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Right where to start... You hear many people having complaints about animes over things such as "I wish there was more episodes" or "the story felt rushed" or "there wasnt enough episodes for character development". However, AnoHana has managed to get a great balance of character development and their respective relationships as well as carrying the plot forward at a decent pace.

The many many people who have already watched this anime would most likely agree; this is one of THE most emotional animes ive seen. The only other anime ive ever watched to have left me streaming in tears that could match the niagara falls ... was Angel Beats but AnoHana managed to pull off this stunt in just a very short 11 episodes. This is a result of what ive said earlier in this review; this anime has paced the character development very well which allows the audience to empathise the characters to the point where we could almost put ourselves in there positions. By achieving such a bond, you can really feel your heart break apart when ending comes about.

In a way, there are many deep meanings and themes that can be interpreted. For instance, there is the theme of guilt that ones bears where each of the friends carries with a blame in their perspective and how they are having a hard time getting past it. There is the theme of friendship and what surrounds it, such as showing how every moment you spend with your friends is a treasurable memory, just how grieving and painful it is for a close friend to die and how beautiful childhood dreams and crushes. As well as this whole friendship bond-y relationship theme that you would expect from an anime with a slice of life genre, it also highlights the ugly side that comes along with it such as hatred, denial and jealousy. Maybe it's because it's fundamental emotions such as these is the reason why the audience can bond with the characters? Who knows, this is just an untested hypothesis.
Despite the story having a supernatural basis which is really what got the whole story going at the start, there is an element of reality to it which just makes the super sad ending sting a little bit more. Reality? Dont be stupid, its obvious the element of reality isnt coming from the supernatural side of things but the rather accurate display of humans and there emotions when put in a grieving situation, especially the impact it can have on family relations like Menma's family.

Now for some negative stuff to balance things out a little. Firstly, as adorabe as Menma is, she can get rather annoying at times due to nagging but let's face it, she is supposed to be a ghostgirl so how can she mature like everyone else. Secondly, the full title is ridiculously long! I seriously dont know why people choose such long titles that are nothing but hard to say and remember so for this review I used an abbreviated version of the title, "AnoHana". (Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai - REALLY?!!!)

Yes, the negative comments part did seem petty and pointless but that's the point, there arent major things for me to criticise since it's nothing short of a tear-jerking masterpiece. And yes, this is also an anime that you would most likely not watch again but not because it was rubbish but because your heart wont be able to take a second hit.

So a final summary. Already?!! Yes, im pretty sure youre already bored enough from reading this review that has probably been a few lines too many already and has started to go stale. Like ive already mentioned, this anime is a masterpiece as it is able to give great portrayal of human emotions and the impact of relationships making its greatest strength the flooding of emotions you get from watching this. But let's not forget what reeeeeally brings an anime to life and that is the seiyuus (or voice actors/actresses in english). The seiyuus that were used for this anime were top notch. They gave a good characterisation of each character and clearly submerged and integrated with the character's personality. I would highly recommend anyone to watch this since you'd be missing out if you didnt but I highly dont recommend watching it a second time or telling others to watch it a second time since im sure it'd lead to a drastic spike in people being diagnosed with depression.

Go on, watch it! Cry! ENJOY!
Thank you very much for the readers who read this review to the very end, it cant have been easy :P

Being a massive fan of the DxD series, I absolutely loved the anime adaptation. Anyone who has read the light novels would realise just how much emotional depth all the characters go through, especially Issei (the main protagonist) who I can only say had a VERY traumatic first girlfriend experience. High School DxD has a new take to a harem story, the author guaranteed a happy ending for all the girls and the plot is getting results that show it unlike other harem stories which can just end up a pain in the neck as the main protagonist is unable to choose.

First of all, you ... can immediately see the amazing art of the anime which can live up / match on par to the beautiful character designs that Miyama-Zero created. This of course closely ties into the effects used in the animation which were pretty much spot on to how i imagined them to be, especially in the battle scenes.

You hear a lot of people complain about this series being "too ecchi" and put you off from watching but you'll just be missing out. This series was made with ecchi in mind but not to the degree of other series such as To Love Ru or Sekirei; they're pretty much several times worse in terms of ecchi level. However, I will say that the anime did add more fanservice and nude scenes than the original novel which many may think as a way to get views and sales. I myself am glad they did, not because there's more ecchi scenes to see but because it increases the chances of another season. The reason why im hoping for more of the anime is because the best parts of the story are towards to latter half of the light novel volumes and I would like to see it animated. The extra fanservice was doen in good taste and suited the pace of the story so it can be overlooked.
This might be seen as hateful to do but the fact is that it wasnt done in a hateful manner; they didnt censor the all the scenes like the Majikoi anime where it pretty much forces you to buy the uncensored DVD / Blu-Ray releases.

For anyone who thinks that there is little character development, I can now inform you that a second season is going into production and I guarantee that you wont be disappointed with the new characters that are going to appear. Every character has a part of themselves that is kept hidden past but the troubles are overcome through the friendship and relationship amongst the group.
*Small spoiler* For the more battle loving fans, Issei's predetermined external rival will arrive soon

Although there were some unnecessary parts included to buff out the anime, namely by including some of the short stories, the anime remained rather faithful towards the original story. In reality, it would have been better if they spent more time on the main plot to include more details and make the short stories into OVAs.
Of course, they didnt miss out some infamous lines where the most memorable one appears in episode 12 of the anime. It would have been preposterous for them to have missed out that one.

I know that this review may have strayed from just talking about this season of this anime and I apologise for that however, I needed to bring in other factors in hope that all you out there give this a shot and persuade you to watch it as the foundation to the greatness that is to follow. Reviewing DxD in such constricted context does not bring it justice.

On a final note, don't watch this with females unless you know they're alright with an ecchi series...They're only going to get jealous with the beautiful female characters

Ive never really watched sports anime but im giving this the full 10!!!
Its full of action, great soundtrack with brilliant and more importantly suitable voices for the characters.

I like how the main character, Kuroko, is more of a shadow that people can easily overlook (often comically) but still let people know he's the main character without being all 'in your face' about it which isnt what you often see.
Speaking of the Kuroko, he brings so many light hearted comical scenes into the anime from where he'd just appear out of nowhere or disappear which greatly balances out Kagami's fiery personality.
The key characters of this series, ... the generation of miracles. Having had read the manga beforehand, im aware of how each of the five are portrayed and I cant fault the series to how they have developed and portrayed them so far.

Yes, it does bring into question how a kids around the age of first year high schoolers can be over 6ft tall but that is the beauty of 2D world, anything can happen.
If you are one of those who are pedantic about these petty details and decided to make a pass on the series then youre definitely missing out.

Every week, you just cant wait to see the next episode to be aired just to get more exhilarating action.
In my opinion, this IS one of the best series to be released and i hope it gets more episodes as it is just pure enjoyment.

Summarise why this series needs to be watched:
- Great animation quality
- Great art style
- Great characters
- Great soundtrack
- Great voices
- Great story
- Great enjoyment
You cant miss out on something with that many greats in :)