The comedy manga centers around a super-powered girl named Hina and Nitta, a young member of the
yakuza. Hina suddenly appears in Nitta's room and threatens him with her extraordinary powers.
However, they end up living together.
(Source: Anime News Network)
Back when I first started Hinamatsuri in the midst of other shows for the Spring season Hinamatsuri felt different. Compared to the others, it pulled me in and in a different way too. In the first five minutes I was slightly taken aback by the artstyle but when I continued watching it, it hit me with it's wonder. Hinamatsuri is exactly that kind of anime, and it continued to be so till it's end, it calms you down, then immediately rushes out with the comedy and before you know it, you're laughing out loud. Oh and there are tons of heartfelt moments too, what more could you ask for such an innovative and hilarious anime? Original Review published June 22, 2018 on AniList For starters, Hinamatsuri is a fresh take among the many comedy anime we see nowadays. It's not a school romance comedy and thanks to that it pushes out a huge cliche (there are exceptions) right out of the window, add to that it's supernatural nature mixed with clever comedy and you've got a fresh anime that people not only laugh with, but cherish for the coming seasons because you won't see such an anime so common, not every season, not every year either. Hinamatsuri uses tons of elements and jokes in it's run and it was very hard for me to find recycled jokes among them, it was all new and innovative and that says a lot about it's quality as a comedy anime. Oh and by saying it's supernatural you might think it relies too much on supernatural stupidity to tickle your funny bone? No, the best part is that Hinamatsuri can stand even on normal comedy and make everyday situations so hilarious despite having a huge arsenal of supernatural jokes at its disposal but Hinamatsuri uses both of them very wisely with the end result being us viewers holding down our stomachs while we laugh. ~~~img720(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WXfUfx_TAiI/maxresdefault.jpg)~~~ A huge reason why Hinamatsuri is so incredibly amazing is because it's got various approaches to the comedy, and it almost always nailed them, first off it has a buildup of jokes, the situation starts getting crazier and crazier and you're left laughing at every second. This is common in comedy anime since you can put up over the top situations and make people laugh as well, but Hinamatsuri unlike many others not only looks at that but it also looks at the premise where it's using it in, something surprisingly uncommon in other anime. What am I talking about? Many times we see anime attempt at comedy but use the wrong approach at the wrong time, thus even though the joke was actually funny, the wrong approach didn't give the writers the result they wanted and this anime thankfully crosses that hurdle. Another approach it has to it's comedy is somewhat of the opposite, it sets your expectations low on purpose before hitting you with the punchline, this also has a largely positive effect since if the joke is successful, it can almost equal the hilarity of the previous take and on the other hand serve as an element of surprise to its viewers which as well plays a huge part in making it so funny since Hinamatsuri rarely failed at this as well. Yet another approach Hinamatsuri took was to use the “straight man” principle to effectively. What is the straight man principle you may ask? It's when the characters do something stupid and another character takes the “straight man” role and points out the stupidity in shock and while on paper this may seem unfunny, in reality it's very successful if implemented properly, two of the best and most famous examples of characters using the straight man principle excellently in anime are namely Saiki Kusuo (Saiki Kusuo no PSI Nan) and Shimura Shinpachi (Gintama). Instead of attributing this principle to only one character, Hinamatsuri gives the role to multiple characters depending on the situation and thankfully does it well. ~~~img720(https://i.imgur.com/EgSyLxw.jpg)~~~ Why did I list these and explain the different approaches to comedy? It's because few anime use so many approaches and few of them are successful in doing so as well, and the good news is that Hinamatsuri can use those very well, reason being it keeps them fresh with the comedy and helps keep things varied. Note: The following is a comparison of Hinamatsuri, Saiki and Gintama, if you haven't watched the latter two completely, please skip the next paragraph as you may not understand the references talked about. *COMPARISON BEGIN: Since comedy shows get compared a lot, why not compare Hinamatsuri with an anime it shares a lot in common with arguably the giant of comedy anime, Gintama along with a relatively recent anime that's also been doing fabulous, Saiki Kusuo, note that I used these both as examples as well above for the straight man principle. First off with Gintama, Hinamatsuri shares the nature of smile+tears, meaning that both anime make you laugh with it's jokes, but it also has it's sad arcs that give you the feels and usually make many cry. Apart from this, both are supernatural anime (along with Saiki of course) that use their premise very smartly and have varied approaches to comedy, not just one. For Saiki, both feature modern-day Earth but retain the supernatural nature along with the occasional school comedy (but good) thrown in. COMPARISON END* ~~~img720(https://i2.wp.com/angryanimebitches.