Alternate titles: Yozakura Quartet ~ Song of Flowers ~
Manga Adaptation by Tatsunoko Productions
Simulcast pending

Premise: Hime Yarizakura (Misato Fukuen) is the young mayor of Sakura Newtown, a homey suburb where humans and Beasts (youkai), humanoid creatures with all sorts of awesome powers, live together in harmony. Together with her friends at the Hiizumi Life Counselling Office, her perfectly awkward assistant Kyousuke (Daisuke Ono) and his little sister Touka (Haruka Tomatsu), she takes care of lost kids, solves mysteries and fights off the various dangers that threaten the peace between man and Beast.

In the first episode, Kotoha (Miyuki Sawashiro) and Touka bump into a lost child, yet their efforts to find her parents are soon thwarted by a feline villain with the power to turn the mundane into the monstrous.

Aqua‘s Verdict: Welcome Home

Gorgeous, adorable, awesome. It happens only rarely that I get to shower a show in praise, but the first episode of Yozakura Quartet ~ Hana No Uta ~ made a tremendous impression. The ridiculously talented team behind the OVAs already proved their marriage with the franchise to be a match made in heaven, and in this series as well every aspect quickly reveals the traits of a labour of love. From the clever use of animation budget to the neurotic direction, Hana No Uta miraculously succeeds in carrying the manga’s distinctive blend of eccentric action and cosy slice-of-life over to the little screen. It is a tuft of Phoenix Down on the dead horse that is the supernatural action genre of anime.

While its place in the franchise’s labyrinthian continuity is still unknown, Hana no Uta is definitely made with a fresh audience in mind. “Lily”, the lost child is a clever way of introducing an audience proxy, serving both as a great excuse to introduce the characters and the nature of Sakura Newtown, as well as providing a convenient little story to keep the episode together. While not directly adapting the manga, Hana no Uta reflects all of the source’s strengths and none of its weaknesses — safe its weakness for the female lower body — compressing and redistributing all of its coolest moments in an order better suited for television. It’s a move that reflects a considerable expertise and affection for Suzuhito Yasuda’s original manga, and the show is all the better for it.

With the way the little story in this episode is conceived, all characters are able to make an appearance, and their contribution never feels forced or obligatory. Everyone has a reason to be wherever they are and do whatever they do, which shows how tightly connected Yozakura Quartet‘s cast is, and creates a tremendous sense of community. It’s certainly not perfect, with its countless panty shots and vague asides, but this first episode did manage to perfectly play its ace cards out, welcoming both old fans and new viewers alike to the wonderful town of Sakura Newtown and its colourful inhabitants. Trust me, you will want to stay.

Iro‘s Verdict: I Couldn’t Come Up With A Dumb Pun Better Than Zigg’s But It’s Pretty Cool

This show was pretty fun, along with being another notch on the “teenagers with superpowers” thing that anime seems to do better than any other medium. However, it seemed as if I was supposed to know all of these characters already, along with their powers and personalities. That’s not a bad thing, mind (numerous literary types are all too quick to throw out “show, don’t tell!” these days) but I felt a little bit lost. Conveniently, the main cast each gets an opportunity to show off their shtick, and we get hints of the larger plot. I’ll give it a few more episodes, at the very least.

Zigg‘s Verdict: In Bloom

I enjoyed this a lot. In many ways it reminded me of what I was hoping for from Gatchaman Crowds – a relaxed, slightly eccentric trip through urban fantasy with cute characters, snappy dialogue and and a quirky sensibility that stays just on the right side of getting annoying. This first episode definitely has issues – and the rapid (non) introduction of characters betrays the slightly weird continuity of the story – but it overcomes those by crafting a decent mini-adventure, getting in just enough worldbuilding to keep your disbelief in check, and planting one or two seeds for future stories. It looks lovely too, despite some ropey animation – good art and direction will take you a long way, and I dig the character designs. Highly recommended.

Lifesong‘s Verdict: So Many Characters

But I am okay with that. This first episode was all kinds of fun as we were thrown headfirst into a world that seems to be full of youkai, humans and maybe other fantastical things as well? Episode 1 didn’t explain well… much of anything really. We were told about the fantastical town and then giant goldfish started mashing the place up.

I want to see the magic of this world explored and explained. Youkai having special powers is sensible enough, but right now it seems to be an anything goes sort of deal which could hurt the series in the long run. Aqua tells me this is something I don’t need to worry about. I hope they will explain the rules of this universe soon because episode one has made me very curious. Also, Glad to see Miyuki Sawashiro in something this season and just for Aqua’s sake… a panty shot is fine too.