Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

I see many people liking, or even adoring this show, and I can see why. But, I don't think this show is worth it. And since I haven't seen a lot of negative reviews of this show, here's what I think of it and why. Since it seems to be a tradition among reviewers, I'll do this point by point STORY (3.0/10) At first, AnoHana's story seems interesting: An original story that will deal with the themes of grief, regrets, death and afterlife. It has everything to become a good show!... If only... Very soon, the story becomes one of the major flaws of this anime: Everything, about thecharacters' backstory, Menma's reappearance and how the characters deal with it, seems childish as hell. This story deals with themes like the grief after someone's death, the passage from childhood to adulthood, the afterlife and of course the power of friendship. It covers these topics, but it does it too superficially: The messages the show addresses are very simplistic (like ''you can accomplish anything with the power of friendship'', or ''if a friend helps you, help him back''), and never let you actually question them by presenting other points of view. In short: AnoHana's story is too simplistic (and the best example of that is near the half of the show, in the ''rocket arc'' (I won't spoil, but if you've seen the show, you'll get), which is something I have seen in most of my childhood shows), though I think it does make it a good kids show.

CHARACTERS (4.4/10)
AnoHana's characters might not be as shallow as the story, but they aren't particularly good either. Although they do have character development, they all seem quite one-dimensional, and this is due to the fact that, except for the 2 main protagonists, their development seemed incomplete, or even rushed. I think some of them needed to have more screen time. Because of that, none of them was likable, except Menma who is by far the best character in the series

ART (7.5/10)
The art in AnoHana is really good, without particularly standing out: Character-designs are believable (none of them is overly-sexy or overly-moe), backgrounds are nice, the animation is fluid, and there are some stand-out points like the change of tone between the main story and the flashbacks.

SOUND (8.3/10)
The sound is certainly the best part of AnoHana. I really liked the voice acting, especially for Menma, since I really like Ai Kayano's voice (it's my personal tastes, though). As for the music, it's simple: AnoHana's soundtrack (including the opening) is one of my favorites. It is simple, peaceful, full of emotions and I always listen to it when I need to relax. Works everytime. I also need to mention the ending, which is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard (it makes me want to cry much more than the anime itself)

ENJOYMENT (3.4/10)
Since I didn't know where to include it otherwise, I'll now talk about what I think is the worst part of AnoHana (this wasn't even the story). This anime tries to be too dramatic, too often, and does too much to achieve it. Let's take an exemple of an anime that does its emotional part well: Toradora (Without any doubt my favorite Slice-of-life anime). In Toradora, the story focuses on the characters, with a touch of comedy, and make them likable, with a light-hearted story. The emotional climax kicks in only very late in the show, and that's what makes it so powerful: When you get attached to the characters, see them smile and have fun, it hits you right in the feels when you see them cry. AnoHana does exactly the opposite: There is a dramatic scene in almost each episode (and I'm not even talking about how these scenes are exaggerated), and the characters seem permanently sad and depressed. Add to this that, as I said, these characters aren't especially likable, and you'll understand why I'm saying this show is a failed drama

OVERALL (4.0/10)
If you couldn't tell even after reading my review, I really didn't like AnoHana. It isn't a bad show strictly speaking, but with its childish story, its meh characters and its failed drama, I definitely can't recommend it. Instead, I can recommend you other better animes of the same genre:
-Toradora, as I said before, is my favorite slice-of-life anime
-Angel Beats, dealing with similar themes, but done much better, with a lot of likable characters (it has some flaws though)
-Shigatsu wa kimi no Uso, I just finished watching it, and it's a damn good drama (with awesome music)

Keep in mind that I'm still open to discussion, so if you disagree, leave a comment, I'm interested in your opinion