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2018-04-07-at-12.45.18-PM.png?ssl=1)~~~ All three feature this element and excellently use their numerous weapons at their disposal wisely along with using one of the best comedy methods as well, unpredictability. You never know what comes next and when it does, you're left laughing your ass out. What does this entail? This entails that Hinamatsuri is an anime comparable to such greats and can stand on its own as well without having to mooch off anything else. Hinamatsuri also at times jumped straight to the comedy itself without any caution (although this wasn't used much) and served as possibly the best form of surprise it could muster. What sets Hinamatsuri apart from other comedy shows is that Hinamatsuri uses an outsmarting “lazy approach”, such that when you're watching Hinamatsuri, much like Hina, it looks sluggish and slow and lazy as well but the moment you think that this is how the whole episode will be, it lands in a sudden joke and you're left flabbergasted in laughter (can people be flabbergasted in laughter? Maybe :P) so you'd be dumb to write Hinamatsuri off if you think it's a bit slow at first because there's a huge punch coming really soon as well. Now let's step aside from the comedy for a bit since that's not exactly everything Hinamatsuri offers, we also have the occasional sad arcs. These were usually of Anzu (primarily) and at times a few other characters realising the importance of friendship or a life lesson as well. The reason why people loved Anzu to the point that people very soon ranked her higher than Hina for the best girl of the anime was because her arcs were so damn powerful. Poverty, learning to live as a homeless person, the community you make with them, and many other things beyond that I can't cover since they're spoilers, her arcs have a lot of thought and emotion into them and no person with a heart could not at least get a lump in their throat when they see the way she works hard to do her best for her friends who she treats like family as the feeling is mutual, this is really what should make us smile and laugh, the happiness of a human being doesn't come from being rich, but from enjoying what's next to us, what we have, not what we want, and this serious message was shown through her in these arcs. Getting why the anime is so amazing? ~~~img720(https://i.imgur.com/M1bYaYT.jpg)~~~ On the other side of the spectrum we have the duo who we started with, Nitta and Hina, these two are like father and daughter, despite one being a Yakuza and the other having dangerous superpowers, they went like bread and butter, and for the opposite reasons. If you took them individually, Hina wouldn't be as funny by herself and Nitta could only be used as a straight man if he's not with Hina. The anime is such that not only can Hina and Nitta not live without each other, but their comedy as well can't live without each other, and this is a testament to the genius mangaka behind this. As such, this erases most doubts about people possibly thinking of possibly axing one of the two, but much like Nana and Popo in the Ice Climbers (I s'pose no one will get that NES reference), they both need each other not only to live, but to make us laugh. Needless to say, Hina and Nitta’s sketches leave their mark clearly. ~~~img720(https://img.fireden.net/a/image/1523/98/1523983521030.png)~~~ Let's move to arguably the most powerful character of the show, Hitomi. Why did I call her so? It's because she highly influences both Hina and Anzu. Anyway, Hitomi is fantastic as a character since she's very relatable thanks to her being given the straight man (or woman if you may) role by handling the BS that her daily life gives her and her arcs as well were hilarious as well as cute. She suddenly gets forced to work as a bartender and surprisingly becomes adept at her job and this is used as a baseline for many of the jokes at her. She also as mentioned played the straight woman for the crap that she has to deal with Hina and sometimes Anzu and her work. The best part is that she's amazing since she's so ordinary in the midst of idiots around her that it's hilarious in its own right and I seriously can't complain when even this is used well for it's jokes. Pretty reflective of the anime itself. ~~~img720(https://i.imgur.com/cevVXpN.jpg)~~~ The thing is that Hinamatsuri has its own share of flaws as well. Even though it's comedy is almost always on point, if the jokes DO fail, the episode can fall apart pretty quick if nothing is done, and although this did happen once or twice, it pretty much saved itself in the next joke and went on, but this issue does exist and could be done better. And one issue that many point out is that since the anime is named Hinamatsuri, it still doesn't focus much on Hina in the first place. Although Hinamatsuri's purpose is to follow and balance screen time for all characters, many times Hina felt off the mark either because she wasn't given too many lines or she wasn't the person making the joke at that time. This is also a problem since based on Hina’s character, it's hard to bring in new stuff for a lazy brat since a lazy brat