Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai (END) 92 points

I bet you’ll click the post only because this picture is pretty.

First and foremost, I must comment on how long the name of this anime is. I had to copy-paste the name from MAL.

Well here goes nothing:

The story is about a group of friends who have grown apart, years after the death of their comrade, Menma. One hot summer day though, Menma appears in Jintan’s, our protagonist’s, house. Menma has a wish which Jintan and the Super Peace Busters (the name of their group of friends) will gather back together in their base and fulfill it. I guess that’s the gist of the story. The whole series revolves around Menma wanting her wish to come true. The thing is though with a series like this, there are a lot of things that can be tackled thus would perfectly fit into a 2-cour but since the series is shown on the Noitamina timeslot, the series is One-cour, 11 episodes at that. Of course I would think this is horrible and too short for a series of this stature. Near the end of this series, I almost thought that it would fail to deliver a satisfying. Of course I was heavily mistaken with the last episode concluding the series satisfyingly. I would like to commend it’s execution in telling it’s story for that. Anohana almost never felt cramped and is almost always near perfect. A little gem, this series definitely is.

EXECUTION:

36/40

Each character is developed with ease. The series made them very relatable (Yukiatsu and Anaru for example). I think a way to describe the characters is that they are. . . human. They have strengths, weaknesses and faults which makes them who they are. Yukiatsu is a role-model type of person in the outside but is really suffering inside, Anaru is your average high-school girl that almost always go with the flow, Tsuruko is the Calm type that hides everything perfectly, Poppo is the happy-go-lucky type and Jintan is your average joe that became a shut-in. You’d think it’s a bit cliche but by putting so much meat into their character, and how they evolved and release the things they have bottled up inside, that thought is completely erased. At the same time though, their personality never changes. They don’t become someone else.

Characters:

19/20 

The drama in this series is excellent. it never feels forced and I’m always drawn in the series because of it. The light-ness of the series also drags me in. The series is down to earth which is what I really love about it.

Engagement: 

28/30

For production values, this series is consistent. Though it’s not like it’s hard to animate a slice-of life series anyway. The music is soothing and a standout. The songs chosen for the OP and ED, especially the ED, is excellent. Not much to say really, it’s your above-average animated series with awesome OST.

Production:

9/10

MY RATING FOR THIS SERIES WOULD BE:

92/100

(I’ll put a birbiri picture here to show how much I like this series; Biribiri approved!)

PS: I would also like to mention how awesome a character Yukiatsu, Yuki-chan, is. GOD I LOVE HIM.

Anohana – 11 (END)

“We still do not know the name of the flower we saw that day.”

Well the anime of the season, for me at least, has ended with quite a satisfying conclusion. Unlimited Tears was delivered (Not Clannad level but still good enough) and I’m glad the series ended peacefully. The thing that was bugging me the past few episodes was that things were getting too dramatic and the Slice-of-Life this series boasted was disappearing a bit, but I’m glad it didn’t. You know how everyone gets all sad then someone suddenly does something funny then everyone laughs? I really liked that scene where Anaru’s eyelashes fell, because at least I know they’re still human and not some crying robots.

Of course getting back to the drama, boy this episode sure delivered. Everyone let their feelings that are being bottled, out. This is the same for me, sometimes I just need to shout. There IS A LOT of shouting this episode. Who would’ve thought that Menma’s wish was to make Jintan cry? That caught me off guard because it really made a lot of sense. The hide-and-seek scene was just godly. Everything was explained properly and the series finally ended on a satisfying note. Menma was finally sent off to heaven or nirvana or reincarnation or something. The space busters finally found peace.

One thing this series did well is character development. Not character changing personalities or the way they treat other people, but the development itself. We got to know all the characters in this series in such a short period of time, and when I mean know I mean KNOW. The series made us seem that we can see through them and how they will react to certain situations. Anohana excels on this.

Well there is still one more post, the review and I’ll get back to it later. Also, I’m not as mad at Noitamina anymore.

 

Mid – Month Impressions [JUNE]

How is this animu season doing lately?

11 (9) – Maria Holic Alive

Shaft Seguelitis is definitely showing. The series really just isn’t as good as it was before. It’s not fresh. Well it’s not bad and I do like the new characters especially Matsurika’s brother which reminds me of my friend who keeps talking about military weapons.

10 (7) – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

I did drop blogging this even though it is still good. It still exhumes WASTED POTENTIAL and I really don’t like wasted potential. Also it can be dry sometimes; SHAFT visuals is surprisingly not helping no matter how good it looks. One good thing to say though is that Episode 8 was very DAWW-ish. I just wish moar of the ALIENS kind of craziness that I likes from the first few episodes.

