Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

NOTE: I will be referring to the series as Anohana throughout this review I apologize if this review is poorly written, as this is my first review on a whole anime series. I'm going to keep it in basic review format. Also, this review will contain spoilers. On the surface, Anohana seems like an average show about a group of friends, yet that is not the case. Story- Anohana is an anime about the ghost of a deceased girl from a group of childhood friends. The girl, Menma, drowned when they were all kids. After she died the friend group split up and went their separate ways, Jintanfinds himself seeing Menma in his house. At first he thinks it's an illusion, but he soon realizes it's not. He tells his friends throughout the show yet they don't believe him at first. Eventually, they all join together again later in the show. Menma has a wish, but she forgot what it was. Jintan, and his group of childhood friends need to find out Menma's wish so that she can leave the world. They try different methods, to no avail. Throughout the story, we get time for the characters to grow on us, with many memorable scenes, (Like when Atsumu dressed up as Menma.) Eventually, they find out Menma's wish, which is to reunite the 'Super Peace Busters', and at the end of the show, the group says goodbye to Menma, and she vanishes. That's basically the gist of it. Overall, it's a very nice story and I find almost no flaws in the story-telling. That final scene was beautiful as well.

Art-
I'm going to keep this section of the review shorter, as there's not much to talk about here. The art is wonderful, nothing too special, but I'd say slightly above average.

Sound-
Again, I'm keeping this section of the review shorter. The sound is nice here, not much to talk about the sound though.

Character-
For this section, I'm going to review the characters on their own.
Jintan- Jintan is a very interesting character for somebody I thought was just an average boy at first. He refuses to go to school and locks himself in all day, he lives with regret and guilt everyday, and he's overall an interesting character.

Menma- Menma is also a very intriguing character, she's a dead girl who cares for everybody but herself. She likes Jintan, and jintan likes her, that's what's so tragic about it. Because she is dead, they'll never be together or have a happy ending.

Naruko-
She really loves hanging out with her old friends, but she also has new friends, which her personality and style doesn't match with them at all. Another interesting thing is that she likes Jintan in a romantic way, but Jintan who still loves Menma even though she's gone, doesn't realize that. She has also always been jealous of Menma. Overall a very interesting character with an interesting relationship with Jintan.

Tetsudou-
Jintan's best pal. He's just a really funny guy and really cheery, but can get really emotional when it comes down to it. He's the one who saw Menma floating in the water, and was terrified. He lives with guilt thinking that it's all his fault.

Atsumu-
Atsumu has always liked Menma since they were kids, yet she never seemed to notice it. He also seems to strongly dislike Jintan because he thinks he's making things up about seeing Menma as a ghost more than anyone. Very interesting character.

Chiriko-
I never really clicked with Chiriko, I just didn't like her as much asthe other characters. She's in love with Atsumu, but she doesn't tell him so it goes unnoticed for most of the show. There isn't a lot more to say about her.

Enjoyment-
I enjoyed this show quite a bit. I finished it in one night, and it tells the story very well in the span of 11 episodes. The ending had me really sad, too.

Overall-
Overall, it's a very solid show, and if you haven't yet, I recommend you watch it.