Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Intro: Ano Hana was a very enjoyable, heart warming and for some tear jerking anime. The series took a slice of life concept, with a little touch of the supernatural and created a beautiful product. With the animation standards close to 5 centimeters per a second and the emotional value of Clannad After Story, this anime surely has earned its place in the Top 30 most popular anime. Story: In all honesty, to some the story may not catch their eye. However, the amount of emotion, personality and development the characters show really add a flavor and appreciation for the real slice of life plot. There maybe some plot holes here and there, (like a certain question everyone asks after the ending) but it does not subtract much from the overall experience.

Characters:
The one thing I have to say is that Menma is completely moe(generically cute). She is a very loving and dear friend, so it makes sense that her friends were completely traumatized of her death. However I can't really say much about the other characters. There isn't much diversity amongst the group of friends and so it tends to make watching a pretty bland experience. Most of them suffer from some overwhelming jealousy of some sort and although realistic, it puts a damper to the viewer watching them whine of their heartache. On the other hand, their development and true ties of friendship make it tolerable and an overall, enjoying experience.

Art:
As an aspiring manga artist, I was slightly taken aback from the way the characters were drawn, but from my experience from anime such as Kimi no Todoke, I've learn to adapt and appreciate it. The characters are drawn within the slight gap of realism and typical anime. They still maintain their abnormal hair colors, yet they do not have exaggerated features such as perfect bodies and gigantic breasts to name a few.
What was really impressing was the animation working alongside the impressive scenery. This amplified the emotional experience and made many tear up and stair in awe of the beauty presented before them. Honestly the animation was beyond beautiful. It had movie quality and was used very tastefully.

Sound:
Now for soundtrack, I really love it. The opening theme gave a very nostalgic feel which makes anyone re-watching feel a slight tingle. It represented really well the childhood innocence and the slight pain of growing up. As for the ending theme, it is by far one of the most beautiful and fitting ending theme I have seen to date. "Secret Base" performed in two versions, one by Scandal(very popular Japanese girl band) and another that I am not too sure of their group name :P however I would consider theirs the superior version. The song was very very touching and summarized the character's story. It gave the viewers a very good understanding of what the characters are going through in the form of lyrics(I know quite of bit of Japanese despite my Bengali origin).

Enjoyment:
Like I mentioned earlier, this was a very touching anime. However, at some points it felt as though I was forcing myself to watch at certain scenes, especially the ones with the characters whining. The angst of the characters, although the main plot of story gets really repetitive and it is quite understandable that the series was nice and short. Honestly, they couldn't have ever dragged out all the mourning for 24 episodes worth. All in all this was a very good watch.

Overall:
It is a must watch for the casual viewer and otaku alike. It helps develop the heart and broadens the mind for understanding.