Isshuukan Friends.

A story about love and friendship.
Isshuukan Friends gave me a sense of warmth in my heart as I watched this light hearted story about beautiful friendships and innocent romance. It kind of reminds me of who I am when I was a kid. my hopes and dreams were far more simpler and good natured. In hopes that the child of me is not disappointed of who I am right now, I watched and enjoyed the show to the fullest.

The story is about a boy meets a girl and asks her to be friends. But this girl has some kind of issue that would make the ... boy's request impossible. Will the boy give up? Will the girl give in? If you're a slice of life fan or not believe me this is a good piece of art!

One Week Friends, a manga that I passed a week reading, I enjoyed the manga so much, then I went to watch the anime, and why Brain’s Base? The manga was so good!
I’ll explain everything for you, starting with the story, the story is very good in the manga, but in the anime isn’t that good, because in the anime it needed to be shorter, then they’ve taken off some important parts, like these:

[SPOILER]

In the manga, they went to an excursion, and in there, Kiryuu and Yamagishi apologised, and in the anime, it’s never happened. In the manga also had a festival, and anime ... it hasn’t, and there are other differences.

[END OF SPOILERS]

Let’s go now to art, oh my god, that is awesome, isn’t so wonderful like the manga’s cover, but I was very impressed with the quality of the art.
And to finish it, the enjoyment (no, I won’t write about sound and character), in the begin I’m enjoying a lot, but after the episode 5 I do not like more the anime, but this anime isn’t bad but could to be better.

A good plot which lasted for a few episodes and was then ruined by a complete wimp and unintelligent main character. The series started out good but with every episode fell lower and lower.

The forced teenage drama devalued this series hugely. I hesitate to even call it teenage drama since it was seemingly just pulled out of nowhere and didn't really make any sense at all. At the start I didn't really have anything to complain about but as mentioned, the further on in the series, the more problems arose.

A very weak 6, given only because I liked a certain side character and the idea ... for the story was unique and interesting.

Isshuukan Friends is one of many anime with slice of life genre. The main characters are Hase Yuuki - cheerful high school student with honest and straightforward character and Fujimiya Kaori - mysterious girl who's never talked to anyone in class and avoids her classmates. The story begins when Hase decided to make Fujimiya her friend. After few failures, Hase finally gained her confidence and our protagonists meet every day on school's roof and have lunch togheter. Things go complicated when Fujimiya revealed her secret to Hase. She loses her memories of moments spent with her friends every Monday, that's why she doesn't want to ... make friends anymore, because she doesn't want to forget about them. Fujimiya's confession doesn't discourage Hase and he decided to help his new friend with her memory problems. He offered her to start write everything she done with her friends in diary.

I like the idea of forgetting memories linked with Fujimiya' friends but personally I think she could think about writing everything she done on her own. It's a bit overrated that only Hase make her realize that she can write about her time spent with friends. It annoyed me a bit, but I don't think it's something value to think about it while reviewing this anime. I must admit that I've enjoyed it very much and it took me only two days to watch these 12 episodes. Excluding very sympathetic main characters, others were very nice and likeable too. There aren't boring episodes, plot reveals slowly showing us the cause of Fujimiya's problem and her childhood friend - Kujou Hajime. Character design are very good in my opinion. These long foreheads and almost unseen noses are kinda cute. Seiyuu cast includes mostly new faces. Honestly I can't write much about music, because soundtrack was so average that I didn't notice anything interesting. This applies to opening and ending too, they're just simple pop songs, nothing in particular. I found Issuukan Friends very enjoyable, because of its uncomplicated plot and friendly characters. I recommend it to anyone who likes slice of life and comedy genre and doesn't require much.

A cute story about friendship.
The story is about Kaori Fujimiya, who loses her memories about her friends every week. But our male lead Yuuki Hase is determined to be her friend.

The anime tells about the topics of friendship and the memories you make with your friends.
It's characters are cute and interesting, for slice-of-life standards. The characters are believable and you begin to root for them and tell them what to do at the end of the anime.
The animation is "round" and smooth, with no high action so the animation was kept simplistic but with a lot of focus on the facial animation.
The humor is alright, ... it made me laugh but nothing to write about.
It have a good ending with everything resolved, but without noticeable progression compared to other slice-of-life, romance. But romance isn't a theme in the anime, but fan of the genre can get disappointed.

Overall a great anime for people into slice-of-life anime with its focus on characters and themes.

Recommended for slice-of-life fans.

What would it be like if you forgot everyone you loved each week? This show gives a shot at showing just that.

Story:

The basic premise of this show is that Kaori Fujimiya, due to a traumatizing event in her past, forgets all her friends and anything that transpired with them every week. And not just the memories themselves, but feelings as well. Due to this, she separates herself from her classmates and does not try to make friends, however one day Yuki Hase takes an interest in her and becomes determined to be her friend, and each episodes generally covers about a week in their lives ... as he becomes closer friends and reveals more of her past. This is the story.

Amnesia is a very basic premise, and this anime doesn’t do anything particularly amazing with it. While it does require a bit of suspension of disbelief when it is revealed how she got her incredibly situational amnesia, as it was in my opinion a lot less dramatic than it could’ve been, it handled it about as well as it could without going the Sci-Fi route.

