Suck the pain in.note
Himitsu no Hanazono (アニメひみつの花園) is a 2007 Japanese romantic comedy series produced by Kansai Television.The series ran from January 9 - March 20, 2007, ending at 11 episodes in total.Natsuyo Tsukiyama is an overworked, depressed mangaka who's at her limit. She has a toxic relationship with her workload and cannot say no to any requests her bosses make.
One day her boss, Shinichi Tamaru assigns Tsukiyama to be the asisstant of up-and-coming manga artist Yuriko Hanazono, who is currently serializing her work Ninpo Arabesque. Tsukiyama has no interest in the sort of Shōjo manga Hanazono writes, but agrees to the job anyway. When she meets Yuriko Hanazono, it turns out that she's not a real person - she is four different men. They are the Kataoka brothers, Wataru, Osamu, Satoshi and Yoh.
Even though the four turn out to be pompous and don't leave the best impression on her at first, after she sees the impact Ninpo Arabesque has on readers, she feels closer to them. Gradually the brothers and the disgruntled editor come closer to one another as they learn more secrets about each other.
Despite the name, it has nothing to do with the 1991 anime Himitsu no Hanazono, which is an anime adaptation of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and stars Mina Tominaga voicing Mary Lennox.
Has examples of
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Natsuyo's so overworked that she misses her birthday to stay at the office.
- Accidental Truth: While Misuzu is snooping around the Kataoka's deceased father, she finds out that he's a plagiarist, that all his paintings were stolen from his dead best friend, and that his 4 sons are oblivious to it. Being the loudmouth she is, she tells everyone immediately. .
- All Love Is Unrequited:
- Osamu has eyes for Minae, the widow that runs the restaurant him and his brothers frequent. She doesn't realise it.
- Misuzu likes Wataru, but he has feelings for Natsuyo. This doesn't stop Misuzu from being obsessed with him to an unhealthy degree, stalking him, and finding dort on his dead dad.
- Aloof Big Brother: Wataru is more serious minded than his wacky siblings, and is also the oldest.
- An Aesop:
- Lacking an appropriate work/life balance will only bring you further stress and trauma.
- Just because you give up on your own dreams, it doesn't mean other people will stop seeing your potential. Even if you can't see it, many people are rooting for you. This is the moral of the final arc, where Yoh burns everything of their father's to "set Wataru free".
- Anguished Declaration of Love: After Yuriko Hanazono breaks up, Wataru confesses his love to Natsuyo.Wataru: "Will you stay by my side... from now on forever?''
- Arranged Marriage: The editors of Monthly Sekibutsu set one up for Ryoko, but she didn't like the man they offered. However, once she saw Tanaka, she fell for him, hard.
- Awful Truth: The father of the Kataoka brothers, Ryo Kataoka? He's plagiarist and stole all his works from someone else. He was good friends with the painter Minoru Noguchi when he was alive, who also happened to be the true father of Yoh. However, after Noguchi's death, Ryo seizes his paintings and published them as his own. He was so consumed with guilt that he confessed it on his deathbed.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Osamu is the most irresponsible of the siblings, but when he's left to his devices, he reveals that he's a skilled writer and can pump out ideas at a fast pace. However, he's also a perfectionist, so he's often critical of his work.
- Broken Pedestal: Yoh Kataoka idolized his father, Ryo and was inspired by him to be a mangaka under the pen name Yuriko Hanazono because he was a successful painter. Yoh then finds out that Ryo isn't his actual father, and even worse, he didn't actually make those paintings - they were made by Minoru Noguchi, Ryo's deceased friend who also happens to be Yoh's true father. Angered, Yoh set fire to the works of both of his fathers.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Misuzu blurts out the Awful Truth behind Ryo's success as soon as she finds out. This actually turns out to be for the better, as it helps all four of the Kataoka siblings move on from being part of Yuriko Hanazono and no longer feel the pressure of being in their father's shadow like they used to.
- Everyone Can See It: Wataru realizes he has feelings for Natsuyo, which is why Ryoko ships them. After Yuriko Hanazono breaks up, Wataru is asked what he wants to do. He replies that he wants to be with Natsuyo.
