Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow

E1. Sixteen Years of Age, Spring, Still Buds

Upon returning from school one day, Ohana Matsumae learns that her mother is going on a moonlight flit with her boyfriend to escape from debt and they are sending her to live at her estranged grandmother's hot spring inn in the country. When her best friend, Kōichi Tanemura, hears of this, he confesses his love for Ohana before running off, not seeing her off when she leaves. As Ohana arrives at the Kissuisō inn, she makes a bad first impression with one of the employees, Minko Tsurugi, before being informed by her grandmother, Sui Sujima, that she is to work at the inn to earn her keep. She is shown around the inn by the head mistress, Tomoe Wajima, and another employee, Nako Oshimizu. When Ohana notices the hard work Minko has to do, she tries to do something nice for her by airing out her futon, but it ends up falling off a window and landing near some customers. As Minko is slapped by Sui for Ohana's mistake, Ohana demands to slapped even harder, though Minko doesn't particularly thank her for it.

★ 6.5

E2. Vengeance is a Staff Meal

Sui instructs Nako to train Ohana to become a housekeeper, though she is quite shy about it. When Nako has to attend to another duty, Ohana, having been taught to only rely on herself, she cleans another room where the author Tarō Jirōmaru is staying by herself. When the staff's breakfast is cancelled due to an error by Minko in the kitchen, Ohana makes breakfast for everyone, though this only serves to irritate Minko further. Afterwards, Tarō complains that some drafts for his story have gone missing from his room which Ohana had cleaned earlier, having not been informed by Nako beforehand. After Sui instructs the others to go to resume their duties rather than search for the draft, junior chef Tōru Miyagishi takes Ohana to pick up some luggage. As Tōru mocks Ohana's ability to take care of herself, Ohana inadvertedly tells him to 'die' which nearly causes him to crash. Feeling guilty about it and taking a walk to reflect upon herself, Ohana decides to speak her mind against Minko and Nako, wanting to cook them their least favourite foods tomorrow as payback. The next day, Ohana finds some of Tarō's discarded works, which turn out to be erotic stories using her as a character.

★ 7.0

E3. Balut

Minko and Nako discover Ohana has gone missing, as she has been confined by Tarō, who admits he was trying to come up with a sex novel to pay his hotel bill. When he discovered by Nako and the others, he attempts to make a run for it by stealing one of the inn's vans, so the staff give chase. They eventually find him at a seaside cliff where he jumps into the sea, but Nako manages to save him from drowning. As Tarō laments his lack of talent, Ohana tells him that, even though his novels were perverted, they showed a side of Ohana she never knew before. Afterwards, they arrange for Tarō to work at the inn to pay off his bill, and Minko eats the revenge meal Ohana prepared for her. Later that night, Ohana finds notes Minko wrote on devising an alternative insult to 'die', and also receives a text from Kōichi.

★ 8.0

E4. Grey Heron Rhapsody

The first day of the school trimester starts for Ohana, Minko and Nako, and Ohana soon finds herself popular with the other students in the class, including Yuina Wakura, who works at a rival hot springs inn, the Fukuya Inn. As Ohana tries to figure out how to respond to Kōichi's text, she and Nako go to the Fukuya Inn concerning the neighbourhood watch where they encounter a grey heron, before visiting a temple, where Nako talks about how she wants to get rid of her timidness. Later, Ohana learns that Minko actually has a crush on Tōru. As Ohana tries to apologise to Minko about it, they both witness Tōru picking up Yuina on his motorbike.

★ 7.0

E5. A Tearful Chef Romance

As Minko continues to be downhearted from the other day, she overhears Ohana, Nako and Tomoe talking with Tarō, who claims Tōru had been scouted by Fukuya Inn. Tomoe reveals to Ohana that it was Tōru that allowed Minko, who wanted to become a chef, to work at the Kissuiso. After a failed attempt to try and get Minko to show her true feelings, Ohana goes by herself to the Fukuya Inn, where she learns from Yuina that Tōru was simply filling in for an absent chef for the day, and she herself only wanted to have a ride on his motorbike. Afterwards, Minko allows Ohana to call her by her nickname, whilst Ohana finally responds to her text from Kōichi.

★ 7.5

E6. Nothing Venture, Nothing Win

Kissuiso is visited by a management consultant named Takako Kawajiri, wanting to revitalize the inn by having the mistresses wear new outfits. However, attempts to dress Ohana and Nako up in new outfits fares badly with the customers. After Takako takes her leave, Ohana's uncle, Enishi Shijima, feels downhearted that his efforts to help the inn are always rejected by Sui. As Ohana feels she should do something to help improve business, the janitor, Denroku Sukegawa, takes her to a secret room filled with old uniforms made by Sui over the years. Ohana and Nako decide to give these a try, which proves to be a hit with the customers.

★ 7.5