At it’s base, this show is about childlike friendship, and I almost feel that the show would’ve been better off and more logical if it had been set in middle school, as the characters even in their actions and character designs feel a lot younger than they supposedly are. However, it does handle the aspect of friendship quite well, and it should be commended for focusing so much on just friendship and so little on romance, but that does also play into one of my problems. Lack of a proper conclusion, rather than giving us a true satisfying ending signifying their relationship is beginning to become more than friends, they simple ‘end’ it. Without spoiling anything, that’s my best description, it just sort of ends. Another issue I had, while a rather simple one is probably the most major. And simply put, why did she not already have a diary? Any human being with half a brain cell would know to record their lives if suffering from amnesia, especially like she has, and any half-witted doctor would recommend she does so. Not a large point in the show, but still I thought was stretching the bounds of suspension of disbelief.

Characters:

The cast of one week friends is rather small, it consists of

Kaori, the girl suffering from memory loss
Yuki, the boy trying to become her friend
Shogo, Yuki’s best friend
Saki, who decides, not altogether with Kaori’s consent, to be her friend
And Hajime, a later introduced character who is more of a plot device than anything.

I have to give the show props for handling character interactions very well, when they just have friendly chat, it feels like when friends have friendly chat. Kaori and Yuki are both handled very, very well and my only complaint is that sometimes Yuki seems a bit too over-protective of Yuki, which is addressed but was a strange trait to have in the first place, other than that it was nicely done. However, Saki’s character is almost entirely meant to be comic-relief right down to her being forgetful and clumsy. I understand it’s necessary for Kaori to start getting more female friends, and Saki sort of acted as the window to that, but I feel they could’ve made her a bit less…annoying.

Shogo at first seems mainly comic-relief as well, but as it goes on the audience who has been wondering “why the heck is he Yuki’s best friend” begin to see that despite his uncaring exterior he actually is pretty nice and helps his friend out with some very wise advice when he needs it. I really liked how they showed us there was, pardon the transformers reference, more to him than meets the eye.

Art:

The art in this show is wonderfully done. It does really well to fit the tone and feel of the show. I particularly liked the character’s animation and shading and how well it blends into the colors of the background. While there was a bit of choppiness, that’s to be expected from a rather simplistic slice of life / romance with not much action.

The character designs are really nice, and even though the characters are in high school, the designs made them look a lot younger which I feel fit’s the mood and story a lot more. I really like the way they drew the eyes, right down to that glazed over, forgetful look that she gets when her memories reset. Not much to complain about here.

Sound:

While I don’t have any particularly significant memories, and as I’ve said before I don’t talk about voice actors unless I found them unbearably bad or shockingly good due to my lack of understanding of Japanese. However, the music. Ah the music. They made use of it very well, and it’s really well written. A nice simplistic but incredibly well directed sound, with main focus on a warm piano and an acoustic guitar, with some accompanying by strings and wind instruments. It’s incredibly calming and pleasant and I think could definitely be deemed worthy of a listen on it’s own, if you wanted to sit back and relax to some incredibly pleasant and calming music. Both the Opening and Ending are nice though not beyond amazing. If you find you really like the music, there are a few places you can import the Mini-OST CD that was released in Japan.

Final Thoughts:

This show, simply put, is pleasant.

Though held back by a kind of disappointing conclusion and a really irritating plot development, at it’s core it’s a cute story of childlike friendship beginning to become something more. It knows what it’s focus is and performs it well. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly revolutionary show by any means, but sometimes a show doesn’t have to be. It can simply be good, and that’s what this show was.

(Originally Written July 25th, 2014)

https://writtenandwriting.wordpress.com/

* To think that a slice of life anime would be my last review for this year *
Bear with me please, I know that this might be your fourth or nth time to encounter a One Week Friends review but hear me out :D.

After watching a few or maybe a lot of shounen anime with complex but amazing stories, my head got a little heavy dragging a lot of information so I decided to cool myself off and tried choosing a much more simple and not too confusing anime. Even before One Week Friends aired, I saw the lists of upcoming Spring Anime of ... 2014 and Isshuukan Friends caught my eye. Thus, I finished it and this is my last anime of Spring 2014. My point of view:

*Minor Spoilers*

Story line is a very important factor in an anime and definitely I gave this show a 7 for plot because it isn't original. I've watched movies with the same story that has been told years ago and even today. Movies like 50 first dates and The Vow were extremely emotional and funny. Those movies kina resemble the diegesis of this anime. Isshuukan Friends takes a step forward and picks a very similar synopsis wherein a girl named Fujimiya Kaori tends to ignore her classmates who tries to be close to her because of one depressing reason, she forgets memories of her friends every week. Usually, its always the girl who has that kind of sickness and until now, there are no cure for this devastating memory loss disease. Alas, her worries ended as Yuki Hase, one of her classmates worked hard in order to be her friend every week. Now, what helped her remember the happenings last week? Of course, she kept a diary in order to read it every morning for reminders of who's who and what's what. The episodes from 1- 8, in reality is really slow. The plot and conflict would sometimes not exist and given that this anime has some kind of slice of life theme which I would consider that everything that they do like talking, eating and roaming around with friends is part of the story. Likewise, it is the usual school-themed anime. The beach episode, the classroom episode, the misunderstanding, pe moments, cleaning scenes and so on. After episode 8, (i think) things got a little interesting. With an addition of a new character and unfolds the real reason why Fujimiya had her bizarre illness. Initially, the story focuses on friendship, love and trust. Although, there are unclear romantic relationships, I kept on thinking whether things would resolve and end up into some cliche kiss and have a relationship thing but this serie got an ending it deserved since, the story itself is quite subtle and uncomplicated. This is perfect for people who just want to start on anime. Also, everything in this anime is really fluffy.

