Anime Hajime Review: Hinako Note

 ***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Hinako Note. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Hinako Sakuragi (voiced by Mao Ichimichi) has struggled with speaking to people for as long as she can remember. She's quick to panic whenever someone tries talking to her. This results in her stiffening up much like a scarecrow. Despite her shy nature, she has always love one thing. The theater.

Upon entering high school, Hinako leaves her countryside home for Tokyo. There she hopes to get into acting and learn how not to be afraid of others. She manages to find an apartment at the small Hitotose Manor. Her journey to find her confidence beings as soon as she steps through the front door.

Hinako grows accustomed to her new life thanks to her new housemates and friends.

Kuina Natsukawa (voiced by Miyu Tomita) has a huge appetite and an affinity for the taste of books. You didn’t misread that.

Mayuki Hiiragi (voiced by Yui Ogura) is often mistaken for a grade schooler due to her small stature. Never mind the fact she is a year older than Hinako.

Chiaki Hagino (voiced by Hisako Tojo) is the landlord of Hitotose. Not to mention she is a gifted and accomplished actress.

Yua Nakajima (voiced by Marika Kono) fights a healthy, yet one-sided rivalry with Hinako. While not a resident of the house, Yua ends up spending much of her time there.

Everyone takes an immediate interest in Hinako’s goal of being on stage. Together the five even form their own theater troupe. Progress is slow, but Hinako begins to shed her quiet shell. She is well on her way to becoming the actress she has dreamt of being.

Series Positives

Oh, this is going to be one of those shows, isn’t it? You know the ones I’m talking about. The series which are so paint-by-numbers there’s nothing about them that stands out. The ones that aren’t awful, but are forgettable and lack any sense of originality.

Hinako Note is the anime equivalent of junk food. It’s a quick hold over until you get to an actual meal. It’s not great for you, yet it gets the job done. You get everything you’re expecting out of it and that’s fine. This series was alright.

Credit where it’s due, this was one of the more enjoyable generic slice-of-life comedies I’ve seen. This show was cute which made it fun for what it’s worth. There were moments that managed to get a good laugh out of me.

I’d be lying if I said this series didn’t have a delightful charm. Will I remember it in a week? No. Am I glad I watched it? Let’s just say I could’ve done worse things with my time.

I’ll give Hinako Note this. Acting and theater aren’t topics I see that often. After watching this show, I’m surprised that’s the case. This isn’t a barren wasteland void of any ideas. This series made it work. If given the right story, this premise could be great.

This show got silly and questionable. Not once, though, did it ever make me upset. This is a safe enough bet if you need to kill an afternoon. And I’m already getting to the point where I’m stretching. I don’t have much to say about this series.

Secondary Characters

Preview of what’s to come. Hinako was stale. Everyone else was so much more interesting. I say that while acknowledging the one note personality everyone had. That said, this was a lively group.

These characters were more amusing than they were problematic. As such, I’ll be mentioning what I liked and didn’t like about everyone here. It’s not worth setting aside these issues in the Negatives section. There’s already plenty of other things I can talk about.

With that, Hinako Note’s secondary characters garnered the most enjoyment.

First, I can’t ignore this. Kuina was a less otaku, more compassionate version of Konata Izumi from Lucky Star. Their visual similarities are uncanny. Because of this, she didn’t fit with the rest of the cast. It was as if Kuina was from a different show. Yet, since her looks and mannerisms were so much like Konata’s, Kuina was one of my favorite characters.

She was funny. Kuina never had a bad scene. Though random, she did care about her friends. Particularly Hinako. In her own way, Kuina tried her best to be there for those she cared about. Albeit, her methods were less helpful than anything. The point is, she was genuine.

Also, her constant appetite, while unoriginal, was humorous. Except, could someone explain to me the point behind her habit of eating books. It amounted to nothing and I kind of forgot it was a thing for most of the series. She liked to nibble on paperback. Why?

For Mayuki, I actually don’t have that many issues with her. She was adorable. Makes sense since that was her entire point. The show did a decent job at getting her involved. It would’ve been easy to make her an afterthought and that was never the case. She was part of the group.

Mayuki was one of those characters you wanted to tease. She always gave good reactions. It didn’t help her case that her angry face was more lovable than it was intimidating. Plus, her relationship with Chiaki was nice. The show could’ve explored this a lot more. But I can say that about a lot of things in this series. So, what are you going to do?

If there was a negative to Mayuki, it would be her obsession with cosplay. It was more a tacked-on trait and not a natural impulse. It never came up that much. When it did, the series used it as an excuse to give fan service. I’ll talk about that in a moment.

With Chiaki, she had the makings of a fascinating character. A quality this series never capitalized on. From what the show told us, Chiaki was a brilliant actress. We got to see her talent. Once. For about five seconds. That’s a bit of a waste, wouldn’t you say?

