「微熱」 (Binetsu)
“Slight Fever”

Isn’t it lonely when you wake up, and don’t hear any voices?

Speaking strictly on an emotional level, I never expected an episode that had a sick Ohana would bring out such a wide array of emotions. First, I never expected Takako would make another appearance so suddenly. It’s amazing how quickly she can shift from being such an arrogant person to a timid one. The look on her face was priceless when Okami walked in while she was bad mouthing her. If I were to give Kissuiso a lesson in risk management, I’d probably start removing the biggest risk to their livelihood — Takako’s advice.

Second, I was really feeling it when Ohana started to question her role at the inn. I can only imagine what was running through her mind, hearing that Kissuiso is running fine without her and that things were running fine before she even showed up. Especially after working so hard for the past few days to really prove how much she cares for the inn, it stung a bit listening to Nako try to calm down Ohana. But by the end of things, I loved just how much our trio of girls has matured since they first met. Nako being able to run into things with a strong heart and without losing her confidence and Minko being sincerely kind to Ohana were just a few of the handful of things that made me smile.

Even though the preview hinted at it, who would have thought Tohru’s crush on Ohana would develop so quickly? At least, that’s how I perceived it. All of his actions toward Ohana seem to be slowly progressing toward something more than just friendship. Freaking out after hearing she collapsed? Making her tasty food when she’s ill? Having other girls give him looks of jealously? It’s a shame that Ohana isn’t noticing this, since Ko seems to be the only thing on her mind. While I wouldn’t fault her since she is sick, I’m going to cringe if she doesn’t start to notice soon.

If you remember a while back, there was a short explanation about the Bonbori festival that’s held in October — the basic idea that people light bonboris to light the path for the Gods to return to Izumo. The reason I’m bringing this up is that the temple where Ohana was talking to Ko (in her dreams?), there was a young girl and a fox spirit watching them — both of which happen to be the same goddess and fox that Nako was describing back in episode four. So, am I the only one who thinks that a supernatural element might be added in somewhere along the line? I’m not sure how I’d feel about spirits interacting with things, but I’m sure P.A. Works won’t disappoint us either ways.

 

Preview

65 Comments

  1. I didn’t think that this episode was highly emotional, but rather an episode to develop the characters and their relationships further and to juxtapose the Kissuiso before Ohana arrived with the current spa. I thought it did a great job of doing those two things, and it really showed how Ohana, Tohru, and Minchi have grown as characters, with Tohru developing obvious feelings for Ohana and Minchi changing from a person who would spite Ohana to a person who genuinely cares for her.

    Also, I didn’t think that Takako so godamn annoying this episode. Even though she kind of did bad mouth the manager, she actually did have a very valid point, which was that the staff needs to learn how to deal with guests when pieces of the staff are missing. Actually, that might be her only good piece of input so far o_o

    Click
  2. This episode was brilliant. Who would have thought you could clear up so many points in the story and show the development of the characters so well through an episode where barely anything really happened.

    They managed to confirm Tohru’s crush, show how much the trio of girls have gotten closer, show how close a relationship Ohana has developed with all the characters in the in as well as hinting at Ohana’s decision to choose the inn over Ko.

    In terms of character development this is the best episode thus far imo.

    Tomer
    1. Japanese colds must be so intense (the anime ones anyways). Here in America to colapse like the way they do in animes you have to get hit in the head repeatedly with a tire iron.

      Karmafan
  3. For the sake of this show AND my entertainment, there better not be a supernatural element added later on! It’s perfect as it is and the last thing I want at the end is a “deus ex machina” moment…

    sirmuffin
  4. I get the feeling this situation hits home for a lot of people. I’m sure at one point or another, we’ve all doubted our contribution to a team effort just to find out later that the team has adapted to having one around and would be difficult to replace. As the case with RC lately and Divine’s off season. The rest of the team really had to pull together and work that much harder and make the site work without him, but it doesn’t mean that he’s expendable.

    I know Ohana is trying to help Minko with the whole Tohru situation, but damn girl… get a clue. Finally, Ookami coming by to check on her and getting all the distractions out of the way shows that she cares about Ohana as more than just another employee. Overall, a great addition to character development.

  5. The show is really awesome as it is! But; Tohru seems getting ever better! XD I m starting to dislike Ko, because, its him who is giving Ohana so much mental or emotional trouble. It was because of him she questioned if her presence in Kissuiso was really necessary or not. I don’t want Ohana to go through all the trouble of having such a demanding boyfriend. And Tohru seems so much better, and mature… Maybe I m the only one liking this pairing?

    But the preview of the next ep, either Ohana goes back to Tokyo(for a visit or something) or is she remembering her past? I hope she stays in Kissuiso forever! XD Its such an interesting episode~!

