Hitohira

Hitohira! What a beautiful surprise it was! Sometimes having low expectations is the key to enjoy something even more. Maybe that was the case for me or maybe it was that this "little" anime is really nice! In any case here is my review on it :


Concerning the Story & Characters

The story is simple and straightforward but at the same time engaging. There aren't any really complicated situations or unexpected turnarounds or something like that. It's not over-dramatic either. However it never feels shallow or boring. There's a nice progression overall and 12 episodes felt exactly right. Not too long or too short.
The ... characters are this anime's great strength. They're interesting and well developed. Their struggles, doubts, worries as well as their happiness is expressed in a beautiful way. For example lets take Mugi. In most anime it's not clear how exactly the characters grow stronger. I mean at some point they're really weak and then suddenly after getting some beating they become much stronger for no other apparent reason. This is not the case here. In those 12 episodes we see in detail how Mugi grows stronger, how her personality changes for the best and how she's able to overcome even her own irrational (pathological) fears.


Concerning the Art & Sound

The art was fine. Characters were distinctive and well drown. Animation was fine too. I didn't really like the opening or the ending songs but then again that doesn't really affect the anime itself. However the music and sound effects inside the episodes were fitting. The voice acting was very nice (i saw the Japanese version dunno if there's a dub)


Overall I enjoyed Hitohira very much! It's a sweet, heartwarming anime that doesn't underestimate the viewers. Watch it!

Hitohira is an often over looked school anime.

Story 7/10

The story starts out with the main character getting accepted into a school and yelling loudly , for the "2nd " drama club to hear her and want her to join. The twist is she is a naturally shy person who breaks down around other people. I found this to be an interesting yet cliche premise to the story. Nothing really stands out plot wise after this event at all , but that is not to say the plot is bad , just that it lacks originally. One key point people should be aware of when ... looking into this anime is the fact the pacing is HORRIBLE past episode 8. While the last episode does conclude things nicely the series drew out the plot from episodes 1-8 too much, they literally turned a 4 episode arc into an 8 episode one ( nicely done though , but it left them no material for the remainder of the series ) and it is like they realized this and tried to throw a plot together for the remaining episodes only to fail horribly ( again minus the final episode ).

Characters 7/10

Much like the story it is like the creators had no idea what to do after episode 8. They built up the two main characters only to put them into "filler" with their development. Had this been a 24 episode series this would have been fine , but on episode 9 of 12 to basically cut off all character development is a total joke. Aside from this I personally hated how they only developed one other character , and that would be the " antagonist " of the series.

Art 7/10

The characters looked decent , and I did not notice any animination issues. My only complaint with this series art wise would be the coloring. The coloring was very bland for the series.

Sound 7/10

Again , everything was decent. My only complaint was the crying of the main character. Sounded VERY forced.

Enjoyment 7/10

Aside from pacing issues this series had a good story with decent characters that made me enjoy the series. The reason this is an average rating for enjoyment is due to lack of drama , lack of comedy , and the pacing

Overall 7/10

I suggest this series to anyone who wants a layed back school anime , with a decent plot and characters and does not expect too much development of the plot or characters.

Stumbling across this anime, I tried it without much hesitation. The story of a shy character getting in the drama club is appealing. You already see the conflicts the main character will have to overcome, and the change in her personnality as a consequence. As I haven't seen mangas about drama clubs, though I'd be surprised there wouldn't be any other out there, the idea isn't overused, and quite relatable since people tend to recommend acting classes for shy kids, and since I was quite a shy kid myself, I've been through that.

The anime, though, did not make a very good first impression on me. ... I found the first episode clumsy : too much exposition, for little knowledge about the characters. They all looked shallow to me, with some exceptions. Nishida Kai, the male lead, is well introduced, lively, boisterous yet considerate ; and Chitose Kanna, one of the main character's friends, somewhat of a rival to her, who touched me with her love for drama, something I could relate to and felt real ; also the character is funny, I laughed quite a few times throughout the anime thanks to her. On the other hand, the main character seemed defined only by her shyness, her best friend seemed lackluster - as I felt her love for photography was more or less a way to botch her up, since we don't know anything else about her - and the Drama Research Club, a bit too cliché for my taste.

The art didn't appeal to me that much. I found the sakuras overwhelming, and all this red everywhere, the uniforms, the hair, too much for me. All throughout the anime I had this weird feeling that the voice of the main character didn't fit, although the actor does an impressive job playing out her shyness. The music pissed me off : I found it most of times not that befitting to the scenes, not helping that much conveying the emotions at hand. All of these little things that put me off at first.

Still, I carried on, and found myself willing to watch an episode after the other. Some change of scenery throughout the episodes felt refreshing, and the struggles of shyness while learning acting little by little is an interesting topic. What especially saved the anime for me was that the character development clicked. Through learning the backstory of the characters, they somewhat gained a bit of that depth the first episode couldn't give them. Yet, the second half of the anime was a bit of a struggle to watch for me, as I found it unnecessarily overdramatic, didn't find the story very compelling and as a consequence, I didn't enjoy the resolution that much.

Overall, the show can be enjoyable, but not of the greatests. The idea is good and the anime does a fine job working it out. I leave opened the fact that my impressions can be misleading, as there's no accounting for taste. However, I'm pretty confident that there are better stories out there.