[Rating]
Story: 8
Art: 8
Sound: 9
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8
[Story: 8]
On the surface, AnoHana is about a high school boy Jintan who is haunted by the ghost of his childhood friend, Menma, who passed away at a young age. The plot is focused on Jintan reconnecting with his old friends in order to fulfill Menma's wish from when she was alive, which should ultimately put her to rest. The problem is that nobody, including Menma, can remember what it is. The meat of the story, however, comes into play when these childhood friends reconnect, understanding that their lives have long diverged and there is a lot of resent leftover from the incident and from the state of the friend group prior to it. Moreover, Jintan's reaction to the loss Menma and his own mother has led him to become a social outcast who skips school. Thus the story is also centered on Jintan recovering from his affliction and breaking back into some semblance of normalcy. This is difficult because he reputation is shattered, he lacks self-confidence, and many of his peers look down on him, including his former friends.
The events in the plot are basic and somewhat predictable. However, the events in the plot are less important so long as the plot serves as an appropriate vehicle for the 'moments' that the show aims for. I would say it does a great job at this.
There is a case to be made that the moments between characters should be categorized as a plot point, but I just have some kind of internal resistance to agreeing with that. The frameshifts that each character undergoes are very subtle, which is good, but that doesn't lend itself to saying that there is a 'plot' within the character moments.
[Art: 8]
The art is good. I'm a fan of this type of cartoonish style when used for light dramas and comedies, and this slots in well. I think that the movement of the characters is animated quite well. However, I would say that the animation is never anything exciting. It hits the mark and rarely falters, but also rarely impresses. The shot composition is sometimes praise-worthy.
[Sound: 9]
I think that much of the success of the 'moments' in AnoHana can be traced back to the sound design and voice acting. Creating a good moment is an artform and every attribute of production can go a long way. The sound design knows when to shut up and when to be dynamic. The voice acting is great. There are a couple good tracks in the score, but there aren't too many memorable themes beyond those. Not much else for me to say since the sound is pretty standard for this genre. But standard can be done well or not done well. AnoHana does the former. Oh, and the OP is good. ED is fine.
[Characters: 8]
I love the characters of AnoHana! For the most part. Anjou, Popo, Yukiatsu, Tsurumi were generally great. Jintan was usually good. There's just one problem... Yeah, it's Menma.
Menma is annoying. That's all there is to it. There shouldn't be much need to go into detail about it. It is obvious. She is occasionally funny or cute, but usually just loud and obnoxious. That is almost forgivable, I think, because the story isn't really about Menma. It is about everyone else. However...
Menma being annoying also ruins some of the other characters, particularly Jintan and Yukiatsu. These characters have a stronger connection with Menma. This is something I say often, but the relationships that exist between characters also reflects on the characters themselves. The fact that these are so well connected to Menma shows that they adore an annoying character, which just reflects poorly on them. Yukiatsu can get away with it. You get the feeling that his feelings are more perverse, so this type of relationship is acceptable. But Jintan definitely suffers from it in multiple scenes. It is a big blow to his character. That leaves the two main characters sort of shafted.
However, I would say that besides this issue, the characters are pretty much flawless. They have fantastically ruthless conversations and are quick to realize the depths of their flaws and bring them to the surface. Sure, this maybe isn't 'realistic', as many real people are afraid to share their problems with others, but as a viewer it allows you to connect with each of them. It gives each character such a strong 'feeling' to remember them by. Huge props for making many of the character developments feel like a real journey, not that the characters' issues get resolved in one moment. That's not how that works and it isn't entertaining for the audience either. Even the supporting cast is superb.
[Enjoyment: 8]
I mean, I like the show, it's pretty good. I think that the moments are generally great. However, no moment really stands out above the rest as more touching, which is somewhat of a problem when the series is just filled with them. There are certain moments that completely shocked me, like with Yukiatsu, that I will remember for a long time.However, the series puts a lot of time into the conversation between characters that bring romantic/dramatic tension to the surface. Sure it was sad, but I didn't cry at all! I mean, I cry when I watch Haikyuu, so it shouldn't be that hard. I just consider this to be a problem with the pacing at a large scale. And maybe sometimes the moments are a little too heavy-handed to connect with.
[Overall: 8]
Very good series that deserves a watch. If you like this, be sure to check out Toradora. They are different in scope, but Toradora doesn't have a certain annoying character and has fewer macro-level pacing issues. I consider it to be the superior series, but it's not competition since this is the sort of spiritual successor to that Toradora anyways.
