Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai.

What do you do, when you suddenly see a ghost of a person that you were close to? Most people would think it's just their imagination or the effect of stress. But what if your mind doesn't play tricks on you and you really encounter a ghost from the past? AnoHana plays with this idea. The story starts out on a usual day for the shut-in Jinta, who suddenly sees the ghost of his childhood friend Menma. Menma tells Jinta she has a wish that she wants to be granted by him. And from here on, Jinta's unusual summer starts.

Story:
The story itself centers around the ... six members of the Super Peace Busters, which was seemingly disbanded after the death of one their members. At first you'd expect that the story revolves around Menma and her wish but the truth is, the story tries to center around the members' lives and the way they were affected by the death of their friend and the show does a sloppy job with that. Of course true friends wouldn't leave each other in times of need. So why were the Super Peace Busters disbanded? Obviously there are more reasons behind that than the death of their friend.
I personally thought that story would be a coming-of-age story, where the characters deal with the problems of becoming adults and finally dealing with the death of their beloved friend. And boy was I wrong. Instead, the show turned out to be a love story pretty soon and the romance became the major driving force of the entire show. The mystery behind Menma's wish didn't unfold until the last episode and tension has been lifted so suddenly, at first I didn't know how it happened. The story itself moved forward pretty slowly, until the last 3 episodes, where the pace suddenly changed and everything was wrapped rather quickly up in one final episode. Not to mention many questions were left open and many were left unexplained.
The first 4 or 5 episodes were very promising, but after them, the plot went down the drain pretty soon and was dragged out for too long. I think the story could have been told in roughly 6 episodes, and then we could have been spared of all those unnecessary scenes that were dealing with the love polygon between the characters. It's a pity that they wasted 11 episodes on a story that was worth roughly 6 episodes.
The reason why AnoHana became popular is the romance and the fact that you could ship many characters together. Most of the characters rethink their relations to the others and since the cast is half male half female, it is inevitable that some of them play with the thought of starting a relationship with someone other from the Super Peace busters.
The plot wasn't really planned out from the start and it seemed the writer didn't know what to do with the 11 episodes he or she got, the pacing of the story made this obvious. This problem affects most of the original anime shows and AnoHana wasn't an exception either.

Art:
One of the major strong-points of the show. The animation is consistent, the backgrounds are well drawn. This is no wonder, since the anime was originally meant to attract tourists to Chichibu city and I think that AnoHana managed to capture the beauty of the region pretty well and reached its goal with this.

Sound:
The background music fits in the show perfectly, it was very well done. The opening and ending songs are very catchy and perhaps they are the best of the season.

Characters:
There are 6 main characters in the story. The creators could have used 6 episodes to explore their backgrounds and the nature of their problems, but the show wasn't able to do this either. I would have really liked if we could have gotten more info about Chiriko and Poppo too, since they were as important as the other four. The characters aren't any special and there is little to no character development throughout the story. Not to mention everyone is emotionally so unstable, that they can break into crying every now and then. This became very annoying especially in the last two episodes. The conflicts between them feel over-exaggerated most of the time and everyone runs in circles until the very last episode. But the execution of the last episode was so terrible, I can even tell the exact moment when all the problems are suddenly solved. The character interactions are melodramatic and take everything to the extreme. As I was telling earlier I was expecting a coming-of-age show, so I thought maybe the characters were going to discuss their problems and try to find a solution to them, but all the cast was doing was crying and complaining about their issues throughout the story and they didn't even care about the things the others were saying. Without analyzing characters I must say, that they weren't original, the show just managed to re-use some common and popular character archetypes. They are rather easy to forget.

Overall:
This show makes a perfect job on summoning emotions from the viewers and fills the holes of the plot with the tears of the viewer. It started out as a promising drama but failed to live up to its high expectations. But this might be a good start if you're unfamiliar to dramas, because AnoHana heavily relies on the sympathy that you feel towards the characters and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster and sucks you in to the story easily. If you had experiences with dramas before, I suggest you skip the show, because it’s forgettable and has many flaws that might disturb you and the rushed ending basically ruins the tension that has been building up since the beginning. Overall I say that AnoHana is a mediocre show, that had potential, but failed to exploit it, but despite this it became very popular. If you like shipping in general and crying over love stories, AnoHana is the anime for you.

I don't often follow currently airing shows. It's usually hard to tell which shows are genuinely good until the hype dies down a bit. But under intense peer pressure, I started following a certain series this season. That show is "Deadman Wonderland". To cut a long story short, it sucked. So to deal with the disappointment I decided to follow another series, the sleeper hit "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai", which apparently translates roughly to "We Still Don't Know the Name of That Flower We Were Smoking When We Came Up With This Title". Something like that. With a ... title that long, no wonder everyone just calls it "AnoHana" instead.

The reason I chose AnoHana is because while everyone around me was talking about "Deadman Wonderland" and "C" before the season began, those talk quickly became dominated by AnoHana soon after the season got under way. And as the show also looked like a drama that isn't bursting with moe juices, I honestly thought it was going to be awesome.

...but it's not.

Which is not to say it's a bad, or even mediocre series, but while I definitely think the positives outweigh the negatives, I certainly don't think Ano Hana is a show that deserves all the praise it's been garnering.

Firstly, let me get something off my chest: having recently been annoyed by the spontaneously violent, clingy, cheesily cheerful, hyperactive white haired girl Shiro from "Deadman Wonderland", I was dismayed to find a clingy, cheesily cheerful, hyperactive white haired girl in AnoHana too. If you extracted everything that's annoying from Shiro and put it into a new character, you would essentially end up with Menma from AnoHana.

And unfortunately, Menma is one of main characters of the series. In short, AnoHana is about this exceedingly annoying ghost girl Menma returning to the world to make her childhood friends' lives miserable.

Ok ok, I jest - it was only me she made miserable... her friends were already miserable to begin with, and her re-appearance just brings their problems into focus. These group of friends, who collectively called themselves the "Super Peace Busters", had drifted apart after the unfortunate accident involving Menma that left them all mentally scarred in one way or another. But her return succeeds in bringing them back together again, and in doing so opens up the old wounds that never really healed.

Oh yeah, I should mention that there're a couple of catches in the set up. The first one is that only one of Menma's childhood friend can see her - and that's the main character Jinta (but this gets a satisfactory explanation). The other catch is that she apparently returns in order to get her wish granted... except she can't remember what it is (which smells like a bullsh*t plot device to me), and so they spend the series going on wild goose chases in order to make this unknown wish come true and thus help Menma achieve nirvana.

This second catch helps to illustrate one of main issues I have with the series - though the concept itself is promising, the story is over reliant on convenient plot devices. In the short space of 11 episodes, I counted at least four or five major plot devices being used to keep the story on its intended track, resulting in some quite exasperatingly un-natural plot progression, not to mention some massive plot holes.

