Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Growing up and coming of age. A familiar term used to describe what feels like almost too many shows in this day and age. It's often a blank term placed over slice of life shows that attempt to carry a little more meaning to their characters other than them enjoying life (not that it's a bad thing at all). But just how many anime can you truly say capture the idea of growing up and coming of an age? Before I go on let me say one thing to start: AnoHana truly does capture that feeling in one of the best ways I have everhad the joy of experiencing.

While AnoHana only clocks in with eleven episodes under its belt, I think what it does with those eleven episodes says volumes about the show itself. Not often does an anime with this many episodes inflict such a tornado of emotions on its viewer, that alone deserves praise on its own. I won't bore you with a summary of the plot, but its main focus is a group of teenagers who were once best friends as kids, were torn apart due to tragedy and now years later are still trying to overcome their grief.

While the actual story is more supernatural than that, in all honesty that is how it can be said. With the use of Menma's actual ghost trying to go to heaven and move on herself, we see how her death affected all of the "Super Peace Busters" in eerily realistic ways. The way the characters act does often come off as childish and at first, as the series progresses everyone learns and matures and in the final episode final coming to terms with her death and beginning to move on.

I have to praise the story on its merits of how closely personal it can get to the viewer without someone realizing it. While not everyone has experienced a death of a friend at a young age, the struggles of growing up, discovering who you are and accepting feelings your own heart hides is something everyone can relate to. I don't mind to spend so much time on these aspects alone but I believe these facts are what really set the series apart. It's emotional and raw and knows how to dig at it's viewers hearts to make this journey fulfilling by it's end.

There is not much special to be said about the character designs or the animation, they all look good and feel just right in the world they take place in. There's nothing special in that as a whole but AnoHana is not a show built on visual spectacle. The OST also does it's job well and the only music that truly shines are the melancholic OP and the oddly fitting ED. They make an enjoyable start and end to every episode and fit right into the anime they were placed on.

As a whole AnoHana is a short but wild journey and a small look into the lives of the Super Peace Busters. It doesn't strike anything new to anime or dazzle viewers with amazing visuals, but what it does is convey emotions extremely well and leaves the viewer satisfied (albeit in tears) and content by the end of it's eleven episode run. If you have the time to watch the series in it's short length I absolutely recommend it.