Kurogane's Anime Blog » Hitohira

Hitohira Redux: Episode Three

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:03:56 +0000

Jumping a month later from the last episode, the Drama Research Club (Enken) holds their first public performance. Undoubtedly, Mugi-choco faces much stage fright, but her attempts to run off are nicely cut off by Nono-senpai, who can be really frightening at times :).

The enmity between Sakaki and Nono is also explored further with their little stand-off during the promotion of the Enken performance. At this point, Sakaki definitely feels very much like a bitch, I will have to say, but a shocker comes pretty soon as Orinaru finds out that Nono-senpai’s suffering from vocal chord paralysis, which is a death knell for her acting hopes. This of course, comes a big shock to everyone who finds out about it.

Still, the show goes on, and Mugi-choco is as nervous as she can be. To calm her down, Nono tells of her past story and states that she was similar to Mugi herself in the past, however, someone showed her a path in acting, which is briefly glimpsed as a silhouette. Ayako-sama really showered a lot of passion in to her performance as Nono. Her voice really absorbs the viewer in to the setting and time. The ongoing performance also helped very much to set the mood, as it mirrors the determination and hard-headness of Nono. In the end, with Nono-senpai’s help, Mugi manages to wing it through the performance and says all her lines without missing them.

At this episode, I was pretty much sold to watching out Hitohira. Still kinda regret I didn’t blog it at the time it was being aired, but I hope to make amends with this few posts now.

Hitohira Redux: Episode Two

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:04:47 +0000

Hitohira episode two brings in much humor, mostly thanks to the antics of poor Mugi-choco. While Nono-senpai took most of the limelight in episode one, Mugi-choco had most of the focus here, as she deals with the fact she actually entered the Drama Research Society, something beyond the boundaries of her stage fright to actually contain. Her antics this episode definitely made me smile and actually like her than her appearances in episode one.

Kanna Chitose a.k.a. “Orinaru”, makes a more substantial appearance and I have to say, it’s hard not to like her. There’s something about this cheerful and bold young lady that really brings a smile up on my face, from her antics to her hopeless crush on Katsuragi-senpai. My most favourite scene of her would be her semi-acknowledgment of Mugi’s vocal talent, which she brings out after a bout of tickling hell on Mugi. It gives an air of seriousness to her character, that contrasts with her initial easygoing outlook.

This episode also shows the enmity brewing between the official Drama Club and the Drama Research Club, and both Nono and Sakaki seem to share a very weird relationship that hints of them knowing each other well before hand. It does also paint Sakaki very much as the “antagonist”, with her objections of the existance of the Drama Research Club and her persuasion of Mugi to enter her club.

Also, we get the first hints of Nono’s… “condition”.

Hitohira Redux: Episode One

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:52:05 +0000

Finally fell in the mood to rewatch Hitohira, now with Starlight’s subs. Even though I managed to watch it raw, I pretty much didn’t get many of the subtle nuances and some of the technical parts of the show, of which I only managed to understand thanks to hashihime’s blogging of it at the same time.

For a first episode, aside from the usual exposition of the show, Hitohira definitely had many hints and foreshadowing to past and future events. I’d rather not go in to too much detail, as that’s not really my style.

That being said, what really attracted me to Hitohira in the first episode is Nono-senpai, with Kawasumi Ayako providing yet another sterling performance that just increases my respect count for her to higher and higher levels. There is just something with her portrayal of Nono and one can actually feel Nono’s charm and personality oozing out from the screen, thanks to Ayako’s professional passion which she puts in all her serious work. Definitely, Nono was the show stealer of this episode.

Also, not to forget is also Satsuki Yukino’s role as Sakaki Mirei, the president of the official drama club. While I am a fan of her performances, her work for Sakaki definitely increased my respect count for her a lot more. Even as short as a scene she got in this first episode, it was truly a heart-wrenching one, one that can only be appreciated through a rewatch of the show.

Hitohira

Kurogane Shiroikaze — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:10:11 +0000

Hitohira has just ended, bringing the curtain down to one of this season’s finest drama anime yet.

The ending was very undoubtedly inspired by Simoun, also done by Studio DEEN last year. The dance, the effects and the progression just instantly made me think of Simoun and I realize that Hitohira shares similarities with it more than just than the ending, but also in the overall plot structure and storytelling. Undoubtedly the themes are rather different but, I can definitely say Hitohira is a spiritual successor to Simoun.

In all, Hitohira has been very much an enjoyable experiences despite a few minuses here and there. It was a satisfyingly told story of a girl, who was given a dream and was brought out of her corner to see the world in a different light. I will admit I can’t really express it well in words, and Hitohira is a show that one needs to watch to innately understand it.