DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaIsshuukan Friends.
SPECIAL Slice of LifeIsshuukan Friends. Kaori no Nikki

REVIEWS

• 

  StupidWeeaboo

  50/100
  Unique concept, uniquely bad execution

  FIRST EPISODE:
  This first episode feels like kind of a rush, it shoves the audience right into the plot and the characters with no establishment, which is kind of bad for this kind of show with no new student or anything to guide the audience. Instead, what is there to guide the audience is the presumed focus of the entire series - the short-term (week) memory of Fujimiya. I think that's what this first episode strives to hook the audience with, their unique hook and I can understand why they would disregard trying to fully establish the characters as well as the kind of lives that they live. At a glance I can tell what they would probably be like but yeah, I think for shows like this they need to establish their characters soon or else the show just becomes incredibly boring. This anime does have potential to do that, in the interactions between the two main characters and I hope that it pulls through because of how seemingly interesting the plot is right now.

  FULL SERIES:
  There are a lot of things that went wrong in this series, from the cohesiveness to the shot composition as well as how they conveyed the plot to the audience. As an audience member I felt as though this show was treating me as if I had to have everything in front of my face to know what was going on or what was going to happen, since they had to have it go through the dense minds of the characters. I felt like it was extremely predictable to know what was going to happen and to have it drag on with the confusion of the oblivious main character Hase was exhausting. This show did show promise (kind of) with how it presented the plot in the first few episodes, although that was lost quickly when everything started to jump around and conflict started happening even though the characters weren't even developed that well to make the audience care as much as the show wanted them to. This lack of cohesiveness worked its way into the individual scenes of the show with some of the shots being really hard to follow and just making it seem pretty messy (the beach episode is an example of this). The art itself was fine and so was most of the music so yeah that's not worth mentioning I guess.
  The biggest problem was the characterization in the show, with the anime speeding in with the conflict as opposed to building their characters so that the problems would actually have some impact. I ended up not caring most of the time when conflict came up since it did so very abruptly. On that note, the tone of the show was inconsistent with it switching from slice of life to melodrama to romance between halves, which made it even more exhausting to watch. The ending also didn't feel as satisfying as it seemed to be and I felt barely any accomplishment from completing this series. I saw the potential but it didn't deliver sadly, so many arcs were pretty unnecessary, which hurts this anime drastically since it is only 12 episodes. Anyways, yeah it's probably just average.

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• 

  DekorationXanNex

  85/100
  To me this show isn’t a romance. Instead, it's an interesting exploration of friendship and memory.

  Although the premise and genre and even the events of the story lend itself to be a romance, One Week Friends has a different angle in its presentation and tells a story much more pure and wholesome.

  __Monday (Plot Concept)__

  The concept of One Week Friends starts as innocently as any romance story. The main character, Yuki Hase, has a passing interest in the secluded yet eye-catching, Kaori Fujimiya. With the support of his best friend, Shogo Kiryu, Hase starts to approach Fujimiya, and slowly but surely, breeches into her social circle, which, at the start of the show, is non-existent.

  Everything so far checks out. We have an innocent, emotional, and naïve lead, who’s holding as much good intentions as he can approaching Fujimiya. Of course, being the heroine, she has a cold exterior in class, but a soft interior when approached outside of class, and this is all too familiar. In fact, it’s this familiarity that the first episode plays on, where we’re led a false sense of security as the ever looming threat of the show’s twist follows behind these two characters. This isn’t as potent to those who may have surmised the premise from the title of the show or have read the synopsis on a streaming site, but, this dramatic irony is what makes this first encounter and twist interesting and engaging. This show isn’t just your ordinary romance.

  __Tuesday (The Twist of Memory)__

  By the end of the first week and the onset of the next, Hase realizes his task of becoming friends and engaging with Fujimiya is one that would be filled with struggle, heartache, and reward. For reasons related to her childhood, Fujimiya’s memories reset every week, with a specific caveat of being unable to remember friends. This hook helps frame the rest of the show, with every interaction, every moment, and every development having that much more impact on the characters, and story. Although the atmosphere and tone of this show is light hearted and takes elements from slice of life, the fact that the concept of the heroine having memory loss is always relevant makes the stakes so much more potent. It feels strange to say stakes in a story that’s as calming and wholesome as One Week Friends, but the show really does lend itself to be high tension due to the fear and realization of Hase essentially meeting a new Fujimiya every episode and needing to reestablish a relationship that’s built solely on the diary she keeps. Amidst the fluff, amidst the feel good moments of the show, where Hase invites Fujimiya to do things that friends would do, like going out to eat, doing karaoke, creating memories and joy, there’s always going to be this insurmountable distance.