The other problem I have with AnoHana is its melodrama. It may not have it by the bucketload, but it does have it in spades. The "Super Peace Busters" sure live up to their name, as whenever they come together, the peace is bound to be busted at some point. The dialogue and character interactions would often take up baffling turns that inevitably lead to lots of confrontations, angst and tears. I guess if you try hard enough, you can come up with reasons for why a character say this and does that etc, but at the end of the day, the way it all comes together just doesn't feel quite right to me. I can often feel the tug of melodrama taking the flow of conversations etc off their natural course.

AnoHana's habit of overcooking promising drama into melodrama gives me the impression that the makers are a little insecure about the potential of AnoHana to move people, and so felt like they had to work it harder in order to cement its idenity as an emotional drama. But the thing is, I feel AnoHana a show with enough good material and interesting ideas that it doesn't NEED the melodrama to make it tick. A good example of this is during final episode, when the realisation regarding Menma's situation dawned on her friends. In all honesty, it was a great moment, perhaps the best one in the entire series... and then the girls started screeching and grappling at each other and completely ruined the mood. What the hell were the makers thinking??

But while I was complaining to my friends about my disappointments regarding this series (as well as this overrated experience of following currently airing anime), I was struck by a sudden realisation: in spite of its shortcomings, I really WANTED to like AnoHana, and kept desperately hoping the show would get it right. It's a striking contrast to "Deadman Wonderland" where I couldn't care less what happens. Despite AnoHana's frequent heavy handling of drama, there's a sincerity about what it's is trying to achieve. Also, being a nostalgic person, the strong sense of melancholy about the show really speaks to me. The bittersweet joys of getting together with old friends and briefly re-living the carefree days of childhood, the aching sense of loss as you realise things can never quite be the same again... these are all feelings that the show manages to convey very successfully.

The role that the background music plays in creating the poignant moments in AnoHana cannot be underestimated. While the show itself can be accused of trying too hard at times, the same accusation certainly cannot be levelled at the music. Simple, and yet quietly evocative, it barely put a foot wrong throughout the series. In fact it's hard to fault the music in AnoHana at all - the opening and ending themes are both very solid songs, which is quite rare in anime as at least one of them is a dud normally.

Given everything AnoHana has going for it, it's a real pity that it isn't a lot better. Perhaps, given the length of the series, the makers made the decision to rely heavily on contrived plot devices in order to keep things moving along, and on melodrama as a shorcut to character development. But some things are not meant to be hurried, especially when some of the problems the characters have are quite bizarre, and the hurried execution just made them seem more random than anything else. However, it is a show that deserves some credit for its good intentions and powerful ideas. In some respects it reminds me of "Cross Game", as the two shows have some overlapping themes, particularly in the early episodes of AnoHana. "Cross Game" though, does it so much better.

So yeah, this whole following currently airing show thing has proved to be quite a disappointing experience. Don't think I'll be doing it again in a hurry (unless I succumb to peer pressure again). On the plus side, finishing a show so soon after it airs did briefly make me feel like I was down with the kids for once...

Ano Hina has a charming premise and interesting first few episodes. A lot of times in the later of the series there are tear-jerking moments. However I was a little disappointed with how it played out in the end. Of course, I stuck with it until the end because there was something sweet about it.

There are plenty of issues surrounding the death of a childhood friend that can be dealt with in a dramatic, interesting way. However, the series relies mostly on petty high school love triangles. "I have a crush on him he has a crush on her! Waah!" This wasn't set up like ... a typical high-school drama show...why did it end up trying to be one? Especially since it had presented itself with such a promising first few episodes. I did, however, stick to it for certain reasons.

I liked Menma enough to want to see her have a happy ending. Anaru was the best character for me, the only one who showed some semblance of development. Her character was the only one with any sort of depth, and the only one I got attached too. The other characters are mostly forgettable, particularly Yukiatsu and Tsuruko. Popo is enjoyable but he has so little involvement in aspects of the story he seems misused. Menma, is of course, an ultra-cute, joyful loligirl, but you kind of know what her fate will be from the first episode.

Now on to the last episode: hated the first half and thoroughly enjoyed the second half. Yeah, I got teary. Overall, not overly depressing and perhaps maybe a little uplifting. It's started as story about dealing with loss, growing up, and moving on. While is maintained that to a degree, it later focused more on love and relationships. Without going into spoiler territory, I'll settle at an overall opinion of average for the final chapter.

Also, there's another thing I don't want to spoil, but it's a plot hole that made me want to bang my head on a table. We know Jintan can see Menma from day one. However, there's something about how she is able to communicate in a later episode that made me think, "Well why the hell didn't you do that from the beginning!!" I mean, I know lolis can be airheads, but seriously!

All in all, it drew me in during the beginning. The drama got lackluster later in the series, but kept me watching because I wanted to see Menma's wish fulfilled. The last few episodes, with the exception of 10 which was a little better than the others, bumped the series down to just "okay" when it possibly could have been a very good and heartfelt story.

bonus points: I really love the ED, wherein hundreds of white flowers burst into color.

Ano Hana is quite mediocre when it comes to acquiring good themes from it. The characters are hard to relate to because their problems are extreme and unrealistic. For the love of God it is a girl they knew back in grade school, get over it already... The amount of drama is too much, real people adapt the the death of family members, they move on. But Ano Hana is like a show featuring schizophrenics who are so shaken up by the death of a friend that they have delusions about her. Ano Hana is an oasis for hopeless idealists that think that friendship and ... love can last beyond death. When people die, they are no longer in our lives.

The Story (7/10)
I give the story an C, because it contains too much unrealistic emotional responses. It is basically an existentialist story about 5 teens that are unable to take responsibility for actions or feelings they had towards Menma. They are all, traumatized (believe it or not), by the death of a friend in grade school. Now this schizophrenic main character, Jintan, can some how see this Menma and now he tries to fulfill the needs of this delusions. There will be people defending that Menma is not a delusion, that she actually has a physical body, since she needs to eat and can move things. My response to that claim would be: those moments are implied to be caused by Menma and all five friends that are alive are schizophrenics that are traumatized by the death of Menma, therefore they are all delusional. The story is way too idealistic. It is an interesting story sure, but filled with emotions that are just confusing and out of place. In other words, it felt too contrived. This device used by the writers of Ano Hana is something the English majors call BS.

Art (8/10)
The art is good. It is unique the quality of the art is good too. The backgrounds are very colorful and detailed. This category and the sound category contain the least amount of bull sh**.

Sound (8/10)
The music is very nice, and the use of music in parts of the anime is very nicely done. I would like to point out how artistic it is to start playing the ending theme before the episode is actually over.

Characters (3/10)
Horrible characters. Can't relate to any of them, maybe except for the father of Menma. I think the characters are so shallow because they stopped being friends after the death of Menma. Wait what? Did I hear that correctly? The great group of friends stops being friends after one friend dies? I thought friends were suppose to share the burden, clearly something they did not do or else they wouldn't be so traumatized. Therefore they are all really crappy people. Their problems and personality are very shallow, pitiful, and not worth empathizing with. I feel completely disconnected from the plot and the emotional appeal the writers try to accomplish, because these characters are so stupid.