doesn't do much in the first place. This shows that you can't do much with the character as you would with others so Hinamatsuri's comedy gets held back at times when Hina doesn't do much. Overall, Hinamatsuri is an anime that does a lot, and a lot of that is different from the usual. Apart from being able to stand on its own legs for support, it is comparable to the legends in its genre and can hold its own to a respectable level. It's truly an all round comedy in part because it makes you cry then laugh in just a span of a minute. Why is that you may ask? It's because comedy isn't just laughing at stupidity, comedy is also trying to find the funny in tragedy and the sad times, that's what Hinamatsuri is all about. And that's what comedy should be all about isn't it? P.S: This season has a multitude of amazing last episodes demonstrating the best of the show’s offerings overall and Hinamatsuri was no exception. The last episode excellently showed us everything that made the show so amazing. A combination of feels, slapstick comedy and recent nostalgia made for an epic end to an epic anime (despite that minor cliffhanger?), and as a fan, I couldn't ask for anything more. It's a fan’s dream come true. Here's hoping we see a season 2 anytime soon! ~~~img720(https://78.media.tumblr.com/8b648024a1c8a67501851a36935a7223/tumblr_p6u5ueAKxC1sboku0o1_1280.png)~~~ Story: 9 Animation: 10 Sound: 9.5 Character: 9 Enjoyment: 10 Overall: 9.5
Hinamatsuri is a somewhat enjoyable show that I feel should have been better than it is. When looking for shows to follow for the spring season it stood out to me, and from asking around I heard that the manga it was based on was well liked. Being a fan of comedies, I decided to check it out. The first episode was a rocky start that didn't manage to draw me in all that much, but I persisted, and found that it got better over time, but that it didn't ever manage to become anything out of the ordinary. One part of the show that really manages to stand out is the production. The animation ranges from competent to great, and I never felt that it was lacking. The art style itself is good and works well for comedic purposes, with strong facial expressions often being used to enhance the humor. While I didn't pay much attention to the editing or music of the show, it never stood out as poor to me. Content aside, the show is clearly well crafted, with a lot of effort put into it. The story takes place in Tokyo, where the yakuza member Nitta suddenly has a young telepathic girl, Hina, appear in his apartment without warning. After a bit of tomfoolery, he ends up taking her in as his adoptive daughter, as she has nowhere else to go. Later on, a girl named Anzu arrives with the mission of taking Hina back home, but ends up failing, leaving her stranded in Tokyo without a home. As the show goes on a few more recurring characters are introduced, consisting mainly of Hina's new classmates, Nitta's associates, and a group of homeless people that Anzu ends up staying with. Most of the cast is forgettable, with the exception of Nitta and Hina, who work very well together, and the majority of the laughs that I got out of the shows came from either Nitta or from Hina played off of Nitta. Nitta's city-slicker style and yakuza attitude put against Hina's very simple-minded view on life lays a foundation for some great moments. The show however decides to spend a lot of its time on other characters without any real entertainment value to them. A surprisingly large portion of the show is spent on Anzu's life as a vagrant and Hina's school life, neither of which are very giving. For Anzu, the show does its best to try to make you feel bad for how lousy her life is in a very limp effort, with a bigger focus on her tragedy than on any comedy. Parts of her story brought a smile to my face, but a lot of it just felt quite dull. I don't have anything against dramatic or sad shows, but when it's as tiresome and unrelatable as it is here it just became a drag. As for Hina's school life, most of the focus is put on her classmates, with Hina just occasionally butting in to mention that she likes food. To the shows detriment, most of her classmates are nothing more than cardboard, with the exception of Hitomi. Hitomi ends up accidentally working as a bartender in an early episode, and the only real humor she has from that point on is that she's a child doing things that adults are supposed to do, which sometimes works well and sometimes doesn't. While a lot of the show is spent on either lifeless tragedy or lackluster humor, that's not to say that it doesn't occasionally shine. Nitta is the comedic highlight of the show, and there are some _very_ funny moments involving him. There is also a very heartwarming sequence near the end of the series about Anzu, which again involves Nitta. With the parts involving him being so strong, it's a great shame that they're not really the main focus, with much of the show only having him as a side character. The emotional core the show is trying to have could have been greatly improved by showing him bond more with Hina, but the show just doesn't spend enough time on it and suffers from how much Nitta is absent. The show was, in my opinion, decent enough for concurrent seasonal watching, but I would not recommend anyone to go out of their way to watch it now that the season is over.