My very first anime that I didn't get irritated by the animation and yet it is produced by Brain's Base. Funny, I've seen gore and dark anime produced by Brain's like Baccano!, Blood Lad, and Durarara! and now, a very cute and highly velutinous show has entered its studio. It is amazing how high definition and modernized the graphics of anime we have today. It has a cinch drawing of the characters that suits well with the vibrant atmosphere and intricate backdrops. I really loved the art on the beach scene especially the pristine ocean and the superb sunset! I really thought it was real but to think all of this was just animation.

I can't really say much on the sound effects and the OPS and EDS. Most of them are generic and this show is lacking on scoring what type of music in each emotion, vibe and scene. Things get a little awkward once there is no sound at all or the sound just isn't that noticeable. The voice actors were just as good as the others but I am annoyed by the voice of Saki Yamagishi. I just didn't like the lazy and cheery at the same time attitude. Also, I think I've heard and seen a new set of Seiyuus in this anime so nobody seemed to stand out for me.

Characters were just lucid. They are the kind of characters that are just in your everyday shoujo/slice of life anime.

Here we have:

Yuki Hase - the plain guy who has no special personality. Just overprotective and the savior of the leading girl character. (but at least he isn't in a fucking harem)

Fujimiya Kaori - the misunderstood girl at first but in the latter episodes she turned out to be an innocent and kind girl who loves to interact with everyone.

Yamagishi Saki - super annoying, really lazy and I just wanted her to leave the show. Seriously, just leave.

And those are the three characters that I found basically common and annoying. The character who I just liked among all of the characters was Shogo. He was insanely cute with his coolness and straightforwardness. He isn't afraid of what he'll say and he is surprisingly the most hilarious character in this serie.

Even though I didn't like most of the characters, I eventually accepted them and just went on with the story like reading a page of a book and soon forgetting it.

This anime was a show that I was really excited about and I have to tell you, it didn't disappoint me. It was a good ride but not an awesome ride. I want to give props on its humor level because it is really pure and cute. The fan service isn't really that big of a deal so its safe for all audiences. Also, I enjoyed seeing Shojo in this anime. He always cracks me up!

Everything in this anime is just fluffy and clean. It can make a grown man cry or puke. Everything seems so flooded with uncontaminated adult stuff. The art is the strongest factor in this series and its comedy sides. If you are a fan of shoujo, slice of life and good vibe characters but isn't fond of ecchi, then boy, this sure is the show perfectly fit for you. I'd say this show is boring but what the heck, I finished it and it was just good. Try watching this show if you need a little teddy bear to hug you :D

Although the plotline of Isshuukan Friends reads at first as unrealistic nonsense, it's really nothing but a simple prompt, which the show uses to guide you through complicated human stories. The characters are realistically complex. It surprised me and delighted me that everyone in the story (whether you are initially inclined to like them or not) is treated with levels of patience, kindness, and understanding that I found heartwarming. It's perhaps quite a bit unrealistic for highschoolers to be displaying this level of maturity, but I found it so nice and refreshing to see in fiction that I'm willing to suspend my disbelief. It's a ... deeply moving narrative. Tears happen, giant smiles happen, and you're left just feeling great about everything.

Narrative aside, this show went totally above and beyond the call of duty when it came to its whole visual aesthetic. This is a show about human interaction among kids in school, but it still would occasionally hit you with these gorgeous, painted backgrounds. What also blew me away about it, was that the show is often imbued with these subtle details, such as ambient cars honking or wind, that actually made me feel what it was like exist in the space they were existing in. Sometimes animation just has this pristine feel about it like it was taken out of cellophane, and sometimes you can feel the summer heat, or wind and the rain, or just what it feels like to be outside at all. When these characters are on the beach during a rainstorm, you know exactly what they're experiencing, because of the color palate, or because of the way they are actually affected by the wind and rain. It sounds intuitive, but you don't realize how badly most animation conveys whether and atmosphere until you see it done right.

Isshuukan Friends is an anime with "coming of age" and strong "friendship" themes, and while these types of themes are incredibly common in High School Slice of Life Anime, Isshuukan Friends usually presents these themes in more unique ways.

-Overall
The story of Isshuukan Friends is quite deep and interesting. It's fulfilling, and intriguing. For only 12 episodes, Isshuukan Friends did a great job creating a good story. The Art uses warm colors, which I like, but others might not. Others might be bothered by the eyes as well. They aren't typical anime eyes, they're smaller, wider apart, higher up on the head. The sound is very ... good. Me likey. The characters are all very relatable and likable. They aren't forced, and they act like real people. Hase isn't just a stereotypical male protagonist, who's selfless and kind to an unrealistic degree, and who's brave and strong. Hase gets selfish, jealous, mad, and he's occasionally craven, just like real people. The other characters are also very real. I enjoyed this anime a lot. It was like... peanuts and butter. Strawberries and jam. (yes I know those aren't good comparisons, that was on purpose.)
Story: 8
Art: 7.15
Sound: 8
Character: 9.25
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 8.28. It's very good.
More details down below:

-Story
As a slice of life, one would expect Isshuukan Friends to lack a story, but this slice of life does have a coherent plot. The first half of the series is all about building up character relations to the happy "status quo." This is what many slice of life end up being until the very end. However, in the second portion of the series, the "status quo" gets lost, and the later episodes are all about reconstructing the warm, relaxing, friendly "status quo" that the first half was filled with. In that sense, Isshuukan Friends has a central plot and ends up being somewhat unique for the genre.

