A few years back, I was hearing a lot of good comments about a few different anime: Steins Gate, Anohana, and Madoka Magica. Now of these my favorite is Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day.
This series follows a group of childhood friends who are now high schoolers who have not gotten along since their friend Menma passed away. Then one super hot summer day, the main character starts conversing with an older Menma that has arrived in his house, but only he can see her. Already withdrawn, he decides to let his delusions blow over. Menma, however, will not let him settle for that and forces him to reunite the friends in order to help her pass on. This becomes really difficult though, as each one of the childhood friends has been coping with the loss in different ways. And each one feels responsible for what happened. The show mainly focuses on how they try to over come their own loss together.
I tend to review a lot of different highly emotional anime. This is, for me, the most emotional anime I have ever seen. It also ranks as one of my favorite and most recommended shows. The anime portrays grief so well. I really appreciate the depth of character that each character portrays and the effects of grief that are illustrated. You will cry. Honestly, you will cry if you take this show seriously. Especially if you have experienced the pain of losing someone close to you. The show doesn’t stop there. For me, watching this show actually brought up a lot of pain from when a relative of mine passed away. It helped me deal with some emotions I hadn’t addressed. It was in a way, healing.
There is a bit of weirdness in the show, but most of it fits with the brokenness of the characters. Also, the first episode is slow, but the series quickly builds. I think that the strength of story and character vastly out ways any issues I had watching it. I also recommend watching this by yourself first, unless you like crying with other people, than by all means どうぞ.
Please watch this show.