I get so genuinely excited when I see an anime try something new. When it comes to anime comedies, so many these days are set in high school and use the same set of jokes that every show's been telling for the last decade, and it is assumed that if they just tell the joke loudly enough and have the rest of the cast act disproportionally shocked then that makes it high comedy. By comparison, Hinamatsuri's understated humour and sense of genuine comedic timing are a breath of fresh air. Right from the first episode the show demonstrates snappy joke set up and execution, and lets each gag breathe organically rather than constantly having to point out to the viewer how hilarious the jokes are. The consistently above average animation quality and well drawn character expressions only add to the visual comedy. img(https://i.imgur.com/hS8iTDc.jpg) One of the things I love most is the cast. The characters play off each other so well, and the series demonstrates that no matter which combination you throw together they'll get into some ridiculous situations. Some of my favourite segments centre around Hitomi, one of the most straight-laced and "ordinary" characters in the series, who nonetheless has some of the best plot lines in the show. Even though most of the characters are arseholes in their own way, they're still loveable and endlessly enjoyable to watch. Even though it's a comedy first and foremost, Hinamatsuri is also able to deliver some genuinely heart-warming stories. These vignettes are often focused on Anzu, another girl with supernatural powers who didn't have the good fortune of being taken in by a surprisingly fatherly (as much as he doesn't want to admit it) yakuza. Although these scenes often still demonstrate some great comedy, they also help to build an emotional core that helps to bind the characters together, whether it's bonding the younger cast members as friends or lending some humanity and introspection to the adults. Rather than creating a tonal whiplash, these moments help to establish and develop the cast and make the audience care. Despite having an obvious supernatural element, I was pleased to see that the series didn't dwell too much on that side of the story. Although the girls do sometimes use their powers, these instances wane as the show progresses and I appreciated that because it thrives the most when focusing on the mundane, every day situations rather than these girls and their powers. We only get a few hints regarding what their lives were like before they crashed down in Tokyo, and that's enough for me because to dwell too much on their previous lives, where they seemed to be working for some kind of military organisation, wouldn't exactly have been a barrel of laughs. img(https://i.imgur.com/csp2r4X.jpg) Honestly, my only real problem with Hinamatsuri is that there wasn't more of it. I'm going to miss seeing Hina, Nitta and the gang on my screen every Friday, and I can only hope that the popularity of the anime will help to get an official localisation of the manga into Western stores. If you like unconventional comedies with a strong ensemble cast, or if you've played too many of the Yakuza games and can now only consume media that is tangentially related, then you should definitely give this one a try.
Hinamatsuri is full of comedy that inculcates within itself the lessons of life portraying how the life of one individual can be different from the lives of others and the routines of a person’s life can be altered when another person comes to the life of a person. Instead of taking everything in negative and pessimistic way, we should always look at the other picture even though reality is always bitter: portrayed from the character of Anzu that even though she is a child she has to go through so many things in order to just live through the day but she does not give up, rather does her best in whatever things she could do. She does not give up on living despite having harsh life and seeing the luxuries of others like Hitomi her only thought on buying the game was to make friends with her. She has been contrasted with Hina by Nitta on various accounts and has been regarded as the “ideal daughter” for a father. She is considerate about the lives she associates herself with first the homeless individuals and then the Chinese with whom she abodes. img220(https://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire4/529103496395ff9780907bf829f75e8a1526522412_full.png) img220(http://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hinamatsuri-10-42.jpg) The importance of society as a good and productive one is also portrayed in the anime through the involvement of the bartender and the customers when Nitta was going to abandon Hina but they showed him that he was the one doing the wrong because Hina is just a girl but Nitta did not plan to abandon Hina from the very start, he just wanted to give her a lesson that her destruction cannot go on for long. There were some changes in the character of Hina as well which were notified by the agent that came to earth to survey. She did not expect Hina and she turned out to be a very different person from the one she knew as she would just explode things and destroy stuff in anger but here on earth she was more controlled and calm. She also revealed her true powers when she saw others in danger though her friends had difficulty in believing her. The ability to use the talent no matter how young the children are is also visualized in the anime through