Ano Hana

Wow, it’s been a really long time since I posted anything anime related.

So Sankaku Complex had a post on the Top 10 Most Beautiful Anime (nsfw) voted by users on BIGLOBE. It’s definitely not a definitive list and they tend to be newer stuff. I’ve seen half the stuff on the list already, but was interested in the remaining content. “Beauty” was defined as beautiful composition as well executed scenery, expressions and motion whilst specifically excluding consideration of story, character design, music, etc.

  1. Time of Eve
  2. Hanasaku Iroha
  3. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
  4. 5 Centimeters Per Second
  5. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
  6. Clannad
  7. Angel Beats!
  8. GitS: Stand Alone Complex
  9. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance
  10. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Time of Eve

I started with Time of Eve (イヴの時間). It was a 6 part web series later combined into a movie. It’s a scifi story based on Issac Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics, but it’s completely different from iRobot. It explores the idea that if robots were sentient, what if instead of destroying the human kind, they strive to become our friends, to be accepted as more than just a robot that accepts commands. <SPOILER>The premise of the story takes place in a cafe where humans and androids are equals.</SPOILER> The anime was indeed extremely beautiful, but I found the story a bit too artsy. It was still fun though.

Ano Hana

However, as the title of of this post may have already suggested, I’ve started watching a new series called Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない), which gets shortened to Ano Hana. The title translates to “We still don’t know the name of the flower we saw that day.” The anime is still ongoing and only 5 episodes are out so far.

Despite this being a TV series, the production and drawings were top notch. You’re introduce to a boy named Jin-tan and a girl named Memna. Initially I thought this was going to be a fan service anime with Memna jumping all over Jin-tan, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. By the end of the first episode, I was crushed with sadness. I don’t want to spoil too much, but Memna has a wish, but can’t remember what it was. Each episode reveals a bit more of what happened on that day. Memna is so adorably cute, yet they mix it so well with such a depressing story. From what I’ve seen so far, I highly recommend this series.

Another interesting tidbit is they’re using ZONE – secret base~君がくれたもの~ as their ED song. I’ve had this song in my mp3 library since college. When I first heard it, I knew it sounded really familiar. Initially I thought it might’ve been from another anime, but I guess this is one of the songs my friend shared with me. Apparently it’s been 10 years already since this song was released and the ED uses the 10th anniversary version.

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