Wasn’t that face just made to be bullied? The flowers are screaming “make me cry”. Unfortunately, this episode was mostly upbeat aside from a single attempted murder by Minchi.

I’m not certain I really like the direction this show is going in. The first two episodes were excellent, with all the conflict surrounding Ohana’s coming to the inn. But now all the tension has completely evaporated as the show has devolved into bondage, road races, giant birds and love triangles. Hanasaku Iroha had some excellent drama that made it stand out in the first two episodes, but the creators seem to have completely forgotten about it.

As far as the love triangle goes though, I do like Minchi’s one sided crush on the kitchen helper. They’re both such jerks that it’s not the kind of thing you usually get to see. Minchi’s love rival seems promising as well, appearing to be more or less Minko’s complete opposite. I’m curious to see how Ohana will deal with the two of them.