Having heard of how different the anime adaptation was compared to the VN, curiosity led this author to experience both. This may help VN readers who chance across this anime somehow in the future and wonder if it’s worth their time.
Spoiler alert: It probably isn’t. About the only positive there might be from watching the anime is that the original VAs for the VN reprise their characters in this anime. It is nice to hear and see the characters come to life, but that’s about it. Some may find the anime opening catchy.
For those who have somehow came across this anime but not tried the VN, the VN could well be worth your time if the anime left you confused and unsatisfied. It is not too long, quite simple with almost no choices, and Textractor works decently with the packaged Google Translate module. Just find the correct H-code (text hooking) to use (/HA8: -20@4151B0) and you should be good.
Spoiler warning for both the VN and anime episodes as key differences between the anime and VN’s plot/characterization will be covered. Do not read further if you do not want to be spoiled.
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The Wikipedia synopsis of each episode can be used as reference for those who have forgotten about what happened. Which may be for the best. For context, these points are from playing three routes in the original VN (without Yui route) and without playing through of the after-stories.
Key Plot Differences
The cause of Takuma’s mother’s death:
This is one of the largest differences between the anime and the VN. In Episode 9 of the anime, it is revealed that Hayami’s family hounded and harassed her to suicide after she married Takuma’s father. In the VN, however, the cause of her death is far more noble and bittersweet – she actually saved Takuma’s life by pushing him off the train tracks when he, as a depressed child, tried to commit suicide thinking his parents would be happier without having a blind child. The themes explored by both reasons are different: In the anime, this is a point brought up by Hotaru’s grandfather to drive a wedge between him and Hayami in the belief that Takuma would not be able to accept Hayami because of generational guilt/guilt by association. In the VN, it is a point of discussion between him and Otoha/Hinata on survivor’s guilt, gratitude, and how one should lead their life knowing that it was a gift to them from the sacrifice of others that loved them.
The reason Hayami’s family was discriminated against:
In the anime, this was explained as a power struggle between the Hayami and Hotaru families. No such reason for this discrimination is provided in the VN, but there are hints from Hotaru’s grandfather that blood was spilled on both sides in the past, so it could be a long-running family feud in the village. In the anime, the reason for Hayami being bullied by her classmates is due to presumed guilt by association, but the VN states quite clearly that the reasons for her being bullied by her classmates are much more trivial: She is seen as a “bad kid” because of her poverty (she eats food which has fallen to the floor, scavages the trash bins for used pencils to re-use them, and is often seen in dirty clothes – ironically her clothes are dirtied because of the bullies). This is noted by Takuma in a short reflection on how kids bully others that are different from them, but this point is absent in the anime.
The “fumeyo” incident, and the significance of the pinwheel:
The “fumeyo” incident is common to all three paths in the VN, but it does not appear in the anime at all. The red and blue pinwheel briefly appears in the anime’s opening, ending, and some shots, but no mention or explanation of its significance in the anime is made beyond a quick shot of Hayami crafting one for Hotaru when they were young, which is unfortunate.
As VN readers would know, the “fumeyo” incident refers to a defining moment for Takuma in the VN when push comes to shove regarding Takuma's "neutrality"/refusal to bully Hayami, and Takuma is pressured by the class to step on Hayami. This is not the first time he was pressured to do so in the VN, but he is not able to run away from this problem when it re-appears in the “fumeyo” incident. Depending on the route one is on, how Takuma gets out of the situation without joining in the class bullying of Hayami differs slightly, but nevertheless it marks a significant point for the friendship between Takuma and Hayami where she knows he will not abandon her as a friend no matter what. One can only guess why this important scene was omitted from the anime*, but its absence removed an explanation for why Hayami was able to trust Takuma to the extent she did in the anime.
* It is possible the anime producers thought it was too psychologically scarring to show peer-pressure bullying, but then the anime shows several brutal scenes of Hayami being punched by the bullies, so...
