あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない [Anohana]

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Japanese animated series

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is an 11-episode 2011 Japanese anime television series produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai. The anime aired in Fuji TV's noitamina block between April and June 2011.

あらすじ

ある夏の日、5年前に事故で死んでしまったはずの“めんま”こと芽衣子が現れる。かつて、仲良しグループ“超平和バスターズ”を結成していた6人組。芽衣子のほかの5人は、高校生になっていた。事故の日以来、離れ離れになっていった彼らだったが、芽衣子が彼らの前に現われた理由を探すために再び集まる。

Translation:

Sypnosis

One summer day, five years ago, Menma had died in an accident. Long before that happened, the six children has formed a group called the "Super Peace Busters." After Menma's death, the other five kids eventually became high school students. Since the day of the accident, they all got separated, but after Menma apparently showed herself to her friend Jinta, they all gathered together to look for the reason why Menma appeared in front of them.

My Reaction

Anohana (あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない) is the story of Menma, a girl who dies in an accident, then returns as a ghost to haunt her best friend, Jintan, five years later. The problem is, neither Menma nor Jintan know why she has returned. The two are quick to latch on to the "unfinished business" school of thought and decide that they need to grant Menma's wish to get her into heaven. Of course, neither of them have any idea what this wish could be.

Thus the story is ostensibly about them trying to figure out Menma's wish and fulfill it. Of course, this is made all the more difficult by the fact that only Jintan can see Menma. Soon the two of them are forced to involve their old friends- who have drifted far apart over the five-year gap-and reopen many of the old wounds surrounding the events of Menma's death.

Animation, for me, is at its best when it is expressing something special and different from real life series. In terms of peripheries, the show really delivers great flow of the story. The character's designs are varied and pretty and the music used is spot on for what is an emotional scene . The animation has no readily noticeable flaws and the detail shown in the interactions between characters is one of the key qualities of the show's overall experience. The basic premise for the show is also a great starting point.

The concept of close friends who have drifted apart is an affecting one and one I am sure most people can relate to without much difficulty. The breakdown of relationships, with all the regret and ill feeling that goes with it, is well portrayed and explored over . such a short number of episodes In terms of plotting, Anohana is a show that uses its runtime astonishingly well for the most part (exceptions will be discussed later) -. the pacing is excellent and its emotional highs arrive without reservation or a hint of deviance I never once got the sense that the show was wandering, the makers always seeming to have the plot and its steady progression well in hand.

But it is not only the five friends who have had to deal with the catastrophic loss of a loved one. Menma's parents have also had a terrible time dealing with the loss of their daughter. Menma's mother has become a recluse, secretly hating that Menma's friends are allowed to grow up while her daughter is not. Menma's father has taken the opposite stance, trying everything in his power to not be reminded he ever had a daughter in the first place. But perhaps the worst off is Menma's brother, who can barely remember her, but is nonetheless constantly neglected by his parents because of their fixation on his dead sister.

Jintan's family is hardly better off as his mother died shortly before Menma-no doubt contributing to his self-isolation. Meanwhile, Jintan's father has responded to the loss by letting his son grow up with complete freedom-which basically amounts to the freedom to do nothing.

In the end, with a show that centres on metaphorical burnt bridges, it was always going to be the characters and their relationships that would make or break this show Jintan, the lead, is a character that it would be easy to hate; he is gloomy, static and prone to self-pitying sulks The rest of the living friends are not much better: Anaru is a weak-willed tsundere, Tsuruko is bitchy and snarky, Yukiatsu is hateful and creepy and Poppo tries so hard to be fun and carefree . it is almost painful to watch (yet he is still the most likeable) Despite being quite negative characters, each one has at least something positive and emphatic that makes them worthwhile; the sheer volume of well-portrayed unrequited love amongst the cast and the individual ways that each character approaches those feelings and the feelings they have over Menma's death are varied, interesting and relatable. The frustrating aspects of each character never go far enough to be repulsive (not even Yukiatsu, though he certainly pushes it) and in the end I found myself backing each of them despite their more annoying aspects.

Overall, though, this series achieves what it sets out to do. The strong characterisation and solid story pacing allows for those big drama moments to hit hard and it rounds itself off as an enjoyable, beautiful spectacle all throughout and especially at the end. But that is not to say that there are no happy moments. Nor is that to say that it is not an uplifting and hopefully optimistic story-which it is. While the plot is filled with depressing revelations and heartbreaking drama, all the exploration of loss a point has. In the end, it is a story of love, letting go, and doing the right thing for the right reason. If you are looking for a subtle, affecting show then this is not it but it is s well written , beautiful and a really moving anime.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is no doubt one of the saddest anime I had ever watched but it is also one of the most uplifting. What the story tells is so painfully real-so emotionally raw, it would give you sorts of emotions that you will never find in any other anime nowadays. It will really touch your heart and you will definitely cry your hearts out watching this.