Enjoyment (7/10)
To be honest, despite the mediocre plot and the characters, it was quite fun watching them fail at every single attempt to reach peace with the death of Menma. I feel happy because I am not a emotional train wreck like these 5 friends. This anime is mediocre overall but it is still enjoyable to watch these pitiful people struggle with their stupid shallow problems.

Overall (6/10)
Ano Hana isn't a masterpiece by a long shot but it was still worth watching. I feel like every single anime about idealistic friendship, attempt at a deeper meaning through BS, and unique art is getting all the support. And I end this review with this quote. “The Masses are Asses” - For Children Learning How to Rhyme

I'm deciding to write a review for every anime I watch here-on since I'm starting to watch too many in a short span of time and feel like a loser. So first off with that is Anohana, which was... a tad sucky

I have never had such mixed feelings on a show before, by the way, in this review I'm giving it a 6/10 but I have it as a 7 ftr because despite everything wrong with it it was still excellently executed and touched me emotionally

Also I think this review will have SPOILERS so be warned

Anohana is about a girl, Menma/Meiko, comin' back to ... haunt her childhood friend,Jintan, in order to have him grant her final wish(which- she doesn't know what that wish is btw) nobody can see her but him but she can still interact with things. Which is probably the most annoying thing about the anime, half of the damn show is spent with characters fighting Jintan over whether she is actually here or not and him barely even trying to prove it, just accepting that he looks like an insane person arguing with the air and blushing at ghost A-cups over here until WAY too late in the show

Moreover I don't feel like the wish business goes much of anywhere, I kinda finished off the anime wondering wtf that vague-ass wish was and just crying along with everyone

Generally speaking though, although almost all the characters can be grating and the story has quite a few holes I think they're both actually pretty well done. Particularly Naruko, I almost put her in my favorite characters. I related quite a lot to her and she was understandable to an extent. But the thing for all of them... minus Poppo... is that it's all to an extent. There is hardly any reason for these characters acting as melodramatic as they are.

Naruko is jealous of this girl for stealing her crush, Jintan and Tsuyuki are going ballistic with serious romantic type love for this literal 5 year old who has been dead for like, 10 years. Tsuyuki, who I want to talk about SO bad, is both the best and worst part of this show because this man is so crazy, he's actually insane. He crossdresses as Menma and runs around the woods at night and he sniffs a dress of Menma's that he keeps in his closet- along with his wig, naturally- every night. It is so fucking stupid I love it so much.

The love triangle, er square is just ridiculous, I love romance so I didn't mind and like I said I relate to Naruko so I get the feelings but I think it is just too much. None of it is settled by the end and the idea of these two men and subsequent two girls fighting over their attention and how much they love a dead elementary schooler is just nonsensical.

Poppo btw, the big guy, I just want to talk about him because I love him. He has probably the most logical reason and yet Jintan to feel very upset by her death and feel guilt. He saw her body floating by in the water after her accident and was too scared by the image and feelings to do anything. He is the best part of the anime, he brings so much more life to everything. It feels like the other characters have not had a happy moment in their lives since Menma died, and I think that is really annoying.

I still liked the anime, I still cried with it and I enjoyed the ending balling my eyes out just like everyone else but I just think overall it wasn't a great show. A beautiful show definitely but not a great written one.

i originally had in mind the score 6/10 for the first 10 or so episodes because i had a lot of complaints about how the story was written, and i still kinda feel annoyed by some of the things that happened that couldve happened like 5 episodes sooner, and i had also come into it expecting to be a weepy mess the whole time like everyone had said, sure i got misty eyed a few times, but never CRIED really... thats all until the last episode though. i cried 4 times during the last episode. it single handedly made me raise the score by 2 ... points, the flaws are still there for sure, thats why its mixed feelings still, because some people might not be so forgiving, but im able to somewhat look past it because it ended up really getting to me

After watching some high scoring reviews for this anime, I thought i'd give it a try. I saw it fresh off of seeing Ano Natsu De Matteru, which I believe is by the same studio that made Anohana. If that is the case, then there is no need to discuss the animation for the show, which I think is on the same level as Ano Natsu, which is a good thing. The music here is also really nice too, with a catchy japanese indie rock opening reminiscent of the Pillows ,but way more mellow and a melodic piano-centric ending song that will definitely ... give you the "feels" after hearing it used multiple times in the show's more dramatic scenes.

While Anohana fairs well in the animation and music departments, I found the plot to not be all that satisfying. While the concept of having these 5 friends who have grown up and become different from each other unite to fufill the wish of their dead friend sounds like a good storyline for a supernatural slice of life ala Kanon, I think the idea was ruined with the romance. And to be fair, there isn't really romance in Anohana ,but instead, drama surrounding the characters' desires to be in a relationship with someone else in the group. I think this is worse because you get all the drama surrounding romance, without any payoff, and its also out of place with the type of show Anohana established itself as in the beginning. It really deters from the character development and the bonding of the group, which is kind of the point of the show.

Speaking of character development, only 3 of the 6 characters are really all that likeable. You have the main protagonist who is the only one who can see Menma (the dead friend), who you root for because of his determination to fufill her wish. You have the tsundere character who has some feelings toward the main protagonist. You have the obsessive douchebag who just couldn't get over Menma dying. You have the obnoxious girl who is friends with the obsessive douchebag, and you have the comic relief character who fails to do his job in relieving the tension of the show and doesn't do much. I just found the show hard to enjoy when I only liked half the cast, and I kind of wished they'd just part ways because they had absolutely nothing in common besides their relationship with Menma. The relationships between the group (except for Anjou and Yadomi, and Yadomi and Menma) were so forced and overly-dramatized that I found myself hating nearly everyone until the last half of the last episode.

While this show definetly isn't the worth slice of life i've ever seen, I think that i'm giving it a pass due to my bias for moe characters and I actually found Yadomi's character relatable. But the show failed to fufill its major purpose, which was to have these five characters become friends at the end in a believable way. Instead, it uses flashbacks and nostalgia pills to give you a boring history lesson about these peoples' lives. The ending is one of those "everything is fixed" endings, and while it did manage to get a tear out of my eye (I hate myself for that), it was only because the show forces the emotion out of you, instead of naturally letting the viewer decide how to feel. I can't really go in depth with it, but it is definetly one of those "love it" or "hate" endings. DEFINETLY stay away from this show if you don't like slice of lives or melodramas in general, and only watch it if you're recommended it by a friend who just won't shut up about it, because at the very least it is tolerable and the first few episodes/ending are well done.

So many people love ano hana, but i din't. ahaha, this is just my opinion though, you may still watch this anime if you want to.
okay, let's start with the review.
Story 5/10
Mediocre. Why the fuck all of them blame themselves for Menma's accident ???
and why the fuck Menma run away when Jinta insult her..
it just didn't make sense lol.
And the only one who can see Menma in the beginning is only Jinta....
Jinta didn't even want to go to school and his father is okay with that, what the hell is wrong with his father brains??
Or, when someone in their circle of friends cosplaying as ... menma because of his love to menma is overwhelming and he can't get over menma's death.
The story is out of place, scattering everywhere. When Jinta can see Menma, Menma ask him to reconnect with their childhood friend.. They can't even find out what is Menma's Final wish. so stupid.

