Hanasaku Iroha (花咲くいろは lit. "The ABCs of Blooming" or "The Colors of Blooming"),[1] or Hanairo for short,[2] is a Japanese 26-episode anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Masahiro Ando. The screenplay was written by Mari Okada, with original character design by Mel Kishida. P.A. Works produced the project as the studio's tenth anniversary work.[3] The anime aired between April and September 2011 and had two manga adaptations created. A second anime project has been announced.
Plot
Hanasaku Iroha centers around Ohana Matsumae, a 16-year-old teenager living in Tokyo, who is left in the care of her estranged grandmother, following her mother's elopement with her boyfriend. Ohana arrives at her grandmother's country estate to realize she is the owner of a Taishō period hot spring inn called Kissuisō. She begins working at Kissuisō, at her grandmother's request, but finds herself at odds with many employees and customers at the inn. Initially feeling discouraged, she decides to use her circumstances as an opportunity to change herself for the better and to make amends with her deteriorating relationship with the Kissuisō's staff for a more prominent future.Characters
- Ohana Matsumae (松前 緒花 Matsumae Ohana)
- Voiced by: Kanae Itō
- Ohana Matsumae is an energetic and optimistic 16-year-old girl and the protagonist of Hanasaku Iroha. She is sent to live at her estranged grandmother's hot spring inn, Kissuisō, after her mother elopes with her boyfriend to evade his debt. Her best friend Kōichi Tanemura confessed his feelings to her before her departure and she was unable to reciprocate his feelings until the end of the series. At her grandmother's demand, she works at the inn as compensation for staying there.
- Minko Tsurugi (鶴来 民子 Tsurugi Minko)
- Voiced by: Chiaki Omigawa
- Tsurugi Minko is a 16-year-old apprentice chef and resident at Kissuisō. Her beautiful looks hide a very cold demeanor. She dislikes Ohana from their first meeting, nicknaming her balut, but has slowly accepted her as a friend. Against her parents' wishes, her dream is to become a professional chef, resulting in her search for training opportunities. Her search led her to Kissuisō, where Tōru Miyagishi accepted her as an apprentice chef. Since then, she has strong feelings for him and becomes jealous when he talks about other girls.
- Nako Oshimizu (押水 菜子 Oshimizu Nako)
- Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki
- Oshimizu Nako is a shy and timid 16-year-old cleaning part-time maid and waitress at Kissuisō. She has three younger siblings whom she assists her parents in raising. She becomes close friends with Ohana and teaches her how to perform her duties.
- Yuina Wakura (和倉 結名 Wakura Yuina)
- Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu
- Yuina is the 16-year-old daughter and heiress to the Fukuya Inn, the rival inn of Kissuisō. She is in the same high school as Ohana, Minko, and Nako, and is seen hanging out with them on several occasions. She is divided on the choice of whether to go on with her family's inn-running business, or to find herself a different form of career fulfilment.
- Sui Shijima (四十万 スイ Shijima Sui)
- Voiced by: Tamie Kubota
- Ohana's 68-year-old grandmother and owner of Kissuisō. She has a fierce and strict composure towards her employees and is physically abusive.
- Tomoe Wajima (輪島 巴 Wajima Tomoe)
- Voiced by: Mamiko Noto
- Tomoe is the 28-year-old head waitress working at Kissuisō. She enjoys hearing gossip about other employees and customers lodging at the inn.
- Enishi Shijima (四十万 縁 Shijima Enishi)
- Voiced by: Kenji Hamada
- Ohana's 32-year-old uncle. He was bullied by Satsuki during their childhood. After Kissuisō's closure, Enishi plans to improve his management skills in order to succeed his mother.
- Tōru Miyagishi (宮岸 徹 Miyagishi Tōru)
- Voiced by: Junji Majima
- A 23-year-old junior chef working at Kissuisō. He is very outspoken and easily frustrated. He strictly mentors and supervises Minko's training, often going too far with verbal abuse. Ohana was initially intimidated by him, but has since developed a dislike to Tōru. However, Tōru appears to develop feelings toward Ohana as he feels that she is the only one who is willing to say she needs him. Afterwards, he is often seen looking out for Ohana.
- Renji Togashi (富樫 蓮二 Togashi Renji)
- Voiced by: Taro Yamaguchi
- A 42-year-old cook working at Kissuisō. Renji is Tōru's mentor and the head chef of the Kissuisō kitchen. He has a very gruff appearance, evidenced by a small facial scar, but has been shown to have a light-hearted side on occasion. He gets nervous very easily when under pressure, but is usually well-focused on his job.
- Takako Kawajiri (川尻 崇子 Kawajiri Takako)
- Voiced by: Ayumi Tsunematsu
- A 30-year-old business consultant advisor for Kissuisō. She attended the same university as Enishi. She often has erratic plans to improve the inn and tends to spout out random English sayings.
- Tarō Jirōmaru (次郎丸 太朗 Jirōmaru Tarō)
- Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe
- A 31-year-old novelist who frequently lodges at Kissuisō. He writes erotic novels using the Kissuisō's staff as character references. He eventually starts working at the inn after it is discovered that he can't pay the bill.
