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Poll: Which New Anime Series Has the Prettiest Cherry Blossoms?

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I’ve noticed before that anime series seem to often air at the same time of the year as when the viewers would watch it in real life. For this spring season that means these anime series would feature the Japanese staple – beautiful cherry blossoms and more cherry blossoms. I’m not complaining, though I’m more of a fall colors person myself; however, I was curious to see just how many series had cherry blossoms in their first episode.

The end tally was 10 series out of the 23 I started watching this season had at least one blooming cherry tree somewhere in the first episode. Curiosity sated, I realized I found my next poll question. (The recently current one about the best anime of 2014 is so last year). This poll can be found to the right. Below are examples of the cherry blossoms found in those ten anime series which one can peruse to make an informed choice.

Punchline

[DameDesuYo] Punch Line - 01 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [DE0296A5].mkv_snapshot_15.22_[2015.04.13_02.36.11]This cherry tree was probably not what you remembered seeing in the first episode of Punchline.
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Show by Rock!

[orz] SHOW BY ROCK!! 01 [1BD3E9E5].mkv_snapshot_00.12_[2015.04.12_02.41.37]–

Nisekoi S2

[FFF] Nisekoi S2 - 01 [E0D0C713].mkv_snapshot_00.44_[2015.04.16_00.52.58]Wait, why am I still watching this series again? There’s not a single main/important character in this show I actually like.
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Shokugeki no Souma

[FFF] Shokugeki no Souma - 01 [E0EB3DC4].mkv_snapshot_20.09_[2015.04.17_02.50.04]For some reason I want to say these are actually flowering plum trees. If so, then a vote for Shokugeki no Souma is a vote for flowering plum trees.

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Grisaia S2

[Chihiro]_Grisaia_no_Rakuen_-_01_[720p_Hi10P_AAC][6C125E29].mkv_snapshot_23.01_[2015.04.27_01.57.39]

This franchise might just be the more horrid, trainwreckiest anime show I’ve ever watched but it still feels the need to make sure there’s some cherry blossoms shown between the child molesting and pet killing in gruesome ways.
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Ore Monogatari!!

[Commie] Ore Monogatari!! - 01 [0C0EE0AB].mkv_snapshot_02.52_[2015.04.11_02.44.54]–

Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku

[caffeine] Mikagura School Suite - 01 [720p][CDC4A6F5].mkv_snapshot_01.28_[2015.04.24_01.47.17]–

Hibike! Euphonium

[FFF] Hibike! Euphonium - 01 [A72D5FD8].mkv_snapshot_02.08_[2015.04.08_21.34.28]KyoAni, the 800 pound gorilla in the room 🙂 .
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Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic

[Asenshi-Mezashite] Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic - 01 [611F52C1].mkv_snapshot_02.29_[2015.04.15_22.50.20]Next poll: Which spring series best uses the exclamation point in their title?
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Urawa no Usagi-chan

[Kaitou]_Urawa_no_Usagi-chan_-_01_[720p][10bit][9D1D6CE6].mkv_snapshot_01.38_[2015.04.18_01.38.01]–

12 thoughts on “Poll: Which New Anime Series Has the Prettiest Cherry Blossoms?”

  1. Cherry Blossoms: You can’t escape them. I always liked Clannad’s use of them, but that is just a personal bias for that show in general.

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  2. lol The last one is laughable. I demand the anime do justice to cherry blossoms!

    Joking aside, I voted for Hibike’s cherry blossoms because animated petals and blurs and filters. Very pretty to look at. :3 If not, then I’d have given Ore Monogatari!!’s cherry blossoms. They served as good framing for the two guys as well. And how can I not love the animated branches?

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  3. Nothing comes close to Hibike! Euphonium’s petals! That first episode where she holds them in her palm and blows them away–I was almost drooling, the animation was just so pretty! ❤

    Runners up for me are Ore Monogatari and Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku!

    ~Jamie

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  4. @madreceiver: There’s a part of me that would like to say that the cherry blossoms shown in that screenshot from Clannad are nicer then what we see in Hibike! Euphonium because KyoAni is getting too close to making it look like they took a real photograph and merely ran the background through some Photoshop filters. They’re not quite there yet so it’s just a small part of me – the part that also complains that the price of box of mac’n’cheese used to be 29 cents at my local bargain grocery store.

    @miharusshi: I randomized the order I would cover the anime for this post but it is fitting that Urawa no Usagi-chan ended up last. That’s about the quality one would expect when a local government decides to fund an anime as a means to get people to visit their locale.

    @Jamie: That’s just the sort of reaction I’ve had with KyoAni for almost 10 years now. 🙂 I remember being slack-jaw amazed when they animated the individual beads of sweat during the concert scene for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya back in 2006. And they’ve continued to improve since then, in part, because they’ve had to keep up with their success of improving what’s considered “good” animation.

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  5. I thought that KyoAni’s job with the backgrounds in Hibike is kinda shady. As you’ve said, their work here eerily resembles real life photographs–just with tweaked perspectives, added filters, and whatever effects. But well, I’m glad the background have the painterly feel, and not totally CG as Re-Kan! would have them.

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  6. @miharusshi: I’m normally all over any anime dealing with ghosts but Re-Kan! just didn’t grab me enough more then to put it on the list of shows I might try if I dropped a bunch of other series – which didn’t happen. Seeing it’s using CG backgrounds makes the possibility I’ll ever give it a try even less.

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  8. Anime doesn’t do the real tree, enough justice. Perhaps it is due to the emotional cascade effect or from the natural world seeping into the human senses directly, bypassing visual acuity.

    Also Steel, now is the time to go look up visual novels on steam. It’s become a thing now, as I predicted and expected. Sekai Project is currently leading the pack on Japanese imports.

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  10. @ymarsakar: The mind might be willing to give visual novels a real shot but finding the time is something else. I’ve tried to play visual novels twice in the past – Clannad and Steins;Gate – two anime I really liked but didn’t finish either. Maybe I just need the right visual novel to come along.

    Have you watched the Grisaia anime? How does it stack up to the visual novel?

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  11. The anime is pretty short and seems to go quickly through the backstory, which took an entire novel.

    Finishing these novels takes patience, they can’t be marathoned through like tv shows. Although I’m sure people have tried. As such they are more similar to long anime series like Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It’s for people who want the maximum world and character detail, even if it takes months.

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  12. To elaborate, the anime begins with Labyrinth of Grisaia. Grisaia no Kajitsu is the beginning of the trilogy and covers the backstory for all the girls, but the anime doesn’t start there so to speak. It starts with the alternative plot line that begins in Labyrinth, I surmise. Labyrinth is more focused around the main character’s backstory. No idea what Rakuen is about.

    I watched only a few episodes of the Grisaia anime to see how it is done, so that was about episode 4.

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