Think about it. Chiaki was always calm, monotonic, and lovely. Wouldn’t it have been great to see her become another character? Loud, tough, scary. According to the series, she could pull it off. I would’ve loved to see the genius people claimed she had.

While it was a shame Hinako Note never gave Chiaki the chance to shine, she was one of the better characters. A sweetheart to her core, she was always pleasant to have around. She was nice, a reliable friend, and a dependable senior to the group.

Last, there was Yua. Like Mayuki, there wasn’t that much wrong with her. She had one of those pseudo drama queen personalities. She may have acted high and mighty. No one bought it. That or people misread what she was trying to accomplish. Either way, Yue was the one who usually broke her tough exterior. Her passion for theater was deep enough for her to appreciate when others were putting in the effort. Plus, she knew when to swallow her pride and say, “Thank you.”

Hinako Note’s biggest mistake was how it failed to use its secondary characters. Kuina, Mayuki, Chiaki, and Yua never got an episode dedicated to them. These four never drove the events of the series. They served more to support Hinako. This made Hinako a stronger lead than she otherwise would’ve been. Still, in the end, she paled in comparison to friends.

From left to right: Mayuki, Yua, Kuina, Hinako, Chiaki

Series Negatives

I’m starting to sound like a broken record. What was with the fan service in this show? Believe it or not, I don’t dislike fan service. When it’s done right that is. Which it wasn’t here. It was stupid and uncalled for.

Hinako Note wanted to be cute and sexy. Sure, you could do both. But when a series favors the former, it should stick with it. This show was cute more than anything. Something it was succeeding in very well. Every bit of eroticism, which wasn’t subtle mind you, was out of nowhere.

This was the show. Just look at Hinako. Isn’t it darling how awkward she is? The way she freezes up when people talk to her. Watch how all the woodland creatures flock to her side. She’s sweet and loving. You can’t possibly hate her. Though she might be struggling, gosh darn it, isn’t it heartwarming to see her give everything she has. Oh, by the way, she’s also f@#$ stacked.

This show got more blatant about this the further it went along. In the beginning, there may have been the occasional suggestive pose. Which, fine the series can have that. In return, why did we listen to several conversations with the camera under the table? Instead of, you know, being on everyone’s faces.

Let me do you one better. Ruriko Kuroyanagi (voiced by Yuri Yoshida). She was the nine-year-old theater club advisor with a chest size bigger than some of the high schoolers. Why? Why not just make her a short adult? There was no reason she needed to be in grade school. You sick bastards.

This upsets me because it was so dumb. This show was trying way too hard to do something it didn’t need to do.

Hinako

Based on what I’ve said, you may think I hate her. I don’t. To give credit where it’s due, Hinako did have her moments. The way she froze into a scarecrow was hilarious sometimes. I’m not going to lie, her affinity with animals was pretty damn adorable. She had the making of a perfect side character. Not the lead.

I’m not even joking. I think Kuina would’ve made a much better main character. There were a lot of quirks to Hinako that did not work.

Her level of shyness became obnoxious. With how much she could not speak to people, it was amazing she managed to get out of the house. Let alone live a life. That was when she in the countryside, mind you. She then decided to try hard mood by moving to Tokyo.

Also, her timid nature was not consistent. She had trouble say hello to people. But she had no issues singing and acting in front of a crowd. Now before I say anything more, I know performing and conversing are two different things. There are some people who are much more comfortable being on a stage. I myself am like that. Except the show gave no indication this was the case. This series expected us to accept this without any justification.

Plus, Hinako did have a beautiful singing voice. Therefore, isn’t it wonderful how the show never used this? One of the reasons she got the lead role in one of the plays was due to her voice. Too bad there was no music in the production. What was the point?

There was this one recurring joke that would’ve been hysterical. Two decades ago. Hinako didn’t know technology. Like at all. Basic technology was an anomaly to her. For example, she had no clue what text messaging was. It’s 2017, cut that out.

Or my favorite, Hinako tried to put a DVD in a VHS player. First problem, VHS. Second problem, she didn’t know what a DVD was. They’ve been around for almost twenty years. That upsets me to think about, but that’s why it makes it so annoying.

The excuse the series used to explain this was Hinako being from the deep countryside. That’s not good enough. This was still modern-day Japan. Not 1991.

Hinako’s character was the culmination of a ton of bad ideas on top of more bad ideas. Like a slot machine, you’re eventually going to hit something. More often than not, though, you’re going to lose.

Final Thoughts

I will recommend this show. That is if certain criteria are met.

Are you a fan of slice-of-anime? Do you need something to pass the time? Do have nothing better to watch? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this series is fine.

There are plenty of characters that are fun and manage to land a good laugh. The lead has problems, but the absurdity is entertaining in its own right.

Hinako Note is one of those shows that is skippable. Yet it doesn’t hurt to give it a look.

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