-Art
For the most part, the art is typical for the time. Sometimes, however, the art goes over the top amazing. Besides occasional beautifully constructed landscapes, the artstyle sometimes shifts in order to highlight different emotions are characters. For instance, the edges of the screen sometimes fade to white to promote a feeling of warmth and comfort. So, the art is above average.

-Sound
The soundtracks all match very well with the scenes they are in and with the overall themes and emotions of the anime. The opening and endings all work very well and the voices are pretty good as well.

-Characters
The characters are one of the highlights of the show. Firstly, the protagonist Yuuki Hase is very relatable. He's not some ridiculously selfless, chivalrous, or cool character. He gets jealous, selfish, and hateful at times, and those traits, although not often seen in a protagonist, is what makes him so relatable and likable. Fujimiya Kaori is also very well developed and we get to understand Kaori deeply and personally while Hase does. The other characters in the "group" see nearly as much spotlight as Hase and Kaori do, and the supporting characters... don't... because they're supporting characters. Shogo is da best.

-Enjoyment
Over the course of 12 weeks, I got to enjoy a relaxing and comforting show that dipped into friendship, drama, romance, and I got to enjoy a slice in the life of Hase, Kaori, Shogo, and Saki. I always felt refreshed after each episode. This was one of my favorite shows this season and I'm sad to see it go. :(

-Overall
So with a score of 7 in Story, 7 in Art, 8 in Sound, 9 in Character, and 9 in Enjoyment, I "bestow" upon this show an overall score of 8/10. It was a very good show.

One Week Friends, while a short series, really does an excellent job in what it sets out to do: show how meaningful good friendships are to people, and how much an amazing friend can absolutely change your life for the better. The execution of this message is done very well, and is evident in the little, ordinary moments of our characters' lives. I especially loved how the show did not omit the growing romantic feelings of some characters, but still held the main focus to be about strong friendship and support. This show really connected with me and touched me in a genuine way; as ... a personal aside I owe so much of the person I became today to a group of real true friends and will be forever grateful to them. The fact that this show is able to express this feeling so eloquently really makes it a recommended watch for those who enjoy slice-of-life or character centric stories.

As far as the production values, I really enjoyed the light, airy, and unique art style, which I felt lent itself well to the general overall feeling of the show. The colors and character designs were very appealing to the eye. The opening and ending themes are nice but not exceptionally memorable. The soundtrack to the show isn't particularly memorable either. However, when I want a quality anime I want a show with engaging characters and a real, relatable quality to connect to. I think this show delivers that experience.

Isshuukan Friends, I wanted to watch this anime based just on the art, which in my opinion is amazing and the best thing about this show. that doesn't mean it's not good though. i enjoyed watching the ups and downs of their relationship and i found myself exclaiming "Kawaiiiii!" multiple times, it"s very cute.

the story itself felt a little rushed. it had good dialog for the most part but it had very little progression, the only progression that was there was in the characters, wasn't there supposed to be a love story at some point? Both of the love stories in ... this anime weren't fleshed out, the closest they got to it was the girl's mum asking if they held hands. Which is why the anime got an 8 instead of a full on 10. going into the last episode i felt like it would have been the episode that ends with a kiss or atleast an "i love you" or something. don't leave me hanging damnit!

i've found it to be pretty common amongst these shorter series. love, chuunibyo and other delusions did it too. though the second season made up for it, even though they barely got to first base. But here there's very little satisfaction. if it did, it'd be the best boy-meets-girl story ive seen. even better than Chuunibyoo and that started with the girl asking if he'd seen her panties and/or wants to see.

another thing to note is that around episode 9, an additional character that's very important to the story gets shoehorned in and well, he could've done with 1) more screentime and 2) a proper introduction/build uo. because it felt too sudden and i'm still not quite sure what was going on with it.

as far as the characters go,they were great. they had proper progression and depth to them (the comic relief character is an exception) my favourite by far is shogo, he acts cold but he cares a lot and the way he's portrayed is amazing. still not as good as okabe rintarou (or should i say hououin kyouma) But it's good nonetheless.

an overall good anime that doesn't drag and could've even done with an extra episode. but you never know, they've only finished airing a few weeks back.

The main girl(Kaori) has memory problems and loses her memories every week. She's a loner because of this but one boy Hase Yuki goes up to her and asks her to be friends with him. He doesn't give up and that's where the magical relationship happens. I really enjoyed this anime the characters being the main reason. Especially my man Shougo. Let's go over the characters. The main girl Kaori is a very kind, sweet and pure type of girl. She puts up a cold hearted attitude because she is afraid of making friends. The main guy Hase Yuuki is a very kind boy who ... is sensitive, worries a lot, and is sometimes slightly possessive of Kaori. Now the awesome side characters. Saki is a forgetful girl who is clumsy, friendly, and a little silly. Then we have my favorite guy Shougo. He has no problems speaking his mind and is very smart/logical. He may seem like a mean dude but he's actually a kind person at heart. He gets Mahiro back on track so many times and he talks sense into all the characters. He really is an awesome friend and adds a lot of humor into the show with his witty remarks. This show is nice and heartwarming and didn't make me cry like a baby like clannad, plastic memories or anything like that. It will make you feel a lot of emotions but I think heartwarming is the best one it'll make you feel.