    1. =/ well, Kou actually hasn’t demanded anything from Ohana (well at least not yet…and even though it is quite obvious he wants a future that they are together, but that is only too natural for someone who is in love).. the Kou appeared this episode is from Ohana’s dream…

      recnac
      1. Agreed, Ko hasn’t really done anything to cause Ohana any kind of trouble, or demanded anything of her. He’s feeling something for her and he couldn’t deal with hearing some other guy’s voice with her, so he reacted. Obviously, he could have reacted differently, but who’s to say how someone should react under those circumstances? We’ve all been jealous at one point or another and done something stupid because of it. Anyway, I don’t think he’s a bad match for her, but I do think he has to mature. Obviously Tohru is older so he will be, to a certain degree, more mature.

        Gia
    2. Eh, that doesn’t make sense, Ko isn’t demanding at all. He just went check the girl he loves + probably best friend from both sides. I mean, the girl went all by herself, I’m sure she would have been super happy to see Ko. Ko is shown as a timid, not that confident character so he noticed all the trouble Ohana was having and returned, obviously it was a flawed move but what does he know. X3

      I personally dislike OhanaTohru but blaming Ko for giving stress to Ohana is a bit off. If Ohana thinks too much about him, oh well.

      South
      1. Yeah…. he’s terribly immature… and I m sure he can cause Ohana all sorts of trouble when he meets her… I mean, she saw that dream, because of what Ko said to her before she left Tokyo… That was what I felt wrong. He should not say something like that when the person is just leaving, he could have confessed earlier, right? She was thinking so much about how to reply him…

        And jealousy? Another immature move.

        For me, a CRAZYxCRAZY couple can’t work out. At least one must be mature enough to handle things.

  6. i haven’t watch episode 10 so i want ask for you guys who had watched this episode
    does madam manager show some of her affection to ill Ohana?

    no matter how strict she is,Ohana still her granddaughter

    Mr.All care
  7. For some reason, I have an urge to give Tohru a good whacking. I mean, even if you want to raise romantic “flags” on a girl you fancy, for goodness sake, don’t make it so damn obvious that even other girls who has a crush on you can see it on your face. Poor Minchi.

    The Saiten-san and Uiharu role reversal is complete at last, with Nakochi taking care of Ohana. (Seiyuu reference) 😀

    Nakochi sincerely meant well when she tried to comfort Ohana that everything was fine without her, and was quite distraught that Ohana would take it the wrong way. Her trying to frantically explain herself (while nearly shoving Minchi off the ladder) was just too cute.

    Kinny Riddle
    1. On the contrary, it’s pretty well known -sort of- that the faster you put down a crush, the less it will ‘hurt’ them. By hiding your affection you more or less string along people needlessly.

      Though that’s not to say you should actively hurt someone that’s crushing on you.

      A good example of this is Kyou’s Extra Chapter in Clannad.

      Hrmmm
      1. Lack of emoticons meant I’ve been misunderstood. lol

        Clearly when I said I felt an urge to whack Tohru for being a shameless lolicon, I was wearing my Tohru x Minchi shipping fanboy tin-foil hat. 🙂

        Though seriously speaking, I’m not particularly hostile to Tohru hooking up with Ohana. Now that Ko has more or less chickened out, Ohana is basically fair game for Tohru.

        I would also have Minchi end up with someone else anyway, at the rate things are going, she deserves better than linger on an unrequited romance with little chance of success. But I am not Okada Mari, so we shall have to see.

        Kinny Riddle
  8. I’m having a very hard time cheering on Ko to be sincere, I mean, when you support a couple, it’s generally backed up by ‘something’, some interactions between the two. But aside from Ohana’s habit to turn to her cellphone (aka mailing Ko) each time she is in a pinch, I see no romance nor anything that would compel me to support them as a pairing.
    As for Tohru, well, I’ve always liked tsundere characters so seeing him alternately shy, grumbling or glaring then blushing isn’t bad, but once again, I’m not sure about pairing him with Ohana either, since he still seems distant; at this point I wouldn’t say he likes her, simply that he is aware of her and see her as a ‘girl’ not just another female employee. Which is not enough, especially since it’s so blaringly one sided and that Ohana actually hopes for him to end up with Minchi.
    At this point, it feels like Ohana might end up ‘pairing up’ with her Job and leave both boys aside ^^;

    I’m not to sure what to think about the whole supernatural aspect they seemed to have introduced in this episode, we will have to see if it was random or is there is a deeper meaning to it.

    sherry
    1. At this point, it feels like Ohana might end up ‘pairing up’ with her Job and leave both boys aside ^^

      I’m rooting for this! Since I feel Ko is lacking something and Tohru should end up with Minko.

