In the past few years, I’ve seen many animes and read a handful of mangas, but nothing I ever engaged in immediately struck me as “the best,”-until I saw Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. In fact, when I finished it, I started re-watching it less than a week later.

(Warning, this post contains spoilers for the show!)

Grief and how the Show Touches on Emotions

For starters, I love how the anime explores the elements of grief people may face. Everyone in the show blames themself in one way or another for Menma’s death. I feel many viewers can relate to this feeling of guilt, and it truly can be tormenting.

The reality of the situation is that Menma’s death was an accident, and while the series of actions by all the characters eventually lead to it, they couldn’t have predicted it and had no intentions of harming anyone. The position everyone was in was very tricky, and I think the show elegantly and realistically touched on it.

I thought it was very interesting that Anjo felt she was being selfish for wanting to help grant Menma’s wish because she thought she may only be doing it to get rid of her.

While that is a hard spot to be in, I love how the anime let those feelings exist without demonizing or celebrating them, because in real life they aren’t one way or another either.

A lot of people are so kind-hearted that they’re always checking themselves to make sure they couldn’t possibly be hurting anyone else. It’s tough to be that way because eventually, it leads to a willingness to hurt yourself if it means others will stay fine. I’m certain a lot of people could relate to that. I’m glad the bad aspects of mental health were represented in this show because they are nothing but realistic and may make people feel less alone. 

Throughout every episode of the show, I was able to feel what the characters were feeling, it was greatly communicated, and even had me bawling for the entirety of the last three episodes. 

The Side Plots are Just as Important as the Main Plot

What I appreciate the most from the show is how every little detail eventually matters. I find how everything comes together to mean something big in the end is pretty realistic. Life isn’t just a few things relating to one problem or situation, there’s always a bigger picture. 

I loved how things from when Menma was still alive still affected the characters, even in the tiniest ways, five years after her death. Everything tied together in a big knot but it was somehow beautiful and understandable. The day of her death and the days leading up to it were very complicated, yet it didn’t seem like it at the time. The deeper meanings of each event meant so much to every individual character. 

For example, the hair clip that Yukiatsu tried to give Menma moments before she died was a great plot device. Menma originally rejected it, but when her ghost wanted to say something to Yukiatsu years later, the first thing she said was “Thank you for the hair clip.” There was no way anybody but those two knew about it, and it’s what made Yukiatsu believe she may be back a bit more.

The hair clip also meant a lot to Tsuruko because she had found it on the ground a bit after it was rejected and thrown into the grass by Yukiatsu. It was the one thing she held onto and it made her feel so many things. For one, jealousy, then and even now knowing that Yukiatsu would never choose her. She even tries the on hair clip and wears a similar one later on in the show too. 

I also think the blend of the side plots with the saddest points was great because it didn’t leave me bored or feeling stuck sad. It made the ending even more emotional realizing the weight of everything, and that they weren’t just facts.

The Ending

The ending of this show was the best I’ve ever seen. The way Jintan realizes Menma is about to go to heaven and why is crazy.

Throughout the whole show, Jintan and the rest of the group had been trying to grant Menma’s wish so she could pass on to heaven and be happy, but they hadn’t realized they accidentally granted it until it was too late. It was a shock to absolutely everyone. 

The scenes following this news are very dramatic, and many heart-wrenching events occur. 

“I made it this time, I was able to say goodbye this time.” Menma thinks to herself at one point.

When the screen blurs as Menma fades away, Jintan narrates the conclusion. The narration hints at Menma being reincarnated into a flower, as Menma had vocally believed in it and wanted to go to heaven to reincarnate to live amongst the friends once again. I thought this was a very nice reference to things mentioned earlier in the show.

“As the seasons slip by, different flowers on the sidewalk burst into bloom. I wonder what the name of the flower was that bloomed that one day. Smaller than the rest, it almost hurt to look at it. When I bent down to smell it, I picked up the scent of a long-ago summer- but that scent slowly fades away.” 

I think the ending of this show was absolutely beautiful. I thought that how the editors had the intro and outro songs play during the most emotional parts was a phenomenal aspect of the whole experience. They were songs that viewers had grown used to throughout the show, and whether people were annoyed by or indifferent to them, the familiarity of the songs made the ending feel more personal and gave a larger sense of connection.

This anime is hands down the best one I’ve ever seen, and I encourage those who haven’t seen it yet to go watch it. It’s just a whole different type of experience, I never thought I would find sad animes entertaining but I really enjoyed this one.