There are some anime out there that can be cute but emotional at the same time and Ishuukan friends is one of them as it can warm your heart for whats going on but at the end of the episode or half way through something sad happens for example Sora no woto which had lots of moe thrown into it but it had something more to it that made you get the feels.
The story of Ishuukan friends starts off by showing us Hase wanting to be friends with Fujimiya and well she becomes his friend and eats food with him every break time BUT later ... on after almost a week Fujimiya asks Hase to forget about her and then explains that her memory about friends resets every week on mondays, and so the story continues on with Fujimiya forgetting about Hase and Hase asking her to become friends again tho I dont want to go more into the story to avoid spoilers :).

The character roster in this anime isnt really that big we have Fujimiya,Hase,Kiryuu and Saki and those are the main characters.
The character development through out the story is pretty good but only for Hase which is the most developed character Kiryuu,Fujimiya and Saki dont get much development until the final few episodes which is sad really since it makes you want to see a season 2.

The animation adds to the cute relation ship to the characters Hase and Fujimiya and for the most part the animation is really well done although sometimes the background looks a bit dull and has too much lighting the character animation is what really shines in this one.

Overall this anime was really good with a roller coaster ride that goes around the ride for 4 times but through out those 4 times it does something different to not make you bored *cough*endless eight*cough* which is pretty unique i must say.I give this a 9/10 as it should be watched by any fan of this genre i guarantee that you wont regret it anyways thanks for reading my first ever review sorry if it wasnt that good (>‿‿

0taku_St0rm VS Isshuukan Friends!!
Isshuukan Friends caught my interest off a recommendation from one of my anime viewing sources.I was a little iffy to get into the ... show based on the art style, but as soon as I started watching it that quickly changed. What I got was a good slice of life anime story.
If you don't want to go through all my personal views and get on to the main wrap-up go down to the memorable anime section of my review.
Personal Ratings:

8/10 Main Character Mindset
Throughout my history of anime watching, most of the shows tend to be a romantic comedy just like Isshuukan Friends. With all those animes beginning to gather under the belt, you start to realize some of the commonalities between your male lead in a RomCom. You usually get the perverted, dense character hosing those down around him with the blood erupting nose as he gets that touch of a girl's magical oppai. This lead however was quite the opposite. Yuki is a rather average highschooler just looking for friendship of a mysterious, cold girl. Not looking for boob, just a friend. He's goofy and shy, but knows how to handle certain quizzical situations. He's a good, relatable, and a different character from a good amount of RomCom leads.

7/10 Romantic Qualities
The romance begins towards the second half of this anime. Just enough to really get me by, me being someone hard to please as far as a romance between characters goes, this anime barely hits the spot. I do like this anime's cuteness though. Saki by far is one of my more favorite characters of the anime for her goofiness and her cute forgetful ways (Only being beat by Shougo, the guy is pretty damn funny and realistic), and the adorable interactions between Yuki and Kaori. But, don't come into this expecting over the top romance with the highest uguu factor you can expect, from the title you should understand the show revolves around friendships.

10/10 Fan Service
There is none! It's great! Trust me i love seeing fan service placed justly throughout an anime, but Isshuukan Friends doesn't need it. This anime takes a more serious tone, although being a comedy, and focuses on real romance and friendship, not just upskirts and tits all up in your face.

8/10 The Plot
The idea of the story is pretty good in my opinion. A boy who likes a girl has to deal with the constant reset of her memories and try to help her remember their great times together. The pacing is alright, i do feel like certain things were rushed (I never read the manga so I don't know how it worked there), like the first episode and it's dive into the fact of her losing her memories. The story progresses pretty well in my opinion, showing character progression and introduction of other faces with in the story.

Is This A Memorable Anime?(No pun intended.)
In my opinion this anime isn't on I'll remember compared to some of the other shows I've watched this past summer. BUT! This anime is pretty interesting. It has a good assortment of characters. A problem I have is that I liked the side characters more than the main ones. Shougo and Saki were actually my favorite pair in the series. Although this show isn't memorable is it worth a watch? Yes. You have a good lead on a romcom. No fan service thrown at you in the whole show unless you count the two main girls getting dressed up as stuffed animals arousing(WHICH IS COMPLETELY FINE!), It doesn't have a bad moment. The animation looks great and the characters are interesting. A good idea for the plot, this show is a good watch. I give it a 7/10. If you have any questions about the anime be sure to message me on my profile and I'll be sure to answer, and check out my other and future reviews!
Game.Set. And Match!

"I hope I don't forget what happened today." ~ Kaori Fujimiya

Selective amnesia, platonic love, and an unbreakable bond between friends. A simple trio of elements, but all the more powerful when put into the story of Isshuukan Friends, or "One Week Friends" in English.

The beauty of this show is that it portrays friendship with a wide range of emotions and feelings. Friendships are a whole lot more than just spending time and making memories with someone you hold close to your heart; there are ups, downs, and in betweens that bring people closer just as much as they pull them apart. Isshuukan Friends explores this ... idea of friendship - whilst adding a new layer between the lines.

Story (8)
The story of Isshuukan Friends is small in scale, but large in theme. Kaori Fujimiya, a 16-year-old high school student, is essentially forced to be alone, as her memories of her friends are effectively reset every Monday when she wakes up. It's a concept that sounds irrational and unreasonable, especially considering the intangible nature of how she defines "friends" and how she can only remember anyone who isn't her "friend", but it runs deeper than that.