      Serapita
    2. I agree with you. koXohana doesnt have enough spark for me to consider them. at the same time though, im not really shipping tohruXohana. but if I had to choose either of them for ohana, it would be tohru.

      amado
    3. I disagree I may be a background story girl but Ko has been down in the trenches with ohana for awhile i think he should atleast get a chance. Tohru just started noticing her but I would be satisfied if she doesn;t focus on either. She’s only sixteen and I think she is learning a lot more about herself the way the show is set up now.

      KiyoneSaya
  9. Evil Tohru is taking full advantage of sick Ohana! D:

    I was wondering what Ohana was doing at the beginning of the episode… turned out she’s chasing a bat. And it’s nice to see the manager drop her strict facade and shows her kind side to Ohana once in a while.

    And it seems like the mom and her couple are going to come back and cause some stir in the next episode.

    Serapita
  10. well, the problem with ko is that he hasn’t gotten much screen time yet which will hopefully change next episode. and as for ko being demanding, i don’t see how. i mean, in this ep, it wasn’t actually ko that the delirious ohana was seeing. then we have ko’s attempt at visiting ohana; he knew ohana was busy so he didn’t press the matter of him visiting her and even tried to help her. also, it seems that whenever ohana’s in a pinch, ko’s always been there to help her which is why she relies on him a lot. if anything, ohana’s the demanding one.

    tohru… well, i’m not really supporting tohru/ohana but at the same time i can’t really fault the guy. then again, for all we know, tohru sees ohana as a cute little sister ~_~; i mean, his showing ren the broth-porridge recipe instead of keeping it to himself sort of contradicts the “this is only for my true love” most tsunderes would do.

    next episode’s preview sort-of looks like it’s going to be part-flashback. am i the only one that thinks that the ohana in the city and being cuddled by her mother looks much younger than the ohana we know? then again, part of me actually wants to see how ohana’s mother would react to the news of her daughter overworking herself; would she be responsible and actually contact ohana (doesn’t have to be in person, heck a text message would suffice) or would she disregard it? of course, that’s working on the assumption that someone did tell her the news, considering okami doesn’t like her.

    Dalman
  11. Though it’s obvious that Minko’s jelly of Ohana, I’m glad she didn’t put those marks on her face (because Tohru’s the one to blame here for not realizing Minko’s feelings). Shows that she has really grown to like her. (not one ‘hobiron’ this episode)

    I hope next episode is about the time when Ohana and Ko met (maybe a continuation of that time when Satsuki didn’t come to Parent’s day) that could somehow provide us with a strong background of how deep their friendship is.

    Dyne
  12. Am I the only one who is creeped out by Tohru’s crush on Ohana? I can understand how his affection for her developed, but she treats everyone like that. She would’ve run into the city/another inn to find any of the staff members, if she thought it was important.

    The rest of the development in the episode was really good though.

    reminbee
  13. It’s always amusing to see how anime and manga depict colds. Collapsing from 37.9 C body-temperature, halucinating all day in delirium and then being cured after a night of sleep.

    Personally, I think this was the weakest episode of Iroha yet. While the show is quite good so far, this episode bored me a bit. While its touching to see how they all care for Ohana, I feel like they wasted too much time draging it all out over a whole episode.

    Zreon
    1. agree with the first thing you say is always such a drama with a simple cold when most of us have to work despite that and no one cares if we feel terrible, we have to keep going there’s no other way, such a weakilings lol

      scarlett
  14. I’m not sure I’m liking this whole love square dilemma and all the misunderstandings… I hope they get cleared up soon though because 26 episodes is a LONG time to drag stuff like this out and I like the way Minchi and Ohana’s friendship is growing, I’d hate to think a guy as dense as Tohru would get in the way. I don’t really care if Minchi even gets to be with Tohru, I’d rather see Ohana and Minchi’s friendship before Minchi’s relationship with Tohru. And I’m sorry, but I have a soft spot for Ko, I’ve got to cheer for him until I’m given solid reason not to…

    Gia
    1. It’s the opposite for me, I’m cheering against Ko (though not necessarily for Tohru) until he gives me solid a reason not to. Ko being a wuss is a pretty solid reason to stop cheering for him.

      Though I agree with you about the love square junk. The friendship between Nako, Minchi and Ohana is so much more interesting. But I suppose people, myself included, like to dwell on the romantic aspects of shows even when they’re not outright romantic shows.

      FMeral16
      1. Not everyone can be a Casanova XD
        There are probably more people like Ko out there than whatever it is you think he should be. I don’t think he’s being a wuss, I just think he’s indecisive and confused. Confessing to someone is a big deal, it’s a big deal when that person has been your friend for ages, it’s also a big deal when that person doesn’t really address your confession at all. Something that’s also a big deal is when that person leaves and you figure out that they have a new life with new friends and you’re not really a part of it. The way I think he sees it is, he doesn’t really belong in her new life- so he’s got a choice to make. I get where he’s coming from, so I can’t call him a wuss. I’ll still cheer for him even if he was, just because I like cheering for the underdog ^-^

        Gia
      2. My biggest problem with him however is that he ditches the girl he claims to love right before she’s about to make a big, life changing move. How is Ohana supposed to respond when he runs off like a child and doesn’t bother to see her off or give her a call/text until a few episodes later. In addition to that, when he finally does try to visit her, he got discouraged way too easily. If you love her so much, try harder and communicate better!

