Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Some stories often have a defining trait that makes them stand out from the rest, in so that some are considered great even if they contain flaws that are glaringly obvious. Then again, no masterpiece is ever considered perfect by all. But for a story to achieve such a level of what it is set out to be, despite the errors it might have made in structuring its narrative or handling of characters is notably a remarkable feat. One of the examples of these stories is AnoHana: The Flower We Saw That Day, an 11-episode series made by A-1 Pictures that focuses on a singletheme of grief and moving on...while making viewers cry along the way.

The story can be summed up in a single-sentence synopsis: A shut-in's late childhood friend comes back to haunt him to help her grant a wish so that she may rest in peace. A simple premise, but it does its job. The plot does not try to be anything pretentious, nor does it overly stay on the theoretical metaphysics of ethereal people. It is what it is, and it helps formulate a focused character-driven plot through the main characters and their childhood (and used-to-be) friends. There comes joy, there comes sadness, there comes grief, and there comes the distinctiveness of how each character copes to being put in these situations, leading to how they each learn to move on from the past and rekindle lost friendships.

The characters are some of the most realistic teenage cast I've watched, yet they feel so superficial as well, with the probable exception of the main character himself, Jinta. He, being the only character to be able to see the ghost of his childhood friend Menma, is the focus for most of the story and we witness his own share of grief and how his portrayal couldn't have been more accurate than the rest of the cast. Menma, on the other hand, is pretty likable but had me a sense of underdevelopment, despite being the most important character. But she isn't exactly moe fodder either; she serves a purpose rather than just a plot device (unlike Kaori from Your Lie in April, cough) and for me, she steals the spotlight every time she is in the scene.

For the rest of the cast, however, I needed more believability. They were all distinct from one another, and had good characterizations, but some of them had a lack of time for their character arcs to be explored and some are just...weird. Believe me, one of the cast is a total creep, and that's not exaggerating things. All in all though, I loved the whole cast and throughout the whole show I felt a connection to them that I can't quite define. (Except for the creep.)

AnoHana's OP and ED set up the mood like a brainwashing device. Once you listen to it, you can't stop listening. And once you can't stop listening, they condition you to automatically have some feels as soon as the song plays. I am not joking. Hearing the ending song, Secret Base, always gives me the goosebumps. And involuntary tears. The rest of the background music used for the show weren't anything notable, but they are also good mood-setters for the overall setting of the show, which is summer.

The biggest flaw I can see with AnoHana are the illogical moments just for the plot to conveniently wait and progress at a later time. Also, it suffers from being too short. One more episode couldn't have hurt. The pacing from the initial episodes were slow-paced as well, having too much emphasis on sentimentality everywhere. As much as AnoHana is a melodrama, it could've used a little bit of breathers as to have more time to be more progressive plot-wise and not too reliant in inducing sad emotions.

I needed an ending like AnoHana's too after watching too many anime with abrupt and disappointing endings. The climax of the show is the peak of one's emotional investment with the cast and the atmosphere it has produced throughout, and it pulls it off so spectacularly that you might as well forget all the plot holes and just take some time, inhale, and then cry. AnoHana is the first anime to make me shed tears (proudly. Also technically I almost cried with Steins;Gate and WILL probably cry around the release of Steins;Gate 0 because I seriously cried at one of the scenes in the visual novel), and it fully deserves some merit to be one of the best bittersweet anime around.