Yuuki Hase, the story's protagonist, finally works up the courage to talk to her, asking her a simple question that becomes a motif of the entire show as it's repeated countless times:

"Fujimiya-san...I'd like for us to be friends!"

The story revolves around these two characters and their two friends as they navigate the tough road of friendship together. The events of this anime are your standard, run-of-the-mill slice-of-life friendship events, but they're executed so well that every event builds upon the last. Balance between dramatic and wholesome moments can be tricky to pull off, but Isshuukan Friends executes this perfectly, as drama escalates naturally and never overstays its welcome.

There's a certain aspect of the story that pulled me in emotionally and didn't let go until the final credits rolled. It's innocent and wholesome, but at the same time, the writing is handled with such maturity that it becomes much more than a slice-of-life anime. Everything is simplistic, but at the same time each second Hase spends with Fujimiya is meaningful and full of life. Despite the obstacle of Fujimiya having a week-long memory span, it was evidently clear that the group grew closer together the more they spent time together, and it was truly heartwarming to see it play out. By the time the show ended, it was like I had witnessed something truly special develop between a group of introverts brought together by one girl with a week-long memory.

If there's one thing to learn from this anime, is that true friendship runs deeper than love. Best friends are a dime a dozen, and an unbreakable bond is something you can never put a price on. Despite the story's innocence, it came off as something really relatable and emotionally sincere. It awakens unforgettable memories within me of my own best friends, and it makes me think of the trials and tribulations we went through to get to the point we're at today. You can love someone without romantic implications, and sometimes, friendship can be more valuable than a relationship, because it's something that can last forever.

Art (8)
The art is charming and something that can be absolutely stunning when it wants to be. I've always thought the character's faces were drawn a bit funky, but it's a very unique art style that I grew used to over the course of the series. The backgrounds are drawn in a watercolor-esque kind of style, and it's vibrant and colorful enough to enhance the scenery. Camera angles are drawn in and held for bits of time to enhance emotion, and intimate scenes are handled with a lot of care and love. Brain's Base did an excellent job with the animation, and similar to Oregairu, nothing ever felt out of place or overly dramatic. It's not perfect, but the art style and direction was perfect for this kind of bittersweet and innocent show.

Sound (9)
The show's soundtrack was a very solid one, pulling everything together. There's a heavy usage of melodramatic pianos spread throughout, and while there was a certain gloominess to it, there was a bit of heartwarming charm in it too. The OP, "Niji no Kakera", was a perfect tone-setter to every episode and was borderline tear-jerking hearing it for the first time. Lyrically, it was very genuine and sincere, and was perfect to portray Hase's feelings toward Fujimiya.

The voice cast also did a brilliant job portraying the characters in a very unique way. Sora Amamiya's performance as Kaori Fujimiya was nothing short of amazing, and Yoshitaka Yamaya's performance as Yuuki Hase was not only unique but very fitting to his character. Kiryu and Saki's seiyuus also turned in great performances, playing perfect contrasts to their friends Hase and Fujimiya's voices respectively.

Character (9)
The character cast of Isshuukan Friends is what drives the story, and despite appearing to be a bit tropey in the beginning, they all develop in ways that feel real and human. All their interactions feel genuine and believable, and their contrasting personalities bring them closer together rather than pull them apart.

Yuuki Hase, the protagonist, is a stereotypical "average high school student" who can appear a bit airheaded, but is someone who becomes a lot more than that after meeting Fujimiya. He's not only kind-hearted and caring, but he is also extremely persistent and patient, a very endearing character trait that can charm even the coldest of people. His complexity as a character comes from his internal struggles that arise not only from his conflicted feelings of love for her, but also his negative traits of being possessive and selfish when it pertains to Fujimiya. We see him struggle throughout the story with them, as Fujimiya's condition not only affects her, but ir affects him just as much; at the end of the day, however, he genuinely cares for Fujimiya and deeply desires to be her friend and stop her suffering, finding happiness along the way.

The heroine of this anime, Kaori Fujimiya, is a complex character whose condition, despite being very unrealistic, even by anime standards, is very compelling as a character. Appearing slightly kuudere in the onset of this show, being cold and quiet, her actual personality directly contrasts it, as she's actually a bright, cheerful, and earnest girl. At the same time, however, her amnesia causes a deep disposition within, as she wants nothing more to make friends, but due to her memories resetting every week, she decides to isolate herself so she doesn't hurt anyone. It's tragic to see such a girl handicapped by such a weird affliction fall into a depressed state and shoulder the burden by herself, but due to Hase's persistence and insistence that she track memories through a diary, that's where the story's greatness begins. Despite resetting her memory every week and forgetting who Hase is, the memories she makes with him are still hidden deep down within her, and the diary's true power is to awaken those said repressed memories and continue their friendship regardless of her memory status.

(**SLIGHTLY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH AHEAD**)

Memory repression due to past trauma is a huge and very human issue, and in the case of Kaori Fujimiya, it's what makes her an equally tragic and uplifting kind of character; it's a very lasting issue that makes those afflicted with trauma continue to suffer, and in the show it's an aspect that unconsciously makes you root for Fujimiya to overcome it. She was forced into circumstances out of her control, and is paying the unintended consequences for it, and the obstacle that keeps her from becoming who she wants to be is none other than herself.