- Everything's Sexier in French: Takumi, Misuzu Suzimoto's boyfriend, speaks fluent French because he is half French from his mother's sidenote
- Fangirl: Ryoko is a HUGE fan of Yuriko Hanazono and is oblivious to the fact that she isn't a woman. She also loves Mobile Suit Gundam and often talks about it with Osamu. At one point she even tries to launch a fashion line using Gundam figurines as models.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Discussed in-universe. Yoh says that he wants to be independent and help Wataru follow his passion of being a painter, unlike Osamu who's irresponsible and a geek.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Amongst the Kataoka brothers:
- Melancholic: Wataru (an eye for details, mission oriented, the serious one, has a Big Brother Instinct to the other three).
- Sanguine: Osamu (selfish, idiotic, runs his mouth and brash).
- Choleric: Yoh (aloof, uninterested, self-centered).
- Phlegmatic: Satoshi (calm, uses common sense, humble, a hard worker and a good listener).
- Funny Afro: Osamu has a disheveled afro. Of all the brothers, he's The Klutz.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Ninpo Arabesque's main character wears frilly dresses and practices ballet. She's also a Badass Adorable that kicks ass.
- Guy In Real Life: Four guys in fact.Wataru: "The four of us are Yuriko Hanazono."
- In the Blood: The Kataoka siblings all have some form of artistic talent/inclination for art as their father, Ryo, was a painter. It turns out he actually was actually a fraud who stole the works of Minoru Noguchi.
- Jerkass: Osamu is selfish and often calls Natsuyo "a little girl" to mock her. He also frequently gets in trouble and needs his brothers to bail him out. He also frequently plays loud music that irritates them when they're trying to sleep.
- Love Triangle:
- Satoshi and Natsuyo often butt heads, but he secretly harbors feelings for her. However, he knows that she loves Wataru.
- Misuzu used loves Wataru, but he loves Natsuyo. This left Misuzu heartbroken and she began stalking Wataru to find a way for him to fall in love with her.
- Ryoko is torn between Satoshi and Tanaka. She used to date Tanaka in the past but things fell through. She's inclined towards Satoshi, but keeps thinking about Tanaka and they eventually reunite after years.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: There are actually three Kataoka brothers, Yoh is adopted. His real father is Minoru Noguchi.
- Manchild:
- Ryoko, Natsuyo's ex-boss, likes things that are way out of her age demographic, and is always happy-go-lucky. She pretends to have the image of a professional boss, but really isn't one.
- Osamu is 30, but tends to act like an immature child, often Volleying Insults at Natsuyo and annoying his brothers. He has a room filled with manga, figurines and plastic Gundam models. At one point, Satoshi threatens to throw them out when he's angered.
- Meido: The main character of Yuriko Hanazono's latest manga wears a maid outfit, and also practices ninjitsu.
- Open Secret: The Awful Truth regarding Ryo is known amongst a few of the Kataoka brother's acquiantances, and Misuzu eventually leaks it to a magazine, causing the entire world to know.
- Parents as People: Sure, Ryo was a terrible person, but he did feel genuinely bad about what he did to Noguchi and took in his son Yoh and raised him with his own sons afterwards.
- Promoted to Parent: Wataru. He had to give up his dreams of being a painter when his father ordered him to look after his little brother Yoh. He manages to continue them through Yuriko Hanazono.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Satoshi loves reading Shōjo manga, and expresses a desire to learn cooking from Ryoko.
- Shipper on Deck: Ryoko ships Tsukiyama and Wataru, and encourages her to ask him out.
- Show Within a Show: Ninpo Arabesque is an action manga about a kunoichi that uses ballet. She also wears a maid outfit.
- Sibling Team: Yuriko Hanazono is a psueodonym, and her works are actually written by four siblings - Wataru, who illustrates the backgrounds, Osamu, who is in charge of writing the characters, Satoshi, who manages the meta stuff regarding the manga, and Yoh, who is in charge of writing the stories.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: What Natsuyo does for a living, though this is because she's too blind to realize that for her own good, she needs to step down and downscale her workload. Even her boss Ryoko isn't as serious as her, and encourages Natsuyo to put herself first.
- Straight Man: Natsuyo is this to her quirky, cheerful ex-boss Ryoko, whereas Wataru is this to his bumbling idiot little brothers (most often Osamu and Satoshi).
