Tomoe's Mid-life Crisis (Hanasaku Iroha Ep7)

This week, we deal with Tomoe's mid-life crisis.

Tomoe has been a character of little importance so far, but since we're in the midst of a filler phase, why not make an episode about her?

And they did, and they also showed us how awesome she is.

That's youth right there.

I'm not the first one to say this, and probably not the last to - It's pretty awesome just to see how many epic faces she delivered in this episode, and the funniest is when she got an idea on how to throw the troublesome guests out of Kissuisou. (above, right).

It's funny that she's already under pressure to get married though, because she's only 28, according to official source. Most people where I lived got married at 30+, and I don't think the pressure really comes in until your are in your late 30s. It's just the culture difference, maybe? And an interesting fact is that her seiyuu, Mamiko Noto, is actually 31 now, which means she should be worrying more than her character Tomoe. Who know if she really got into character when voicing Tomoe in this episode. (lol)

Another surprise this episode is actually seeing a happy Minko. I got so used to her being a sulking bitch that I'm expecting her to stay that way until Ohana change her or something but... who knows that she actually looks pretty like this? Ohana should start praising her food so that Minko would go tsundere for her.

The downside to this episode is that I'm starting to see Hanasaku Iroha as more of a comedy than a drama. After the dramatic first couple of episodes, the show is filled with a lot more jokes than I've come to expect. While I'm happy to see that the previous episode is a little more serious, this episode goes over the top by bringing really absurd people into the show (survival-gamer-paramilitant-peepers?). I hope that's as far as they go, otherwise what's next? A mysterious man who can apparantly use magic? I'm still really enjoying this show, I don't want it to turn into another Love Hina.

And we need to bring the show back onto Ohana. I mean, she still awesome, but not as awesome as it was. She's becoming like just another enthusiastic cheerful high-school girl. We need her monologues back, come on.

Luckily, Ko's appearance (hinted at the next episode preview) might just do that. Otherwise, we can make do with some more of um, you know...

Delusions win!