One Week Friends/Isshuukan Friends Review

One Week Friends is a 12 episode series that aired from early April to late June this year, adapted from the original manga written by Maccha Hazuki. The series has been received well by the general community, standing out from the hordes of school romance animes this season.

Story

The story for One Week Friends is very sweet but also very sad. It revolves around Kaori Fujimiya, a sweet girl who purposely remains distant and avoids making friends due to a memory issue she has resulting in her memories of her friends to be reset every week. The plot immediately makes you question what the extent of her memory problems are, keeping you questioning as her problem is discovered and changed as the story develops. The story is not always clear with the aspects of Fujimiya’s memory problem, which at times can get confusing but generally remains transparent and consistent.

One Week Friends is very sweet, all the main characters have a sense of innocence to but at the same time they understand pain and what it means to be selfless. Hase the main character, will often struggle emotionally with Fujimiya’s problem, as time after time all his hard work, efforts and feelings are completely forgotten. The story shows you that that Hase is still a relatable human being not a man with an iron will and that only with support from his best friend and others around him is he able to carry on. The story of One Week Friends is very sweet but understands the harsh reality and emotional toll that memory loss can have on those around them.

Characters

All of the characters in One Week Friends are generally very simple, yet they are also characters with a lot of depth. For the most part of the show Hase and Fujimiya carry the story by themselves, however the side characters are made of good use, often creating necessary conflicts so that the duo can move forward or simply acting as moral support for the main characters. The side characters are introduced on a steady rate, however I felt that Saki and a few other less relevant characters should have been introduced or given more depth earlier as they helped the carry the story very well once included.

Art and Animation 

One Week Friends has a simplistic and unique art style often with some really beautiful background scenery. Some people may love the art, others may find it  to simplistic. I personally really enjoyed it and felt it suited to the overall feel of the show.

Music

The music of the One Week Friends remained generally okay throughout the show, working reasonably well with the scenes. As the story progressed and the story become more intense the music became more relevant and quite effective. The opening and ending music of the show were also nice and well suited to the show.

  

Conclusion 

One Week Friends is a different take on the usual slice of life romance. The story remained the centre point of the show throughout and was very engaging to watch. Overall One Week Friends was just very enjoyable. I recommend this to people who have enjoyed the likes of Hyouka or Clannad that deals with some sort of emotional struggle or hindrance to people lives. I give this series an 8/10 a great watch and one of the best of this season.

-PandaSlayer