KONOHANA KITAN Episode 1: Stars and Cherry Blossoms

The second show that I’ll be covering this season is KONOHANA KITAN. Easily one of my most anticipated shows of the autumn, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to cover it.
I will cover both URAHARA and KONOHANA KITAN on every Wednesday. Since URAHARA airs first, that will generally be the first post. The KONOHANA KITAN ones will follow a few hours afterwards.
With that all said and done, let’s take a look at episode 1 of KONOHANA KITAN.

Sometimes you’ll need to wait a few episodes to tell if you like a show – other times, you just know immediately. KONOHANA KITAN is the latter for me, courtesy of this small scene

We begin with a lass named Bikuni taking Yuzu through the city. Their destination is a place called Konohanatei – a hot springs inn.

Bikuni on the left, and our main character, Yuzu, on the right

Bikuni and Yuzu arrive at Konohanatei, and that is where Yuzu will start working. Off course, as you might expect, the first thing to do is to meet the people Yuzu will be working for.

Okami

Having known for Bikuni for a long time, the somewhat intimidating Okami decides to take on Yuzu. She calls for the head attendant, who she introduces as Kiri.

The head attendant, Kiri

After Yuzu has introduced herself – whilst blushing profusely – Kiri takes her to meet the other employees of Konohanatei.

Natsume and Satsuki

Satsuki seems less than thrilled about their newest employee, as she just leaves Natsume to deal with her.

Considering the setting is a hot springs inn, I suspect we’ll see many scenes like this one

After that, it’s time for Yuzu to meet another employee of Konohanatei.

Ren

Ren seems nice enough on the surface, but she doesn’t exactly warm to Yuzu right away… I’m sure that will change in due course.

Kiri asks Satsuki to be Yuzu’s instructor

Satsuki reluctantly agrees to become Yuzu’s instructor at the request of Kiri. Yuzu tries to do her best, but she ends up causing inconvenience for one of their guests. However, things end up working out in the end thanks to Yuzu, and Satsuki seems to grow a little closer to her.

Satsuki calls Yuzu by name

Moving on to the second half of the episode, and there is one girl that hasn’t been properly introduced yet.

Sakura

Kiri decides that Yuzu should partner up with Sakura for a while, and that’s exactly what she does. Sakura doesn’t have a whole lot to say, so Yuzu just follows her. Much cuteness follows.

Yuzu has fun and is able to appreciate the beauty around her thanks to Sakura

Sakura actually shares a few words with Yuzu, and they return to the inn afterwards. When night falls, Yuzu shares a room with Satsuki. We also get to see cute interaction between Kiri and Sakura as well.

KONOHANA KITAN has made a very good first impression on me, and I’m glad it lived up to my expectations as one of my most anticipated shows of the season. This show as well as URAHARA, are things that will make me look forward to every Wednesday.

I look forward to seeing how Yuzu’s relationships with the other girls working at Konohanatei develops. In particular, I’m pretty keen to see how things shape up between Yuzu and Satsuki.
There’s also a hint of Kiri and Sakura being a thing in this episode, and more of that stuff is always welcome.

A really enjoyable start to a show that I was looking forward to. That’s all I could really ask for. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what else KONOHANA KITAN has in store for us this season.