Hanasaku Iroha

Hiyah! For this post I'm gonna introduce another set of characters from this anime. "Hanasaku Iroha"

Firstly, A little review conclusion. 

Better than a 3 by far, but I've seen stronger 4-star titles...this one is a nice heartwarming jaunt that sadly didn't live up to its full potential. — Melissa Sternenberg

Ohana Matsumae (松前 緒花 Matsumae Ohana^?)

Voiced by: Kanae Itō

Ohana Matsumae is an energetic and optimistic 16-year-old girl and the protagonist of 

Hanasaku

Iroha. She is sent to live at her estranged grandmother's hot spring inn, Kissuisō, after her mother elopes with her boyfriend to evade his debt. Her best friend Kōichi Tanemura confessed his feelings to her before her departure and she was unable to reciprocate his feelings until the end of the series. At her grandmother's demand, she works at the inn as compensation for staying there. She likes to drink a mix of cola and black tea.It is confusing if she's in love with her best friend or not. But she is always dependant on him. She is a strong willed girl who is stubborn and is realistic for her age.

Minko Tsurugi (鶴来 民子 Tsurugi Minko^?)

Voiced by: Chiaki Omigawa

Tsurugi Minko is a 16-year-old apprentice chef and resident at Kissuisō. She is a tsundere. Her beautiful looks hide a very cold demeanor. She dislikes Ohana from their first meeting, nicknaming her balut, but has slowly accepted her as a friend. Against her parents' wishes, her dream is to become a professional chef, resulting in her search for training opportunities. Her search led her to Kissuisō, where Tōru Miyagishi accepted her as an apprentice chef. Since then, she has strong feelings for him and becomes jealous when he talks about other girls.

Nako Oshimizu (押水 菜子 Oshimizu Nako^?)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki

Oshimizu Nako is a shy and timid 16-year-old cleaning part-time maid and waitress at Kissuisō. She has three younger siblings whom she assists her parents in raising. She becomes close friends with Ohana and teaches her how to perform her duties. Nako is very good at swimming, by which she gains since childhood the nickname "Kappapa", after an aquatic mythic creature kappa.

Yuina Wakura (和倉 結名 Wakura Yuina^?)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

Yuina is the 16-year-old daughter and heiress to the Fukuya Inn, the rival inn of Kissuisō. She is in the same high school as Ohana, Minko, and Nako, and is seen hanging out with them on several occasions. She is divided on the choice of whether to go on with her family's inn-running business, or to find herself a different form of career fulfillment.

Kōichi Tanemura (種村 孝一 Tanemura Kōichi^?)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

Kōichi is a 16-year-old teenager who is Ohana's best friend. Kōichi confessed his feelings to Ohana before her departure, but was too afraid to hear her answer and ran away. He often offers Ohana support when she feels down. As the story progress, he feels abandoned by Ohana as she adjusts to her new lifestyle.

Sui Shijima (四十万 スイ Shijima Sui^?)

Voiced by: Tamie Kubota, Takako Honda (young)

Ohana's 68-year-old grandmother and owner of Kissuisō. Behind her fierce and strict composure towards her employees (to the point of physically reprimand them), Sui eventually reveals herself as comprehensive and caring toward them when most needed thus earning not only obedience from them, but also respect and devotion.

Tomoe Wajima (輪島 巴 Wajima Tomoe^?)

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto

Tomoe is the 28-year-old head waitress working at Kissuisō. She enjoys hearing gossip about other employees and customers lodging at the inn. As a single woman near her thirties, Tomoe is usually reminded by her mother that she should start looking for a husband and start a family.

Enishi Shijima (四十万 縁 Shijima Enishi^?)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

Ohana's 32-year-old uncle. He was bullied by Satsuki during their childhood. He often calls upon Takako and considers her his partner. The two marry late in the series. After Kissuisō's closure, Enishi plans to improve his management skills in order to succeed his mother.

Tōru Miyagishi (宮岸 徹 Miyagishi Tōru^?)

Voiced by: Junji Majima

A 23-year-old junior chef working at Kissuisō. He is very outspoken and easily frustrated. He strictly mentors and supervises Minko's training, often going too far with verbal abuse. Ohana was initially intimidated by him, but has since developed a dislike to Tōru. However, Tōru appears to develop feelings toward Ohana as he feels that she is the only one who is willing to say she needs him. Afterwards, he is often seen looking out for Ohana, much to Minko's jealousy, who mistook Tōru's worries about Ohana for love, which was proved wrong.

