I spent a lot of my childhood, after I discovered manga, reading CLAMP and Fruits Basket, so I really missed out on a lot of the “classics” in the medium—one of those classics being Hana-Kimi. I didn’t learn about Hana-Kimi until earlier this year, when the anime adaptation was announced. Seeing the hype around the anime series announcement immediately put it on my radar.
About Hana-Kimi
For the uninitiated like me, the announcement of the Hana-Kimi anime is a big deal because the series ended over 20 years ago! It has had multiple live-action adaptations in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. The manga created by Hisaya Nakajo was serialized in Hana To Yume, a shojo magazine, from September 1996 to August 2004. It is available in English from Viz.
In Hana-Kimi, Mizuki is an American-Japanese track student who transfers back to Japan to get close to her track idol, Izumi Sano. The catch? Izumi attends an all-boys school, and Mizuki cuts her hair to pass as a boy. She deepens her voice, dons boys’ clothes, and is living on a prayer to not be found out. And that’s not all! Mizuki ends up rooming with Izumi.
My Thoughts
I was completely unaware of the plot of Hana-Kimi until I was seated watching the premiere. To say I was shook at every turn would be an understatement! I haven’t been more nervous for someone else in a long time. The plot of Hana-Kimi is such a relic of its time. But in a new animation, it doesn’t feel outdated at all.
The art style is gorgeous. I love that it looks like the characters literally jumped off the manga panels onto the screen. (Side note: In doing research for this post, I saw the trailer did a manga-to-anime motif, so of course, it is intentional.) As an anime-only, I think the anime (at least this first episode) did a great job of making this anime feel like it could be happening at any time. Except, I do think I saw a cell phone somewhere, but I can’t remember for sure.
I already know from this first episode that this story is going to give me both anxiety and second-hand embarrassment. Some of Mizuki’s actions had me shaking my head and questioning my sanity. BUT I loved it!! I love this crazy plan of hers, and I cannot wait to see how it’s all going to unfold. Also, it doesn’t hurt that watching it in a room full of anime fans was a great experience, as we all laughed and gasped together at the antics!
I’m really excited for this anime, and this first episode was a great intro to the story. I will be seated once it starts airing.
This was my shit back in the day. You in for a wild ride. that second hand embarrashment is going to continue. LOL