Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home 
Japanese Title: 花咲くいろは Home Sweet Home
Romaji: Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home
Release Date: March 30th, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: 93 mins.
Director: Masahiro Ando
Writer: Mari Okada (Screenplay),
Starring: Kanae Itō (Ohana), Aki Toyosaki (Nako), Ayumi Tsunematsu (Takako), Chiaki Omigawa (Minko), Cho (Denroku), Haruka Tomatsu (Yuina), Junichi Sawabe (Tarō), Junji Majima (Tōru)
The movie sequel for Hanasaku Iroha – Blossoms for Tomorrow is set for a theatrical release at the end of next month. It is a slice of life anime which follows a girl named Ohana who has to lie with her grandmother in a hot springs after her single mother runs off with a boyfriend to skip out on a debt. Said grandmother is strict and requires Ohana to work hard and despite her initial dislike over her circumstances and all of the hard work Ohana begins to find life isn’t as bad as she thought.
Ohana has grown accustomed to living in the hot springs inn her grandmother manages, Kissuisou. One day, the daughter of a manager for Kissuisou’s rival inn, Yuina, comes to Kissuisou for training to become a landlady herself. As Ohana is observing her training, she finds “a certain item” in the storeroom while cleaning.
The anime movie sees the return of staff and cast from the TV series with Kanae Itō 
taking the lead role of Ohana and Aki Toyosaki voicing Nako. Kanae Itō has cropped up in a number of slice of life anime like Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai where her vocals are put to good use portraying Senna and yelling insults. Kanae Itō’s real life friend Aki Toyosaki has voiced a dynamic bunch of characters such as Yui in K-ON!!!, Inga in UN-GO and Momoka Oginome in Mawaru Penguindrum. Pretty awesome performances since I can still remember the dulcet and high pitched tones of each!
It is directed by Masahiro Ando, a chap who has worked on some of my favourite anime like Jin-Roh, Patlabor 2, Ghost in the Shell in the key animation department and the man who directed Sword of the Stranger and CANAAN. He is working from a screenplay from Mari Okada who is one of the hardest working writers/head writers in anime. She has written scripts for things like Toradora!, Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Red Garden and Aria the Natural. More importantly the two worked on the TV series for Hanasaku Iroha.
P.A. Works is animating and it is the studio which has worked on Hanasaku Iroha as well as another slice of life anime Tari Tari as well as my favourite supernatural anime of last year Another.
Genkinahito 