  __Wednesday (Complexity)__

  It’s this complexity underlying One Week Friends that makes its tropes and characters, that much more interesting and really did invite me to consider the overlying themes it had. Memory is a huge part of the show, and the way it deals with memory through the relationships of others was an interesting angle, especially since many episodes actively used memory as a point of conflict. Either Fujimiya has a mishap one way or another and loses her diary and memory is lost, or Fujimiya’s memories seem to get better and she’s forming more connections, and memory is gained. No matter what, the theme of memory is always in the show, either in the background or in the foreground and it keeps things fresh. For me, there was hardly a dull moment in the show, as it moved at a nice forward pace, constantly giving us moments of development and characterization while dangling this complex notion of memory. Whenever things seemed to move in the right direction, the show found a way to add a new element, a new member of the cast, or a new situation, and despite the solemn nature the show had, the possibility of the relationships we’ve watched bloom fall apart was always there. Again, it’s a sense of tension we don’t usually get in this kind of show, and it didn’t feel dramatic or unearned whenever it did happen. Earning the development of the characters, earning the emotions that it wanted to display, was I think one of the stronger points of the show with some exceptions, and its unique concept definitely helped in supporting it.

  __Thursday (Critiques)__

  Of course, with the time frame of the show, there inevitably had to be cuts to tell a cohesive story from front to end which means that characterization and development with the entire cast had to be truncated. Some of the side cast that are introduced as the story moved forward was less potent. For me, the weakest part was in the information we didn’t have time to explore, in the side characters that seemed like they could go a myriad of directions and have a strong supporting role. After all, one of the lessons learned by the end of the show is how important making memories are, and we just didn’t have time to explore making memories with the other cast. Other issues I found were in motivations, especially with the main character, Hase, not having the clearest motivations, or at least, not explicit to the audience.

  There’s also the obvious, romance show that doesn’t focus on the romance but instead focuses on friendships and this idea of creating memories shouldn’t be called a romance but more of a slice of life or drama, and as such that was also something that felt lacking. To me this show isn’t a romance, despite it wanting to be one. It’s an interesting exploration of the depths of friendships, what we do to create connections, and how important memories are for our lives, and for others. There were honestly some thought provoking moments bundled in this show of warmth but that’s all ignoring what this show presented to us, which was the promise of romance.

  __Friday (Conclusion)__

  At the end of the week, I really enjoyed the show. Its concept is really engaging, adds an interesting twist to a formula we’re familiar with, and contributes to the complexity that the show can offer. The characters were fun, enjoyable, and when they grew and progressed in their world, it felt rewarding to watch. Despite being so wholesome and heartwarming, the show spared no punches and when it hit it was effective. It may not be the most satisfying show if you go in with certain expectations for the characters, but, certainly, the emotions and journey that One Week Friends offer will surely last longer than its name sake.

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• 

  Proxxa

  85/100
  The story of a charming friendship with a slight twist

  Isshuukan Friends

  The story of a charming friendship with a slight twist.

  ---

  To be honest, I like this show. A lot. However, I have to go by my typical format to make writing reviews easier. First, assign the show a score of 70 points to begin with. 70 points is considered to be a "passing" score. To change its score, a show must have either good or bad aspects to change my opinion. This makes both the process of writing and reading the review easy. So, let's start.

  ---

  The Good.

  I've already explained this, but this section awards points for various things.

  Art
  Some might not like the art style because of how simplistic it is. What makes a simple art direction bad? The art style is one of the show's best points, because it doesn't take attention away from the story.
  +5 Points (75 Total)

  OP/ED
  The OP and ED are nothing phenomenal. Instead of trying to be catchy, they go along with the tone of the story.
  +5 Points (80 Total)

  Story
  I've mentioned that the story is good, right? In order to not give away anything to those who are reading reviews before watching the show, I'll simply say this: the efficacy of the simple plot is beyond phenomenal. Not only is it something I haven't seen before (I might come to find this elsewhere soon, though), but its ability to create such a relaxed mood while also creating tension when it needs to is astounding.
  +5 Points (85 Total)

  Not so great.

  Hm? There's nothing here.
  That's strange. Did enjoyment of the show blind me to its bad parts or does this show not have any flaws?

  ---

  **Conclusion**

  Alright, then. Seems like this is a review that actually writes itself. To give you more to read, here's my opinion on things that don't really sway the score.

  • Side Character Development
    I've read another review where the author wanted more character development for supporting characters. That didn't really bother me, though. If I really wanted to know more about them, I'd simply try to start reading the manga to look for anything I missed out on in the anime.

  • Speed/Cohesion
    I've also read a rather negative review stating that they disliked the speed of the show. I don't see any problem with it, though. I was invested enough into the show that I watched it all in the span of a day and didn't miss any large details.

  • Anything else not mentioned
    If there's anything here that you'd actually want to know more about, it probably doesn't affect the show much. Really.

  So? That's it. It seems that the specials are all one-minute readings of Fujimiya's diary, so I doubt I'd get too much enjoyment out of those, but they might be good for a rainy day. For anyone reading reviews for shows they haven't watched yet, give this one a shot. Please, it's a great show if you already tend to watch slice of life/rom-coms. With that said, Isshuukan Friends (alternatively One Week Friends) receives a score of 85 points. Well above a passing grade and well on its way into some of my highest-rated shows.

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