9 (8) – [C]

This show is solid in its storytelling. It’s well paced, well planned and well told. The thing is, it’s not as engaging as I thought it would be. Engaging in a way that it doesn’t make me care about the characters or that the show just isn’t for me. Sometimes the money babbling can be Index bad and it leaves me trying to understand what the hell is going on, even with its solid pacing. The recent episode are getting a bit more exciting as the series comes to a close but it’s definitely fallen a bit from what I expected it to be.

8 (10) – Deadman Wonderland

Unlike C, this series is totally engaging. I cannot get enough of this from episode to episode. I just want more. It’s addictive in a way. Ever since episode 5, the series has been nothing but awesome thrillers. It keeps getting better and better. The downside of this series though is that it’s dumb. The premise, while very interesting, is not very believable. The characters themselves are dumb. This dawned to me in Episode 10 where how the hell did they not realize that the data chip wasn’t a bomb when Shiro threw it and an explosion occurred. Ganta’s pissing me off even more as he even punched Shiro. THE MAIN HERO NEVER PUNCHES GIRLS AND THAT’S A DEFINITELY BIG MINUS TO GANTA AND THE SERIES.

7 (11) – The World God Only Knows II

Recent episodes finally focused on Keima. He started finally doubting himself on the way he looks at reality. The current arc, the student teacher’s, is a nice arc but the Chihiro’s has got to be the best we’ve seen in Kami Nomi. It was solidly executed and I like how ironic it is that the boring girl gets the interesting arc. Also this arc made realize that the relationships Keima created weren’t for naught like Ayumi’s. Well it’s a relief this series got back on track on what the premise presented a season ago.

6 (6) – Yondemasuyo Azazel-san

Same old crazy Azazel, same old. You’d think there was finally continuity in this series with Moloch dying (I literally screamed PLOT SIGHTED when he died) but it turned into some joke and made me facedesk which is also what Azazel is good at.

TOP 5:

5 (4) – Ao no Exorcist

Some kind of plot finally started and the Hogwarts setting is finally starting to change. An exorcist finally pursued Rin and it resulted into nice developments and action scenes. The brother relationship is incredibly lovable; it’s nice to see that Yukio also respects Rin the way Rin does to him. Even if Yukio is technically the better brother, I like how he still admires and respects his brother. The series got derailed a bit with too many initial standalone episodes (which were still really nice though) but it’s getting back on track now.

4 (5) – Hanasaku Iroha

The series attacked with a slew of completely awesome episodes. It’s finally very consistent. No more of those standalone episodes, we got to see the whole staff of Kissuiso go crazy in a busy day which resulted into some pretty awesome scenes. The current arc right now is the part where Ohana goes back to Tokyo and the series really dealt on the different issues Ohana has, with Kou and her mom. I’m just gonna say that “Patience is a virtue” finally paid off.

3 (new) – Steins;Gate

Well I managed to marathon 11 episodes straight and goddamn this series is awesome. The characters are a big hit to me, with the way they interact with each other. Scenes where everyone just bickers is really awesome and enjoyable. One thing this series did is create a really awesome character in the form of Marise Kurisu. She’s your typical Tsundere but she’s just really awesome the way she insults Mad Scientist Hououin Kyouma (Or Okabe Rintarou; he’s an awesome character too) yet manages to lose sometimes bacause of how weird Okabe is. The idea of time travelling to me is quite a hard subject to talk about and to create, which is why I’m amazed on how this series hasn’t fallen into plot holes or anything. Also some episodes can get really creepy; in some cases I need to look a t my back to see if anyone is watching me. Am I getting as paranoid as Okabe???

2 (1) – Ano Hana

The series finally laid all it’s cards and the episodes this month is leading to an UNLIMITED TEARS end with all the main characters on the edge of their seats. Tensions were created and exploded in these episodes and now we are all left with the question “Is Menma going to disappear?” I still am on an impression that this series would have been better suited for a two-cour rather than the 11 episodes Noitamina always give. DAMN YOU NOITAMINA!

1 (3) – Nichijou

Nichijou being Nichijou- nuff’ said.

ADDENDUM:

This half May; half June month has been awesome. If I were to rate all of these series now, none would go below an 80. I’m having really fun with anime this season; the consistency is crazy! Though it’s a bit sad that I don’t have any series to bash on right now. No Fractale- wait no Bakuman. . . sigh.

Ano Hana – 10

Baby your a firework

Penultimate episodes almost always kicks up the strength of a series so they can deliver a nice satisfying ending and boy that’s what Anohana did and more. The re-enactment scene (Suggested by my bro Yuki-chan) was haunting as you can see with your own eyes that everyone was very tense. This tension carried on to the fireworks scene which is by far the best scene Anohana has given; albeit in a different way that I was hoping. This series decided to kick up the tension of the characters more by even adding Tsuruko to the list of people suffering. The fireworks scene had Anaru tensed with the revelation that Jintan will always be stuck into the past, Poppo on the edge as he waits to see if Menma goes to Nirvana, Tsuruko on the side hurting because of the way Yukiatsu’s acting, Yukiatsu going ballistic that Jintan might do something to stop the fireworks and Jintan himself who does not want Menma to go. Adding Menma’s family, that was quite a heavy scene (I was expecting more of everyone crying that Menma disappeared but. . . hahaha).

