What I gave it: 7
What drew me in initially was mainly the fact that it was from P.A Works and I'm still looking for the next Nagi no Asukara. Add to it the bright colors, the fact the main lead couldn't see them and time travel, I got massively hyped.
The initial dialogue was my first clue: she starts talking about loving colors, and then proceeds to list a bunch of them. That adequately sums up the anime, I'd say. It could be deep, could have depth, but it falls flat.
Art & Sound:
This is the real reason I'm giving this anime a 7 and not a 6. The production value was high, with wonderful use of the color palette and even the middle episodes didn't have massive drops in animation as shows tend to do. The music was also soothing, fit the atmosphere, and in some points actually did manage to tug some heartstrings; I have absolutely no complaints.
Story & Characters:
The story premise was unique. As the show says, time travel and a lack of color just sounds like you could have a real digging of the mind, depth not many anime tend to have. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my high hopes by any means. It ended up being one of school drama and love triangles that we've seen so many times before.
What surprised me was just how many characters they had. And here's where things get interesting. By having such a long list of main-ish cast members, you either end up stereotyping everyone to the point of inducing migraines, or you focus on one or two of them, to the expense of everyone else. Either way you'd expect some massive ignoring to happen.
Instead, they actually divided time up between everyone relatively evenly. I found this quite an achievement, and each of the SEVEN leads actually managed to leave a mark and, get this, NOT IRRITATE THE VIEWER. Don't get me wrongs, everyone was a stereotype, but not bash-my-skull-in, gouge-out-my-eyes level.
This also lead to the focus NOT being on the main characters. Although the story is about Hitomi, and her infatuation with Yuito, I didn't really feel that either of them were really in my face - a pro and possibly a con. I found it interesting.
That space though left much to be wanted. There had to be a depth to fill the lack of focus. Either it should have focused on the relationship with her grandmother, entirely on her grandmother, maybe more time with friends, with an intense look at everyone's problems.
So the problems were just that: zero depth. Just as soon as you felt something was about to develop, they were just left for another story line, or a different character. It never let me get absorbed in anything. I do appreciate that not every character shown has to have a massive impact on the story (e.g. the random older sister, or the graduated senpai. Neither added to the story, but their existence helped add detail to the world.)
I must admit, the end was quite well done, but I only wish it reflected the rest of the show. In the end it just left me wanting more. They didn't mess anything up, per say, but there was nothing special, it lacked that extra mile, and a wonderfully set stage was left untapped and unexplored.
Here's the bottom line:
If you enjoy slice of life, and a dash of relatively well-done romance, with 8.5/10 animation, watch this, by all means. It really is a great way to spend your time. I didn't feel myself itching to get back to watching it when I was somewhere else, but watching it was peaceful. Nice. Nothing fancy, just nice.
But don't go into it thinking your life will change, because it certainly won't.
