Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
One day a recluse named Yadomi encounters Meiko (Menma), a friend who had died when they were younger. Menma asks for Yadomi to grant her wish, the only problem being that she can't remember her wish. Ano Hana is an interesting take on a ghost story involving a group of six friends who drifted apart after a tragic accident befell one of them, and how through Menma's efforts, the gang finally comes to terms with each other and their loss. It's a story about moving on that anyone who has lost a loved one can relate to. Despite being a fairly slow-paced series, it strikes agood balance between an engaging plot line and solid character development. This was definitely much more of a mature show than the drawing style suggested.
Be warned that this series has a sad but hopeful undertone, and that there is more crying here than from the sum total of Usagi Tsukino in 200 episodes of Sailor Moon. This series is all about relationships, how they form and change as time goes on. This series is not for everyone; action and comedy fans will be bored out of their minds. This series is for those who like depth of character development and relationships. Despite this being a ghost-based story, it's not meant to be scary.
Animation:
The animation style looks almost a bit childish considering the serious undertone. For the most part, this is drawn in the style of a normal slice-of-life series with usually vibrant colors and serene backgrounds. Characters aren't what I call gorgeous but are decent. Facial animations are well done. You're not going to find any real action or significantly ecchi scenes (relatively speaking). A good portion of the screen time is spent as a flashback, revisiting the day of Menma's death repeatedly; explicating just a bit more every time.
Sound:
I'm not a terrible fan of the OP, as it feels very blase considering the story. The ED is much better, doing a great job of capturing the mood of the series; I particularly like the cinematic fade-in used in many of the episodes. The BGM isn't very memorable, mostly because it isn't there a lot of the time; it consists mainly of piano/guitar solos that may lull you to sleeping.
VAs do a good job, especially towards the end of the show for reasons I'm not going to state here. You really do get a sense that the main character changes (vocally) as the series progresses (less of a hikikomori). You'll definitely hear a lot of crying, both from the male and female cast. The believability is very high.
Story:
Yadomi (Jin-kun) decides to grant Menma's wish, whatever it may be, and soon realizes the only clue to what her wish might be lies with the other four members of the Super Peace Busters. Everyone has changed since their childhood days, and Yadomi finds it difficult to bring the group back together. The story follows his interactions with the other members and eventually their effort to grant Menma's wish.
The general plot line is very linear, but the little details with each character highlight the great execution of the story. They make it really easy to relate to the characters. I also liked the use of the progressive flashback as it just constantly teases you to finish the rest of the show to find out what really happened, and every time they reveal more you realize that your assumptions might have been wrong. Yes there are a few plot and decision holes, but the character development more than covers for this.
The climax is actually a bit of a surprise, as is the actual wish, but the falling action was well executed. Overall the story is very well done.
Character:
Each of the six characters has distinct personalities, and each of them has changed in different ways after having to cope with Menma's death; each one harboring guilty feelings towards the incident. The explication of how each character deals with their trauma is really good and very believable. As the group is forced to work together once again to confront the past, you definitely sense the change in the character behaviors. Best of all, there are actually a lot of hidden relationships that aren't revealed until late in the series (slight foreshadow if you're really good).
The characters here are dynamic, believable, and interesting; triple win. The only complaint I have here is how much of a wimp Jin-kun is at first.
Value:
This series might have been 11 episodes long but I ended up chaining the entire thing in one sitting. Haven't done that with a series in a while. For those who like character development, this is your show. It was an enjoyable, positive surprise that had a very positive message; albeit one that might bring tears to some girlfriends.