Japanese Title: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai.
Related: AnoHana: The Movie (sequel)
Similar: Angel Beats!
Waiting in the Summer
Watched in: Japanese
Genre: Young Adult Drama
Length: 11 episodes.
Positives:
- Emotionally powerful story surrounding a strong cast of characters with development.
- Proper opening and closing.
- Good animation with an attention to character movement details.
- Great voice acting that conveys the characters’ emotions.
- Oozes charm.
Negatives:
- Characters’ side plots needed more time.
- Visual character detail drops at times.
- Too few music tracks.
Ano Hana, or the excessively long name above, is a show I went into not knowing what to expect. By the end of its eleven episodes, I was impressed at its ability to weave charm, emotion, character, humour, and conflict into one. This is an anime not to be missed.
We arrive as high school student Jintan is shadowed by the ghost of his childhood friend, the late Menma. She pesters him non-stop and eats his food. As kids, they were part of a group of six friends called the ‘Super Peace Busters.’ Since the death of Menma, they drifted apart, venturing down different paths in life. Jintan fell into a state of depression, failing exams, avoiding school, all the while attributing the hallucination of Menma to stress. The adorable Menma tries her best to cheer him up with her loony antics; she’s a cute character with the heart of a child and innocence to match. She isn’t overdone either, keeping her from becoming an irritation, as is often the case with her character archetype.
Jintan soon realises she will move on if he completes her wish, only, she can’t remember what it is, the scatterbrain. They figure it involves getting the old group back together. This is harder than thought since everyone has changed after so many years, and only Jintan can see Menma. Former friends have turned either pretentious like the black-haired girl, Tsuruko, or callous and heartless as Yukiatsu, the light-haired boy. Only Poppo, the boisterous traveller believes Jintan that Menma has returned. Lastly, there’s Anaru, who has joined the trendy girls out of low self-esteem despite being little like them. The acting is fantastic, particularly for Anaru.
The struggle is on for Jintan, with Menma’s well-meaning help, to rekindle their friendships. Even Pokémon games are used (or Nokémon as they retitled it here) to bring back the memories – they incorporated it accurately from the three starters, trading to evolve, hunting in grass, and even using a link cable for Gold Version!
Conflict is interspersed with light-hearted humour that never overpowers the emotion of the show. An adorable charm complements the heavy moments, creating a good balance where no single aspect becomes too much. With a well-crafted plot built on a foundation of believable, three-dimensional characters, you feel the emotions, the trials and triumphs of everyone. The side plots are relevant, as they have to deal with problems like any other teenager; often, writers will forget that problems don’t go away just because another arises. We still see jealousy, selfish motives in relationships, and doubt at capabilities. Jintan especially has to overcome great adversity before the end. Looking at a poster or screenshot doesn’t do this anime’s depth justice.
Warning: if you are the sort who shows emotion in times of sadness for a show or movie, prepare for rivers here.
My one complaint in terms of plot is how little time some of the side stories get to develop. Another episode or two could have satisfied every thread.
You won’t go wrong in watching Ano Hana. You will feel joy and sorrow simultaneously for deep characters brought to life by the right voices, leaving no reason not to spend time with the Super Peace Busters.
Art – High
The art leans towards charm rather than the emotion. That’s not to say the emotion won’t come through their expressions – the opposite in fact. Menma’s cute design enhances the sorrow you feel for her, while making her more adorable during her wacky moments. No compromises were made with the environmental art; however, the same can’t be said for the characters. There are times when the quality slips, in particular regards to light and shadow.
Sound – High
An aspect I rarely comment on, for it is usually unremarkable either way is the opening and ending sequences. Ano Hana manages to do both beautifully, music and art matching the story well. It is unfortunate the same can’t be said for the background tracks, which are lacking. At first, I thought the acting was nothing special outside of Menma – who sounds adorable – but was pleased to concede defeat when the emotions hit their high notes, delivered with skill by the actors. Anaru the trendy girl is especially good.
Story – High
A coming-of-age story that looks to the past filled with depth, emotion, and conflict. Brilliant.
Overall Quality – High
Recommendation: Watch it. Ano Hana surprised me with the quality of its narrative, delivering mature drama rarely found in teen stories.
(Request reviews here. Find out more about the rating system here.)
Awards: (hover mouse over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)
Positive:
Negative: None
Nefarious Reviews 
Samui Luxury Villas are distinctly owned and depose inside man a treat that
your built-in household will all the time extract.
LikeLike
However when you do not thoughts drab weather and a fairly listless Madrid, go to within the winter
when resorts cut back their rates.
LikeLike
Samui Footwear will handle just about anything you request if you enable every week’s working and fitting time.
LikeLike
Each Thai Air and Bangkok Heavens fly so Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi
Airport and not towards Bangkok’s older Docent Muang Airport.
LikeLike
I really enjoyed Anohana up until the final episode which in my opinion was a huge disappointment. Most of my disappointment stems from the fact that it was confirmed that Menma was in fact a sprit the whole time not a figment of Jins imagination. For one that opens up a bevy of plot holes, like in all those scenes when he was trying to prove to the others he was crazy and Her sprit was right there why didnt she do anything. The final episode shows her writing those notes to each of the characters meaning all the times she interacted with the real word like eating food and taking a bath etc actually happened meaning she could have very easily done something to prove Jintan right much earlier.
Secondly I think it cheapens the message of the anime. Its a story about a group of friends you were all nengatively impacted my the death of a beloved childhood friend learning to overcome their collective grief my reconnecting so they can all help each find closure and move on and in the end its the memory of Menma itself that allows them to acheive this. The idea is perfectly fine, but the way the show executed it was that it was Menma’s literally spirt that brought that back together with those messages she left. The characters essentially didn’t overcome their collective grief through self realisation but through a ghost. So if they had lived in a world where ghost don’t exist then they would have never been able to move on I guess.
If Menma was just kept was a figment of his imagination and its her the memories of her that ultimately cause them to move on the message would have been poignant. But having it be a literally ghost jusy felt so cheap and lazy. Not to mention that scene where they say goodbye goes on forever and the performances are so over the top. I understand that anime in general is rarely subtle as a medium but goddamn everyone is crying and screaming her name at the top of their lungs with sad music in the background. It’s just so hallmark channel I can’t take any of it seriously. Which is a shame because as I said I like the idea and before that the show was doing a pretty solid job.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with you that her “coming to life” in the final episode was a weaker choice than if they had keep it vague about whether she was real or not. Would have been much more powerful.
Oh yeah, I had forgotten about the long goodbyes! That did go on forever.
LikeLike