Art 6/10
The art is good though, as expected from studio A-1 Pictures.
Sound 6/10
The OP and ED songs is good.
Character 4/10
Character is pretty stupid.
Enjoyment 5/10
I didn't really enjoy AnoHana.
Overall 5.2/10

I can't say I didn't like this anime but I can't say either from my point of view that it was excellent.
It sure is a beautiful and sad story, the kind that make you laugh and cry at the same time. But I can't help thinking that it could have been better in many ways.

I think the show is sometime too dramatic or maybe too childish. What makes me say that is the fact that the characters are always crying (I feel like it ended up being too "weepy") and that the dialogues were sometimes too simple, nay simple-minded. I think this anime could have ... been better if it had a darker aspect, or at least a more serious and adult tone.
Maybe I wasn't simply the target, but for example I largely prefer Angel Beats in the way it treats death, friendship and the way it deals with sadness/humour.

I'm realizing I'm maybe a bit tough, and I shouldn't since it's a quite good anime with good issues (and I think I would recommend it to people). But I also wanted to explain why I couldn't be totally absorbed by this anime. I assume we can't like everything

So, this is my first review on this site, I apologize if it doesn't really make sense / if the sentences are incomprehensible. Anyway, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, or AnoHana for short, has been raved about in the anime community, and it's been hailed as a beautifully tragic tearjerker as one of my friends (of whom saw me watch the anime and subsequently enjoyed it) put it.

Well... It was a bit of a letdown, I have to say.

I was excited - star-studded cast and the main being voiced by one of my biases (Irino Miyu)? Sign me ... up! From what I'd seen before starting the series, it was met with generally positive reviews, the synopsis seemed interesting and hey - the art looked quite decent. So why not give it a shot?

Throughout my viewing of the anime, I have produced a list of pros and cons that will be easier to scan through rather than if I threw in an entire chunk of text.

PROS -
+ The voice acting was wonderfully done. The actors could really capture the emotion and the atmosphere that SHAFT probably wanted us to feel, and it really helped the anime a lot. Their voices just hold so much power, and they thankfully moulded the characters into what we were expecting, so kudos to you, seiyuus!
+ The character designs and most of their personalities. You remember all of their quirky behaviours and actions be it by seiyuu, actions or just appearance, which makes the characters all the more memorable and less flat.
+ The main character, Jinta. Let me just point out that his personality is quite unique and not the typical "likeable" type. No, we're talking about a NEET that's exhausted 24/7 that is sometimes long-winded and can be very stubborn. So some of the audience may turn out to dislike him. But in my case, I find his flaws to make him stand out more as his own character. He's not the generic dense main protagonist you might find prevalent in other series. He's so painfully average that it's just so true to him that I can hardly dislike him. Not to mention he is voiced by Irino-san, which may have resulted in him starting on an uneven playing field, unlike the other characters.

Now, cue the groans and complaints, because here comes...

CONS -
- Menma. I know we're all supposed to melt and gush over the moe moe kyun kyun characters in anime, and I admit I'm guilty of that. But above them, I like more serious girls that have immense character development throughout episodes of the anime they are in (e.g. Tenshi from Angel Beats!). But that doesn't mean I don't like adorable characters. However, Menma is a different story. I sort of got fed up with her clinging to Jinta when all the poor boy wants is to get by his life normally without the ghost of his dead childhood friend tailing him at any given moment squealing "Jintan!" at him all the time. When he sometimes snaps at her I don't blame him at all. Frankly, I wouldn't be able to take that much either. I get it, she's the tragic girl that wants her crush to reciprocate her undying love for them and so on. However, having an overboard annoying personality doesn't help her situation. It makes me go more "goddamn it Jintan, get exorcised already" rather than "goddamn it Jintan, just love her already", truth to be told.
- Yukiatsu's personality. Two words for him: Just no. He may be voiced by Takahiro Sakurai but, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Sakurai-san unfortunately couldn't make this son of a gun likeable. I get he's angsty and all that crap but dude?? Cut it out?? You're making the series worse as it goes on???
- "Jinta is insane", "Menma isn't there". The frustration fest. Cue the unbelieving stares and sneers directed at our poor main protagonist who is just trying his very best to satisfy everyone. He is a NEET, but goddamn it, NEETs can be trustworthy sometimes! It was just so frustrating to see everyone dismiss Jinta's claims as bullshit and treat him like a piece of worthless trash (except for you Poppo, you're a cool guy. And eventually Anaru too). Like, yes, I get why they might be skeptical of his claims - who suddenly starts spouting stories about their dead friend? - but Jinta has no reason to pull a practical joke on them! His personality doesn't make him that type of person to make up tall tales to get attention; he's a freaking NEET! And shouldn't it take you less than 10ish episodes of constant insisting to go: "Hey, let's all stop and listen to what Jinta has to say, maybe - and I'm gonna go out on a limb here - he's TELLING THE TRUTH"? Seriously, couldn't they have talked this through like rational people instead of yelling their feelings out?
- This anime... didn't really succeed at being the tearjerker of the century. Despite all its attempts at making its ending super emotional and beautiful yet heartfelt and sad, I shed only one tear. That was nothing compared to my reaction after watching Angel Beats - hell, I shed slightly more when watching a three to four minute AMV of Hotarubi no Mori E! So since it was supposed to be a "cry your eyes out" series I can tell why I don't rate it highly.

TL;DR: Menma is moe moe kyun kyun and may not be likeable and Jintan is subjectively awesome so watch at your own risk.

About once a year I need to remind myself not to get too complacent in trusting reviews and recommendations and to come into things without expectations. For me, this anime was that reminder for 2020. If you have a look at my profile and my favorite anime list you'll see a plethora of anime about love, romance and sad, emotional content. This is very much my type of show. Between that and the great reviews and plethora of recommendations on top 10 lists and such I came into Anohana, a show I'd been meaning to watch for months, thinking I'd probably love it. Spoiler- I ... didn't.

From everything I can tell this show is simply overrated. For its short 11 episode ride I teetered back and forth between "I've seen this before" and "this is kind of boring". There simply isn't a lot of meat on the bone. There's really only one major "event" or plot point in the whole show (the ending) and it just didn't hit me in the feels. Many tropes and cliches are on full display here. Mixed gender group of high school age friends who have known each other for a long time? Check. Love triangles and different people having feelings for each other that they're too shy/afraid to vocalize? Yep. Growing and bonding as a group and learning via your shared experiences? Of course. I don't think any of the characters in this program are memorable and they're all, for the most part, generic stereotypes.

I also think this being "one of the saddest anime of all time", a remark I've heard many, many times, is wildly overstated. I'm not someone who is ashamed of being emotionally effected by games or anime. I have absolutely shed my share of man tears when watching deeply emotional programs. This show never got me even close. I simply did not find it all that emotionally impactful.

I DID think the show had nice animation and a pretty good soundtrack, particularly its ending song "Secret Base". That's fine and well, but presentation can only take you so far when there's a lack of actual substance. I spent most of my viewing experience watching a lot of talking and crying and waiting for something to happen- waiting for that amazing, emotional moment that made it clear as day to me why people like this anime so much- and it simply never came. It was just kind of slow and boring and forgettable.

