Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Story: 10 Meiko "Menma" Honma was killed in a tragic accident as a child. It has been ten years since her accident and her childhood friends have moved on. Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi has become a hikikomori and closed himself off from society. Naruko "Anaru" Anjou, Atemu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki, Chiriko "Tsuruko" Tsurumi and Tetsudo "Poppo" Hisakawa have grown up and moved forward with their lives. One summer, Menma appears before Jinta and says she cannot pass on until her wish has granted. Jinta must now unite the childhood group if he is to send Menma off to Heaven. However, once the group acknowledges Menma's presence many secretssurrounding her death and their feelings around her start to resurface and it leaves them wondering if they want to see their friend leave them a second time.
Art: 10
I personally really enjoyed the animation. I thought the characters and scenery were drawn out really well. The art made the anime even more enjoyable.
Sound: 10
One of my favorite things about the anime would be the soundtrack. The opening theme is "Aoi Shiori" by Galileo Galilei. The opening animation depicts images of each individual character as they start to reminisce about their childhood. However, I think the song is in Menma's point of view since the lyrics suggest that she is stuck and she can't write the next chapter(her afterlife) so she has put a bookmark in the diary. The song also implies for the other characters for it describes that they have one hand out looking for Menma. The ending song is a cover by Zone and it is called, "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ (10 years after Ver.) It is performed by Ai Kayano, Haruka Tomatsu, and Saori Hayami. The lyrics and ending animation tell of how the gang and Menma value their childhood memories and that in ten years time they hope to meet again. Menma especially holds on to these memories for she loves everybody in the club.
Characters: 10
The character cast is brilliant with some minor and supporting cast. The main characters are the members of the club: Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi, Naruko "Anaru" Anjou, Atemu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki, Chiriko "Tsuruko" Tsurumi, Tetsudo "Poppo" Hisakawa and Meiko "Menma" Honma. Menma was the one who started the group and even gave everyone their nicknames. She appointed Jintan the leader. Menma acknowledges that she is dead but even so, she can still eat, sleep and play like she was alive. Her cheerful and cute personality gives her many admirers and many people to hate her because of that fact. She is like the peacemaker of the group and she can only be seen by Jintan(at first.) The other characters are deeply affected by Menma's death especially Yukiatsu who had very strong feelings towards Menma. As we explore the pasts with them, we learn very deep and emotional things about the characters and their feelings for the group. The cast is deeply developed and the minor characters include Menma's grieving family and Jintan's carefree father. I enjoyed the cast of characters for they were very much like a real close knit family in the end even going by their old nicknames like friends in real life would do after a friend's passing.
Overall: 10
Overall, this piece was absolutely beautiful. It was emotional, tragic, comedic and a bit romantic. Animation was breathtaking and the music was absolutely genius. The downside though is that the anime is only 11 episodes long and the ending can sort of leave the viewer guessing about what happened after.
I highly recommend this slice of life genre anime for it relates to real life and the story is absolutely magnificent. I shed a lot of tears. It is a beautiful, heartwarming story I think everyone would love.