(**END SPOILER PARAGRAPH**)

The rest of the cast is really well-done, as all their traits come together to create a friend group that's not only bound tightly together, but creates a truly loving circle of kids growing up together. Shogo Kiryu is very quiet and abrasive, yet caring individual who is unafraid to say what he wants to say, a direct contrast to his friend Hase, who is very cheerful and outgoing. Saki Yamagishi, a girl who suffers from a more unpredictable memory loss disposition, is a very deadpan comic relief character who also contrasts Fujimiya's docile and quiet nature, but is also strong as a standalone character due to her inability to shoulder her problems alone and her desire to rely on others. Hajime Kujou was a late addition to the cast who played a deuteragonist role, but is completely essential to the story, effectively bridging the gap between past and present for Kaori Fujimiya.

Enjoyment (7)
Isshuukan Friends was a hard watch for me. Not only was it a pretty slow-paced anime, there was no shortage of emotional moments and it felt emotionally taxing to watch. The payoff and process of watching it, however, was something that I found extremely rewarding. While it was hard to watch multiple episodes in a row, it was a really enjoyable experience that warmed my heart as much as it shattered my emotions. As I mentioned in a past review, anime that encompasses the full range of emotions are anime that I consider special to me, and this anime is one of them.

Overall (8.2)
A small story with a big heart, Isshuukan Friends is an anime that was simple, but also very thought-provoking and somewhat complex. Stories of friendship is an anime trope that has been around forever, and will continue to permeate stories for the rest of time, but this one in particular stands out to me in more ways than one. If you love stories of friendship, love, and development of characters that feel real, Isshuukan Friends is an anime that I definitely recommend you to watch.

It isnt often I look at an anime at 12 episodes long and think that it could have been edited better.

One week friends tells the story of a girl who loses certain memories weekly. Every monday, part of memory resets itself. The nature of memories which are erased are oddly specific to any friends she makes. So if you have seen "50 first dates" the movie, you would know what you are getting into. The first few episodes follow a pattern which each episode spanning a week. Things progress at a snail's pace as we go through the same motions again and again. "I ... see, he is eating egg sandwitch. Sooo good"

This normally wouldn't be a problem if the characters were any fun. Sadly the two main characters Yuuki and Kaori together have the charm of a wet broom. Yuuki is your typical shoujo mangina "Yes! Man" who exists just to make Kaori happy.Kaori, well she resets every episode so its kinda hard to really understand her. She likes Yuuki. Ok, what else. She likes friends. Ok, then what? She like crepes. Hmm.. intersting titbit, what next? Hmm.. yea we are out of things to write, lets just reset and repeat.

The side characters are also bland and boring. We have a mentally challenged girl called Saki bore up the thing in the name of comic relief. Kujou Hajime had one job and that is to drive the series to a conclusion and add some drama and he fails so spectacularly that its not even funny. The only saving grace is Houtarou Oreki- I mean Shougo Kiryuu a guy who is as bored at the proceedings as we the viewers are that you can almost call the anime out for being unintentionally self-aware.

Oh and the best part, the ending. It ends the way it begins. Another week has passed and Kaori's memories has reset again coz the writers cannot be bothered to write more. No conclusion, no closure and no progress of any sort.

4/10 coz the music is not bad.

Story
The plot of Isshuukan Friends is about a young boy (Hase) who is in love with a beautiful but strange girl (Kaori). Kaori has a condition in which on a weekly biases the memory of her friends are erased. This means that the plot is about Hase, trying to befriend Kaori and is required to introduce himself to her every week on Monday just to keep up their friendship and ultimately for her to remember him for more than just a week. This unfortunately gives the anime a very frustrating and repetitive story.

Art
It somewhat improves the boring and bland nature of this anime ...

Sound
Its fine but theirs nothing really that memorable

Characters
First off i would say Kaori a better character than Hase (not a compliment), as if anything she is able to get some development unlike the other characters because of her condition and for the sake of the plot she needed some development for there to even be a story. However even with the development she never really does anything much apart from making the main male character confront her every week and writing a diary.

Hase is a forgettable and weak male lead (maybe thats the real reason Kaori couldn't remember him) as he just relies on Kiryuu who just offers him advice to move the plot forward.I believe Kiryuu would have probably been a more interesting main character.

My overall opinion
I unfortunately couldn't stand one week friends having the two main characters relationship build in every episode to then just take a step back became soooooo tiresome after like the third time of the main female character (who was just forgetable) forgetting the main male character. After dragging myself through every episode just to see how it ended i was just left frustrated and disappointed, i may as well have just watched the first episode and stopped because that in the end is where the anime leaves you, after finishing the final episode you just get looped strait back to episode 1. In my opinion i wouldn't recommend this anime as putting my hate aside the story is incomplete so instead of wasting your time watching one week friends find a good romance anime that actually has a conclusion e.g. Your lie in April, Toradora! or Kokoro Connect

(This may contain spoilers, please do not read or else...)

This is a pure hearted romance in puberty.

The first five to six episodes was greatly animated, it tells how much friendship could do you good in the long run. How simplest efforts is always being appreciated and how the smallest things can turn your lives into good or bad situations (at least, that's how I meant it to be) but even so, this story is so amazing that I'd rather make it into a 26 episodes than 12.

There's no sexually suggestive in this animation because all romance I've seen wants to go to adulthood or you ... call it "going all the way" would be a boring romance story, you only do it after marriage and I stand firm in this belief of only one.

The characters were ballad or more of too silent or not much dialogue to portray (especially the supporting characters that will have a wonderful story later). I guess this animation was really intended to explain the story of the two main characters and didn't really bothered explaining the backstory of each supporting characters, even Hase's parents doesn't exist.

