Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
The Super Peace Busters will always be the best of friends. For all time, for all eternity, even if there’s no reality. Being a tale revolving around a tragedy suffered by one of its main characters, Ano Hana does a very good job of showing how the decisive incident had affected the other characters, and how the fact that each of them were unable to let go of the tragedy in their shared past drove them to deal with it in their own ways. This makes for a cast of sympathetic characters, each with unique quirks and underlying motivations, which interact with each other quite seamlessly… apartfrom the one character which the whole story revolves around in the first place.
Indeed, in a cast of more or less well-developed personalities, it is Menma which comes across as something of an anomaly, being simultaneously a childish and an idealized figure which everyone else somehow loved unconditionally, despite being rather flat as a character.
After the accident which took the life of Honma “Menma” Meiko, the surviving childhood friends which made up the “Super Peace Busters” broke up, and gradually drifted apart. Several years later, her ghost appears before Yadomi “Jintan” Jinta, who was the leader of the band, but had withdrawn from society and become a hikkikomori. However, since she cannot be seen by anyone else, Jintan’s insistence of her reappearance only reopens the old wounds that the rest of the former childhood friends have been harbouring since that day.
AnoHana generally achieves an animation standard on par with many of its peers, although it manages to add one or two interesting distinguishing touches. We notice an effort to capture the tone of the story in the visuals - scenes prefer the dusk, dawn, and evening, meaning melancholy shadows creep in many a nook. Though I've got to add I'm a big fan of the animation in this one. It’s really smooth and nice looking. The characters are simple looking, but it's what makes them look more "down to earth". Since this story is light and focuses on feelings, the animation is bright and soothing.
The overall sound quality in this animation is excellent. The voice acting is great bringing out the emotions of the characters. However, the soundtrack and songs are another matter. The OP/ED really spice up the story! They both are calmer than average, but still make you want to listen to them over and over.
During the anime, sad sounding songs are used to add more to the emotions displayed all to make the anime greater.
This is a wise soundtrack that knows its presence is required to accentuate and not dominate. Melodic, mellow, and utterly fitting, it works with the mood of the show when it is needed and stays completely out of the way when it is not.
AnoHana never allows its leads to wallow and instead sends them bumping along a dynamic grieving process marked by poignant rediscovery. The result is a piecemeal deconstruction of their final moments with Menma and how uniquely it affected them. Considering the brief running time, AnoHana manages a heroic amount of characterisation and whenever two characters interact, the resulting drama sparkles.
Such as when geek Anaru’s relationship with her new vapid friends, for instance, becomes a fascinating glimpse into her pushover personality and brings an added gratification when she rediscovers the joys of gaming with Jintan. Yukiatsu, an arrogant overachiever brimming with undisguised resentment, proves a peculiar success as the hidden contrasts of his personality come to light.
All in all, it's a must see anime. It's very heart-warming and touches at that right spot. It's very dramatic, so you won't like this if you don't like drama. The story really draws you in, has cute characters and the atmosphere is soothing. If you've lost someone close to you, this is an anime that you can really feel close to you. I'm a person who really doesn't really display my emotions but DAYUUM this one has made me cry for a good 10 minutes.
AnoHana- Making rivers and dehydrated people since 2011.