The pinwheel is similarly significant for the relationship between Takuma and Hayami in Hayami’s VN route: In the VN, Takuma is paired up with Hayami during art class so that Hayami can help a blind Takuma to paint the pinwheel. Hayami paints it their favorite colors respectively (red is Hayami’s favorite color, and blue is Takuma’s favorite color), and they enjoy a moment when the pinwheel spins somewhere in the school. Unfortunately, they are found by Yui and her bullies, who destroy the pinwheel as they beat up Hayami. Hayami weeps bitterly after she sees the destroyed pinwheel (as it was a symbol of their friendship), and alludes to being unable to protect it “again” (which could be a reference to her making pinwheels for Hotaru when they were young). Takuma, before leaving the village later on in the VN, meets Hayami one last time on the hill, and gives her a repaired pinwheel. A few years later following a timeskip, he returns and finds her still waiting for him at the hill with the pinwheel, which she has taken great care of because of how much she treasured it. The explanation for the pinwheel could have been an excellent build-up for the relationship between Takuma and Hayami in the anime, but strangely it was not included as well.
Key Characterization Differences
Hotaru’s grandfather is not quite the evil mastermind he is made out to be in the anime:
In the VN, he does force Hotaru to watch as the mob attacks and razes Hayami’s family house, and he does tell her that it is due to her friendship with Hayami. However, he also explains that he was pressured by the village – as the village chief, when the villagers saw the budding friendship between Hayami and Hotaru, they thought that it was not possible Hotaru would disobey her grandfather the village chief, and so were unhappy with her grandfather, not Hotaru. The anime casts him as someone of uncertain sympathies towards Hayami’s family (largely discriminating against them but occasionally shielding the family from the ire of some villagers) before he tries to outright murder Hayami in the last episode, but in the VN he seems to be someone trying to keep the peace in the village filled with strong anti-Hayami sentiments, but allows the mob to attack Hayami’s house out of cowardice or indecisiveness. While he does suggest to a young Hotaru that she can make her parents be happier by taking on the identity of a dead Otoha/Hinata, he does not order her to get close to Takuma in draw him away from Hayami, nor does he try to sabotage the friendship between Takuma and Hayami as it grows.
Yui is significantly harsher and crueler/meaner than she is portrayed in the anime:
In the VN, Yui and her bullies also bully Hotaru, albeit not to the same extent of laying hands on her, but by flipping her skirt to expose Hotaru. This occurs a few times in the VN. The anime-provided explanation of Hayami’s family denying Yui’s grandfather medicine and thus killing him indirectly is also completely absent in the VN – the closest we get to a motivation is that she was instructed to view Hayami as sub-human by her older brother, and grew over time to enjoy bullying someone she genuinely viewed as beneath her. This was not explained much in the VN, but it was still surprising to see Yui cast in such a positive light in the anime compared to how vicious she was in the VN towards Hayami (taking part in the beating up of Hayami herself and hiding a spider, which she knew Hayami to be terrified by, in Hayami’s bag, causing a tearful Hayami to leave behind her diary as she flees. The diary’s contents are then read out to a mocking class by none other than Yui herself.)
Hamaji’s reason for cross-dressing is not explained in the anime:
While the character of Hamaji functions as comic relief both in the VN and anime, the VN has a darker explanation for why Hamaji cross-dresses: They too had befriended Hayami in the past, and were bullied by the class for doing so in a similar “fumeyo” incident. Raised on the idea that “good boys should protect girls” but pressured to step on Hayami to differentiate themselves as a “good boy” compared to a “bad girl” (which they knew to be not what a “good boy” should do), something snapped in them and they declared they were no longer a boy in order to escape stepping on her. This would have been a short but impactful addition to the anime, but perhaps the exclusion of the “fumeyo” incident prevented this from being shown as well.
Conclusion: Had the anime stuck closer to key plot points from the VN (instead of including a beach and dream episode, along with whatever the last three episodes turned out to be), it would have told a much better story. Unfortunately, its addition of unnecessary twists and turns merely adds meaningless drama to a confusing story, leaving VN readers sorely unsatisfied.
For those who have only watched the anime, there is more depth to the VN than even what has been covered above. It is worth checking it out, if only to better understand the actual message the original VN tries to convey – a message lost amidst the mess of themes that the anime haphazardly brings up and forgets an episode later. Finally, the VN’s opening is also worth checking out as it beautifully captures the atmosphere of the series.
