Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Hands down, AnoHana has been my favorite anime of the Spring 2011 season, but like the members of the Super Peace Busters, I'm ready to move on with my life. At least ready to move on to the Summer 2011 season. This final post will be spoiler free, I promise! First some thoughts about the final episode, without any specifics. I thought it was remarkably well done overall. The show could only end in a limited number of ways. We've all seen a number of "ghosts" or "spirits moving on" type of movies and TV shows, so viewers know Menma's fate pretty much up front. But thelarger question for me was, what would happen to the rest of the gang? Fairly early in this season finale we get the first part of the answer. The characters that make up the main group of friends have all dealt with their issues this season, but it's in this episode they come clean with how those issues connect to a certain ghost girl, and to each other.

By the end of the season, by way of this wonderful episode, it's clear the whole group is connected through a web that at one point had Menma as its center. While Menma of course is featured in much of this episode, for me, each character got more than enough screen time, including the brief poignant moments that Jintan's parents appear in.

The other thing I thought was handled pretty well, was the overwhelming drama as the season wrapped up. I'm not completely against adding some melodrama, I just don't like plots and dialogue to be too forced and twisted, just to elicit specific emotions, aka my endless tears and fist slamming the ground all the while screaming, "WHY?! WHY?!"

Heh. I did say 'pretty well' however, as I do have to admit that, at one point towards the end, I laughed at an inappropriate time, lol. Although it wasn't as bad as that piece of crap Angel Beats. When Kanade disappears and Otanashi gropes the air, I laughed uncontrollably. That show was horrible. In contrast with that show, AnoHana set up a premise from the very first episode and stuck with it for the entire season. If the idea of AnoHana sounded good to you in April, it's hard for me to imagine you didn't love it this week.

Not much else to harp on with Episode 11, without naming certain events, but I'll say that the finale delivered in much of the way the whole series as a whole did.

And that's all there is to say but I'll say more anyway. From the pre-season description, to the first couple opening scenes where Jintan and Menma are in his house, and right to the very end, it was a quality show that seemed to keep its promise to the viewers. The characters at times were obvious, as are real people, and times the characters were complex. But as showcased in the final episode, what was important in AnoHana was how the characters were with each other.

Cross dressing was important also and I know that I had said no spoilers, but after the credits, during the "after" montage, Tsuruko and Yukiatsu are wearing matching outfits. Ok, I made that up.

If there was one thing I think people could be critical of, although I am not, could be the inconsistency of the "Menma Rules." If you think they handled Menma's poltergeist abilities poorly (writing stuff, moving stuff), this final episode or perhaps even the last few could have pushed your faith.

I could see that argument, but honestly, the show is about a ghost girl coming back to haunt her friends to fulfill a fated wish and over the course of the season, the show was wonderfully consistent in my opinion. I feel like a bigger person for having watched it. Bigger in that lately I've been exercising less and watching too much fucking anime.

Production wise, it was pretty flawless. The voice actors were seamless throughout the series and each week AnoHana gave an anime fan a nice respite not only from the fan service infestation, but all the stereotypical characters and character performances. People sounded like real people with real voices. The show looked beautiful and over the course of series fans got a real sense of space in the town. From the bland names (Rocky, Nokemon), to characters having to work hard for money, the show strove for realism, and for me, it succeeded.

The last thing I would remark on, is the short 11 episode run the show had, which seemed not too short and definitely not too long. If you haven't watched the show (you probably have if you're reading this) you should. At 11 episodes it's a quick watch, maybe even one of those marathon 1 day watches. Just be sure to have plenty of candy and tissues.

I've just finished the show and wouldn't be able to give an accurate rating (something we've decided not to do here anyway), but there's no doubt this will go somewhere in my favorites list. While not what I would call an instant classic, AnoHana was by far, my favorite show of the season and will undoubtedly be one of my favorites this year.