Even with the hard effort Ohana puts into the inn, it’s not enough to stop the slanderous reviews that swept through all the inns in the Yunosagi Hot Springs. In order to make things right, she goes on a journey to fight against the person who wrote those reviews until she finds out the shocking truth.
Everything that happened in the past leading up to this episode resulted in the opposite. The praise seen from the customers in Episode 9 just doesn’t match up with the ridiculously poor reviews. When Ohana went back to Tokyo to find answers, I knew that Satsuki, Ohana’s mother was behind the libelous reviews and there are possible reasons why she did it. As mentioned several episodes back, she did not have a good relationship with Sui, her mother in the past since she was very irresponsible. Eventually, she disowned her. This action likely motivated Satsuki to write all these bad reviews of all the inns in the area in retaliation.
Another possibly on why she did it is that an upscale hotel company bribed the journalist company with money and favors. In return, they were to write bad and false reviews of all the inns around the area so they can unfairly take all the business away from its competitors. With the recent scandals involving the corporate world from the past few years, transparency has become very important quality to people. By having Satsuki write all these libelous reviews for all these inns, she is basically setting herself for trouble, which could get her fired, sued and/or damage the relationship with her family even further. Either way, she would rather take the risk instead of considering the moral consequences, which shows her irresponsible personality.
Besides the risk of being litigated for libel, Satsuki still refuses to admit that she is still a horrible mother. Throughout the years of raising her daughter, she simply refused to give the love and attention that Ohana needs. She simply shoved it aside and doesn’t care if it impacts her feelings. Satsuki’s mentality just troubles me since there is really no excuse as she could make arrangements with her employer for a day off to spend time with her daughter. The problem I see is that she is very self-centered and doesn’t care what her daughter thinks. She shows her selfishness with the refusal to grant her daughter’s wishes of visiting the Kissuisou Inn and write a faithful review, which damages their relationship even more. Despite this obstacle, Ohana is very determined and eventually her mother will give in after she realizes all the trouble she caused.
Besides Ohana’s adamant mother, another dilemma unfolds when she finds Ko with another girl. It’s obvious that Ohana still loves him even if they aren’t together, but there is another part of her that questions her love to him. We know that Ko still loves her when he turns down another girl who confessed to him. With this realization, Ohana soon realizes that she did the same thing to him by not giving him a proper answer when he confessed to her before leaving. On the other hand, if she takes him away, then she would feel guilty for the girl who confessed to him, which makes it more complicated. I can’t blame her since experiencing teenage romance is a difficult feeling, as they don’t fully understand the true meaning of love.
At this point, Ohana doesn’t know how to deal with her feelings, which puts her at a big loss. Her feelings for Ko is simply not the same anymore and Satsuki resents the fact that she has to confront her mother again. This is some kind of situation that Ohana will eventually overcome as she is an emotionally strong girl. With some support from Tooru and Minko, hopefully things will get better, even if it’s an uphill battle to resolve the conflicts with the worst mother in the world and her crush.
Ohana might not be mature enough to get what love is all about, but I still think it was a jerk move on her part to leave Ko hanging without giving him an answer. It’s ironic then, that she’s so worried about Ko’s feelings towards her now and should serve as a wake-up call to her to not disregard people’s feelings like that again.
A lot of what Ohana’s done so far in this episode has been childish and extreme. Who would travel all the way to the city simply for a single magazine review? Shouldn’t she just stay at the inn and strive to do better next time?
I don’t really blame Ohana for not recognizing Ko’s confession the first time as she doesn’t know how to react because she is still a teenager. The teenage years are considered as a transition to becoming an adult and thus they might not understand the true meaning of love. Her reaction might show her as a jerk, but I don’t blame her. I probably act the same way if I was in high school and a girl in came up to me and suddenly confessed to me. However, I do feel that Ohana needs to eventually recognize her feelings and take action. Sadly though, this is difficult as another girl wants her and Ko’s feelings for Ohana changed during the two months… but she eventually has to do it no matter what or this feeling will build up and cause more emotional pain.
I do agree that Ohana protesting and calling her mother shameful is a bit childish, but hey… it does send a message that Satsuki is the worst mother in the world™.
Wooo drama returns in this episode! And more of Ohana crying, looks like were not done with this series yet saw 25 episodes or so get added.
Finally some fun with this after the past few “comedy” themed episodes, well some serious ones but otherwise I laughed more than anything.
Actually, the series is 26 episodes long (14 additional episodes), so they have lots to work on with Ohana and her family… Besides her family, I’m rather interested on who she will ultimately go out with. Even though a Ohana/Ko shipping might be less likely at this rate, a Ohana/Tooru pairing looks promising if it ever happens.
Ohana had it coming. Here’s hoping she somehow learns from her mistakes and actually works on telling Ko what she thinks about him. Of course I doubt she will because she’s as about as good at reading the atmosphere as a smashed barometer, but still.
The problem with Ohana is that she is completely oblivious of Ko’s confession… That is a fatal mistake and along with being separated for so long and not meeting him when he came to the resort made things considerably tough. Just time could only tell if they ever get together or decide to move on and recognize Tooru’s unrequited love for her.