Anime Review: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Very Average Joe
Jul 26
4 min read

English Title: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Japanese Title: あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。[lit. Name of flower seen that day we still don’t know.]

Director(s): Nagai Tatsuyuki

Screenwriter(s): Okada Mari

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Released: 2011

Series Runtime: 11 episodes, ~24m each.

Film Runtime: 1h 39m

Starring: Kayano Ai, Irino Miyu, Tomatsu Haruka, Kondou Takayuki, Hayami Saori, Sakurai Takahiro, Ogata Mitsuru

Set in Saitama Prefecture, Jintan is a high school student who has not been attending class and is basically a recluse. He sees Menma, a childhood friend who had died in some accident years ago when they were still in elementary school. He assumes he is hallucinating due to stress and the summer heat.

However, her insistent interactions with him suggest otherwise even though he is the only one who can see her. It seems she needs her wish granted in order to move on.

Of course, Menma cannot remember her wish except that it requires the participation of “everyone”. Both were part of a circle of six who had grown apart since her death. The plot follows Jintan as he tries to work it all out.

All six follow the commonly used character templates, each being some sort of opposition and complement to another. Poppo has returned from his travels and, being positive and easygoing, believes Jintan regarding Menma. The others, naturally, are skeptical. Anaru cares about Jintan and tries to get him to return to school. She, like Menma, is a bit ditzy, but unlike Menma who is comfortable just being herself, she wants to fit in. Yukiatsu and Tsuruko are more level-headed and academically inclined. Both are perceptive and can be acerbic in their own way.

Jintan has the typical hero’s stubbornness. As a recluse, he does not wish to do much but once he is determined to fulfil Menma’s wish, he becomes annoyingly persistent in his efforts.

Thankfully, the series is not about Jintan trying to convince the other four. As already mentioned, Poppo believes him immediately. The others reluctantly go along with it.

Some may describe this as a coming-of-age story. Whilst the main characters’ age is consistent with the genre, it is ultimately about grief and how one moves on or fails to move on as an individual and with others.

Jintan’s mother had also passed away years ago, presumably sometime before Menma, so these two significant losses explain Jintan’s reclusiveness. But as the plot progresses, it becomes apparent that Jintan isn’t the only one who is “running away” from dealing with their issues.

This is a worthy theme to explore but it is done somewhat crudely. Whilst it is appreciated that the story starts as late as possible—it has been years since the deaths of Menma and Jintan’s mother—thereby avoiding a slow buildup, the narrative is also forced to rely on limited flashbacks showing the main characters’ friendship when they were younger.

As such, there is little to relate to regarding their friendship with Menma. Any emotional resonance comes from the interactions between Jintan and Menma’s “ghost” in the present. The other limitation is that Jintan is too often the main viewpoint character; the plot needs to be focused, of course, but the other characters can be given more exposure.

Although too many flashbacks can be just as crude, the series at 11 episodes could use more to provide a more substantial background to the characters and the present circumstances. As it stands, the actual approach taken may work better at six to eight episodes.

Also, it is convenient that none of them remember key details about Menma or even themselves… until the plot needs them to. They were in fifth grade (or around then) when she died, so they weren’t that young. And it is just as convenient that it takes Menma and Jintan way too long to work out that Menma can interact with the others, albeit in a limited fashion, due to her ability to physically impact the environment.

The sequel film subtitled “Letters to Menma” (めんまへの手紙), released in 2013, is set in the next summer and focuses on each character as they write a letter to Menma. They recall the events of the previous year so there is recapping from different perspectives, but the film is not entirely a clip show and would not work without viewing the series.

Thus, the narrative reveals a little more about the other characters since Jintan is the main viewpoint character of the series. Whilst this adds a little to the story, it is still a bit too repetitive for a so-called sequel. This approach with the associated material could have instead been incorporated into the series to its benefit.

Visually, it is solid. There is the expected occasional inconsistency in the characters but they are well done overall. The environment is rendered nicely with good details and good use of 3D. And, unlike some productions that have nicely drawn environments but not necessarily nice characters, the characters fit the environment in both the series and film.

There are occasional close-up or tight shots of details consistent to the slice-of-life genre but not so many that it becomes pretentious. If anything, it could use more of that stylization.

The music composed by Remedios uses the typical piano and acoustic guitar balladic themes that are sparse, the latter making effective use of arpeggiation. Some of the piano themes in part resemble Tenmon’s compositions for Shinkai Makoto’s works.

On balance, both the series and film are solidly produced with good performances from the entire cast. However, although the series avoids trying to be emotion porn, the narrative structure and pacing do not quite make the story compelling enough. One can understand intellectually what is going on, that Menma means a lot to Jintan and the others, but the emotional charge isn’t there.

In short, it is not a bad series and I want to like it more but the writing is just not quite right.