Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Some Spoilers Ensue: I am cry. This was heartbreaking. I am still reeling a bit from the ending. What started off as a funny and sometimes sugar sweet ghost story morphed into a bittersweet agonizing tale of loss and grief. I think my emotions were confused as to what I should feel at any certain time. Most of the way through, I didn't cry but that ending...man. I enjoyed this anime a lot. The mystery hidden beneath this love story was ingeniously woven into the background and the brilliant character design made the heart wrenching grief seem realistic even when the show was not. Menma is anamazing character. Her personality makes you fall in love with her as well, which makes the ending that much harder to sit through. I just love this....so much.

Technically speaking, this was definitely a treat. The animation was gorgeous and the theme music was super cute. The score was also lovely, but the stars here are the voice actors. Their portrayals of all these different people going through all these different stages and types of grief was enough to make anyone shed a few tears.

Overall, while its not as sad as Clannad (what is?) it's a close second and an emotionally draining/rewarding ghost story.

8.5/10. Loved it.

Watched subbed.