the character of Hitomi chan that even though she is so young her talent has been recognized and she has been allowed to be bartender even it is by coercion but it really cracks me sometimes when Hitomi chan is so pro at dealing with the customers that she excel even the owner of the bar. The owner sulks over her own worries to Hitomi chan. That part was the favourite among all of them. Skill does not require the age of the individual to be considered have been shown through the character of Hitomi as she is the desired candidate of various distinguished posts with whom she came in contact with because of her hard work and efficiency. Her mother doubted her at first but seeing how she end up making all the connections made her realize the adroitness of her daughter. She is also tolerant and understanding character as she, instead of being stubborn and feel bad about her co-workers, she decides to provide one of her co-worker with the thing she wanted in order to show that Hitomi desires a good relation with them rather than on bad terms with each other. Hitomi earns a lot of money working at a bar but she never shows it to her friend Anzu because Anzu is financially weak as compared to Hitomi. Hitomi is attentive to the needs of others and does not let Anzu dwell on the financial gap by praising and getting shocked each time Anzu displays her items whether it be money or things. img220(http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/ninelives69/imgs/2/d/2db2a04f-s.jpg) Nitta has the most unique behaviour that could be expected from a yakuza. The episode where the journalist interviewed and recorded his life as a result of the infamous incident of defeating the whole of the other party in order to make them famous ended up in failure. The journalist had to edit the whole interview in order to make Nitta the bad guy and it was so funny how his higher-ups and how Hina made fun of him later on. The higher-up yakuza even memorized his lines and recorded the show which also depicts that they knew how Nitta was and they did not believe in fake news and made-up interviews on TV devised to make their own channels famous exploiting the images of other people. img220(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nwQmtTCTkv4/WyUHabmCFYI/AAAAAAAAZQ0/YDCyws4kVtcwPbJWHreEEmb1OCPnw95RQCLcBGAs/s640/CollageMaker_20180616_195932080.jpg) The very fact that Nitta was taking care of Hina made him distinguished. The group where he belongs also had the distinctiveness as the head of the group angered when he was told that Nitta did not consider Hina as his daughter which in turn showed the solicitous nature of the whole yakuza. Nitta’s sister was more of a yakuza than he was. He is on good terms with his family and a really good cook as his mother and sister always awaits his cooking whenever he returns home. The other members of the group are funny and full of life as well which is depicted from the character of Sabu when he recommends Anzu to do bidding when she was short of money to buy hot spring tickets for her caretakers. The way he faced away when he had to tackle with sulking Anzu who lost all her money and was later on confronted by Hitomi and given a solution was hilarious on the part of Sabu while it also shows the decisive personality of Hitomi. Overall the comic element in the anime along with dealing with serious issues makes this anime one of the best anime to be recommended as it makes you smile and laugh at various times in its own way by keeping the seriousness of the situation. It gives us some lessons of life to take care of the people in your circumvent and considering their feelings. Trying to be selfless is one of the messages of the anime.
*********************************************************************************** ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/ZORCNgG.jpg)~~~ *********************************************************************************** _O que pode ser usado como principal definição deste anime, e o q mais se destaca, é seu lado "cômico", q possui uma bela relação entre as características dos personagens e suas ações, e como elas se relacionam perfeitamente.. Isso foi muito bem feito no anime..._ ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/Mlibbdc.jpg)~~~ _O Anime N tem um apelo significativo para com a História, mas ela se desenvolve (por partes) perfeitamente com as evolução dos personagens. Inicialmente N se tem uma expectativa na evolução da história, mas conforme o anime vai se desenrolando, você começa a querer saber do q se trata essas meninas, os motivos, os quais, fizeram com q elas aparecessem por lá. A História caminha conforme a relação das personagens vai evoluindo, tanto os coadjuvantes quantos os principais são extremamente bem feitos... Por mais q VC tente entender oq está acontecendo, VC N vai (pelo oq é mostrado no anime), é sem sentido, as coisas só aconteceram (a aparição das meninas e tudo mais), mas como a história N é seu foco, isso é só um problema, meio q, secundário._ ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/stHLLge.jpg)~~~ _Em relação aos personagens, o carisma deles são muito bons, parece q todos estão ligados por uma força do destino. Cada um tem seu jeito cômico de ser, alguns são mais engraçados e outros mais sérios, mas todos terminam sendo absorvidos pelo humor do anime._ _O final é bom, mesmo q N tenho aquele apelo pela história, ele deixa uma brecha para uma possível continuação (particularmente gostaria muito q houvesse