English Dub Review: Hinamatsuri “Anzu is a Greeter Now”

Anzu enjoys her new family while Hina pines for a mother in a fun 7th episode of Hinamatsuri.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In Anzu is a Greeter Now, Anzu learns more about how to work in the restaurant owned by her new family. Hina gets bored with everyday life at school and decides to run for student council. Hitomi tries to help her friends but doesn’t gain much to show for it. Nitta tries to ask Utako out for a date but keeps getting rejected until Hina steps in with some relationship advice.

Our Take:

After last week’s episode, which was something of a tearjerker, Anzu is a Greeter Now is a return to form of sorts for Hinamatsuri. Complete with its trademark blend of gags, emotions, and caring family dynamics, the show presents us with several different storylines that vary between comedy and drama.

The first portion of this week’s episode deals with Anzu and her struggles with learning the ropes around her new living (and working) situation. Despite my love for Anzu, this was definitely the weakest section of the episode for me. In fact, it was only because of how great Anzu is that this scene worked at all. Her new parents are fine, but not super memorable, and at this point don’t seem as instantly lovable as other side characters that have been previously introduced. Overall, this segment went on a bit too long for my liking, and didn’t deliver much material beyond the simple premise of Anzu being shocked at how expensive, fancy, or wasteful the restaurant was. (Nitta coming in did add a little fun, at least.)

Thankfully, the rest of the episode was much more interesting to watch, giving us viewers plenty of laughs along the way. Hina’s campaign for a position on the student council wasn’t the best comedy the show has ever done, but there were certainly some very funny moments, such as when Nitta is reprimanded by his yakuza boss for being a deadbeat dad who doesn’t help his daughter run for office. Getting their lawyer to write her campaign speech was icing on the cake! And the way Hina delivers the speech tops it off in a perfectly hilarious way, reading her acting cues out loud to the entire auditorium. Hitomi’s scenes weren’t as long as in previous episodes, but even with more limited screen time, her facial expressions when reacting to whatever chaos is taking place around her are just wonderful to behold. The overly-detailed shots of her screaming mouth and the voice acting combine to make her one of the most fun characters the show has to offer.

I’m not in love with the final segment, where Nitta begs Utako for a date. It just feels a little bit contrived and overused (we know they’re going to get together by the end of the show, right?). What’s more, I didn’t really get why Hitomi was so invested in making the date happen, even when her boss didn’t seem to want to accept it. I guess Hitomi is just that nice a person, wanting to help Hina get the mother she never had. I did appreciate the way the segment ended, with Utako’s typical hilarious bluntness as she tells Nitta she isn’t into ‘sad single fathers’. Ouch!