Overall, this is a GOOD show, but I don't think it's a GREAT one or anything beyond that. Perhaps some of my comments above make it sound like I didn't even find this to be a good show and that gets back to the bigger picture point I started this review with- this is why I shouldn't come into an anime with expectations. Maybe if I'd come into this completely blind and neutral I'd not be this disappointed. But I didn't. And I am.

OBJECTIVE RATING- 7.5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 7

Anohana really sticks with me. Something about it just invades my thoughts on a day to day basis and reignites the passion I had felt while watching it. Some distinct aspect of it swims like a sperm cell past all of its counterparts and impregnates my mind with a syrupy contemplation. I nurture it tenderly, feeding it the warm milk of introspection, until I finally give birth to a physical manifestation of my thoughts. I look upon the offspring of my labor with pride, its attributes resembling both my subjective and objective views of Anohana. It crawls toward me, its fleshy limbs outreached, its expression ... one of familial adoration. As I take it into my arms, I know in my heart what I have to do. I beat it to death with a wrench and flush it down the toilet.

Anohana sucks. I can barely stand to think about it, but somehow I can’t escape it. I think it’s because it represents everything I hate about anime. Whenever I see any shallow character trope, any unnecessary innuendo, any poorly delivered melodrama, any vague supernatural premise or any lost potential in any other anime, I think of Anohana. This cursed show haunts me like a prepubescent ghost child, slobbering all over me and crying in my ear when I don’t feed it enough hatred. At least my ghost isn’t as skin-crawlingly obnoxious as the little girl in Anohana, but that bar is set impossibly high. In order to even come close to that standard, you’d need to somehow create a character with an even flimsier set of motivations and behavior that leans even more toward that of a pet dog. Then you’d need to place the dead underage dog-child in a love triangle with horny teenagers, kidnap a few animator’s families and boom you got yourself a show on par with Anohana.

I felt embarrassed watching it. I felt ashamed to be indirectly associated with the demographic that Anohana panders so desperately to. I felt insulted to be on the receiving end of its pathetic and manipulative tearjerking attempts. And most of all, I felt depressed by the fact that a demand exists for this incompetent mediocrity.

9/10 for letting me live my ghost loli gf fantasy, but overall 5/10 for destroying my faith in cartoons as a medium.

Anohana is a conflicting experience.

It is able to make the audience resonate with its themes with pinpoint accuracy. The use of animation and sound is used to its fullest extent, something that is fully apparent in the op, where in less than a minute it made me both smile and shed a tear.

The problems arise when the characters are introduced.

I know that is only one of 5 pillars needed to rate an anime; however, this show is a character-driven drama. So even if in the sound, themes and art department Anohana succeeds, it disastrously fails in the character one.

Let's go down the ... list, from least to most annoying.

Poppo doesn't do much and he should because he brings the energy and cheerfulness this show desperately needs. Things are sad because we are able to experience happiness, and without this character I don't know how we'd scrape by.

Menma is a weird case. She is extremely childish and even though sometimes it can be seen as charming, it mostly falls into frustrating levels of ditziness. This wouldn't be such a problem if she bounced off well with Jintan but she doesn't. It's not much her fault as his though.

Jintan's very bland. He is our snide, emotionless husk of a human being we have all grown to recognize as most of our MCs in anime. We are told and promised he is extremely cool and totally worthy of so much admiration in his group of friends but I'm still waiting for the reasons.

I get what they were trying to do with Anuro. Geeky girl turned into a gyaru but they don't fully commit to either of these roles so she's just left as a unstable individual with radical mood swings that mostly end up with her in tears. Mixing her with other people though, makes her devolve into a tsundere (I mean, she has those pigtails for something) that in turn creates those clichés we all see coming.

Tsuruko made me roll my eyes each time she did because god was tsuruko an uptight bitch. She is unable to form any kind of decision unless Yukiatsu has given his OK and then proceeds to stare everyone down as if she is superior. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't have an extremely dependable character be bored and cool and making me suffer when she tries to put people in places she thinks they belong by cutting them off or staring them down as if they were mere insects. I understand characters shouldn't be perfect, but don't make them into nuisances.

And talking about nuisances.

First place for worst character has to go to good old yukiatsu.

Each time the story needed to move on and seeing we are left with bland Jintan who just lets the story happen to him instead of making an impact himself, the creators go and make Yukiatsu a bit crazy.

This boy makes some decisions that made me pause the video, take a deep breath and will myself to continue. I have seen characters like him, but they are normally not this central to the plot, so we can admire their trainwreck from a safe distance. He just barrels through it all with bitter comments and hateful energy. Whenever you are thinking "wow, this character is getting so much more likeable" or "well, that's a neat idea, maybe arcs can be resolved" or when you are just enjoying the story and its character interactions, worry not my friend, Yukiatsu will descend upon us and ruin it all.

I understand drama needs, well, drama to fully be successful. But stirring up shit that happened when you guys were 5 is not a great way to do that. There is a scene where the characters are all bursting into tears by this and I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous it looked.

Not to say this anime didn't bring me to tears, because it sure did. The last episode did its job wonderfully, but this was achieved despite its characters and not because of them. Themes about loneliness, growing up, moving on, and death will always be relatable to any of us because these are feelings we will encounter as we live, and the anime fully takes advantage of this in order to make us empathize with their situation.

I think too many people adore Anohana because of how effective it is to make you cry, while ignoring the frustration it made you carry to reach that point.

I can best describe AnoHana as... angsty. That's not to say it's bad, but that would certainly be the word for it. It reaches for "tragic" or "moving" but it falls just a little bit short in a few places. The product we've got can still be moving at times, but at other times it can fall flat thanks to melodrama, or be moving in the wrong way rather than how it wanted to be.

The story, as you'll get in the first episode, is that the ghost of our main character's dead friend has shown up and wants to get the band ... back together to grant her wish. The problems? None of her other old friends can see her, and she doesn't actually remember what her wish is. Now, that sounds like a decent setup, though one that does present a few challenges. A story could go multiple ways from that.

So, how about the story? Well, it's 11 episodes and it feels a little stretched out. Throughout the episodes, there are at least three different wishes that we think Menma wants granted, and two major struggles to attempt to do so. That's not bad, but I feel like there was about an episode of unneeded material in each of those two arcs.

