English Dub Review: Hinamatsuri “Like A River Stream”

Hitomi moves out of the house in an adorably stressful episode of Hinamatsuri.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

When Hitomi’s mother accuses her of mischief, Utako suggests she just move out. So, she does! Luckily, the bar patrons are more than happy to accommodate a hard-working young person. But is she ready for such a big life step?

In the latter portion of Like A River Stream, Anzu is tasked with finding a way to spend her first ever allowance. Of course, she immediately finds herself drawn into the desperate world of betting… on horse races.

Our Take:

This week’s episode of Hinamatsuri serves as something of a break from the more Hina-centric, plot-heavy episodes that we’ve gotten recently. Starring side characters Hitomi and Anzu, it dedicates most of its runtime to comedic purposes instead of heartstring-tugging. While this isn’t a feels fest, and is definitely not going to go down as one of the most outrageously creative plots in Hinamatsuri’s runtime, Like A River Stream still proves to be an incredibly enjoyable romp that hits home on some of the overarching themes of the series – and it features lots and lots of my personal favorite character: Hitomi!

I will never get over Hitomi’s super exaggerated facial expressions combined with actress Tabitha Ray’s morbidly embarrassed hissing noises… no one can convince me that she’s not one of the funniest characters in recent memory. Hitomi’s soft-spoken personality and her ‘never say no’ attitude make for hilarious situations when she’s put into demanding (and demeaning) circumstances. Her character’s inability to turn down job offers is hilariously in-character, and Tabitha Ray does an outstanding job bringing such a unique individual to life. With her performance, Hitomi can sound like a normal middle-schooler one moment and then veer into unhinged internal outrage the next. I don’t recall hearing Tabitha Ray in any other dubbed shows I’ve watched before, but I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye on her future work for sure.

This episode may have been focused mostly on making viewers laugh, but it did so while maintaining its focus on themes of family, childhood, and what it means to grow up. Hitomi experiences a rapid acceleration of her life as a pre-teen and lives 20 years in the span of a few weeks. By the time she’s finished with her temp work jobs, I think she’s reconsidered what it means to be an adult. While Hitomi goes through some adult experiences, Anzu is getting her first introduction to the typical childhood tradition of allowances. After the oddball humor of Hitomi and her many temporary work jobs, Anzu’s storyline is refreshingly low-key and sweet – until she finds her way to the horse racing grounds. Thankfully, Hinamatsuri is a wise enough show to leave us on an upbeat note, rather than something like Anzu losing all her money on the gambling.

Overall, Like A River Stream is one of the funniest episodes of the series and a very enjoyable watch. Sure, it may not have the raw emotions of Anzu bidding goodbye to her makeshift family of homeless men, or the outright awesomeness of Hina and her super-powered exploits with the Japanese mafia, but it allows Hitomi and Anzu time to show off what makes them special – and made me laugh a whole bunch in the process. Hinamatsuri continues to be one of the strangest, silliest, super-powered comedies that have come my way, and I’m going to be sad to see it ending in the next couple weeks.