left it. And to think of it, a 360 spin on her being a typical fussy mother who can drink with her daughter.
- Reveals that Ohana is moreso her grandmother's than her mother's.
- Experience points for Ohana.
- Overall, this episode ranks in as one of my high favorites.

... was kinda "meh". Why are most japanese boys/men such pussies?

I thought that Ohana and the game were going to help out the other inn, although I wasn't expecting Yuina too as well. I guess the focus of this episode was to show Yuina that working hard isn't necessarily a bad thing, and to reconsider working at an Inn. I'm hopeful that she is still engaged with Yousuke, since they parted on a good note, and now maybe she will help around more at her own inn.

Next week looks to be revolving around Enshi and Ohana's mom, so probably some more backstory there.

Well, the movie arc wrapped up quicker than expected, with the whole thing being a scam. I felt bad for Enishi and Takako, since they lost a great deal of money for the inn, but the inn seemed to recovery quickly, and Enishi and Takako's relationship seems to have strengthened, (especially during the pool scene).

Looks like next week will focus on Nako, and I like her a lot, so hopefully it will be good.