In addition to that, there are a few things that bug me in the main plot. For instance, the rules of how ghosts function in this universe. They're not bad rules, per say, but they're not well-presented, necessarily consistent, or addressed logically by the characters. For instance, Menma can manipulate physical objects, a fact that we see fairly early on. She can, for instance, do all the lifting, pouring, and detailed work necessary to make bread! So it should be fairly trivial to prove her existence to someone who can't see her, because while there may be some barrier to noticing ghostly behavior, a patently hovering object would break it. I'm so very glad that this isn't brought up or utilized until long after my patience for the "Everyone thinks the character seeing the ghost is insane" routine had worn out. When we finally do get some spectral communication, we find out that she can write text in the diary she had while alive, but not anywhere else... because the pen doesn't work. Why? No reason. Couldn't they use (or have used earlier) a Kokkuri-san style setup to divine ghostly presence or will? She can bake, could she write text in spilled flour with her finger? This wouldn't bother me so much if the drama for a big chunk of the show didn't hinge on it. To draw comparison to another show, in Dusk Maiden of Amnesia the basic rules of ghost-hood are set down fairly early, and though things can change or be discovered over the course of the show, whenever a discovery is made, it's addressed and/or used as needs be. In AnoHana, they just sort of ignore this to give the main character a harder time.

Characters are the other point where the show has significant weaknesses. Not that these are bad characters -- far from it. I won't be cursing the names of Jintan and his friends the way I would characters that were really insulting in their thinly sketched or inconsistent natures, but the show leaves everything riding on these characters and they come just a little short of pulling that massive weight. Their personal arcs can also suffer from the stretching. By just a couple episodes in you get the basic dynamic that Anaru is in love with Jintan who couldn't get over Menma, and until the first time the show really tries to work out that arc, it plays pretty well. The problem is that it's the first time of somewhere between three and five potentially game-ending moves, and the resolution we FINALLY get is a sort of "maybe ever after" that, while intellectually honest, doesn't seem like it's a good payoff for all the screen time we spent up to that point.

The biggest problem character, though, is Menma. Not who she is, really, but how she's used by the show. Now, in her screen time (and there is a lot of it) she is fairly charming and likable, but she is the absolute center of this show's world, and it doesn't feel deserved. Almost every facet of every other character comes back to Menma, which while not technically a wrong approach given the topic of the show does weaken all the other characters. All their desires and actions tie into Menma, both who she was and the fact that she died. To draw another comparison, in Mekakucity Actors, Ayano Tateyama is a deceased character who is (or was) very important to the vast majority of the cast. However, all those characters have their own lives, goals, and personas outside of their tie to Ayano, even if her life and death did leave a huge mark on them. Further, we get flashbacks to see the building and dynamics of their relationships with each other and with her in a very natural fashion, that doesn't really rely on exposition. In AnoHana, not only is Menma the center of the universe, but we don't exactly see why. True, as I said she has a presence in the show and is a fairly charming and likable character, but the show relies on telling us, rather than showing us, how she connected with the other characters, utilizing one flashback to the day of her death in which she (most runs through at least) doesn't even get any meaningful lines. If the past of the characters, and the construction of their bonds with Menma, had been as well done as at least the present setup of their bonds with each other and reactions to her demise, the show would have been much stronger for it. More Super Peace Busters scenes, less Yukiatsu needlessly and slightly creepily coming on to Anaru, please. This is especially troublesome because whether or not the characters have changed since "back then", and how, is a major theme of the show. We're told sometimes "Everybody is different" and sometimes "Nobody has changed at all", and it's impossible to see or decide for ourselves if we don't actually know one of those two reference points.

That said, while I wish we'd known the child characters, I do like at least elements of each of the adult characters, and the fact that all five of them have different (though pretty much all maladaptive) reactions to their grief and loss: Isolation, Acting, Indulgence, Stoicism, or Reminiscence. While it doesn't feel entirely justified just how much their lives have been lensed by Menma and her death, especially with their young starting age and the long time gap between her dying and rising as a ghost, if we take the show at its word the depiction is actually really good, and they do feel like a bunch of friends who really need some magical events to set them back on the right path, and start them healing.

Briefly, the art is nice. It's nothing spectacular, but AnoHana is a very low-key story that doesn't lend itself to astounding visuals, so I'll take it that the characters and scenes are all nice to look at. The sound is more of a mixed bag. The music is forgettable (but that's no real crime) while the voice acting is pretty darn good. These are a set of voice actors who can, for the large part, really pull off the large number and variety of screaming and/or crying scenes the script needs them to indulge in, so even if said script doesn't lead you to understand the characters' pain, at least the voice actors can properly convey it... most of the time. There are one or two scenes where things get just a little too melodramatic, especially at the (otherwise very good, to the point of redeeming some parts of the show I was less sure about) ending, but that's not too much nor too bad so I'd probably call it good overall.

Story: 6
Art: 8
Sound: 7
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 7
Overall: 7

Final Thoughts: While AnoHana is by no means a bad show, it has some pointed weaknesses and, worse than that, not much if anything that stands out as noteworthy or spectacular. I think I'd rather a more deeply flawed show that also had more powerful high points, rather than one that's a little on either side of average all around, and while I don't regret watching it, I won't be going back for another pass any time soon.

I can see why some people would like AnoHana. It’s an emotional, slice of life, feel good (although it deals with grief and guilt, it’s still rather hopeful and light) series with tinges of romance. So maybe it just wasn’t for me. Even if you’re into that genre however, it’s hard to overlook some major flaws.

Plot:
The series has only 11 episodes. So you’d think economic use of time would be a top priority. You’d be wrong though. A lot of time is spent doubting the character who can see the ghost friend (well, that’s just realism. Who wouldn’t doubt him?), proving that the ghost friend ... actually does exist (which is accomplished in a way that makes you wonder why they didn’t think of that in the first place, but ok, they have a pretty stupid excuse built in) and trying to figure out the wish of the ghost friend. They try various things without success before they find the solution in the last episode.

And that’s my problem with the series: the pacing is a disaster. I can easily understand why people like the series. It deals with a tragedy, but I never really felt depressed. The series doesn’t avoid the rather angsty moments, but to me it was generally a hopeful and light series instead of a depressing and dark one. But the series wastes episode after episode and resolves all of the problems in the last episode. It felt unnatural. Until the penultimate episode the different characters of the group didn’t get along, were clashing with each other and had major issues to deal with. If the last episode is supposed to resolve that (the answer isn’t clear, only hinted at in the end), it did a lousy and unrealistic job of it. Another reviewer described it as a group therapy session and I think that is an adequate description.

The built up to the “solution” just wasn’t there, although they built up the conflicts and issues facing most characters nicely. It makes you wonder if the series was planned out for more than 11 episodes and the writers had to end it hastily.

The unrequited romance ties in nicely into the main grief-storyline and isn’t overwhelming. I wouldn’t describe AnoHana as a romance and I don’t think it was intended as one.

Themes:
AnoHana deals with a range of emotions from grief, over unrequited love to (a little) guilt and jealousy. And the way it deals with it, is, ultimately I think, flawed.

As I mentioned above the built up for the conflicts is nicely done. The same goes for establishing the different themes. None of it seems forced and I think, even though I have never been in a similar situation, that it’s rather believable that the death of a beloved friend can affect people in a major way.

But again I’m coming back to how it is resolved. AnoHana gives off the impression that there is some miracle and in an instance every emotional problem is solved. That makes no sense. The grief, the jealousy, the romantic problems: none of them are satisfactorily resolved.


Characters:
Some negative reviewers argued that neither the characters nor the situation they’re facing was relatable. To be sure, most of us likely haven’t been unfortunate enough to see a beloved friend die and having to deal with the grief. Still I found the feelings and situation of said characters relatable enough.