uma, pois queria q a história fosse explicada corretamente)._ >PONTOS FORTES: - __Comedia:__ Muito bem trabalhada e sem exageros nas piadas, ele N enfia piadas na tela, sabe muito bem utilizar delas, colocando em momentos específicos e usando até como um "plot twist" em certos momentos. Algo q me agradou muito foi o uso das expressões faciais (I don't saber o nome) dos personagens: ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/ZFrf2QW.jpg) img220(https://i.imgur.com/IjrNa7U.jpg)~~~ Isso é simplesmente magnifico, isso reforça muito o lado cômico do anime.. essas expressões são muito boas e são utilizadas muito bem, N há um abuso do uso delas, elas N são frequentes (como é no caso da obra Grand Blue) mas quando aparecem marcam a cena (Em uma escala de 10, eu daria nota 9.4 para a comedia). - __Personagens:__ Tanto os principais quanto os coadjuvantes são esplendidos, tem horas q os coadjuvantes são mais expressivos q os principais e contribuem muito para o desenrolar da cena.. Todos possuem ótimos carismas, sendo q cada um combina bastante com o carisma utilizado. A relação entre as "meninas" e sua localização social. - __Animação:__ Ele possui uma ótima animação, isso é quase q irrelevante, mas acho um ponto forte do anime (para aqueles q detestam animação ruim N terem desculpinha para N ver o anime). >PONTOS FRACOS - __Desenvolvimento da História:__ O Anime em si é focado em comédia, mais se tivesse uma história mais trabalhada... Senti falta desse desenvolvimento no anime, N sabemos nada sobre as garotas, de onde elas vem, a missão delas (isso até q mostra um pouco, mas nada conclusivo), gostaria muito de saber a respeito disso, por que isso atrapalha o entender da obra. Esse ponto deixa a desejar... _Recomendo fortemente esse anime, para os fãs de comédia (é de longe uma das melhores comedias q eu já vi..) Vocês vão se divertir muito com ele.._ ~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/l1hjStJ.jpg)~~~
~~~img500(https://i.imgur.com/CNe0C82.jpg) ~~~ ~~~Spoiler-free review~~~ I tend to like weird anime. It usually means they are different, unique, something to change it up. Hinamatsuri started off weird enough to catch my interest, but then turned the dial up to 11 and dropped any sort of meaningful storyline/foundation that the first two episodes seemed to create. The idea of the show sounds great. A girl with super powers mysteriously appears in the home of a Yakuza member, who now has to take care of her while preventing the destruction of his apartment, or even the entire city from her super-powered outbursts. Early on it's stated that Hina cannot bottle up her powers, she needs to use them every now and then or she will basically explode and destroy everything around her. Somewhat of a cliche "rule", but understandable. However, as the anime continues, it's almost as if the writers forgot about the powers completely, including this rule that they need to be used, and the super powered girls end up almost never using their powers at all during the rest of the show. The show follows a few girls, who each got a handful of episodes mostly dedicated to them. The main character, Hina, is obnoxiously indifferent to others and has very tiring personal traits. She is taken care of by Nitta, a yakuza member who is actually a pretty stand-up, caring guy. His previously simple, enjoyable life living alone with no one else to really worry about is ruined when Hina shows up and becomes a constant thorn in his side. At first it was funny watching him deal with the constant problems she created for him. The show seemed to show that Hina was going to improve and grow as a person, no longer constantly being a problem for Nitta. Every now and then, the show would make it look like Hina finally realized how rude and annoying she was, and that she was going to have some character progression, yet she would return to her problematic self the very next episode. Another one of the super-powered girls, Anzu, who had the second-most amount of screen time behind Hina, had such a weird story that It was almost awkward to watch. Without spoiling too much, she is basically homeless for most of the show and just lives with a bunch of old men in the woods who she grows very attached to, almost in a creepy way. I will however, say that the show did have some good character progression for Anzu throughout the show, but she seemed to almost be an irrelevant second story, mostly separate from everyone else. The show also hopped to a third girl very often, this one without any superpowers (yet at this point the girls WITH superpowers almost never used them anyway). She's just a normal, teacher's pet type character, who gets dragged into working a bar at night, as well as some other increasingly weirder antics. Overall, the show ended up all over the place, telling multiple stories that had very few connections between them, all while completely ignoring one of the biggest bullet-points of the show, the super-powered girls from another world. Some of the few strengths the show had was some funny comedic moments, yet most of them based on such ridiculous things happening that you couldn't help but laugh. The main character Nitta was enjoyable, but you just feel bad for him the entire show because he has to deal with Hina constantly fucking shit up for him. I wouldn't say absolutely don't watch the show, you might get some more enjoyment out of it than me, but If you want a consistent story that doesn't contradict itself, look elsewhere.
