Let alone, it was really great. I personally loved the middle school scenes from Ao Haru Ride so this was really good for me, a whole episode about them in their middle school years. Although they don't introduce any new elements, possibilities or anything else the single fragments didn't introduce in the TV series, the touching story and great characters is what you'll be watching this for.
As a "episode 0", there, of course, weren't any characters that were introduced after Futaba and Tanaka in the TV series, like I said they didn't add anything new the single fragments from the TV series didn't add, haha.
Story: 8/10
Same thing as the TV series, the story here was incredibly touching. Nothing felt wrong in any aspect. A stunning ability the story of Ao Haru Ride has, is how they can turn a simple love story plot that may be overused, into something so fresh and wonderful. You feel like you've been there, but Ao Haru Ride makes you know that it's not the same. This is something I admired Ao Haru Ride for, such a simple story yet it makes you feel so connected to the show because of the way they make things look and explain things. This is most likely why I gave the story a 8 regardless of it being the same as explained in the TV series, it's a really touching story that bloomed in a great way thanks to its creators.
Art: 8/10
Like I said, nothing changed here that you haven't seen from the TV series. It's pretty much reused since the whole point of this was to have an episode with all the fragments, so they didn't feel loose. This said, the art of course, is as beautiful as it ever was anywhere else. Always so living and beautiful, you know it makes you feel like you should be watching this.
Sound: 8/10
More copy and paste here, but what can do you do? As it was, the sound was incredibly fitting and was a little tear-jerker. The piano the show uses for it soundtracks leaves such an excellent taste in your ears.
Character: 9/10
This is where Ao Haru Ride shines the most, it's characters. It's no surprise the character section here was rated highest, the whole episode was backstory to both Futaba and Tanaka. I am so in love with Tanaka and Futaba, I'd take 3 paragraphs explaining how much I love them in the TV series but these are the middle school versions, sorry! Futaba still has that cute personality of hers that always makes her think she's an idiot, another great deal for this section would be the art because I love the way Futaba is designed! She looks idealistic to a human being, in fact, all the characters make me feel like I'm watching human beings communicate with each other. In the sense of, they're the typical human beings. Anime has it's huge share of making humans not resemble actual humans at all, Futaba and Tanaka aren't perfect, I feel like everything that happens in Ao Haru Ride could one day happen to me, this is the connection Ao Haru Ride tries to make in every episode, and Ao Haru Ride: Unwritten explains it the most. You know one day this is most likely to happen, if you know you won't, you know you can make that scene happen one day because it's not impossible. Tanaka keeps his super shy tone and personality as portrayed in "the before times" in the TV series, unlike his super cool outgoing self. :P
Enjoyment: 9/10!
It would've been a 10/10 if I haven't already seen it since these are mainly scenes already seen in the anime. Seeing a whole episode dedicated to these scenes from the show really made my day, Ao Haru Ride was one of my top 5 most hyped for Summer season and it's still in my top 5, I'm glad along with the adaptation, we got this. The middle school scenes from the TV series were amazing and way too touching, so experiencing this once again was way too great.
Overall: 8/10
A touching, well developed story was enjoyed to it's fullest. Regardless of the reused scenes, art, sound and everything really, this is a must watch for any Ao Haru Ride fan.
TL;DR
If you want to see the original middle school scenes from Ao Haru Ride with a few new scenes and text here and there, this is for you. If you think you want to start Ao Haru Ride starting here, this is the best starting point you can have.
