Yesterday wo Utatte started as something average. Here average doesnt necessarily stand for something negative. Its average as in its something that could happen to anyone your average dramatic daily life the show gave you this heavy feeling of empathy for its characters while you were fully immersed in the stunning animations backgrounds and this backpack full of emotions. Then... where did it go wrong? When did it start to go from I can relate to the characters and the situations theyre in to Things just happen in the most random way possible? This review will try to cover that my personal thoughts about one of the most promising drama of the season that transformed into what average should never mean. https://sakugabooru.com/data/fb6bc62c1d7de224ff30f173082a02aa.mp4 Story: 5/10 Lets start with the plot: Boy A has been forever in love with Girl A then he meets Girl B whos been having a crush on him since she first met him. Coincidentally Girl A and Girl B know each other. Full of coincidences but lets leave it at that those things happen in real life too right? The first episodes were quite alright and by first episodes I mean until episode five. Then something happened. Things were going... too fast. Personally I started enjoying Yesterday wo Utatte because it had a really slow pace. Things didnt go too fast but not too slow either. The conversations were full of meaning and gave the characters great depth of what was their view of life we will discuss more about them later on so they didnt feel too cheesy or unreal. Sadly I barely started reading the manga but personally I think its impossible to adapt 113 chapters in 12 episodes especially when the concept itself revolves around personal growth. Realistically speaking growing up takes a lot particularly for those people that kept living a certain way without every looking back. Yesterday wo Utatte makes you think that their character developments feel real by making them moving forward hence the finale but totally ignores the real meaning of it. Why did Haru leave school? Its mentioned many times but it only got brushed off with she started working in Milk Hall but never got addressed properly. Shinako apparently never took Harus part in the decision but what actually happened? Shinako leaving her first crush behind. Now Shinako. Her struggle felt... real at first. You loved someone or maybe you pretended to love someone to still be able to stuck to what was your past its something that happens very frequently. What I really liked in the anime is that it showed how much Shinako was still a kid despite being a full grown up she was immature she didnt know what she wanted it really felt that she couldnt let go of the past. In fact the very reason she still cant make decisions properly is because she never grew up for it. I guess in the manga they might have been able to develop her more considering they had the time for it but in 12 episodes it felt unreal. Shinako lets go of the past in a total random manner the show itself felt like it gave up on what it first was its expectation to show indepth characterization of the characters in it. We didnt have a chance to see Shinako actually let go we didnt see anything. We just saw a random girl that decided to throw everything in a casual way and didnt face anything because she had to make up with her new crush. Yesterday wo Utatte set an incredible high bar of what it wanted to show only to let down and grab rushed episodes to get the ending they wanted. The atmosphere felt scattered all over the place the quality of the show itself started decreasing the production set the bar high for something they didnt really think through the ending was awful. Mind you if that ending wouldve been the 24th episodes it wouldve been great. Super great. Why you ask? Because there wouldve been build up for it. We couldve seen Rikuo slowly falling in love with Haru and not falling head over heels for Shinako just a literal episode ago. The show has the audacity to brush it off as something that looked like love but it actually wasnt to destroy something that wouldve come to realization only a lot of episodes after. Put it like that it just feels like a joke an excuse something that youd say because of whatever reason. I mean you got to be fucking kidding me at this point. This anime singlehandedly took everything it had on its hands and threw it in the trash like it was something they just wanted to brush off as soon as possible. This is what this awful ending made me feel like: trash. Trash for hoping it could be way better than your average drama sliceoflife anime. https://i.ur.com/xJnVnff.png https://i.ur.com/Ygz2JdE.png Another thing Id like to add is: the coincidences in this anime are hilarious. Like its incredible how anything happens so randomly they always meet in such strange circumstances is the town that small? Characters: 5/10 Why only 5? Because its the score you would give to something average. Halfassed something you started building up perfectly then trashed. Lets talk about them a little bit more. First our MC: Rikuo. Who is Rikuo? Rikuo started off as someone who didnt give much thought in anything. As long as he had his average and easygoing life he wouldve been fine with just that. He didnt have that big dream to achieve nor a longlife passion that could be considered worth mentioning but he liked photography. An averagelooking guy with an average life average friends and average backstory. How did something so halfassed turn so badly? Because you genuinely cant understand what the fuck Rikuo is doing