Bathtime with Hinako & Hiyoko

Bathtime with Hinako & Hiyoko
We should pull the plug on this one.
Genre: Anime Directed By: Shinichiro Kimura Produced By: Primastea Starring: Mai Kadowaki Release Date: December 24, 2010 Runtime: 35 minutes Country: Japan Language: Japanese Franchise: Hinako

Bathtime with Hinako & Hiyoko (know in Japan as いっしょにとれーにんぐ026[おふろ], literally Training Together with 026 [bath], although the cover is actually saying Issho ni Training 026), is an anime film released in 2010, animated by Studio Hibari and distributed by Primastea. It is the third and final installment of the Hinako franchise.

This time, the protagonist, Hinako, decides to do a kind of "bathing service" with the viewer while doing exercises in the bathtub, accompanied by her idol, Captain Hiyoko, taking a shower together. Besides the DVD, a MicroSD card comes as a bundle, so that it is possible for users to watch the anime whenever they want on their cell phones. A bonus titled "Stretch Time" is also included.

The film is a follow-up to the equally infamous Sleeping with Hinako and Training with Hinako, and, besides being more obscure, can be considered one of the lowest (if not the lowest) points of the entire Hinako franchise.

Plot

Hinako creates a "bathing service" in her bathroom that costs 10,000 yen (including fees), and plays a little with the water in her bathtub. Suddenly, she decides to do exercises in the water for a while.

Some time later, the Captain Hiyoko appears and takes off her clothes. Next to her biggest fan, she begins to do a painful massage on Hinako while the lights turn purple twice magically. Hinako does the same thing, but Hiyoko hypocritically tells her to stop.

Hinako ends the OVA counting to one hundred in such a boring way that even Hiyoko did not stand and decided to leave the bathroom.

In "Stretch Time", Hinako does the same stretches seen in the bathtub with some useless additions. The first time, her towel almost collapses, but in the end, her towel falls off completely, but Hiyoko appears suddenly covering Hinako's breasts by extending her hands. Strange to procrastinate and the anime ends.

Why It Makes You Want To Get Out Of This Bath

OVA

1. Although brilliant, the animation is still extremely rigid and contains some weird animation errors like unnecessary camera turns that could simply go straight and there would be no difference.
2. The plot is just simply stupid, thin, and brittle with a sheet, and contains simply bizarre holes in the plot. Some examples are:
   1. Why of all the jobs available in the world, Hinako chooses to create a paid bath service? Interestingly, it is said on a sign (or something that resembles one) that for bathing with Hinako, it is necessary for the client to pay 10,000 yen, which would be about US$90 now, or US$80 to US$90 at the time in which this anime was released. Hardly anyone would want to pay for something that can be done in their own home for free, unless, of course, they want a company in the bathroom.
   2. The inclusion of Hiyoko was unnecessary and does not make sense, because if Hinako is a girl who lives in the world of anime, and if Hiyoko comes from a presumably fictional anime, would that mean that there is a world of anime in the world of anime? And why, instead of saving the world, is she in a bathtub with a stranger she may have never heard of in life?
3. Hiyoko is a terrible character, as she herself is shallow, arrogant, hypocritical, and unpleasant, and seems to treat Hinako as trash most of the time. She also seems to be a sadistic girl, as she often pinches sensitive parts of Hinako's body to the point of making her scream in pain several times.
4. Speaking of Hiyoko, during a scene she begins to stroke Hinako's breasts and then stretches her leg, and then says that she is "extra-fat" and decides to continue pinching and stretching sensitive areas of Hinako's body to make her lose weight. This is not how weight loss works!
5. Hinako makes some uncomfortable movements for someone in a bathtub, for example, when she turns abruptly backward while her legs remain in the front, which can cause the viewer to get hurt or even cramp and risk being drowned, especially in porcelain bathtubs.
6. Hinako does not seem to know what to do after five minutes of the anime. She often makes the same movements much more than necessary, and even counts up to one hundred for no reason other than filler and padding.
7. Terrible style of design and typography. When the viewer comes across the board that Hinako shows, the letters are written vertically while the board itself is horizontal, resulting in the viewer turning their head to the right side to try to understand something of what is written. In addition, the title cards contain a strange, large, amateur letter style punched in the center of the image, making it even harder to read.
8. It is very uncomfortable to watch two girls, possibly minors, bathing with almost no censorship.
9. One of the hygiene products in the corner of the tub says "Cream for Animal Treatment", which makes absolutely no sense and makes the viewer wonder about the IQ of the characters.
10. Hypocrisy: while in Training with Hinako, the viewer was not able to see Hinako's private parts, but was able to see her bathing incredibly, this anime allows Hinako to be seen totally undressed, and she does not even bother with it.
11. The anime itself looks more like a torture zone with Hiyoko than a supposed relaxing bath.

Stretch Time

1. The animation is even worse than before. It's as if the animators were too lazy to do another 10 minutes of anything with Hinako. In fact, there is an animation error that shows Hinako with a brown towel, while the OVA showed Hinako with a blue-green towel.
2. Another scene shows Hinako turning her head to the left and right in a very still way, as if it were some kind of exercise.
3. Hypocrisy: Hiyoko appears suddenly when Hinako drops her towel.
4. Why would anyone want to exercise after bathing? That would need, ironically, another bath!
5. More filling.
6. The number "026" in the title does not make sense, as this number does not appear anywhere in the anime.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Hinako is a very good and cute protagonist, as always.
2. No Hinako jumpscares on OVA!
3. Annoying sound effects (including the boring "boing" sound) appear less frequently than in the previous two films.
4. It's cool to see Hinako interacting with her idol, though Hiyoko does not cooperate with it.
5. Although extremely repetitive and childish, the soundtrack is still good.
6. The animation on the OVA is better.
7. It has considerably less duration than Sleeping with Hinako, and less padding than Training with Hinako.

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