I generally don’t subscribe to the idea of relatability though. Even in the slice of life genre relating to the characters and their situations is generally not that easy. Look at the sports Anime, or Barakamon or slice of life in live action TV. Can you relate to guys whose sole purpose in life seems to be playing Volleyball (Haikyuu!), writing Caligraphy (Barakamon), live in an English manor at the dawn of the 20th century (Downton Abbey) or work in the ad-business in the 60s (Mad Men)? To say nothing of all other Anime (please, tell me how you can relate to that Saiyajin fighter with the apelike tail or to that princess from the moon that fights demons at night).

Now you may argue that relatability is not in the situation, but in feelings. People are people, they become relatable not only through their experience and through their circumstances but mostly through the emotions they express. If that’s your opinion I don’t see how the characters in AnoHana are any less relatable than anyone else in any other Anime.

Now on to the individual characters:

Menma: The female friend that died and returns as a ghost is a cheerful airhead, that loves everyone, but especially Jin-tan. I’ve seen her physical appearance described as moe and I’d agree with that. But even if you dislike moe, I don’t think that would be a reason not to watch AnoHana.

Jin-tan: The main character, who stopped going to school, mostly out of grief over Menmas death and reappearance. He loves Menma and is the only one who can see her ghost. He’s also determined to make her wish come true.

Anaru: The girl that loves Jin-tan, therefore is jealous of Menma.

Poppo: The guy who completely dropped out of school and gets about no character development until the last two episodes.

Yuikatsu: He loves Menma too (unrequited and obsessively) and therefore logically is jealous of Jin-tan. That jealousy is also rooted in the fact that Jin-tan was the leader of the group back in their elementary school days. There is also one or two episodes in which he engages in weird behavior. I’m not gonna say what exactly it is, because that might spoil and/or deter some people, although the thing is really minor.

Tsuruko: She loves Yukiatsu (he is too dense to notice it, apparently) and is therefore also somewhat jealous of Menma and later Anaru.

I once read that it is hard to compete with dead people since they make no mistakes. That is certainly true for the two surviving female characters. Their plight was believable. Especially since the two males they love are dense and only learn of the females affection in the last three episodes. Another problem that could have been solved by proper communication (at least partially), but that’s why the group therapy in E11 worked, I suppose.

Now the characters are certainly not the best you’ll ever see in an Anime. But, with the exception of Poppo who gets about zero development, they’re decent enough.

Art: I don’t care about the art and therefore was ok with what was presented.

Sound: I liked the music, opening and ending.

Childhood trauma is a terrible thing, it's something most people experience in their lifetime. Many problems in this world are well represented by works in media, stories, literature. Anime is one of those, when an anime decides to take a spin on an issue in the real world it's a very delicate process in having all the moments of the trauma, whereas if an anime makes something not quite stick out it would affect the entire anime as a whole. They can either stick out of the crowd as an amazing anime with realistic ideas, or something that failed to produce anything more than a ... sad excuse for a trip down memory lane. Ano Hi Mita Hana No Namae Wo Bokutachi Wa Mada Shiranai is one of the sad excuses...

Story: 7/10
The story of a child is usually adventurous and fun both captured decently in the anime. It was a good story with bad elements in it, the story, in particular, was about a friend group called the "Super Peace Busters" experiencing a loss of the group. The loss of a friend can ruin lives, not just the person in particular. The story is based around that idea, it attempts to execute a story about a young girl who passed mysteriously, after playing with the group. The story revolves around the group eventually growing up and one friend Jintan, facing hallucinations and mental illness. He was able to "see" his long-lost dead friend. The story later went on with the friend group eventually having this illness and them getting back together to face this. The story had tons of potential but had flaws that would turn the story into something much worse. The story faced pacing problems, rushing into stuff after the first half of the anime, and adding much too many additional things when they weren't able to complete the main idea well. It felt like a rushed, poorly written, unemotional story, with many things they had to consider.

Art: 4/10
Art in an anime can change its entire perspective. It can change anime ratings as a whole, sadly Anohana: the flower we saw that day had not cared to put additional art into the anime. It seemed unoriginal and bland and as a result, seemed lazy. The art was generic in a non-generic idea. and it was not cared for.

Sound: 5/10
The soundtrack and effects were nothing out of the ordinary, it had decent songs but not anything to congratulate it for.

Character: 3/10
My, my what do I say about the characters, the characters are a bland mush of unlikeness, poor writing, bad design, small stories not large enough to care for, yet too small for anybody to remember. All the characters were badly written and not very new. Nobody seemed interesting and they made the story worse and seemed to not have too much care in its planning.

Enjoyment: 4/10
It had too many flaws and problems for me to enjoy the anime, it was dragged on, but also rushed at the end, not interesting, badly written, and just bad. It was a poor execution of a serious, sad topic, and as a person with experience, the story seemed fake and so bad in its adaptation. The loss of a loved one is one of the hardest things to deal with, but this anime, took that experience to a bland, over-cliched, nonemotional anime.

Overall:5/10
Anohana is an anime that was a miss, it's definitely not something I recommend for a tearjerker as it doesn't give you enough about the characters to make you feel sad about them. The anime was poorly executed and needed lots of changes to fix it up. As a fan of sad anime, it was truly a terrible one. It made me feel nothing and it felt so unfinished and rushed, I wish that they could've made the changes to make it better, but sadly this is what came out of it.

I know people on here hate long reviews so I apologize, but hey this anime is something I know people will hate me for, so thanks for reading my incredibly long review, and have a good day! Goodbye!

“I thought that you've changed. However, after actually talking with all of you, I was surprised to find out that no one had actually changed." - Jinta

This quote was said by the main protagonist of the show to his friends and it just summed up my biggest issue with Anohana. Although let me make this clear: I do think that the reason why I didn't vibe with this show is more of a personal preference because I can see a lot of people enjoying this show-- hell, I would go as far as to recommend it to some, since overall, Anohana isn't a bad anime. ...

But for me, it wasn't that great either.

The thing is, everything is up for debate and that's ultimately why I think this anime was just an "I didn't vibe with it" kind of thing (so take my words with a grain of salt) because you can make a convincing argument on how the show had good characters, plot, and themes. Although this is MY opinion and I'm not trying to be a nit-picky or bias reviewer, I'm just offering my honest thoughts. Again, in no way do I think this was a horrible or even bad anime, but here are some reasons why you should consider skipping Anohana the next time you see it while scrolling through your Netflix watch-list.


Production Quality

Let's start with the positives. The animation is really beautiful, the music is absolutely amazing (most definitely the highlight of the show), and . . . well, that's kinda it. Basically, besides Anohana's undeniably stellar production quality, everything else fell flat for me.