Renji Togashi (富樫 蓮二 Togashi Renji^?)

Voiced by: Taro Yamaguchi

A 42-year-old cook working at Kissuisō. Renji is Tōru's mentor and the head chef of the Kissuisō kitchen. He has a very gruff appearance, evidenced by a small facial scar, but has been shown to have a light-hearted side on occasion. He gets nervous very easily when under pressure, but is usually well-focused on his job.

Takako Kawajiri (川尻 崇子 Kawajiri Takako^?)

Voiced by: Ayumi Tsunematsu

A 30-year-old business consultant adviser for Kissuisō. She attended the same university as Enishi. She often has erratic plans to improve the inn and tends to spout out random English sayings. She eventually marries Enishi late in the series. Her new name is Takako Shijima.

Tarō Jirōmaru (次郎丸 太朗 Jirōmaru Tarō^?)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe

A 31-year-old novelist who frequently lodges at Kissuisō. He writes erotic novels using the Kissuisō's staff as character references. He eventually starts working at the inn after it is discovered that he can't pay the bill. Ironically, his past works include a cooking manga that inspired both Minko and Tōru to become cooks themselves.

Denroku Sukegawa (助川 電六 Sukegawa Denroku^?)

Voiced by: Chō

A 73-year-old janitor working at Kissuisō. He has been working at Kissuisō since its establishment. The staff calls him "Beanman".

Satsuki Matsumae (松前 皐月 Matsumae Satsuki^?)

Voiced by: Takako Honda

Ohana's 38-year-old mother. She is a journalist who elopes with her boyfriend to evade his debt. She leaves Ohana to the care of her mother, who claims to have disowned her daughter. She neglected Ohana as a child and raised her with the mentality of relying on oneself. She works as a hotel and inn critic, often asked to write scathing reviews if asked by her higher ups

Roshii

Hiyah. For this post my camera is fixed! (happy dance)
So, I'm going to show you some pictures of my yorkie: Roshii
It was very hard to get a good picture of her. (laugh)
Well, here they are!
(P.S. The reason why it says 01/01/2004 is because I used an old memory card.)

Lazy M

Glass Mask

Hiyah. For this post I'm going to introduce the characters of one of the animes I'm currently watching. It's called "Glass Mask".

First of all, if you're looking for an anime with a bit of romance and a lot about a girl facing challenges, this is your type of anime.
Here's a website I use to watch this anime(warning: Subtitles)

Maya Kitajima 
A talented young actress (a 13-year-old at the beginning of the story) who originally worked as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant alongside her mother. Her father died when she was a little girl and her mother, Haru (Louise in the French anime), who is mentally unstable, thinks of Maya as useless (aided in part by Maya's tendency to be sidetracked by anything to do with acting while in the middle of working). She is discovered by the former diva Chigusa Tsukikage and starts a promising, yet thorny acting career under the older woman's wing. Her mother discourages her daughter from an acting career, believing that her daughter would be a laughingstock. Maya's mother refused to attend a school play Maya was in, especially because Maya's role was that of a pitiful and wretched minor character, which only confirmed her belief. Maya performed the role magnificently, giving more depth and sadness to a character who was originally meant to be portrayed as laughable and pathetic. Later on, Maya is given the opportunity to make a living as an actress. Maya proclaimed that she wanted to be an actress. Tsukikage cuts off Maya's ties with her mother, making the decision of becoming an actress adamant. However, Maya is consistently given encouragement through an anonymous fan who sends her a bouquet of purple roses

