Hakumei & Mikochi is a very relaxing and comfy Slice of Life story with very low stakes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t tug on your heartstrings on occasion:
- Chapter 5 becomes surprisingly intense and sad for a moment, despite the overall lighthearted premise of Hakumei and Iwashi doing a repair job on a gear inside of an old windmill. It mostly goes well… until Hakumei’s hammer slips out of her tool belt onto the floor she’s standing on, causing the old wood to break and almost sending her falling to her death if not for Iwashi rescuing her just in time. Seeing Hakumei be so downbeat afterwards, blaming herself for not doing a good enough job on securing her footing and forcing Iwashi to break a window just to save her, can be a bit hard to watch, especially when she starts crying to herself as she makes her way home in the pouring rain.
- Chapter 43 sees Mikochi entering a sewing contest to create an outfit that represents Makinata. However, hearing that Night Snail, her idol, is also entering the contest, causes her to immediately lose her confidence; She almost decides to drop out entirely since she feels like it’s a Foregone Conclusion that she’ll lose to such a prestigious seamstress. The only reason she decides not to is thanks to Hakumei’s encouragement… But sure enough, despite Mikochi having made a better outfit, Night Snail’s entry ends up winning anyway. Sure, Mikochi mostly entered the contest for fun and for the small tableware set that all the participants got, and since she got second place, she seems to not be all that bothered by the end result at first... But the chapter still ends with her crying out of bitter disappointment that her efforts were All for Nothing.
- Despite Hakumei’s best efforts to avoid it, chapter 50 still ends on a rather somber note. Having received the news that an old sake brewer that she met and befriended while travelling with the caravan had died and sent the last bottle he ever produced to her, she drags Mikochi out to find a good place to drink it as a way to mourn him without getting too gloomy. After several failed attempts to find such a spot (And still getting rather drunk), Hakumei eventually notices that there’s only enough sake left for one cup. She asks Mikochi to leave her alone for a bit… And promptly bursts into tears over the loss of her old friend before her roommate has ventured very far. It crosses into Heartwarming when Mikochi notices this and immediately rushes to Hakumei’s side, asking her to split the very last cup with her anyway.
- ”The Story Of The Past” is mostly a rather adorable chapter that focuses on a young Hakumei living with her adoptive father and how he inspired her to become a traveller. When Hakumei realizes that it’s time for her to set out on her own, Loka reacts with pride and says that he’ll follow her for a bit to give her some additional tips, but also mentions that they’ll part ways when they reach the rope bridge leading out of their cliffside village. Once it sinks in that Loka really won’t come with her, Hakumei starts crying profusely and reveals that she blames herself for Loka and Ulaga giving up the travelling life just to raise her after they found her abandoned in a cave as a baby. Fortunately, Loka reassures her that he’s only staying in the village so that Hakumei has a place to come home to if she ever gets homesick; He asks her to send him a letter when she’s found her own place to call home, because that’s the moment he’ll resume his travels and come visit her.
