Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Coming to terms with the past is never easy. Somethings still manage to influence you even years after they happened and, no matter how much you try, it stays with you for a while. Naturally, it is possible to come to terms with the past and that is what Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai., AnoHana for short, is about. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. (We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day.) was released in 2011 and produced by A-1 Pictures. It is an original slice-of-life drama with supernaturalelements anime directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai, who most notably directed Toradora!.

AnoHana has a strange premise. While at first glance it seems perfectly happy, further analysis reveals just how unusually depressive it really is. There is a tone of nostalgia and melancholy that surrounds the story and dominates it.

This is further explored as the story develops. Every decision made and progress realized reinforces the idea that the past defines the present and future, until, much like the message conveyed, this theme is broken by the end.

That is the beauty of it. There is a complete synergy between the story and the way its themes are developed. A lot of people, including some of the people who recommended this anime to me, said that they cried during the last episode, and the way its theme is developed is a big part of that. The theme by itself would have been terribly said, but the way the story explores it makes it even more special.

One of the more unusual elements of AnoHana is the heavy presence of flashbacks and the way they are developed. Much like real life, thewse flashbacks seem more like memories, heavily romanticised and part of a past half-forgotten. This is noe of the many hints of realism the series present.

I do have one criticism to it, sadly. The mystery part of it din't entice me just as much. The whole mystery is a promise, but that wasn't a very enticing mistery. It was needed, however, for the story to move. One of the reasons for my lack of appreciation for the mystery was that the character interactions eclipsed it completely.

While the characters physically grow up, they still thinks of themselves as kids that haven't really changed that much during the years. And that is, to me, a great representation of the way teenagers actually think. Also, some of them even have various "personas" depending on where they are, which also is something quite common during teenage years and life as a whole.

But more than just the realism, the 6 main characters of AnoHana are vastly different from most of other characters in slice-of-life. Their personalities are (mostly) devoid of clichés, take for instance Poppo, a very unusual drop-out. After dropping out, he didn't just stay shut in his home, he started working and saved up the money to explore the world. The reason for that is beautifully explored, by the way.

They have a surprising amount of depth explored during the eleven-episodes-long anime, which is a feat in itself. The way this was accomplished was by keeping the filler to a minimum and elevating the meaningful interactions to a maximum. But do not mistake this for character development. They hardly change during the course of the story. Following this line of thought, a more fitting term for it is character reveal. Rather than evolving, the characters, with time, start showing what they have been thinking all along.

The character design and its changes between early childhood and the teenage years is something of note. More often than not, the kid version of the characters is just a mini-version of their older design, but in AnoHana this is different. There is a huge amount of attention of detail that is evident by the changes between the designs. The artists considered not only the growth of the characters, but also their situation. Jintan became socially anxious and, as such, stopped bothering to cut his hair. Poppo is always doing manual work, which means he is tan. The list goes one.

The general art is not as impressive. It is fairly good, just not jaw dropping.

The soundtrack is heavily melodic and nostalgic, which is a perfect fit for the story. Both the OP and the ED are works of art. The first is pop-ish and evokes the nostalgia of the days already past, while the second is much calmer, but much more tragic.

The voice acting is brilliant. It realizes what every voice acting should strive for: complementing the story and enhancing by giving more layers. All of the 6 main actors do spectacular jobs.

As someone who lost friends (it wasn't nearly as tragic as this though, he just had to move), I immediately related to the characters and their worries of how they could change the past. I wouldn't say I enjoyed AnoHana, but I loved it for what it was.

I would recommend it to people who regret parts of the past and want to change it, it will give you something to think about. Lovers of dramatic slice-of-life will find a lot to like in it, also. For anyone else, just keep in mind what it is and you will probably be immersed by its realism.