Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Everyone has something that haunts them from their past, and what matters most is how you deal with it rather than what it was. Anohana deals with the regrets of 5 characters, and their struggle to move on. Story: The story of Anohana starts out with a random chance encounter of an old childhood friend that the main character Jinta meets. The show then proceeds to introduce the characters and their history together, and what's happened since. This is cleverly done in a way that has good pacing and allows for the story to be enriched by the character development. You see things progress not justwith the story, but with the characters, and that lets you see actual growth and a fluctuation with the characters. This is crucial for any drama, and Anohana executes this excellently. The only thing that could be critiqued, in my opinion, is that although the characters are at the age where a tragedy like this could be introduced in a story with a deep and meaningful plot, these characters may have gotten a richer and fuller plot if they were older. Even by making the characters older by 3 years, and the incident by a little, it doesn't detract from the original intent of the story. This small change could allow for more extremes shown, and overall a deeper narrative. However, even without this, the show executes the main and sub aspects of the plot brilliantly.

Art: For 2012 standards, the art isn't amazing, but it's not bad. Some scenes feel a bit under-detailed with character drawings, but as these scenes are usually still shots, it's not a problem for the rest of the show. One quality of the art that I really enjoyed was the colors that they used for this show. Watching most of the episodes, everything has more of a mellow, but bright feel with the colors. Scenes show colors that are vibrant, yet not incredibly bright. This artstyle uses softer colors, similar to Your Lie in April, although that show uses scenes that require bright and intense colors, in contrast to Anohana's more laid back feeling.

Sound: Voice acting is on par, as usual, and accompanies the music in the background. Speaking of the music, everything is quiet and mellow, kind of reflecting the setting of the show. Everything in this show was relaxing aside from the feels you'll get, and that's shown prominently with the OST. The most upbeat thing you'll hear from the show is probably the opening, which still isn't too upbeat. The last thing that I can talk about is the show's ending. Secret Base hits you with feels from the moment that it starts, especially with the last episode, similar to No Game No Life: Zero with its ending theme. Overall, music is on point.

Character: The characters within Anohana start off a bit unlikable due to their obvious character differences that manifested due to the one traumatic event that they had to bear through. This, however, quickly changes as they learn that staying the way they are isn't the best course of action. Jinta, surprisingly, isn't the first to change, as this actually goes to Naruko, who breaks out of her character to escape the pressures from her friends. The changes you see in these characters are genuine, and their reasons are realistic. These characters are ones that you can sympathize with, even if you've never experienced loss. You find that everyone has their own burdens that they've lived with for the past 10 years, which allows for deep character building and backstory. Hell, even the show's comic relief ends up being the one who's suffered the most. Overall, even with what I said in the story section, the ages that you see these characters at doesn't affect the development and backgrounds of these characters

Enjoyment: Anohana is a show that I enjoyed watching, even watching 4 episodes when I should have been studying. It's a rollercoaster that's enjoyable every second, even when leaving. That can't be said for most shows. However, if you don't like crying, don't go for it. Otherwise, enjoy an amazing story, cast, and immense feels (even if you're like me and didn't get the feels).

Overall: This show is one of the shows that if you're going to watch sad and depressing things, you need to watch. Even without that, you still should watch this show. It's a bit short, but that's balanced by the fact that there is a movie that ties into the rest of the story. My overall opinion is that of the list of shows that need to be watched, this is pretty high on that list. If you're heading for the Trinity of Depression™ or the Four Feels of the Apocalypse™ (trust me you know them), this is a series that definitely is on it. Overall, this show blends in all its small nuances and details together to create a charming and unforgettable show. Just make sure to bring the Clannad tissue box.