This ended up being one of my favorite episodes of Hanasaku Iroha so far. Ohana’s mother certainly managed to stir things up. The highlight of the episode was seeing Ohana’s mother interact with the staff, especially her mother and brother. Seeing the grandmother become all agitated and slapping her son silly was great. Although yeah, he definitely deserved it for inviting his college friend. *shudder* Even the head chef is afraid of Ohana’s mother. The only one who isn’t cowed, surprisingly, is Nako, who loves her.
The drinking scene in particular was very well done, although becoming drunk on soda… well, whatever. A drinking party spanning three generations of the family. It’s rare that we get a chance to see something like this, since so many anime characters don’t have parents at all, much less grandparents. Old people just aren’t cool, I guess, but I think it’s a shame. They can really add a lot to a show. Take Summer Wars, for example, where the grandmother stole the show.
I’m not sure why Ohana thinks she was dumped by Ko. From my perspective, that seems like the exact opposite of what actually happened. Ohana has decided to not give up and try again, but it’s more like she decided to try for the first time. Oh well, at least she seems to have realized that she does like him.
Next week looks like it’ll be a Yuina episode, so I’m looking forward to it. Yuina seems like a very interesting character, but she’s gotten the least screen time so far. I’m guessing she’ll have a heavier role to play in the second half.
Satsuki’s a lady killer. >:)
Finally, Ohana got some sense. Though, if Ko were to flat-out reject her, I wonder what kind of direction this show would go towards.
I’m so glad you mentioned the drunk off soda thing. I mentally re-wrote the scene – Ohana’s mother slipped her a mixed drink. Let’s leave it at that.
I didn’t understand the dynamic between Ohana’s mother and her uncle. Was he blushing at the site of his sister?
Finally the Ko thing. I’m probably one of the few people happy for him. Ohana IS the villain in this story and I’m happy this pairing *didn’t* get the storybook ending…so far. The dynamic of friendship and romance between a girl and a guy friend is complex. And frustrating. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they do with it!
I don’t remember her uncle blushing… I think it’s more that he kind of resents her for all the things she did to him when he was a kid, but at the same time he admires and respects her (as evidenced by his notetaking and drinking binge).
I agree about Ko, it’s way too early for them to get a happy ending. There’s still an entire season left, after all.