Hanamaru Kindergarten (はなまる幼稚園) Episode 8 Thoughts

Hiiragi Snapshot of the Episode

"Hanamaru Fishmonger"

Part A: Here we get to meet a new character named "Aoi", a classmate of Anzu and crew, and her parents run the fish market in town. My first impression of her is that she has lots of spunk for a girl, probably just like her parents who make a living... yelling "fresh catch of the day".

As the episode continues, we find out that she is very passionate about helping her parents run the fish market. While most of the other kids are concerned about 'having fun' with friends and complaining to their parents to take them somewhere, Aoi is contented with simply watching her parents work. Several "SayMove" (JP stream site) users commented saying "ii ko dana", loose translation would be "such a nice girl", and I agree.

I was surprised how well they developed Aoi with only half an episode, and especially since she is not one of the main characters. I really love this show but I feel it would be much better without all the 'questionable contents', and should focus more on the light-hearted warmth that it's capable of, as seen in this first half of the episode. It's really great stuff.

"Hanamaru Rival"

Part B: Yet, again, we meet a new character. Her name is Hinagiku, and her father is the "clean town" enforcing yakuza we met in episode 5. She meets Tsuchida almost the same way Anzu did, and falls in love with his kindness from the get-go. She proposes to Tsuchida which he tries to counter by telling her "people can't get married without getting acquainted first". Well, he had it coming because she agrees with that statement and decides to attend Hanamaru Kindergarten to get to know him better.

On her first day at the school, she is informed by others that her biggest rival isn't Anzu but it's Yamamoto-sensei. She quickly gets the wrong impression of Yamamoto (as some kind of whore lol) and goes to have a conversation with her to find out firsthand. Well, as we all know, nobody is immune from Akar... I mean... Yamamoto-sensei's charm and it's no different here. Hinagiku then accepts her loss and tells Tsuchida that Yamamoto is clearly superior to her. Then, for whatever reason, Anzu encourages her not to give up! I guess it's in her blood, just like her mother's encouraging spirit. Either that or she is really dense. ^^; Thanks to Anzu, the episode ends with Hinagiku changing her mind to pursing Tsuchida again.

Additional Thoughts?

As I mentioned earlier, I personally prefer the light-hearted warmth of this series and wish they would purely focus on that aspect. But I have to admit, at the same time, part of the intrigue and 'spice' comes from that strange line it walks. It's almost as if they are aware of that line and intentionally step over it to mess with us just for a second, then quickly go back behind the line so we can feel relieved again. I guess what I'm trying to say is they are being playful (in their own strange way) and it feels fun, controversial or not.

This weeks Ending:

Regardless of the quality of the series, the different endings alone make this an epic series for me. The song for this week is sung by Hinagiku's voice actor, Mariya Ise; who is also doing Mika Harima for Durarara!! She hasn't done much acting yet but I have a feeling we might be hearing more of her in the future. Anyway, enjoy this video from YouTube: