Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai Another-great-anime-with-an-awful-long-title. Is it character-driven? Yes. Melodramatic/tear-jerking? Yes, sometimes. Convoluted storyline? No. Overrated? Definately Not. These were the sentences I'd like to start my review... Since I couldn't find a way to put them all together in a short paragraph, I though in leaving them like this. If you're the kind of person who enjoy "twitter-like" reviews, these sentences can give you a direction already. However, for a better understanding, I'd recomend you to get your reading glasses because there's a lot to talk about this peculiar anime. There are tons of reviews for these recent series, so it's becoming hard to"say what haven't been said yet", I'll try not to be repetitive and express my impressions and opinions. Sometimes a well written review is enough to move someone into giving a try or not. isn't it?

"The beast of summer. The source of my stress. My trauma."
This is how we are introduced to the female lead of the series. Meiko "Menma" Homna. The whole plot will move around her and you'll soon find out why within 1 or 2 episodes.
AnoHana have a great starting punch, it opens with a light-hearted comedy mixed with slice of-life, however at the same time, start developing a deeper situation, characteristic from drama animes, that in the 2nd episode takes the main stage.
The storyline also brings out that philosophy of "measure your actions/words" because you never know if they will be the last you spoke and/or someone will hear from you. It's very nice to see how they manage to use a theme that could appear silly and plain to a casual spectator in a way that creates a great atmosphere that blends perfectly with the story. In the other hand... it gets pretty boring after a few episodes. This is one of AnoHana's low points, even though the inicial ideia was great, they spend too much time in the same issue, which one could see as an excuse to not develop more the story. This all gives that feeling of slow paced melodrama that could be solved in 1 ep. but took 5 instead.
However it does not take its pride and AnoHana's story still shines due to its other great "features". (it may sounds like I'm selling this to you, but isn't this what a review does?) unlike other anime series from the same genre, AnoHana is "easy" to understand, it doesn't have a convoluted plot neither ambigous characters making of it the perfect lighthearted drama to watch anytime with everyone.
In the end, to not spoil anything neither digress too much I'd say AnoHana story is more like a reinvented and adapted Rome&Juli of these years, specially now that there's this commotion about undead, zombies, vampires...so why not ghosts? (you'll get wht I mean when you watch)

"you haven't changed at all" / "you changed a lot"
Since it's a character-driven story, you have a LOT of character development. Which is great but if not carefully planed may result in messy reactions or into confusing twists from characters behaviors. You may think: we're talking about human relationships, and as we know, they're always unstable and uncertain. But there's a limit where this uncertainty becomes repetitive and contraditory. This is what the production should always pay attention to. Make sure none of the characters say sentences that contradicts with something he said before. I won't go further in this matter since it's a very personal interpretation, and anyone who sees it can have a different ideia. Better to leave this for the discussion boards.

One thing that motivated me for watching this anime was the cast selection. All the voice actors selected are awesome and were perfectly choosen for the characters they played. A lot of friends recomended this to me, but the moment when I opened MAL summary and checked who were the voice actors I knew something good would come from it.
Haruka Tomatsu who voiced the adorable Nagi (from Kannagi) returns as Anjou "Anaru" Naruko along with Ai Kayano, the Mayaka Ibara from Hyouka (voicing Menma) and also Miyu Irino, Chizuru Tachibana from Kimi to Boku (Jintan).

What I love in drama animes is that they always valorize the entire set of OST, inserted soundtrack, OP, ED... From all the series I've watched, the ones with the best and the most emotional OST, if not from Makoto Shinkai are doubtless from A1-Pictures. What is an opening if not a very well done AMV? The song choosen for AnoHana's opening explains the entire story if you pay atention to it. And the ending? Starting with the perfect timing moving you to tears, while you're wondering "why the hell am I crying over it?". Both are soft animated and have a funky feeling not so sad, not so happy, blending well with almost every situation. The background sound exceded my expectations. There were great scenes where the piano or acoustic pieces were ingeniously placed.

Unfortunately while reviewing I can't talk about the ending of the anime, however, if you need a reason to watch, it is the last 2 episodes. They made up for the entire anime. (God, I loved that ending.) If it happened to end in the 10th episode, it would be perfect. The timing was perfect, the soundtrack as well, the storyline on it's climax... After it, I though to myself "the final episode gonna sucks". I was completely wrong.
That last episode closes up the story in a way I've never seen before. No lose ends at all.
In the overall, AnoHana is a great anime, with a clean (little moe) artwork, just like others A1-Pictures series, had a great potential, explored it, and corresponded to my expectations. It's not perfect neither the best drama out there, but it's a great story of growing up and friendship. One of those "meaning of life" animes to watch and store. :D
From the latest releases of romance and drama of this 2012 season this was the most promissing and it seems I'm not the only who thinks like this as we can see in the rating. ^^"
The numerical score (if you prefer this way)
Story: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Artwork: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Arithmetic overall: 8/10 (Very Good)
Full numeric scale 0~10. The average been 5.

If you read until here BEFORE voting down (or up), thanks!! You made my day.
Pleeease talk with me! I don't bite! I'm a needy person, I need comments to improve my reviews! These heartless buttons are useless. There's nothing like interacting with humans :3