Hanasaku Iroha 22 — Crushes, Fights and Weddings

A decent episode: finally things seem to be heading somewhere with Ohana, Ko and her family. That said, progress is still slow.

Love is War

The resolution of Ohana and Minko’s fight left me dying of laughter. I don’t think that this is exactly what the creators were aiming for, but we should find enjoyment wherever we can.

After Minko throws the wedding dress on the ground, Ohana tells Minko that she can’t go out with Tohru because she has a “one-sided” crush on Ko. Ohana, do you even know what “one-sided” means? If the guy has already confessed to you and told you he will be waiting, your crush is not one-sided.

Minko proceeds to tell Ohana to die, that she can’t have a one-sided crush, to go out with Tohru, and to die some more. Ohana, in a fit of lucidity, notes that Minko’s demands are inconsistent. They engage in a fight to the death, while Tohru shouts at Ohana how perfect Tohru is, the best of all men.

Nako’s intervention and Tohru’s eavesdropping interrupt their fight, but not until after Ohana gets a trickle of a nosebleed. Tohru lays Minko’s fears that he is in love with Ohana to rest. Minko fails to realize that Tohru doesn’t love Ohana because he sees both her and Minko as children. Then, Tohru pats Minko’s head and tells her that unlike Ohana, she keeps him “in great suspense” (what does this even mean?). Minko breaks down in tears.

At the end, Ohana and Minko reconcile. Ohana realizes she has a “one-sided” crush on Ko. Minko begins fitting for her wedding dress and prepares to become a baby factory. Tohru is still oblivious to Minko’s feelings. Well, at least Ohana did something this episode.

The Wedding

The second half of the episode focused on the wedding. The main ceremony was rather uneventful, but it did make me think a bit about weddings in Japan. It’s interesting how they take all the trappings of Christian weddings and make something rather different. The wedding this week, for example, didn’t even have a minister. My (limited) understanding is that this style of wedding is not at all uncommon, although Shinto weddings are also available.

The wedding’s after party is wild. Ohana’s mother sends a lewd letter, Tohru copies Minko and writes “LOVE” on top of the food, and the writer guy kisses beanman. The music is decent, but that woman has a terrible voice— my ears are still grating just imagining it.

The creators were perhaps a bit too forceful in trying to fit the wedding into the grander purpose of the story. The grandmother’s speech was particularly awkward. Her son just got married, but she says nothing about him and instead talks about how great Ohana and friends are and about the history of the inn? Sheesh, grandma, this is prime roasting time you’re wasting.

Conclusions

At least Ohana seems to be back in the picture now. With the grandmother’s decision that she wants to sell the Kissuiso by the Bonbori festival, we have a clear direction this is heading for in the finale. Ohana and friends will bonboru it up and band together to protect the inn in time for the Bonbori festival, where Ohana will confess to Ko. Hopefully they’ll surprise us and not exactly follow this outline, but it should be a solid ending regardless, even if it could have been stronger if they’d had more of a focus throughout the series.

7 thoughts on “Hanasaku Iroha 22 — Crushes, Fights and Weddings

  1. I’m not sure if Ohana is just too dense or if I’m missing out something on this one. I was wondering why did Ohana think that between Ko and her, it’s just a one-sided crush. When in fact the last time they saw each other, Ko was clear that he still likes her.

    I think I really enjoyed Minko reaching out her limit. I don’t really like her tsundereness but I like to see her hurting because it looks so real. Also, I quite don’t like Tohru because of how un-gentleman he is to Minko at times, but then after this my perception towards him changed.

    As for the wedding, sure it might awkward that Okami didn’t do anything on his son’s wedding, but I believed that’s part of her test and way of teaching her son, because she knows how incompetent he is.

    1. I think Ohana’s dense to the point of idiocy. Ko flat out told her he still liked her, and she thinks she has a one-sided crush…

      And watching Minko suffer is nice. 🙂 I feel like a terrible person for saying that though.

  2. I think the context of one-sided crush means that Ohana loves Ko and no one else. I thought of this when her mother told her that why she doesn’t seem to stick to one man after their father died. Her mother admires her husband and sees him as no replacement.

  3. Honestly, I think the whole “I still have a crush on Ko” thing was REALLY cheesy. I mean, who says that in this day and age?! Why couldn’t Ohana have said “I don’t like Tohru! What gave you that idea?! I already have a boyfriend!”? That would’ve been MUCH better!

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