English Dub Review: Hinamatsuri “Nitta-san Has a Dandy Dad”

Things get emotional in an episode of Hinamatsuri that features plenty of characters crying.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After an awkward phone call with his mother, Nitta decides that now is as good a time as any for Hina to meet the family. But even with all the coaching, he’s given her (and the pre-written introduction speech), Hina can’t quite manage to pull off a convincing act for Nitta’s mom and sister. Once he sees how hard she’s trying, however, Nitta glows with pride as he happily comes clean to his folks and calls her his daughter.

Anzu’s half of the episode is much less fun. She and her adopted family of homeless guys are being evicted from their temporary camp, and they decide its best if she doesn’t travel with them anymore. Otako helps to find a new home for Anzu, but she can’t help but feel guilty when she’s enjoying the newfound comfort that her former friends lack… until her new family suggests looking at things from a different angle.

Our Take:

If you had told me a few months ago that Hinamatsuri’s 6th episode would feature one of the young telekinetic heroines shedding tears over the destruction of the home she shared with a group of homeless men, I would not have believed it. Never underestimate the ability of anime to get weird. Nitta-san Has a Dandy Dad is a bit of a departure for the show, both in content and style, but it is a very solid episode nonetheless.

We start with Nitta and his nutty family, which consists of his suspicious mother and his not-very-sober sister. They all share a genuinely sweet, funny, and interesting dynamic, and I wish we could have seen a bit more of how they interact without the whole Hina problem. Does Nitta’s mom know he’s involved in criminal dealings? If so, is she concerned with the environment her new ‘granddaughter’ will be growing up in? She’s definitely the more underdeveloped of Nitta’s newly-revealed family members. His sister, on the other hand, is a burst of fresh air. She’s such a fun drunk! All in all, this was a super fun segment, and I loved the ending, where Nitta acknowledged that Hina was trying her best, despite her ignorance. (And the fact that she sucks at improvising.)

Hina may be having fun meeting her new family, but meanwhile Anzu is fighting to save her current one. This half of the episode felt pretty bizarre. There were some serious emotions going on, and this was not meant to be a funny storyline. I definitely didn’t laugh, but I still could never quite get over the unexpectedness of the situation. It seemed pretty obvious that Anzu would show up and become Hina’s frenemy or rival. Halfway through the series, however, they’ve rarely even interacted since their initial meeting. Instead, Anzu has formed relationships with friends she found in the streets, men who are down on their luck and living off what they can scavenge and earn from finding discarded soda cans on the sidewalks. But even with all my incredulity, I still couldn’t help but wipe away a few tears. Anzu has made the best out of a bad situation, and it’s heartbreaking to see all that get ripped away from her. (Did they really have to leave so soon? Are the guys cutting her out of their dangerous, desperate lives for the long haul?)

The dub this week had ups and downs, though it was, as usual, still very good. Nitta’s voice actor, Jarrod Greene, stole the show, with some awesome reactions and jokes in the first half. His chemistry with Nitta’s family is great! However, I did not love the actress chosen to portray Nitta’s mother. It’s not that she stood out as a poor actor, but she certainly sounded much younger than the character design looked, which took me out of the scene a bit. At least this issue likely won’t continue in future episodes, as I doubt Nitta’s mother will make another appearance soon.