~~~ Hinamatsuri takes what you would think when thinking of just another mediocre "slice of life anime" and blows it completely out of the water. I had been putting this anime off for some time now, I had heard good reviews about it but personally just had never gotten to it. When I finally did get to starting it, I was very glad I did. Hinamatsuri has all of the basic elements of an amazing, original comedy. It's a people-pleaser. Having elements from slice-of-life, comedy, Si-Fi, psychological, mystery, action, yakuza, plus being on the line of being either classified as shounen and seinen, makes Hinamatsuri have a little bit for everyone. It's wide variety of characters, each with very different personalities is refreshing, you could never get two characters mixed up. The comedy in this show is absolutely golden. The situations that the characters get into are incredibly random, and are pretty unexpected. The sheer randomness and originality are what make Hinamatsuri so damn hilarious. In conclusion, this show will have you chuckling the entire episode. If you enjoy a light, fun comedy, Hinamatsuri is for you. Though it does have a very inconclusive ending. Which brings me to it's flaws. I feel like along with trying to be just a funny, somewhat "meaningless" comedy, Hinamatsuri also tried to have somewhat of a "deeper" story. It's like they were going back and forth while in production either to have some deep, more psychological story, or just to have a light comedy with no real backstory or major information about the characters. This is what kind of got annoying. Hina, Anzu, and Nao show up out of nowhere, then they use only half of an episode to show an agent from wherever they came from to get Hina back. It was such a waste of time. Other than that, no information was given about the "gifted children", such as where they came from, if they were born, or if they were created. Being that this anime has so much comedy, it makes you forget about those "big questions". After finishing the anime though, it really makes you wonder. They really did do a terrible job at ending at the anime. They ended giving the start to what appeared to be a major plot point. Which again-- was annoying. Though they did introduce this character only a couple episodes before, they ended the anime on a point that wasn't even about the main character. I wish they would have focused on the backstory of the main characters Hina and Anzu and scrapped the idea of introducing this third character, I mean, they only have 12 episodes to squeeze all this info in. Though being a person who hasn't read the manga of this anime, I guess I don't have too much of a say. All I can say is that this anime needs a second season to feel complete. Which brings me to the end of this review. I don't want to end this review talking crap about Hinamatsuri, it really is an amazing watch, one of my favorites even. It's just the little details that seem critical, that the creators seem to ignore when you think about it. It's the story, original characters, and comedy that really make Hinamatsuri shine. As my title suggests, it really is like Mob Psycho 100 but with a 13-year-old girl and a yakuza... It's less lewd than what you're thinking. Hina has telekinetic powers and Nitta, a yakuza, by fate meets her. At first Nitta has Hina do some jobs for him, but over time they build an almost father-daughter relationship. I don't want too much information about the characters in my review, as I did go in blind when I watched this anime. How the other characters get into their current situations is best for you to find out on your own. In conclusion, I give Hinamatsuri an 89 or 8.9/10 score. As I've said before, it's an amazing watch. Don't let my critical review keep you from watching, it's no big cliffhanger at the end. What cliffhanger that is there is about a character that you don't you even know! Hopefully we will get a well-deserved season two, until then, happy watching!``~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's impossible to discuss the joy of the Hinamatsuri anime without mentioning the crushing blow of realising that it's unfinished. Badly unfinished, at that. It's a blow that's only soothed by reading the finished manga, preferably from the start. That makes this a review of the anime and the manga together - one without the other ends painfully. Nitta, the adult main character, is a Yakuza lieutenant living a single man's life. He's modestly well off, a bit of a playboy and a man with a passion: collecting vases. That life is shattered one night by the mysterious arrival of Hina, a girl in a pod who demands clothes and food and refuses to leave. She's a psychokinetic girl, an esper, and she backs up her demands by attacking Nitta's precious vases. At its core, Hinamatsuri is an odd-couple show. A ruthless gang member is forced to care for a young girl who follows fewer rules than he does - she's AWOL from an evil organisation that raised her as a tool and a soldier without teaching her the value of anything. Nitta and Hina's deadpan interactions set the scene for an off-beat comedy masterpiece. I love the vocal performances, the timing of the gags, the musical accompaniment and the sheer stupidity of the situations. The cast of supporting characters is great too. Hina's former comrade at the organisation, Anzu, settles in town nearby. Anzu-chan is another esper child-soldier and she starts out equally as ignorant as Hina before turning out to be a sweet angel. Hina's school friend Hitomi realizes too late she has become one of Hina's carers, before being dragged into uncomfortable situation after situation. She's the straight-man who shines more brightly than should be humanly possible. It's great, then it ends. That's where the manga comes in. The anime covers about one quarter of the story but has bits missing so that the end of the anime is about halfway through the manga. It's well worth reading from the start, or at least skim-reading, in order to catch all of the chapters that were cut from the anime. There are some great ones with Hitomi that shouldn't be missed. A question that arises here: is it worth watching the anime at all if you need to read the manga to get the full story with an actual ending? I believe that the answer is yes. Every chapter that got adapted turned out well in the anime. The pacing is great, the music makes the story even funnier and the voice acting really helps to build the characters. The animation may be simple but the high-definition, colored scenes have an ambience you won't get from a manga. Watch the anime and then read the manga. I don't think you'll regret either one.