While watching in the middle episodes of the series (I got lazy what episodes it was) you will see some explanation that the story of them took a leap of up to six months (I thought, "Whaaat?!" I seriously love their story so why skip it?), meaning to say, the others after each episodes will be rushed automatically which is seriously a let down.

As you go along the story, there are two supporting characters that will develop their feelings mutually from childhood and I can't wait to see it but was poorly animated or given only little time screen in this anime.
The guy was kind of a close friend to Hase, named Shougo. He was somewhat a loner or go by the flow of time but as he get pushed again and again by Hase, he becomes more interactively kind and his future wife (I hope, more or less) Yamagishi, Saki, his childhood friend and crush in elementary school. I love their interactions on the last parts of the series but was rushed so my head is stuck in this madness.

I feel like rushing my review, but let's talk about Saki, because of her pure intentions to become friends with Kaori, she removes (I don't know how to explain this) the ice or fake assumptions given to her by her classmates and becomes more lovely as time passes.
The two friends of Saki was wonderfully created but in the last episodes, they didn't even matter, why?

Let's go to the main characters, Hase, even though he likes Kaori to a fault. He doesn't give up to become her friend even if he has adulthood intentions to her, he still becomes more of a responsible individual and a friend to her which what I like about his character. He grows even more brave because of his friend Shougo, pushing him to his limits, even if he doesn't show it, he is a tsundere in my eyes.
Secondly, Kaori. One of the best female characters I've seen in this life of mine, she is seriously devoted to her friends and somewhat naive to her surroundings that's why the tragedy of her childhood was happened. She is so pure that even those she talks about with hidden agendas becomes purified by her sweet smile.

The BGM's are lacking but the Ending Theme Song was addicting, the Opening was also good. They make me understand this poorly animated story and their characters, mains and supportings.

The overall plot was a masterpiece but the rushed animation/production sucks.

Isshuukan Friends a short story about making friends with drama, comedy and a tiny hint of romance.
Actual Score: 8.4

Story: 8
The story is quite simple and easy to understand as it is not complex, the story main MC Hase as you attempts to get Kaori to become his friend each week, which a fun and enjoyable ride all the way through but is also very slow, but is luckily not rushed but is only 12 episodes which was disappointing as I felt it could easily been extended to 20ish episodes as well as feeling after finishing it that a bigger romance sub-plot would have fitted the ... story well.

Art: 9
The art of Isshuukan is very nice and refined with it feeling original as I had very seen the art before and has a nice calm feeling to it that fits well with the shows slice of life theme.

Sound: 8
The opening of anime is very calm and relaxing that fits well into the overall shows feeling with a colourful theme while keeping it spoiler free; the ending was also really nice although it feels a bit depressing but is a good song as feels like the song is aimed at Kaori which is a good match.

Characters: 8
The character where simple and easy to understand but were not typical anime characters except Hase who is typical nice and friendly MC, but aside from the other MC Kaori and support characters Shuugo and Saki were interesting and had quirky personalities which made them feel individually unique.

Enjoyment: 9
I enjoyed the anime a lot as it was a nice calm anime that pulls head strings when compared to other anime of spring 2014 as well as having good humorous moments between Shougo and Hase as well as cute and sad moments between Kaori and Hase.

(Rating: 4/5)

During the earlier portion of one's life, the concept of friendship is often needed to aid the growth and development of one's character. When humans are still young, the need for friendship is an important aspect that, in turn, helps develop one's personality and views. Often times the meaning of friendship can become skewed -- usually caused by some sort of influential experience -- as one grows older. In the anime, Isshuukan Friends, the viewers are given a more pure, yet difficult, view of friendship between the main characters Fujimiya Kaori and Hase Yuuki. Isshukan Friends is an enjoyable anime that illustrates the hardships ... that accompany changing one's view of friendship and the true meaning of being friends.

Issuhuukan Friends solely revolves around the idea of Hase Yuuki's desire to be friends with one Fujimiya Kaori, whose memories of friends are reset every week. The use of amnesia in anime are often overplayed; however, though there was still a feeling cliche, the use of amnesia in this anime is more bearable compared to most anime. The story line, for a slice of life anime, is quite interesting. However, at one point, the 'climax' that the animators were aiming for was actually quite obvious. Although the anime may not be so thrilling or full of plot twists, still the story is enough to capture the attention of its viewers.

The art designs in this anime are quite simplistic, however, there is a cutesy feel to the character designs, especially since they look like they are blushing half the time. The landscape art used in this anime are not as complex as they are in other anime, however, the landscape art is still appealing to the eye. The sound, all around, helped create a calm atmosphere that helped hold the anime's slice of life genre together. The voice actors chosen for the main characters were all enjoyable and did not seem out of place with their character's personality.

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In all, the anime was quite enjoyable. The character personalities were the most enjoyable, in my opinion. Fujimiya's pure character and Hase's loyal attributes made their relationship more precious as it may seem. Even the side character's personalities were creative and caught my eye. Although the story is a bit slow and a little obvious, still watching the relationship between Fujimiya and Hase unfold was entertaining and enjoyable.

This anime has a calm and warm atmosphere to it that brightens one's view of friendship. The importance of the hardships, the laughs, the memories that accompany friendship are depicted throughout this anime. Isshuukan Friends implies that friendship is something precious that one must hold onto.