Japanese Title: Hinamatsuri

 

Similar: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Mob Psycho 100

Barakamon

 

Watched in: Japanese & English

Genre: Supernatural Slice of Life Comedy

Length: 12 episodes

 

Positives:

• Damn funny.
• Surprising heart for a comedy.
• Incorporates drama and conflict without compromise.

Negatives:

• Protagonist has weak arc.
• Shading looks auto-filled.

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Nitta is your average yakuza member until a large metal egg comes through a portal and cracks him over the head. This metal egg has a human face, one that talks and asks him to push the release button, which reveals her as a young girl. As if the whole “metal egg with naked girl out of nowhere” bit wasn’t weird enough, she also has incredible psychic power and not the slightest notion of responsibility or restraint. Her powers start turning on him and wreck his life – or worse, his vase collection. However, Nitta can take advantage of his new minion, Hina, to do dirty Yakuza work.

I put off Hinamatsuri until the day before this review, as I had no inclination for it (I usually start a series a month ahead of time in case something external comes up, such as the packed work schedule I’ve had for two months now). I had judged it by the cover: generic loli/moe girls – check; whimsical art – check; slice of life – check. This is going to be another of those anime about a group of girls finding their way through life with naïve idealism that has no foundation in reality, isn’t it?

Imagine my utter astonishment when the above blurb occurred in the first episode. It cracked me up and all my prejudice went out the window (as did all of Nitta’s possessions). Hinamatsuri is funny, yes, but it gets better.

Another psychic girl called Anzu soon enters the fray, tasked with retrieving Hina for the lab from which they were hatched. Sadly for Anzu, her psychic ability is nothing compared to Hina’s might (their duel is amazing, by the way). Her mission a failure, Anzu ends up homeless and must survive by scavenging on the streets, where she ends up joining a homeless group.

Where Hinamatsuri truly nailed it was with Anzu’s story arc. Not only are her antics of having no idea how society functions hilarious, the depiction of homelessness is realistic within the bounds of comedy. The other homeless people teach her the tricks of trade, such as gathering cans to exchange at recycling depots and checking around vending machines for fallen change. When she does have a cash windfall and wastes it all on food indulgences, it’s simultaneously hilarious and creating conflict. Her actions have consequences that matter, yet without getting so dramatic that it would no longer be comedy. Later in her arc, as she works to better herself, you care for her because of the meaningful struggle that came earlier. Again, not too dramatic either.

How many times have I reviewed comedy anime like Please Teacher and said that the biggest failing was in forcing drama for the finale, at the total expense of comedy, in an attempt at “deep” emotion? I didn’t even expect Hinamatsuri to have that type of ending  – it doesn’t come across that way at all for the first half. It surprised me both by the inclusion of such drama and the success of its execution. This does me good to see.

Where Hinamatsuri does fail, unfortunately, is in Anzu’s counterpart, Hina. While her bum-like lifestyle despite living the rich life with Nitta and her monotone expression are humorous, she has no real arc to speak of. She does learn to stop taking Nitta’s caregiving for granted, but that occurs early on, after which she just sits around like the bum she is. She is so dumb that when Anzu tells her that discarded TVs are worth decent change, Hina begs Nitta for money and buys a new flat screen for thousands, just so Anzu can pawn it off to a dealer for a little cash. Palm, meet forehead. (I love it.)

She brings good laughs, certainly, but I wonder if Hinamatsuri would have been better with Anzu as protagonist. I’m not sure this time, as the funniest character rarely makes for the best protagonist. Still, a good arc is most important.

This anime has even more on offer than what I covered here, such as the sub-plot of Hina’s middle school classmate working as a bartender because she can mix drinks like no other (incidentally, she also has a stronger arc than Hina does). Suffice it say, I recommend Hinamatsuri.

Art – Medium

I am not a fan of the “auto fill” looking style of shading and highlights you see these days. It lacks artistry, as if generated by a software plugin. And as in most cases, moe/loli character designs aren’t to my taste, though these ones seem plugin generated as well. The animation and environments, however, are quite good.

Sound – High

The acting is strong and works well in English, especially in the casting of Hina as a monotone bore. That said, the original Japanese is better overall. I don’t understand the choice of OP and ED songs. They are suited for slice of life drama like A Place Further than the Universe, not a comedy.

Story – Medium

A yakuza has his life thrown sideways when a psychic girl falls into his apartment and wrecks everything. Funnier than expected, Hinamatsuri is a surprise success, though the protagonist has the weakest of the plots.

Overall Quality – High

Recommendation: Watch it. Hinamatsuri is a very “anime” comedy, which won’t be to everyone’s taste – I often pass over these types myself – but this is one of the better ones, so give it a go. An episode or two is all you need to test.

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Awards: (hover over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive: None

Negative: None