Ayumi Himekawa 
Maya's biggest rival, the honor-bound and noble Ayumi was born as the daughter of a very famous actress, Utako Himekawa (once the student of Tsukikage,) and a successful director and producer, Mitsugu Himekawa, and has been touted as a prodigy from an early age. Ever since learning she got her first acting role just because of her family links, Ayumi has striven to shine on her own and never falls into arrogance. Ayumi becomes aware of Maya's prodigious gift for acting when they first meet in a practice session; from then on she views the younger girl as a life-rival. She is ambitious enough to try to surpass her own mother, who is a widely recognized actress. People have jokingly told Utako that her daughter will steal the role of the Crimson Goddess from her. Even though Ayumi is young, she believes that she will revitalize the renowned role. Thus, she takes it upon herself to get as much experience as she can by trying out for any roles, including minor ones. At first, when Ayumi took on the role of Tom in The Prince and the Pauper, the children in attendance didn't like the performance because they were used to seeing Ayumi as a beautiful young woman rather than a dirty and homely boy. Yet Ayumi soon draws the children's favor by begging for "money" in a hat, to which the children offer her their candy. The people behind the stage were surprised that Ayumi would do such a thing, particularly since Ayumi generally would have thought such things beneath her. Her passion to become the Crimson Goddess is undeniable, however, as she continually strives for perfection to attain the role. Even though critics generally favour her over Maya, Ayumi is upset at being unable to reach the sort of emotional peaks Maya does when she performs.

Chigusa Tsukikage
Maya's mentor. She once was a very talented and beloved actress, most notable for her role at the legendary play "Crimson Goddess" whose performance was so acclaimed that its author left the rights over it solely to her in his will, but she got horribly scarred in an onstage accident (a lamp lighter hit her and burned half her face off) and had to leave the acting scene, opening an acting school instead. She has very weak health and must be hospitalized several times during the story. Yet she is a woman of unstoppable will, refusing to give the rights of "The Crimson Goddess" to Masumi Hayami and his father, as according to her, currently there is not an actress suitable for the main role. After finding potential in Maya, she takes her under her wing despite her mother's objections and strives to shape her into the best actress ever, so she can contest with Ayumi for the leading role in "The Crimson Goddess". Tsukikage understands that an actress's face is her most important feature, and she covers Maya when Maya's incensed mother tries to throw boiling hot water in her daughter's face.

Masumi Hayami 
A successful businessman and son/substitute of the president of the Daito Entertainments, he is brutally attempting to obtain the performance rights for "The Crimson Goddess" from Chigusa, efforts which ultimately lead to the disbanding of her acting school. When he sees Maya act as Beth in "Little Women" despite a high fever, he is impressed with her strong will and devotion to her acting dreams. He secretly sends her purple roses and financial support as encouragement (thus Maya refers to her anonymous fan as "The Purple Roses Man"; her friends call him Daddy Long-Legs), but acts mocking, cynical and even cruel in front of her to conceal his anonymous identity. Originally a normal, happy child, his cold exterior grew from the death of his mother, Aya, when he was a child, and his bad relationship with his stepfather Eisuke, who is responsible for the Crimson Goddess author's death. As the manga proceeds, he becomes more and more infatuated with Maya and finally falls deeply in love with her - at one point being the sole person to brave deadly, typhoon-level weather to attend the premiere of one of her plays. He doesn't reveal either his alternate identity or his true feelings for many reasons, one of which is the belief that Maya hates him since he indirectly caused her mother's death.

Lazy M

Awkward Greetings

Hiyah. I guess I should start off with a simple greeting and a little bit about myself.

I am very lazy. Almost  Everyday I am at home on my laptop being a lazy ass on my bed.

I hate going outside. My enemies include: crowds, sunlight, and movement. I own a very lovely yorkie named Roshii. She tried her best to get me out of bed every morning by licking my toes and barking in my ears. In this blog I'm not going to give away any descriptive details on my appearance and such, because, I want to just tell everyone about how a lazy girl like me lives her day. I encourage feedback (negative too). What I'm writing right now doesn't sound much like me but, I just want to put all of that up first {laugh}. Um... This is my first blog so please bare with me and my mistakes! My camera is broken at the moment.  So, I can't take pictures!!!{sob}

I must be boring you to tears... How bout I tell you a little about my dreams?

This might sound a little corny but, I hope to find the right 'one'. He'll wear glasses. Preferably black, squared, and non-prescribed. He'll have emerald green eyes, you know the ones, Sparkling and glistening in the sunlight. I also hope to either become a writer or a Mangaka. Yes, jobs where I can be lazy and at home. I don't have many friends. I'm not very attractive, so I should get rid of my first hope... As you can already tell I'm not very confident {laugh}. But, I decided to write a blog. It's not that I want attention! I actually really hate attention! It's because I guess I just wanted to tell somebody about myself. 

Well, this concludes my first post! 

Lazy M