Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

After watching AnoHana I was a tear-streaked mess.... Story 9/10 The story follows Yadomi (Jinta), a socially awkward teenage boy who enjoys playing video games and often skips school, and his group of friends. Jinta is pretty normal—except for the fact that he is being followed around by the spirit of Menma, his dead childhood friend. Menma tells Jinta that she cannot leave until he grants a wish of hers that he promised to fulfill when they were children. The problem is that she cannot remember what the wish is. Jinta then sets out to bring together his childhood friends, who have separated and are walkingtheir own paths, so that they can figure out and grant Menma’s wish together. Even though most of the events were quite predictable it was still very interesting to watch. Overall, the anime was very emotional but there was lots of comedy and the romance was pure and adorable. The only problem I had with the story is that there were several things that didn’t quite make sense. The ending, however, was very satisfying.

Art & Sound 10/10
The character designs matched each of the characters perfectly. The designs of each of the characters as children was also well done. Every time there was a flashback to the characters childhoods, the visuals would appear to be brighter which goes to show how their lives were filled with more light when they were children but now that they’re older there is more darkness. I also thought that the backgrounds were quite breath-taking. The voice actors did a marvellous job portraying their characters in my opinion. The OP was very catchy and the background music helped set the atmosphere.

Character 10/10
The characters were all memorable and each of them had their own way of dealing with situations. Jinta, the socially awkward slacker; Menma, absolutely cute but not an air-head; Anaru, extroverted and confident; Poppo, comical and eccentric; Yukiatsu, mysterious and little bit of an egoist; Tsuruko, intelligent and cocky. At the beginning of the series you may not understand the characters and some of their actions (you might even become agitated with them) but as you progress through the anime, you’ll be able to develop empathy for each of the characters and you’ll see them mature.

Enjoyment 9/10
This isn’t what you should watch if you hate anime that revolves around feelings and emotions but if you are looking for something refreshing that dwells deep into the psyche then you should definitely watch this. This anime gave me a sense of why friendships and romance are important in life and I would definitely watch it again.