FIF#213-Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru

In the year 2205, history is threatened by the Time Retrograde Army.  To combat this threat, Saniwa uses his ability to give life to the weapons of the past and send them on missions to combat the Time Retrograde Army and protect the timeline.  When they aren’t in life or death situations, the Touken Danshi are content to enjoy their newfound lives at the Citadel.  Whether it’s friendly squabbles or deep conversations over sake, just because history is at risk doesn’t mean there isnt time to relax with good friends and fellow defenders of history.

 
Sigh, I know I said was basically done with the world of Touken Ranbu after the disastrous watch that was Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu back in May.  But dammit, curiosity got the better of me.  It’s not like I’m banking on Hanamaru making me a Touken Ranbu convert.  At the very least though, it’s gotta be better than that beautiful waste of Ufotable’s hard work and time.  Whereas Katsugeki was more a straight up action series, Hanamaru is seemingly meant to be the exact opposite and instead focus on the Swords given Human forms chill lives back at their homebase.  And you know what?  Yeah the lives are chill but Hanamaru is kind of an answer to all of my constant complaining back in May, so much so it’s less a slice of life and more a parody of Touken Ranbu’s super serious mission.  Am I onboard for that?
 
The premiere of Hanamaru ticks off all the boxes I expected it to and a couple I wasn’t expecting.  This is a show about dudes chilling in an awesome looking Japanese Home waiting for their next mission but that doesn’t mean we don’t get to see the missions themselves.  There is action and while its not nearly the level of Ufotable, it’s still actually fun to watch.  That’s the unexpected element.  The more expected stuff is still welcome: goofing around, laid back attitudes, mulling over time travel etiquette, there’s even a character who is a massive simp for the totally absent Saniwa (if it’s even him, I’m sure he’s there but he never makes an appearance).  In short, this is the exact opposite of the super serious Katsugeki.  There are a lot of characters to take in and there’s no way I’m committed every name to memory.  But believe it or not, I’d be perfectly fine chilling with these guys on a nice winter day tossing snowballs around rather than watching them slay monsters from a still mysterious enemy.
 
I made sure to keep an eye out for characters I might recognize from Katsugeki and sure enough, some did pop up.  My favorite character, Yoshiyuki, hasn’t changed and is free to be more his fun self when not in the field.  Yagen also showed up, acting as a medic for the guys.  The main focus though has swapped characters but like Katsugeki, theyre still swords once belonging to a member of the Shinsengumi.  Whereas Kanesada and Kunihiro were the blades of Toshizou Hijikata, Yasunada and Kiyomitsu were owned by Hijikata’s fellow captain, Souji Okita.  The pair do carry over some of their Katsugeki brethren’s character traits like Yasunada wanting to be more like Souji.  But the pair are very aware of not sticking their nose in their former owners lives, so I doubt they’ll repeat the same bs mistakes of Kunihiro.  Also, I just like the bromance between Yasunada and Kiyomitsu, with the latter being a veteran sword who is seeks to encourage and support his fellow sword warrior, even helping adjust his look a bit to be more like Okita. 
 
I’m not gonna say I’ll stick with it.  But in one single episode of Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru, I enjoyed myself far more than I did the whole of Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu.  The story seems to mock the serious nature of Katsugeki and while the characters are dedicated to their mission, they also seem to recognize they don’t need to be on guard and at the ready 24/7.  Even Saniwa’s absence seems to be a bit of a joke (I bet he’s hiding because he’s just not as good a Master as everyone thinks).  Also, the show gets bonus points for having Kenji Kawaii handling the musical score, it’s been forever since I’ve heard one of his OSTs.  Maybe I’ll come back to it, maybe not.  But at least I know now that there’s at least one decent Touken Ranbu experience out there…and that’s just based on one episode too.