        You make some good points though. There are tons of people out there like Ko, and I can see why people feel for him. I definitely was one of them, and I’ve had difficult Ko-like moments where my feelings appeared to be one-sided. However, I don’t look back at my failed methods (i.e acting like Ko) and just wish that they magically succeeded in getting the girl. I look back and wish I did things, differently, did things the right way (i.e. NOT what Ko is doing). Ko succeeding as he is would be a slap to the face of people who acted like him and failed, as well as people who worked harder to do things the right way and succeeded. Therefore, he has my sympathy, but unless he changes his ways (and he has plenty of time/episodes to do so), I don’t think he deserves her.

        FMeral16
      3. I agree, I do think he could have done things better, but things like that take time- especially if it’s your first time doing/feeling any of those things. I do think he needs to change and be better at expressing what he feels. My point was just that I’m not going to simply discard him because he’s been shy/indecisive/confused, because that’s just human and we’re all like that. Like you said, it’s about when we look back and take what we’ve learned and change. If he continues to be this way, without changing- then that to me would be a real solid reason not to cheer for him. I’m not going to cheer for someone who doesn’t need to grow because he’s already “it” and he’s got it all pulled together. That’s no fun. I’d rather cheer for people who seem to be less than but have potential and then actually grow and mature and in the end become more. I’m just waiting to see if it happens or not, then I’ll call him a wuss XD

        Gia
  15. I loved this episode! As you said, it was very emotional, but I liked how subtle it was about it. It wasn’t like Ohana ever said “NOBODY NEEDS MEEEEEEEE!!!” but that was affirmed at the same time by her emotional state. Well played.
    I awwed a little bit when everyone came to visit her at the end of the day.
    Some of this episode confused me though. When Ohana got up and went to the kitchen, was that a dream or was that a flashback? Not very well explained, but maybe that was the point.
    As for Tohru, I think he may be just shallowly attracted to Ohana and her peppy nature. He only acts truly out of the ordinary when he’s in close proximity to her. He definitely has a bit of a crush on her though.
    I’m happy that Minchi hasn’t made a huge deal about Tohru to Ohana yet. I think that she values Ohana enough not to be petty about it.
    Okami-san no zettai ryouiki?!?! *shudders*
    Denroku needs more screen time 😀
    Next episode looks INTENSE!! Can’t wait.

    innerchihiro
  16. If Ohana’s mother does come back for however long rather than it being some flashback scene, that will definitely just make things even harder and more stressful on her.

    Though, it would also be a point of development in seeing how Ookami would react to seeing her or at least knowing she was around again and seeing Ohana. Given how Ookami talked about her early on and her development toward Ohana, she probably wouldn’t be very thrilled. Perhaps also see if there was more to what caused Ookami to disown her than simply how she acts.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  17. This is actually an important factor that many of us have overlooked: how did Mom convince Okami to let Ohana stay at Kissuiso?

    Okami and Mom were not on speaking terms, hell the mom was disowned. Even Okami didn’t consider Ohana her granddaughter when she first came.

    So I wonder if there is another side to Mom besides the irresponsible and immaturity that we have only seen. Did she really just dump Ohana onto Okami? Or did she sincerely begged and asked for help?

    Lilian
  18. I didn’t find this intense, on the contrary, it was a slow miss understanding based episodic-plot. Only two things happened:

    – Tohru’s crush was confirmed.
    – Minko’s growth was displayed.

    Then again, this is slice of life. Not my favorite genre really.

    Richard
  19. Oh my god. Another whacked out anime episode where someone is sick and delusional and it’s all weird. I love it! Oh let me point out the depiction of the younger Okami. Zettai Ryouki. Something else that I forgot and the general weirdness that I have to mention again. Also the fact that Nako kept turning on the TV and her reason for it. So nostalgiac.

    If they throw in a supernatural element I say bring it on! After this episode absolutely nothing can go wrong in this show.

    I mean weird as in completely different and unexpected and the gaps in time.

    sealouse
  20. I think this is a good episode because its relatable..like how nako keep turning the tv on…sometimes i also like to be accompanied by tv although i did not watch it..it sort of makes me feel less lonely…then, about ohana thinking about how kissuiso could run well without her…i think its pretty logic that sometimes when you are having fever,its like drifting in and out so although you might be sleeping you tend to think a lot..maybe too much..so i think that part is quite right…it does not bring down this episode. ^^

    Orange

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