Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

A group of childhood friends called "Super Peace Busters" fall apart after the tragic and untimely death of one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma. They drift apart, go on their own ways, become different people. But out of nowhere Menma's spirit appears before Jintan, who is a shut-in asocial now and she tells him that she can't go to heaven unless Jintan and the rest of the group fulfill her "wish" Now Jintan, who has been avoiding his childhood friends ever since that tragedy must stand up and re-connect with them once again so that Menma's spirit can be at peace. Little does Jintan knowthough, they all deal with similar hardships and feel guilty over Menma's death.

Anohana hit me hard. It is mostly about the period of time I watched it. I graduated from college few months ago and me and my college friends would often talk about if we'll be able to see each other again, what lies in the future for us, how will everything turn out etc. so thanks to all that, at some point, watching Jintan felt like I was watching myself. I don't think I'm alone on that, except the "a spirit appearing before you" part, Anohana feels straight out of real life on many aspects. Death, loneliness, wanting to go back in time, regrets, fears, hopes. Everyone can find something they can relate to while watching Anohana. It is well written and well produced. Jintan and Menma feels like their screen time is more than the rest but it is not really true. We see and experience everything each and every one of them goes through. All of them are main characters of their own tragedy. Anohana tells its story without letting it get boring and with each episode, we learn more about the characters, about the story so progress never stops.

I have to point out that everything related to sound is a masterpiece in Anohana. Opening, ending, voice acting... simply brilliant. I swear that ending makes you heartbroken but you still smile somehow because that's all that matters.

I decided to watch Anohana out of nowhwere and it became one of my favorites. I give it a solid 10, not because it doesn't have any faults or whatever but because it actually touched me.