KONOHANA KITAN Episode 5: Rain Cloth

Episode 5 of KONOHANA KITAN introduces a new member of the Konohanatei team, whilst a special guest makes use of the spring rain.

A cursed doll, who ends up being called Okiku – much to her chagrin

The episode begins with a priest bringing a cursed doll to Konohanatei, after being asked to cleanse it. The doll is able to move, speak and grow her hair. Of course, Yuzu and Natsume take to her right away, and even give her the name ‘Okiku’.
Okiku is then subjected to a haircut at the hands of Sakura, and that is an experience she doesn’t enjoy very much. Ren then overhears Okiku calling herself ugly, and she is having none of that.

Okiku after receiving a makeover from Ren

After that, Ren decides that she needs a kimono. All the girls work together to put one together for Okiku.

The girls work on a kimono for Okiku

Okiku was originally a gift for someone’s grandchild, but the parents found her too creepy and put her in storage for years. When she emerged again, she ended up being called cursed and given to the priest – eventually leading her to Konohanatei.
She falls asleep, and starts to have a nightmare about how nobody would play with her. However, Urinosuke eats that nightmare, leaving her with a pleasant dream.

Okiku’s dream

After that, the priest leaves. He never performed the cleansing on Okiku, but he knows that she has been cleansed.
Since Okiku is being allowed to stay at Konohanatei, she is put to work. Kiri entrusts Yuzu to show her the ropes.

Yuzu and Okiku deliver a meal to a guest in a weaving shed

Okiku is less than thrilled about the name ‘Okiku’ sticking, but that is now what she is known as. Konohanatei has a guest who is staying in a weaving shed, and Yuzu has been asked to deliver some food to her.

Konohanatei’s special guest

The guest is incredibly focused on her weaving – so much so that she hasn’t eaten her previous meal. Yuzu voices her concern about that to Kiri, who thinks on it.
She decides to get Okiku to deliver some rice balls to their guest, who is known as Iori. An encounter with Sakura results in Okiku relying on Yuzu to deliver the rice balls.

Yuzu is entranced by Iori

Yuzu finds the way that Iori uses her hands to be amazing. Whilst she tends to her duties, Yuzu ends up singing to the rhythm of the loom. She stops when she thinks that she is distracting Iori, but Iori insists that she continues to sing.

Iori isn’t satisfied with her work

Yuzu compliments Iori on her rain cloth, but Iori doesn’t think it is good enough. Her older sister is able to work faster, and her younger sister can make better. Yuzu is reminded of Satsuki, and says that neither of Iori’s sister can be both good and fast. Yuzu provides some advice, and Iori eventually finished her rain cloth.
She shows it to Yuzu, as she had promised to show her first. It’s great, though you’ll need to watch the episode yourself to see it in all its glory.

As the rain clears up, the episode ends. Okiku was a nice addition to the cast, and the whole thing with Iori weaving the rain cloth was just really pleasant. The way in which that segment ended was really quite satisfying, too.
There isn’t really much else to add, so I’ll end this post by saying that this was another great episode of KONOHANA KITAN.