most of the time. His first actions made sense he was acting like a human being something I was truly satisfied to look at. He was in love with Shinako tried to get closer to her god I loved his speech about being friends and whatnot at the end of episode 2 and was finally able to do so. In the meanwhile he never brushed off Haru. He gave her the chance of get close never rejected her the only time he did he didnt even do it intentionally so she really didnt have any reason to leave. When they finally got her date I thought something started moving since it genuinely showed that Rikuo did care deeply for Haru and he was thinking about her costantly but apparently it was all for nothing. Why? Because Haru turned Rikuo to someone into her head despite always running away when that happened Rikuo seemed fine with it considering he wanted to... know her? but actually never looked for her even once unless she was looking for him first or when she was in literal danger. Rikuo grows up can I even call it that? in the latest two episodes. Hes always been the same for 8 episodes not counting the first two because he did take that little first step ahead something I loved to see but then just stayed the way he was. Never changing never moving. He understood that him and Shinako were playing lovers Im still angry at this it was so fucking fast as a change that it didnt make any sense and just gave up. Then he suddenly grew fond of Haru who didnt bother looking for like... ever? and was able to tell her she loved her but not Shinako despite simping her for over 11 episodes? If I had been Haru I would have honestly went nuts over the audacity of this idiot. I repeat: it doesnt feel real. But its anime It should still feel real especially if its about a show thats trying to be relatable and a slice of life. Now: Shinako. Oh my... theres a lot to say about her. Her character made sense at first. Only at first though. Being attached to your past is pretty common especially when something traumatizing happens but as I mentioned before if you show your character being the same for 9+ episodes I expect to see something. Shinako never changed Shinako never showed any sign of wanting to change the last episode shows it loud and clear her relationship with Rou shows it loud and clear. https://sakugabooru.com/data/ec79b40f299723fcc85e1087a747ce9a.mp4 In Japan you usually cut your hair when youre leaving something behind and moving forward. Now Im wonder if she just wanted a new look and nothing more. Youre supposed to actually change your point of view when youre trying to move forward. Spoiler: she didnt do anything of the sort. Shinako remained the usual not able to take decisions so I let everyone around me make them in my place + I cant let go of anything having no emotional growth whatsoever. Youre always looking at the same character failing all over again. Haru. Can I even say anything about her? Shes literally simping Rikuo never looking behind and for some reason the only mature one in the whole show despite being the youngest. The only one thats been fair I like to refer her as that. Since she actually gained the courage to declare war to Shinako I thought that Shinako herself wouldve been fair too but that didnt happen sadly. Oh just because I like Haru it doesnt mean shes the one that saved this mess she didnt survive either. She remained the same. Unlike Rikuo and Shinako she actually showed signs of growing when she faced the fact that she couldnt escape anymore from what was her love from what was reality it looked like she was about to become better. It looked like it for a few episodes. Personally I am a bit biased because she is 18 years old so I can actually excuse her action for the most of it so sadly I cant give a mean outlook on her... I apologize for that. Chika Rou and Youichi. This isnt going to be as long so I will just put them together. Chika and Youichi looked fine but they felt like a filler episode. They left no impact whatsoever and it seemed like they were put in just to fill some blanks pretty sad. Rou... Rou. Rou... is a kid. Personally? Lets just go next I dont even have words for Rou. Animation: 9/10 https://sakugabooru.com/data/c87a9214001b9ba7912d219fd21f6e60.mp4 https://sakugabooru.com/data/40ee38d385a5463dd1ab27a206a61d62.mp4 https://sakugabooru.com/data/aa7dc1bae5b4aca438f603fafc002baf.mp4 Stunning truly stunning. Its what brought me to this anime in the first place. You can say anything about this anime but the animation team truly put their whole soul into it. Its full of details little things like an hand moving wiggling every moment feels so... human real. I could praise it all day Im sorry I just love when an anime gets really detailed on every single movement because theyre trying their hardest to express how the character feels at that one moment. Love the effort. Sadly it doesnt save the show. Sounds: 8/10 Loved the ost The endings were super great especially the second and third one. Overall they were pretty chill and always fitting to the moment I dont have much to complain on that. Overall score: 5.5/10 Im disappointed. Yesterday wo Utatte started as something that couldve become my favorite anime something I could never forget. But it ended up being a roundabout of unchanging people with unchanging feelings that refused to grow up. With a rushed ending that wouldve worked only if they actually had anything close to personal growth. If you start with zero expectations it might actually be enjoyable if youre looking for a good lifechanging drama/SoL just try something else.