This is a show that I have been subconsciously avoiding for quite a while, because normally I am not one for romantic comedies, so going in I was sceptical at how would an anime fare at this genre, but as I found out my fears were completely unfounded. This show manages to balance comedy, romance and drama unbelievably well and that combined with one of the most interesting and diverse cast of characters makes for a truly great anime. One thing that especially impressed me was the anime’s willingness to tackle failure which is in itself extremely rare nowadays.
Well now I am going to dig into the characters a bit more. The thing I found especially great about this show is the astonishing amount of character development. They all go through a lot in the span of one year and they are all slowly growing up and becoming better people. Also the back stories of everyone are presented so we can understand the motives behind their actions. All of this is best seen in the evolution of Shiina. She starts of as a completely eccentric painter that is unable to understand what is going on around her, but she slowly starts to get used to the outside world. The other characters are also essential to the success of the show, there is not one that I felt was unnecessary.
The audio-visual side of the anime is great as well even though it is not exceptional. The openings and endings are all completely enjoyable and they convey the positive atmosphere present in the anime. The soundtrack throughout the show manages to capture the mood perfectly, but rarely shines through enough to become a highlight. The animation is professionally done and can be stunning at times but it is rarely awe-inspiring. The best part of the animation are Shiina's paintings and manga drawings which are all extremely beautiful and fit extremely well into the anime.
All of these positives are shown especially well in the end of the anime where it really shines, the art is amazing the story is touching the characters shine as bright as ever and in my opinion is one of the best endings I have ever seen, especially if here was a second season, which now seems unlikely, but is still possible. What else can I say, if you haven’t seen this already what are you waiting for, start watching it now, you won’t be disappointed.
