Story:
The story has a good pacing, but the arrangement could have been better. Although the introduction was done very well, the ending loses in comparison. Ending is a very important part of a story, it gives the last impression which a lot of people based their score on. Though Hitohira's ending was lovely, some parts were not presented well enough and kinda awkward to see. But the message of the anime was beautiful, so if you could sit back relax and don't mind so much about details, it's really an amazing story.
Art & Animation:
No doubt the art is great. For an anime about school and slice of life, Xebec M2 studio did a good job animating. You won't see lousy animating such as crappy movement much in Hitohira. They did a good job animation the OP & ED too , you can get a good idea of how all the characters are like by just watching the OP. ED is simple and nice. Although it's a little plain,i never got bored watching it. Another thing that i like is the beautiful background thoughout this anime.
Music:
Nothing much to say about the soundtrack, it fits the anime but i do wish they have some background music which could really bring out the emotions in the story. OP has a nice song which suit the anime very well. ED was cute. Smile smile :D
Characters:
One thing really good about this anime is that it has a very good character developement. Each character is very well design and portrayed. This is one of the key points for me loving this. The character growth especially the one for Mugi was perfect. The seiyuu for Mugi could have done a better job though, but i won't blame her, trying to voice someone who is really scared of talking is not an easy job.
Conclusion:
Overall, this anime is surprisingly good. It's really enjoyable as there are many unexpected turn of events as well as lol moments. I wouldn't say that it's an epic masterpiece, but comparing with most slice of life anime, this is certainly one of the goodies that you should watch.
