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Hitohira review

Story: 7
I solidly picked Hitohira by its name out of curiosity. When I watched the first episode I thought it was going to be yet another of these school type anime that goes about the student life but where nothing really happens. So after the first episode I didn’t watch another one for a couple of months. I don’t exactly know why I picked it up again eventually, but I’m glad I did because after a few episodes it turned out to be more unique then I thought.

Hitohira is about a girl called Asai Mugi who is very insecure about herself. She is very shy and the only one she dares to open up to is her best friend that she met in middle school. She is uncomfortable talking to anyone else and when she has to her voice is really soft. Unfortunately she let out a very loud shout when she got in high school and that caught the attention of the captain of the drama resource society. And that causes that Mugi becomes a member of the club and has to do what she fears the most: acting.

The story does sound very plain but it actually deepens a lot. This is mostly because of the characters development. You see the bond between the characters grow and several characters are going through a lot during their first and last year of high school. It is hard to tell more about the story without giving it away so I won’t. But it had elements of comedy, drama, every day life and most of all friendship.

A good point is that the anime doesn’t have fillers. In every episode something does happen that makes you want to watch the next episode. I didn’t find the episodes boring or dragging. There are episodes where there happens more then others. But overall I liked the flow of the story. There are events that happened in the past, that are used in the story. Sometimes this is done through flashbacks and sometimes just through explanation, as if you really get to know a character.

After I watched the series, I felt like I did watch an entertaining anime which I enjoyed spending my time on. I feel the number of episodes was just right to tell the story. It shouldn’t have been longer so they made the right choice to make this a short series.

Animation: 7
The animation is decent and kind of cute. The different emotions the characters show are drawn out well and it really adds to the atmosphere of the series. What I really liked was that also the eyes of male characters are big and expressive unlike most anime I know, where the male eyes are a lot smaller drawn then female eyes. The only thing that annoyed me was the hair. Every female character has this stripe of light in their hair that looks like a headband and doesn’t come natural at all. The characters a further well drawn and their personality come across in the way they look. Shades are drawn well and are detailed but the colors used are a bit plain. Overall the animation is pretty basic, nothing special but not bad either.

Sound: 7.5
The voices suit the characters well. Especially with the main character the voice acting is done well because she uses her voice at very different volumes all the time since that is the essence of the series. I do think the crying scenes are somewhat overdone.

The music is nice, but nothing really special. The openings theme is an up beat song which isn’t too bad and the ending theme is also kind of up beat but less catchy then the opening theme and to my opinion not that good. There is music used to support the mood of certain scenes and this does add to the mood of the series all though you don’t really notice it at first. Only when I rewatched certain bits to have a better impression of the background music, I noticed what was played. I think this isn’t a bad thing though since it adds up to the whole sphere of scenes and it gives them that little bit extra without having the overhand.

Characters: 8
I really liked the characters development in this series. It really is the series strong point and the main reason for watching it. There are two chars that are lit out mostly and it are those two that grow the most throughout the series. However the cast of side characters are done really well too. They surely all have a role in the anime and all go through their own developments as well. Without the side characters it would have been a boring watch so they really add something to the story. The types on it self aren’t really unique but since the characters are so different from each other it really is fun to see them interact together.

Overall: 8
Granted, this isn’t a mainstream anime and it isn’t very well known. That is why I decided to write my very first review about this anime in the first place. To let people know that the series is fun, yet has a story to tell. You do have to appreciate some drama to like this one though. It isn’t a crowd pleaser and tells the story at its own pace. Don’t judge this anime on the first episode; watch an episode or three to see if this is something for you. I’m glad I gave this anime a chance after all and I hope other people will do so too!