Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

This came recommended by MAL which had had a pretty good track record; and still does. The art and character designs are great, but that’s to be expected when there are no spectacular action sequences. Each character is distinct and easy to recognize. One thing I want to praise about this anime first and foremost is how realistically it plays out. At no point do the characters engage in the poor decision making that plagues anime in this genre. At no point do I question the decision making processes of the characters. I also love how there isn’t a “righteous hero” type character trying toforce the solution through the power of friendship, while ignoring the weight the other characters carry. Rarely do ornamental words resolve emotional issues. It’s refreshing to see a series understand that. I can’t really go into the plot too much because I feel like I’d be spoiling it. It’s about the journey not the destination. But I can say it’s about the weight we all carry and how we cope with it in different ways.
One “issue” this series brings up for me has to do with unrequited love; and how it motivates and consumes us. You see this series showcases both the futility and motivations behind it and some up why I wasn’t alone in hating Chidori from Kiznaiver. It’s one thing to understand the motivations of characters carrying around unrequited love like they do here. But in a character like Chidori, it’s nothing more than a plot device that sane people can't understand. They’re all high school students, yet one show handles their emotions so much better than the other. Because Anohana didn’t use their emotions as the driving force for the plot, where Kiznaiver did. This separates a good show from a great show.
So if you can handle realistic, touchy feely drama Anohana gets my highest recommendations. It's easy to see why it got such high scores all around.