My guess of the Unlimited Tears ending is cut short because. . . Menma’s still on earth. I do hope the ending would be very satisfying.

Anohana – 09

Awesome run cycle there Jintan.

Another fantastic episode, even better than the previous one. Anohana’s pulling out all the big guns with only two episodes left, and so far it has been amazing. I thought last week had a bit too much going on, I guess they fixed it this week. My only problem though is that it took them this many episodes to prove that Menma exists?? I mean she could have just held up a book or something in episode 2 then we wouldn’t have a problem. Well we wouldn’t have this series anyway if she revealed it way back in episode 2 but it’s just facepalm worthy noting.

While I do not approve of the Anaru X Yukiatsu flirting because I also like Tsuruko, that scene was very nice. Again Yuki-chan showed his bro-ness this week, and even his undying love for Menma when he begged Menma’s dad to let them have fireworks. Jintan’s being selfish because he wants Menma to stay here (he even got himself an awesome run cycle which I used as a screenshot) and I’m pretty sure that’s gonna bring some tears in the finale.

The only thing I’m worried about this series now is for it to end conclusively. I doubt it will end in Madoka Magica fashion wherein every single thing that happened made sense and there was no plot hole but I hope they can get somewhere close to that. The finale of this series will determine if it deserves to become legendary or not. AND GODDAMMNIT I WOULD HAVE ALREADY PUT THIS IN MY RECOMMENDED LIST IF IT WASN’T FOR GODDAMNED NOITAMINA ELEVEN EPISODE CURSE.

 

Ano Hana – 08

I’d be creeped out if this was happening. I mean wind blowing, diary falling and a letter from her. I expected someone like Anaru to shout out or something.

I feel bad for our Yuki-chan. I mean really he was about to punch Jintan already in that last bit. I mean if you were in his point of view, even if you weren’t obsessed enough to crossdress your crush, you’d still be mortified about what this crazed bitch in front of you is saying. Also the mom earlier in the episode. All your kid’s friends are having fun together without the kid. It’s like they left Menma already in her view. Though a whole episode of that would be a lot more heart wrenching.

PS. For the record this is probably one the best episode to date. There’s so much emotions being handled here and I almost let up a tear or two. Then again I think the 11-episode Noitamina curse is starting. The series is going a bit too fast. It’s showing some imperfection. This series could have been a lot more in 20+ episodes but I guess this episode will do for it.

Ano Hana – 06

If Anohana had faces like Maya’s this show would even be more awesome.

Stuff to point out this episode:

I wanna see Yuki-chan crossdress again.

Poor anal-chan getting into trouble because of that Love Hotel thing, which Yuki-chan smoothly prevented.

Jintan managed to at least have one “Moment of Awesome” with his save on Anal-chan.

Menma’s mom is starting to look a bit whacked out. It really must be hard to have your child dead.

The follow-up with Menma crying that she wants her mom to forget her teared me up a little *sniff*.

What the hell is with “Anal-chan is a virgin” joke. You’re all virgins anyway.

Mid – Month Impressions [MAY]

How is animu this season lately? It seems that crazy shit has been happening this season. Let’s take a look.

Dropped for a while

Beelzebub -I forgot to DL one episode, now I can’t find time to download so many episodes.

Steins;Gate- Will get back to it after 10 episodes. This type of series is better to marathon than watch weekly.

Hen Zemi – Got bored a bit. I still find it good though so I’ll get to it later

Gosick – I got bored again? I marathoned half the show about a month ago. . . I’ll marathon this again once it finishes.

Tiger and Bunny – Derpy CG. I actually stopped watching C for two weeks because of these derpy CG.

Hidan no Aria – It sucks so badly yet why am I tempting to press the download torrent button on this?

Plan to get into

Astarotte no Omocha – I heard some good comments about it. Is it any good?

Fireball Charming – Again, lots of praises.

DOG DAYS – Yeah. . . Maybe later. . . a lot later. But I am mildly interested.

Dropped Completely

TORIKO – The type of thinking injected here will endanger so many species.

Oretachi Tsubasa wa nai – All I see is a bad game being badly adapted.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hoshi –I facepalmed watching Akasaka and facedesked when watching its ending. NO WAY WILL I FINISH THIS.

30 Year old Virgins – I actually love B Gata H Kei. This one just. . . sucks.

Sofuteni – Tennis my ass. Tennis Porn.