Characters

I'll just start with my most obvious problem this how had: the characters. I don't know about you, but even when the last minute of the last episode played, I still felt like I was watching a bunch of strangers. I didn't feel closer to any of them even though I've just sat through 12 episodes of a seemingly character-driven story. None of them stuck out to me in any way. They were all so dull (and I see that's somewhat of a subjective sentiment) but we really never get to see any depth to them! All we know about them is that they're still grieving over their childhood friend's death and that they haven't changed since then.
Which is a huge problem! From when they were 5 years old to now, they didn't grow as people! Sure, maybe some changed their appearances (Amaru) or are now sadder than usual (Jintan), but they just didn't change character-wise. And that makes for a very static and unrealistic group of people.

Not only that, but throughout the course of the story, we see how more prevalent this problem is! They. Just. Don't. Change. The only thing that changed in them was that they felt less guilty for Menma's death. But what about their core individualities? They talk, cry, walk, do things but never reflect on their actions enough to undergo significant character development. There was no point A to point B for these characters because from the start, they were stuck as the character roles inflicted upon them!

And maybe the lack of character development is actually a result of the nonexistent exploration of the character's personalities. Because what are their actual personalities or quirks? Where are the parts that make them unique individuals? I don't know these characters because I don't know anything about them! What are their hobbies? Their favorite color? Their favorite food? Their fears? Their dreams? The type of music they listen to? The types of books they read? Why?
So maybe I am wrong and that they have changed as characters, but how can I know that, if I don't know them?!


Plot

The overview plot for Anohana is about a group of friends reuniting five years after the death of their childhood friend, Menma (who has suddenly appeared like a "ghost") and they need to help her fulfill a wish so she can go to the afterlife without any regrets. That's the main gist of it. There's a small element of supernaturalism (aka Menma being some kind of "ghost", but the technicalities of the matter were never elaborated/ explained upon).

Although it isn't entirely episodic, it certainly feels that way. There was an obvious goal for each episode: what is Menma's wish? but even with a purpose in mind, more times than not, the story just felt meandering because it mostly consisted of insipid romance problems that felt like we were getting nowhere. After a while, Anohana: The Flower We Saw that Day just felt like some kind of moody, teen soap-opera without any heart to it. It was obviously meant to be a very character-driven story and unfortunately for you, if you didn't like the characters, you won't have the greatest time watching this.

And what I mean when I previously stated it lacked "heart" to it was, that a show that claims to deal with grief . . . didn't go over this theme at all. The "impact" Menma's death had on her friends were written in such a straightforward and textbook way (especially how some of them "coped" with it). It was mostly everyone trying to blame themselves while still trying to uphold a moral high ground for themselves. Throughout the entire anime, I never found a scene that touched me regarding the loss of losing someone (except maybe towards the very, very end). And this is probably due to the fact that when you dedicate most of your plot towards "who likes who and giant fucking love pentagons", you lose a lot of time to actually focus on the core theme of the anime's premise.


Final Thoughts

If I'm being 100% honest here: I dreaded finishing this anime. Not because I was scared of getting "hit by the feels"-- something I heard this anime had a reputation for doing (and was partly the reason that made me WANT to watch it in the first place), but nope, in actuality, this anime was just incredibly dull to sit through.

Look, the only reason why I'm giving it such a high score of 6/10 despite my enjoyment level probably being around a 4, is that I have to give the production quality some props (the soundtrack especially is seriously awesome, I'll give it that) and that I can see how some people may like all the things I criticized on. It's an anime that I found boring but not forgettable (wait, is that a paradox?). Anyway, watch it, don't watch it, but I'll recommend you doing the latter.

this story's idea was really interesting one and started good but I think such an idea like this needs to more complication and deepness. so I was just waiting for better final. and if I will say something about the characters, I didn't really feel them because they didn't talk about their opinions and feelings enough till the end which makes me as a viewer be out of the story beside of the main character. the most annoying thing about this point is that we see some scenes without the main character, so we wasn't really looking to the whole story from the main character's ... eyes. even so the scenes which shows us other chatracters lifes wasn't enough. I guess it was be better if the anime was longer so we can see more improvment about characters.

I was really looking forward to a tear jerking anime, and Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai stood out for me. At first it was really good, but then went downhill for me. Almost every single episode a character was crying which by the end meant I wasn't really sad about the ending. Enough about my rant, let's get started on the review.

Story 5/10: This anime starts off qute well in the story, but really gets boring the longer you watch it. Every episode is about finding a way for Jinta to let others see Meiko (Menma) again, and grant ... her wish. There's nothing too special here, and like I said in the beginning, a character crying every episode kind of ruined the end for me.

Art 9/10: The best part of this anime. Not much to say, but well animated characters, background and colours. Overall, nothing to complain about here.

Sound 7/10: The songs in the anime were quite good especialy the ending theme. Nothing too memorable here though, but was a nice tough to the anime.

Character 5/10: Once again, another downfall. I like to describe the characters in this anime as "generic". There's not much to them, and I call them generic because you can take them out and put new characters in. The stary wouldn't be any different if the new characters acted the exact same way. The only character I really remember is Meiko.

Enjoyment 6/10: I gave my enjoyment a six. I liked the anime, but I expected too much from it. So, just because I didn't enjoy it that much doesn't mean it's a bad anime, because it's all opinion.

Overall 6/10: Overall, I gave this anime a six because of all my reasons listed above.

Please don't let my review discourage you from watching this anime. It got a really good score after all, but this is my opinion and if you want to listen to it go ahead.

Ano Hana....The most disappointing Anime I've ever seen.
Amazing how good this show destroyed my expectations of an emotional Slice Of Life Anime...
But before this escalates completely I'm just gonna make it sweet and short.

Story: The concept and the setting is actually good and the Anime is keeping itself away from overused cliches but that doesn't hide the fact that it has a slow pacing and somehow feels "funny"...

Art: Nothing special, I really don't like the artstyle, especially Menma (the girl with the white hair) looks weird and the animation feels lazy sometimes but since it's A-1 Pictures the landscapes HAVE to look artistic and do ... catch my eye so props to that.

Sound: Oh, god it's almost unrecognizable. It was like the Anime didn't have any background music at all since it's way too slow and mostly consisted of calm piano tunes but that just wasn't enough. But regardless of that the opening is beautiful. Typical for Galileo Galilei and Yuuki Ozaki surely has a gorgeous voice.

Character: Probably the biggest problem I have with this show are the characters. I was sincerely glad that none of them were stereotypes and all of them were given proper development, especially in the last episodes you could surely feel for them and appreciate their outcomes. But nonetheless was Menma, the one who pretty much guided the other five friends together in the end, the one who was the dullest and most annoying character in the Anime. Well, I know that her personality pretty much shows the opposite and is probably the most lively and most caring of the six but regardless of it I couldn't sympathize with her. I honestly tried myself to get a liking for her but it bugged me to no end of how childish and stubborn she really is. Everyone could let go of their inner child but the most important character was left as she was as a child which was pretty disorienting and misleading.

Enjoyment: It was mostly boring and not interesting. Only the last two episodes could crack my shell and let me shed a tear but the enjoyment was low.

Overall: I would say it's a no-go. The biggest disappointment I've ever seen, especially since everyone praises this show no end which I clearly can't understand. Watch it for yourselfs and make up your own opinion about this Anime. That's everything I have to say.