Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Anohana: Queen of the Feels This series is by far one of the most emotion inducing pieces of art, from any medium, I have ever seen. When you and your circle have a "7 minute challenge", entailing watching the ending episode of this series to see who can go the longest without tearing up, you know it's emotional for the right reasons. Story. Anohana is a slow starter, and the only reason for the 8 star review. The first few episodes focus almost completely on Jinta, the main character, and Menma, a girl with whom he long ago was friends, before an accident happened. While thisis important, the pacing is a little off, and I almost walked out after the first 3 episodes. Hanging on was the best decision I could make, as Anohana is definately in my top 3 anime ever. The last 4 episodes of this are possibly some of the best writing I have ever encountered. I cried. You'll cry. EVERYONE WITH A SOUL cries.

Art.

The artwork is great. It's nothing ground breaking, and the technique is really restrained and mundane, but it works for the subject matter. Solid.

Sound.

The only weak spot I found, besides the initial stretch. There are exactly two songs in Anohana, and while they are good, I would have liked to hear more of it.

Character.

Naruko, the red headed tsundere, is amazing. Everyone in the cast of voice actors have the ability to project so much emotion that I was surprised to find none of them won any awards for this series. Each of the characters have a strong personality, and their interactions with Menma are all very natural.

Enjoyment.

Other than the slow start, I enjoyed everything here, and scoured for some kind of "After Story", but found nothing. I would love to see a one off showing them all another 3 years down the line, but sadly, it won't happen

Overall.

I give Anohana an 8. This anime pushes feels like a dealer pushes crack, and because of that, sometimes the sads feel forced. Most of the time though, the grief and joy are genuine, and make you feel the show in a way few anime can.

Pros.

Strong Characters, from leads to secondaries.
Great story and superb writing.
Wonderful voice-acting. Naruko's cry stabs my heart every time.

Cons.

Slow start.
Only 2 songs.