Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Time. It changes all of us. The events and instances that occur within the finite time we have called life, can affect and differ as the illusion of time passes by us. I've known about this show for a while, and always put if off since I can't handle drama shows. But, after lots and lots of pestering from my peers, as well as a positive review from one of my favorite reviewers, I finally watched it. And boy, am I glad I did. Today, Anohana, the flower we saw that day. Story (8.32/10): The story ofAnohana is simple. Our main protagonist Jinta is dealt a twisted hand of fate, as a ghost from his past shows up in his home, pestering him to no ends, all the while, looking like a girl that he once knew from his past. It is then that he embarks on a quest where he must try and find out what this girl's wish is, in order to move her onto heaven.

For the main plot of the story, the plot is quite simple. For the majority of the time, we get to see the six main characters' attempts to try and find out what the wish of the ghost girl Menma, is. However, the plot is more than that, farther than that, and much more better than that. To put it simply, this show is a character driven drama show detailing the effects of one character's death on a good number of people. For the entire 11 episode plot line, this is what the show is about, and it definitely executed its idea fairly well. However, there were a few problems that I found with the show's plot line.

The first one is with the show's beginning. Personally, I found the show's beginning episode to be...rather sudden. In the first few minutes, you're more or less shoved right into the beginning of where the story starts. Personally, I found it a bit uncomfortable, as I felt that a more gradual approach for the first few minutes would've made it a bit better, as just throwing the ghost girl right at us from minute one seemed a bit much for the very beginning.

However, the biggest gripe I have with the show, (although not a very large gripe), is the fact that the character stories felt unbalanced. Since the show is a character focused show, the show is mainly focused on what the characters have in terms of characteristics, as well as what effect the overarching event the show show's plot in revolved around. Personally, I found an imbalance of character importance, with some characters getting more development, entire episodes being devoted to them, while others barely got any decent screen time in order to explain how they have changed and what their regret was.

Overall though, regardless of the few flaws that the show had, it was still a very good story overall. It was a very good effect story, showing what happened after the supposed event, and used what little screen time it had to create quite a powerful and memorable story. And besides, any show that can make me cry man tears in its end, gets great applause.

Overview:
+ Simple Plot idea
+ Very memorable story
+ Very touching ending (I cried many man tears.)
- Unbalance in character development

Characters (8.92/10): The characters are the star of the show. Every single one of these main characters has a very large significance in the story and overall, play their parts extremely well.

The main characters cannot be explained without heavy spoilers to those who haven't seen the show, so I'll give an explanation to who they are. The main characters are greatly detailed. As you get deeper and deeper into the story, you get to understand who they really are, their regrets, motivations for things, and possibly get emotional attached to them like any other good drama show. They all have their reasons for doing things and connect with each other in a way that you can only find in a good show.

As I have mentioned before, some characters get more development than others, but in all honesty, the characters are great nonetheless. With what the show was able to pull off, the amount of detail they went into on these characters is more than I ever thought. (Though personally, I would've liked to learn more about Poppo.)

For supporting cast, we don't get as much development as we get with the main characters. But there are a few good mentions in the supporting cast that actually have quite a lot of significance in the story, such as both mom characters that are featured in the cast, and Jinta's father.

Overview:
+ Fantastically detailed main cast
+ A lot of great character development
+ Significant side characters with decent plot significance

Art and Sound (7.33/10): The art for the series felt rather generic in my opinion. Nothing really stood out as fantastic animation, and everything felt sort of normal, and for some reason, reminded me of the sort of animation style that Studio Shaft creates.

There are no real gripes that I have with the animation, as it does look good for what it is, but nothing really stood out to me as fantastic. For the simple feel of the show, the simple animation definitely fitted with the simple plot line.

For sound, I would also have to agree that nothing really stood out as very memorable tracks. Both the OP and the ED songs sounded very calming, peaceful and serene. For what they were, they sounded very nice, but for me, it didn't stand out as song tracks that would stick in my head for all time. And while the background music was the same with nothing really standing out, the nice instrumental pieces were a good listen.

Overview:
+ Decent art
+ Calming music (not memorable music though.)

Personal Enjoyment (8.67/10): I won't lie to you, I cried man tears. When I first heard about what this show, I thought about putting it on hold, as I am not one to take drama shows lightly. When something is heart-wrenching, my heart breaks. When I watched this show, I definitely felt that same heart-wrenching feeling, but in the end of watching it, I felt relieved.

I did like this show. I really did. It gave a good representation of how death should not be taken lightly, as well as the fact that life can change when given the time. It's a show that I highly recommend watching if you haven't watched it before, as it truly does give a good feeling when watching. While I didn't cry nearly as much as I thought I would in this series, (that's how I give my bias drama shows, by how much I cry while watching it), it is definitely a nice cry-worthy show.

Overall Score: (8.69/10)