Before I start with the categories- let me address something that annoyed me in other reviews. First look at the title. One-Week-Friends. FRIENDS. Now look at the genre tags. Comedy, School, Shounen, Slice of Life. DO NOT COME INTO THIS ANIME AND THEN GIVE IT A BAD REVIEW BECAUSE YOU WANTED ROMANCE. This is a slice of life anime about friendship. Not about a relationship. Got it? k.
Story: 9/10
The story is really what caused me to watch this anime so soon. I had a list of about 40 anime's on my plan to watch but decided to pick this title up cause of the plot summary. Kaori is a girl who loses her memory about her happy moments every week. Because of this, she isolates herself since having friends is useless if you can't remember your memories with them right? Then comes Hase. Hase wonders why this cute girl seemingly has no friends. And where does she disappear to during lunch time? The anime tells the story of Hase's mission to befriend Kaori. As expected, its not as easy as he might have imagined- since he did not know of Kaori's condition beforehand. However the sweet Hase tries his best to be as patient as possible as he tries to fix Kaori's condition so that one day she can call him a friend.
What stuck me the most about this anime is the fantastic pacing. That plot summary I just told you about? Yeah it doesn't take 12 episodes to develop. You learn pretty much all of that in the first episode. You learn about her condition and you see Hase try to befriend her right from the getgo. Too often do I get bored with anime's in the beginning to the point where I come close to dropping it. That's not the case with this anime. And what's perfect about it is that you will realize if you like the series straight from episode 1- so you might as well give it a shot right?
The story was well done and I highly enjoyed it. A cute story is a must for cute characters right? The ending does leave something to be desired- but I wanted something different from what most others wanted. And it's not that I disliked the ending of the series by any means- I just would have had a different vision for the ending if I wanted to truly make this a perfect anime.
Art and Sound: 10/10
Now this may be a controversial opinion- I haven't heard too much about how people felt about the art/animation/sound/music in One-Week-Friends. But I loved it and thought it was executed absolutely perfectly. That's not to say that I think by itself the visuals are out of this world- no. And the sound isn't too special by itself either. However- it helps create this fuzzy atmosphere in the anime. The character designs and visuals in general are nice and just reinforce the cuteness of the characters. The sound and music makes for a cheerful atmosphere most of the time which is great for this anime- since its the perfect feel-good anime. I don't think the art and sound could have been better for this specific anime- it made a cute anime look and feel even cuter.
Character: 9/10
Now I'll be the first to admit that not all the characters were perfect and lovable (I'm looking at you Saki). However, for the most part, they are really well done. The protagonist Hase is a very relateable character. He might be viewed by some as a typical nice guy- but I found him to be pretty realistic and I found my emotions linking with Hase during the anime. When he was frustrated- I too was frustrated because of an action that occurred in the anime. When he was happy- I was smiling alongside him. When something sad happened- I teared up as Hase felt destroyed. It's things like this that make Hase an excellent protagonist. And he certainly reminds me of myself and how I was during my highschool days.
Kaori is just the cutest and her character was perfect because you were really rooting for Hase and her to become friends. You have the nice guy paired up with the sweet innocent girl that deep down inside wishes she could make friends and have those memories remain. They're the perfect duo. Hase's friend Shougo is also very realistic (All these realistic characters really do make for a great slice of life) and he's just a down to earth kind of guy. I really liked his character because he just seems like that bro every male protagonist needs. He didn't feel like a convenient character to progress the plot, but rather acted as the voice of reason that would knock some sense into the main protagonists.
Enjoyment: 10/10
This might very well be the single anime I enjoyed the most. It's hard to tell since I have about 3 anime's that I really really fell in love with- but this one certainly took me by surprise as being an amazing anime- shocking given the score it has on MAL currently. Part of the reason I enjoyed this anime so much is because it reminds me of a very special friendship I had in highschool with a girl. I can relate to Hase's determination and all his other emotions he felt trying to befriend Kaori.
All in all this is a really solid anime and I would be shocked to hear of someone actually disliking it. Some people were displeased with the ending and had unrealistic expectations- but I've come to like to ending and its not the anime's fault for people's prior expectations. This is a slow paced anime and this is very slice of life- no major action sequences or anything. But yet the end product is still a highly enjoyable piece full of cute characters, animation, and music.
I give this anime a very personal 10/10. I know other people may not hold this in such high regards- but I fell in love with this work and perhaps you will too. I cannot recommend this anime enough for slice of life fans or people who just want to feel really happy while watching an anime. Check this one out. You won't regret it