NOW FOR THE REAL DEAL

My list of the series I’m actually watching in a weekly basis:

11) Kami Nomi II

It’s getting more interesting but it can really get dull sometimes. I like Hacqua though. Nice addition.

10) Deadman Wonderland

Manglobe doesn’t know how to animate action. It feels like Angel Beats where people die as a joke but in Angel Beats they survive and here they don’t. I thought that part of Angel Beats was funny but not in here. Also they can’t get the mood right to this series .One thing they do get right on is the torturing of Ganta. Episode per episode, I just feel sorry for him.

9) Maria Holic Alive

SHAFT SEQUEL. It’s not that funny anymore.

8) [C]

It’s not as breakthrough as I thought. The Pokemon battles got duller; same animation wise. But the plot’s getting along and it’s getting more interesting. The 3D Clown dude maybe more evil than I thought. JUST LIKE KYUUBEY IN THE FIRST FEW EPISODES OF MADOKA. Speaking of 3D, the CG here just suck.

7) Denpa Onna

Again not as breakthrough as I thought. It’s definitely a good series and I’m still very intrigued about the mysteries here especially Erio’s past but all in all I’m lukewarm about this series. It’s very cute and moe though, I’d give you that. The twintails on episode was just overload. Damn Aunt.

6) Azazel-San

Lol Series is Lol. Fucking crazy series this is. It just shits on you.

My TOP 5

5) Hansaku Iroha

It’s gone a bit downhill these past few episodes I must admit. The writing has gotten a bit duller but it hasn’t gotten uninteresting at all. I definitely appreciate the effort of fleshing out each of the characters in this series. I’m sure it will be something to be appreciated once the big plot of this series kicks in which I predict in A few more episodes. They don’t just show Kou in the preview next week for nothing amirite?

4) Ao no Exorcist

Also focusing on the characters a bit these past few weeks, Ao no Exorcist has gotten a bit peaceful. Not a bad thing at all since it’s nice knowing Rin more and also those other exorcist students. This series feels like a Soul Eater/FMA mix.

3) Nichijou

Don’t get me wrong, it still one of my favorite series right now. But dammnit why is Anohana so perfect? Well getting to this series, I must say, as I’ve always repeated, I LOVE THIS SERIES. This is my type of comedy. Random Jokes, Random Characters, Random everything. People are way too harsh on this series. The reason I’m not blogging this is because I do think comedy gets ruined if you start nitpicking every single part of it. Yeah. . . I’ll just enjoy this piece of awesomeness. I am waiting for more Tsundere-chan and her guns + Those soccer team duo that’s always in that room. Also more SAKAMOTO please!

2) Moshidora

A bit unfair to put it here since it finished but yeah. I’m just gonna say that this series is awesome. These baseball animu, are all of them good? I enjoyed this, Ookiku and Cross Game very much. I’ve blabbed about this too much in the Moshidora category on the right. Go click it if you want.

1) Anohana

Again, my rage on why I put this here! It’s just that. . . it’s so perfect. Everything in this series is done perfectly! The likeable characters, the very real emotions, the goal of having Menma’s wish granted, everything. I’m just putting a wild guess here but it seems that all the friends think it’s they’re fault Menma died. Well I did take a wild guess with Yuki-chan and I was WAY TOO CORRECT. I guess it’s too early to call it a masterpiece but it’s completely headed towards to becoming one.

Addendum

So yeah everything’s all and well. There’s already Moshidora that went in my Top 30 series, and there’s many more legendary series here. If right now, I were to pick which series I would think would go to my recommended list, there would be about 5-6 series. A lot more than last season’s two. Though the only ones with even a dearth of potential to go near Madoka Magica is Nichijou (Favorite Comedy) and Anohana (Favorite drama).

Ano Hana – 05 Redeeming Yuki-chan

This was both funny, sad and pitiful at the same time.

This episode is what I would call a perfect episode. Anohana finally tackled the romance aspect and every single character in the show is being fleshed out. My favorite, Yuki-chan, is pulling off a Kawashima Ami in which he completely redeems himself. Him saving Anal-chan was pretty brosome even though he called it completely stereotypical. Also his self-esteem is back but in a more COOL way and I actually loved it.

Poor Anal-chan though being swayed by her f*** friends. Those friends are just s*** and it’s what’s irritatingly good about it is that they’re realistic. There’s also Tsuruko who I deem my second favorite character. Who knew that the two jackasses that I did not like in episode 1 would turn out to be both my favorites.

Menma and Jinta are getting off to some ground too. Well not really since Jinta is stepping back AGAIN but yeah, nice developments. Poppo’s Nirvana thing got on my nerves but then again it’s not his fault he can’t see Menma crying.

So far this is my favorite episode yet and I hope they continue this string of episode. No offense, but Anohana is PERFECT right now. They have done nothing wrong at all for they’re first five episodes.