Adapting the “一週間フレンズ”manga by Matcha Hazuki into anime form, “One Week Friends” promises to be a romantic drama that will pull on your heartstrings. The first few episodes already contain plenty of heartbreaking scenes and endearing moments that will leave no one unmoved.
Am not really fond of drama series so was somewhat unsure if I would really like “Isshuukan Friends”, but so far the show has managed to keep a careful balance between drama and uplifting, joyful moments in its emotional scenes.
While key dramatic events in each episode of “Isshuukan Friends” do grab hold of you and may even cause you to shed a few tears, the show follows such sad events up with positive scenes. Which is something I do welcome since each episode has already been very moving and depending on how it all works out, may make this a story to remember.
If one were to fault the series, it would be for the convenience of many events that have an auspiciously perfect timing, or the character’s various reactions that fit a bit too perfectly in the chain of events without necessarily feeling very realistic.
Likewise for Kaori’s condition or Saki’s bubbly forgetfulness, their reactions sometimes seem less natural but rather as if they were scripted to fit the current scene. Which of course, is actually the case since this is a fictional story.
Studio Brain’s Base delivers excellent work animating “One Week Friends”, with a good animation level overall, they manage to give it that little bit extra by making good use of lighting and shadow or switching to subdued, pastel colors for the background to give scenes a softer atmosphere.
Worthy of note too is how well Brain’s Base animates the various expressions of Kaori, whom due to her behavior, switches from a facade of stern frowns to more natural expressions and endearing smiles. The studio manages to animate this wide range of expressions of Kaori such that she remains a believably realistic character displaying her various emotions.
Kaori is voiced by Amamiya Sora who also voiced Aika in “Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!”, Liliana in “Log Horizon” and this season also voices Honoka in “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei”.
Ookubo Rumi voices Saki, she’s tackled roles like Touko in “Servant x Service”, Chinatsu in “Yuru Yuri”, Kazuki in “Galilei Donna” and Yuzuko in “Yuyushiki”.
Kaori’s mother Shiho is voiced by Nakahara Mai, she previously voiced Saya in “Servant x Service”, Nagisa in “Clannad”, Rena in “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni” and Nagisa in “Strawberry Panic”. This season she also voices Ayano in “Mekaku City Actors” and Suzune in “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei”.
If you’re looking for an anime with endearing characters and plenty of touching moments, then do recommend “Isshuukan Friends”, it has been a wonderful story so far.
