First Look: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai

Title: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai Genre: Drama

Summary: A group of six childhood friends drift apart after one of them, Meiko “Menma” Honma, dies in an accident. Ten years later, the leader of the group, Jinta Yadomi, has since become withdrawn and lives as a recluse. One summer day, an older looking Meiko appears before him, saying she wants to have a wish granted, though she does not remember what it is.

First Look: Oh wow, a drama? I haven’t seen one of these in a while. Or at least any that kept my interest longer than fifteen minutes. Generally I would say drama isn’t a good genre to get into unless you feel like bringing yourself down for the day. However, after the first couple episodes I got kind of hooked to AnoHana (shorted the title because I’m lazy). The first five minutes already had me curious about Meiko, a ghost of an old friend. I’m not entirely sure why she chose Jinta for the task of bringing all the friends back together, but I’m sure she has her reasons. I want to say that the anime is headed in the right direction, but I can never tell with this genre. So far the friends seem like complete jerks. I’m hoping that they go into a little bit more detail on why they started to drift apart in the first place, but there aren’t many episodes to do that. I’ve gotten some clues here and there as to why they might have started breaking apart, but I’m hoping for something more solid. Then again, the sense of mystery is kind of nice too.

It’s safe to say that the story isn’t anything spectacular, but it is effective. After the first couple episodes I’ve already started to wonder if I should call up old friends from high school (ok so maybe it isn’t to quite the same caliber as the series) to see if they wanted to hang out again over summer. Of course I haven’t yet, but it’s the thought that counts right? Who knows? Maybe this series will make a bigger impact on me than I expect. Then again, after what some of the characters have become, it sure seems hard to put in the effort of hanging out with them. I’m not going to say that Jinta is an ideal friend or anything, but some of the others seem way too walled off. Probably the most approachable (and likable) character so far is Tetsudo. He seems to be the only one who doesn’t care how long its been, friends are still friends. My least favorite characters so far are probably Atsumu and Chiriko. The way they act toward Jinta and Naruko are down right disrespectful. Plus I think Atsumu has some creepy thing for their long lost friend Meiko.

The series currently seems pretty fixated on friendship, but I can definitely see romance brewing in the background. Personally I would like to see at least one romantic relationship, but I wont be too picky. I think that a romance would add a lot more to the story, and considering they have already hinted at something going on between two of the characters I figure why not go all the way. Hopefully it doesn’t turn into a mess and have characters crying every two seconds though. I tend to like dramas that have a depressing atmosphere rather than having characters sobbing a river of tears every episode. The occasional heart felt cry can have a huge impact on the audience, but too much of it can become an annoyance. So far the series seems fine in that sense. I hope they keep it up.

Finally wanted to make a quick note about the art. I don’t know if it can be considered melancholy, and it doesn’t add too much to the story, but it is good. It isn’t heavily detailed, but it can’t be considered simplistic either. The shading, lighting, and designs are all solid. The characters specifically are all different and have a large variety of clothing. Not saying that the characters change they’re clothes every scene, but they aren’t similar between each other at least. The creators place enough detail to keep the scenes interesting, but not enough to take away from the actual story. Effective art style overall.

Final statements: I’m definitely keeping this one on watch because I haven’t seen a good drama in a while. It also has that sweet message floating around that kind of warms my heart. Hopefully it doesn’t turn sour by making the characters irritating to watch. I don’t want to be yelling at my screen saying “Oh come on! Seriously?!” because of a stupid misunderstanding or a stubborn friend.