Movie Review by Dennis D. McDonald

Based on an animated Japanese TV series, Hanasaku Iroha follows a young girl, Ohana, who goes from the big city to live at her grandmother’s rural inn. Learning the innkeeper’s trade by starting at the bottom, Ohana increasingly misses the excitement of the big city. She worries that she is losing her chance to “sparkle” as she works under the watchful eye of her grandmother.

One day Ohana comes across an old notebook maintained by her mother when she worked at the inn as a young person. Ohana is surprised to read how similarly her mother’s hopes and fears — and youthful frustrations — were.

The anime switches timelines back and forth between Ohana and her mother’s story. This is somewhat confusing at first, but along the way we get sensitive and at times emotionally engaging slice-of-life insights into the personalities of several well portrayed, voiced, and effectively animated characters, all told against a backdrop packed with day to day Japanese culture.

There is nothing earthshaking here nor is there any real “action.” But if you are open to sensitive and at times emotional storytelling portrayed using gorgeous and colorful animation, this is an excellent watch. The subtitles are well done and the emotions expressed by the Japanese voice actors are well matched to the characters. Recommended.

Review copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald

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