Anime Hajime Review: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Jinta “Jintan” Yaomi (voiced by Miyu Irino) has become a bit of a recluse. He's lost all interest in socializing and would rather lock himself up in his room. Things didn’t have a hope of changing. That was until she came back.

Out of nowhere, an old friend of Jintan returns. Her name, Meiko “Menma” Honma (voiced by Ai Kayano). The last time Jintan saw Menma was back when they were kids. In fact, things were quite different when they were kids.

Jintan and Menma would spend every day playing with their four other close friends. There was Naruko “Anaru” Anjo (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu), Atsumu “Yukiatsu” Matsuyuki (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai), Chiriko “Tsuruko” Tsurumi (voiced by Saori Hayami), and Tetsudo “Poppo” Hisakawa (voiced by Takayuki Kondo). These six were once inseparable. Today, they almost never speak. When they do, it’s never with kind words. And they have all tried to make Menma a distant memory.

For you see, Menma died many years ago.

Yet here she is again and Jintan is the only one who can see her. Menma tells Jintan she thinks she’s unable to crossover. That there’s some wish she hopes to fulfill before she can. Though Jintan agrees to help, he soon learns he can’t do it alone.

After all this time, Jintan must reunite with his old friends. Along the way, they will have to face a past too painful to remember.

Series Positives

We’ve reached the end of Pre-Blog Month. And we’ve saved the best for last.

Anohana is a brilliant series. No point beating around that bush. I'm so happy to have it at last part of the site. This isn’t just one of the best anime I’ve reviewed. It’s one of the best anime I’ve seen. This is a phenomenal show.

First thing. Beautiful, absolutely stunning animation. Anohana is breathtaking to look at. This is a visual story. If something didn’t need saying, it wasn’t. You could feel the emotion in every scene. When a character was happy, you felt it. When a character laughed, you laughed. When a character felt relief, you could see the weight lift from their shoulders. When this series wanted to hit you with feelings, it dropped you on your ass.

That’s why you need to know this going in. Anohana is a heart wrencher. There are plenty of anime out there that have created lasting moments. Powerful moments. Ones that can get to you. If a show can get me crying, it’s won. It’s as definitive as you can get.

Anohana did have a single moment. It didn’t have two moments. It had several. Each one stronger than the last. By the end, I don’t know if my eyes were ever dry.

This wasn’t overload. It wasn’t overkill. That was what made it so great. This wasn’t a story which picked you up to knock you down, over and over again. There was always progression. There was always forward progression.

The difference here was, the path went through some painful memories. The kinds of memories you don’t want to remember. The kinds of memories that eat at you while you’re lying awake in bed. The kinds of memories which have shaped you and your entire outlook. They're the kinds of memories that can hold a person back. That prevent happiness from ever returning.

If we want to see happy days again, these are the memories we have to come to terms with. Giving forgiveness to the right people. Even if that person is ourselves. No, especially if it’s ourselves. Yeah, it’s going to hurt. Yeah, it’s not going to be fun. Yeah, you’re going to want to resist the entire way.

But it’s the only way.

That’s the story of Anohana. And I tried to prepare myself for it. I tried to overhype these moments in my head. It wasn’t any good. It didn’t slow this show down at all. This series was sad as s@#$. But it had a purpose. You have to get through dark night to see sunny days again.

F@#$ I love this series.

Coming off that, one of Anohana’s biggest strengths was its pitch perfect pacing. This series was as long as it needed to be. No fluff, no filler. Everything which needed to be dealt with was dealt with. Nothing important got ignored. Nothing important got sidelined. This show had focus. And it was that laser focus which powered Anohana’s greatest asset.

The Characters

Before delving further, I have to say this. All the voice actors in this series did an outstanding job. For what each of them had to act out, damn that was impressive. Aside over, moving on.

Jintan and Menma were our definitive leads. Except, this wasn’t their story alone. This was a tale of a group of friends. I can’t overstate how well Anohana did this. Where other anime try to build on a single point, this one said no.

Often when something bad happens to a character, everyone else must deal with it. When something important happened, we can get a good sense how it affects one person. If others were involved, they remain secondary to the lead. And it’s the lead who’s portrayed as hurting the most. Anohana didn’t do this.

Menma’s death was a tragedy. She meant the world to so many people. For someone like that to be taken, that’s not insignificant. That kind of sadness doesn’t know how to target. Plus, it happened at the worst time for this group.

As kids, the surviving five were feeling emotions many adults don’t understand. Those emotions came to ahead. They caused a lot of friction. Not the kind of friction which isn’t unfixable, but it would need time. Knowing how close these six were, they would have sorted it out. Or at least end on better terms.

When Menma died, though, that paused everything. The tomorrow from that day didn’t come for many years. Those emotions remained. Instead of getting the chance to heal, they festered. This once tight-knit group broke.

Adding to that, each one felt like they were somehow responsible for what happened. Jintan, Anaru, Yukiatsu, Tsuruko, Poppo, they all believed they were at fault. Not only could they not heal, they didn’t think they deserved it.

Thus, when Menma appeared before Jintan, it brought all those emotions back. Many were hostile to this too. Think about it this way.

Had Jintan been lying, he would’ve been an absolute piece of s@#$. How dare he bring up their beloved Menma in such a fashion. What right does he have to impose that kind of burden on others? Yet since he was telling the truth, that caused a different, maybe even greater problem. Why the hell was Jintan the one who could interact with Menma? How was that fair?

And these were only some of the issues going through these characters’ minds. They all loved Menma. Except, most of their actions were fueled by selfish reasons. I wouldn’t say unreasonable, but selfish nonetheless.

All these points had to be addressed. Only then could they help Menma cross over. It was a glass ceiling they had to break. But when they figured that out, oh my God. I don’t know the right words to describe how good it is.

This series is high, high up there for me.

Series Negatives

There was one thing. It didn't hurt the show in any shape or form. But it was a negative because it was so blatant. Yet it was that exact blatant-ness I found to be hilarious.

The amount of product placement in this show was astonishing. It wasn't even subtle. What made it funnier, some products had the generic, copyright free names used in other anime. Right next to the licensed ones.

Again, this did not take away Anohana's power. It was still weird, though.

There was also something else. I only mention it because I kind of have to. It shouldn’t have been that hard for Jintan to prove Menma’s existence.

Menma could only communicate to others through the diary she had when she was alive. That was a nice touch. And the show addressed it too. That was the only way she could talk not through Jintan. Except, she could move physical objects around. She could cook, clean, and play video games. There were ways to make her presence known.

Not only that, someone could’ve gone off to the corner and tell Menma something. When Jintan could say what Menma heard because she told him, that would’ve been pretty definitive. Like, hey, how the hell did you do that? There were ways around this problem.

But I don’t care enough. If this is the kind of thing I have to not think about to enjoy Anohana, there’s no issue.

In this case, the ends more than justified the means. This show was fantastic. And you know what, how many times have you not thought of the obvious answer?

Final Thoughts

To me, Anohana was as good as Gantz was bad. So yeah, it was pretty damn good.

The visuals were top notch. The story was powerful. The series’ pacing was perfect. The characters felt alive and relatable. You could feel every emotion everyone was going through. And it all came together into what is one of the best anime I have ever seen.

Grab a box of tissues. You’re going to need it for this one. I’m telling this to everybody. Anohana is an absolute must.

And that is how I will end Pre-Blog Month. Trust me, though. I’ve seen a lot more than these. We’ll be doing this again. Don’t you think otherwise. But for now, let’s go back to not knowing.

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