- Denroku Sukegawa (助川 電六 Sukegawa Denroku)
- Voiced by: Chō
- A 73-year-old janitor working at Kissuisō. He has been working at Kissuisō since its establishment. The staff calls him "Beanman".
- Kōichi Tanemura (種村 孝一 Tanemura Kōichi)
- Voiced by: Yūki Kaji
- Kōichi is a 16-year-old teenager who is Ohana's best friend. Kōichi confessed his feelings to Ohana before her departure, but was too afraid to hear her answer and ran away. He often offers Ohana support when she feels down. As the story progress, he feels abandoned by Ohana as she adjusts to her new lifestyle. Ohana calls him Kō.
- Satsuki Matsumae (松前 皐月 Matsumae Satsuki)
- Voiced by: Takako Honda
- Ohana's 38-year-old mother. She is a journalist who elopes with her boyfriend to evade his debt. She leaves Ohana to the care of her mother, who claims to have disowned her daughter. She neglected Ohana as a child and raised her with the mentality of relying on oneself. She works as a hotel and inn critic, often asked to write scathing reviews if asked by her higher ups.
[edit] Media
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Eito Chida began serialization in the December 2010 issue of Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine. The first tankōbon volume was released on March 22, 2011; two volumes have been released as of July 22, 2011. A spin-off manga, illustrated by Jun Sasameyuki, titled Hanasaku Iroha: Green Girls Graffiti with Minko Tsurugi as the main character began serialization in Bandai Visual's online Web Comic Gekkin magazine on July 1, 2011.[4]Anime
See also: List of Hanasaku Iroha episodes
The Hanasaku Iroha 26-episode anime television series is produced by P.A. Works and directed by Masahiro Ando. The series aired in Japan between April 3 and September 25, 2011 on Tokyo MX. The screenplay was written by Mari Okada, and Chief animator Kanami Sekiguchi based the character design used in the anime on Mel Kishida's original designs. Sound direction was headed by Jin Aketagawa and the music was produced by Shirō Hamaguchi.[5] The anime series is simulcast to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Brazil, and Portugal by the Internet streaming website Crunchyroll.[6] A second anime project of Hanasaku Iroha will be produced in 2012.[7]Music
An image song titled "Patricia" (パトリシア) by Nano Ripe was used for the promotional videos and anime; the single was released on September 22, 2010 by Lantis.[8][3][9][10] Another promotional video featured the image song "Yumeji" (夢路, "Dreaming") by Nano Ripe;[11] "Yumeji" was released on the "Patricia" single.[8] For the first 13 episodes, the opening theme song is "Hana no Iro" (ハナノイロ, "Colorful Flowers") by Nano Ripe, and the main ending theme is "Hazy" by Sphere.[12] For episodes 14 onwards, the opening theme is "Omokage Warp" (面影ワープ, "Trace Warp") by Nano Ripe, while the ending theme is "Hanasaku Iroha" (はなさくいろは) by Clammbon. The song "Tsukikage to Buranko" (月影とブランコ) by Nano Ripe was used as the ending theme for episode six, and "Yumeji" by Nano Ripe was used as the ending theme for episode eight.Reception
The series received generally positive reviews. Mania praised Kanae Itō's voice as Ohana, the animation quality, and execution of the plot. The reviewer however commented that the beginning was not new nor innovative.[13] Anime News Network praised the realism and quality in the animation, score, and opening and ending theme music. The character designs were noted to be attractive yet subtle enough to retain the realism, and also noted how Ohana's design is much better than a moe clone.[14] As the characters' personality developed, the reviewer highly praised the realistic interactions between them as they are touching and substantial. Ohana's relationship with her mother and grandmother was noted to be especially well written with daunting emotions.[15] After reviewing the second half of the series, the reviewer considered Hanasaku Iroha to be one of the best titles in 2011.[16] Many fans of the series have visited the anime's real life setting of Yuwaku Hot Spring in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. Prior to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, all nine hotels were fully booked by fans of the anime, but 1,500 guests canceled their reservations after the disaster.[17]| Hanasaku Iroha | |
 Promotional image of Hanasaku Iroha featuring (from left to right): Minko, Tomoe, Ohana, Yuina, and Nako. | |
| 花咲くいろは | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Coming of age, Slice of life, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | P.A. Works |
| Illustrated by | Eito Chida |
| Published by | Square Enix |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Gangan Joker |
| Original run | December 2010 – ongoing |
| Volumes | 2 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Masahiro Ando |
| Studio | P.A. Works |
| Network | Tokyo MX |
| Original run | April 3, 2011 – September 25, 2011 |
| Episodes | 26 |
| Manga | |
| Hanasaku Iroha: Green Girls Graffiti | |
| Written by | P.A. Works |
| Illustrated by | Jun Sasameyuki |
| Published by | Bandai Visual |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Web Comic Gekkin |
| Original run | July 1, 2011 – ongoing |
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