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Ano Natsu de Matteru brings out nostalgia in the most elegant and seamless way possible.

The art is so warm and comfortable, I just fall in. The sound design is as close to perfect as I've ever heard. In fact, for me that's the defining characteristic of the series. From the clicking of the camera to the sounds of glass gently hitting glass, everything works perfectly and adds immensely to every other element. Not to mention the VAs (or their audio engineer) knocked it out of the park, at least to my non-Japanese ears...there are quite a few ASMR-worthy moments. Like ... most other things in Ano Natsu de Matteru, they are warm and simply on point.

The characters are fine and adequately developed for the genre, but from a storytelling perspective no one is particularly remarkable. In fact, the story itself isn't really worth mentioning, but much like Toradora, this proves that excellent execution is more than enough to make up for a bit of a weak plot. This actually works to its advantage in my case, since consuming this kind of plot is so central to my past, and in an anime so dependent on appealing to sentimental emotions, it just whisks me away to that old world.

As for complaints, reactions to large events are often very unnatural, though I'll stop there as to avoid spoilers. Again, the plot isn't particularly great on paper, and the romance definitely falls into very trope-y and melodramatic territory, though it does switch things up a bit, it isn't entirely formulaic. In general, you'll have an idea of where things are going, but there are still surprises along the way.

The sci-fi elements are masterfully interwoven into the narrative, never becoming overwhelming or alienating to the viewer.

Ano Natsu de Matteru has its flaws, sure, but they're hardly in the areas that matter. Evoking nostalgia in a subtle manner that doesn't involve just showing images from the past is rare as hell in anime, and this series achieves that wonderfully. ...and I'm not even from Japan. It's just universal, I suppose.

Give it a try, though avoid if you don't like tearjerkers.