One issue about the show needs to be clarified before I continue with the review.
~~~img330(https://imgur.com/luhkrjk.gif)
# This is a bait! ~~~
I'm 90% sure many Anime-only peeps ~~watched the anime~~ gave episode 1 a try, because of the nearly
30-second segment at the start of the show, in which an anime girl Kung-fus a group of NPCs,
demonstrating one of the series' most fluidly animated combat sequences. However, this is the only
hand-to-hand combat in the entire show which takes place in episode 1, but the main generes are
Comedy/Slice-of-Life. The girl you see in the aforementioned scene only makes an appearance three
times over the entire 12-episode run and has a very minor role in the main narrative. This would be
one of the few significant problems with the show, but I'll address them later.
Now to the review.
____
Meet Nitta.
~~~img330(https://i.imgur.com/2aBlck9.jpeg)
##### No. He ain't. ~~~
A wealthy Yakuza who enjoys the hobby of collecting priceless vases. One day, a metal egg with a
girl's face on it crashes down on his head out of nowhere. After ignoring it for a night and realizing
it's not a dream, Nitta helps the girl to come out of that egg and claims herself as "Hina", a
psychokinetic girl who proves it by destroying his collection and threatens him to pay for her
expenses. But after getting to know one another a little, they come to an agreement and live together.
With Nitta and her newfound friends who join the voyage later, Hina begins to mature as she learns
more about grownups and normal life.
~~~img330(https://i.imgur.com/eeNFgsP.jpeg)
##### Uhm... ~~~
Humor is subjective. While some can grasp the appeal, not everyone will find "Joe Mama" jokes amusing.
Comedy in "Hinamatsuri" is based on exaggerated reaction faces with a cast of eccentric characters and
creative situations. Aditionally, the voice cast's assistance in conveying the characters' peculiar
circumstance aids to do so remarkably well. But this anime's most moving moments are where it really
shines.
Meet Anzu.
~~~img330(https://imgur.com/vUoMCB3.gif)
##### The best daughter ~~~
She was by far the only person in the entire show to experience true growth. She's presented as an
adversary sent to terminate Hina, but due to unfortunate events and a comically intense struggle, she
ended up homeless. She subsequently begins to appreciate money, people, and home in her daily
existence.
~~~img330(https://i.imgur.com/iylG4Oi.gif)
##### Me after watching the end of episode 6. ~~~
The touching scenes don't end with just Anzu. Almost all of the main characters have some minor growth
as they grapple with the responsibilities of adulthood and learn how to move on from it. The bond
between Nitta and Hina gradually develops into a heartwarming father-daughter relationship.
~~~img330(https://imgur.com/N1kJvpf.gif)
##### That's where the budget went. ~~~
For a slice-of-life show, the animation is also much superior. The character animation was created
with great attention and purpose in order to give it that extra charm. It gives the world and the
characters a more vibrant, living feeling.
Now with the praise and pros aside,
~~~img330(https://i.imgur.com/tHvNfSx.jpeg)
##### Let's talk about the drawbacks. ~~~
As I mentioned earlier, the first fight strongly tempts the audience to watch the wrong side of the
show's merits. At first, I believed they were simply adapting the manga as is but it was not the case.
The manga immediately delves into the Nitta-Hina plot; Mao wasn't even mentioned until volume 9 of the
manga (It appears that the anime omitted a significant number of manga chapters, but that is
irrelevant for now).
The animation is undoubtedly a plus, but the comedy, narrative, and characters are the show's key
selling points. It merely demonstrates that anime utilized a "sakuga" bait because it lacks faith in
its own capabilities to gain viewership.
Just to be clear, I'm not arguing that Mao's character is unimportant or that the anime is poor. Just
the wrong sequence of events can provide the wrong impression left a little disappointment.
At its finest, "Hinamatsuri" is one of the funniest and most moving Anime; at its worst, it's just a
giant drag. With a cast that is already well-established and very little progression beyond episode 6,
the anime devolves from a comedy/slice-of-life to merely a safe comedy. Playing it safe has nothing
wrong with it, but given the potential the anime displayed in the first half, it's a shame that it
stuck to its roots.
~~~img330(https://i.imgur.com/BUBpPM3.gif)
##### Moments before disaster. ~~~
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