Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai – 09
This show is beginning to resemble a soap opera…
Ah jeeze, my summer is not supposed to be this busy. Between the intensive house cleaning my parents force upon me, university visits and my doctor’s appointments (that all somehow got crammed into these past two weeks), it’s been hard to find much time for anything. It hasn’t been all that bad though – I recently recorded Metaverse Episode 5 which was pretty awesome where my fellow New Blood and I got grilled by our senpais. Despite how brutal that may sound, it was actually a really hilarious and fun experience. Thanks to Jrow’s pro editing skills it should be out quite soon so get excited! 😀
So Episode 9 starts off as the gang has accepted that Menma exists (FINALLY) and they all sit around as she makes steamed bread for them. Tsuruko and Anaru are understandably creeped out – the ghost of their childhood friend is real, they cannot see her and she is BAKING. Yukiatsu wishes to talk to her directly but it seems as though she has to communicate through Jinta. As they return home, Anaru is happy that Menma has seemingly forgiven them but Tsuruko says that she might not have. On the other hand, Yukiatsu is convinced that Jinta wants to keep Menma to himself and wants to make sure that she goes to heaven.
Tsuruko has her cute sides eh?
Poppo, Jinta, Anaru and Menma try the firework maker again to no avail. They stop at the shrine and while Menma and Poppo play around, Anaru thinks back to her confession to Jinta. It’s been overshadowed by the existence of Menma’s ghost and Jinta doesn’t seem to have given it much thought either. Later on, Yukiatsu and Tsuruko confront Menma’s father about the fireworks. Apparently, time has frozen for his wife and he does not want anything to keep her in such a state. To my surprise, Yukiatsu ends up getting on his knees to beg. He starts crying too…jeeze.
On their way home Tsuruko and Yukiatsu run into Jinta and Menma. Jinta’s dropping her off at home because she keeps following him everywhere. Yukiatsu asks about Menma, inquiring as to how long her hair is and whether she’s pretty. I was rather proud of Jinta at this part – he didn’t make the same mistake that he did when he was younger and called her cute instead. After this exchange, Yukiatsu is so overcome by jealousy that he kicks the fence posts.
Astute observation there sweetie. xD
Perhaps Yukiatsu’s begging did the trick, but they are finally allowed to make the fireworks! They aren’t allowed to mess with the gunpowder, but they can help out with the decorations. Anaru gets really upset watching Jinta look only at Menma and leaves so as not to cry in front of everybody. Yukiatsu follows her because he can’t really take it anymore either. It seems as though it’s easier to sympathize with somebody that you are similar to. He teases her, asking her out again, and poor Tsuruko overhears. NOT COOL YUKIATSU. T_T
KICK HIM HARDER. PLEASE.
WELL SAID! I love you Anaruuuuu~
Jinta leaves Menma with Poppo for the night while he heads off to work. Menma is able to communicate with Poppo through her diary so they start playing games. Poppo begins to ask a question about the day that she died but thinks better of it and continues playing along. Something seems to be bugging him though…
…Sad Poppo makes me sad…
After work, Jinta arrives back home to find Menma missing. He freaks out and starts running all over town to find her, realizing that he doesn’t want her to leave. He finds her underneath the bridge and practically kills himself tumbling down a hill to get to her. It’s Menma’s turn to freak out because, after seeing his rough fall, she fears for Jinta’s life. I did too actually – I’m surprised he didn’t break a bone or something! After this, Menma sees a koi fish in the water and tries to get it but Jinta immediately stops her from getting in the water, revealing that he wants her to stay forever.
“…Forever. Stay here forever…” – Seriously Menma. Just listen to him damn it. T_T
End Thoughts:
As much as I adore this show with an undying passion, it is definitely worrying me. We only have two episodes left and I have no clue how all loose ends are going to be tied up. I feel as though this sort of story deserves a good 15 episodes at the least. Ah well, AnoHana has been going at a really good pace thus far and hopefully it shall end quite nicely (with no shortage of waterworks I am sure).
Obviously, I am disappointed at how little we know about Poppo and Tsuruko. Hell, disappointment is an understatement. I am INCENSED. I mean, come on! We have gotten a good idea of how everybody ELSE feels about Menma’s death but we’ve BARELY gotten anything on these two and there are only TWO EPISODES LEFT. TWO EPISODES. That is NOT a lot to work with! Despite how it may seem, we actually did get a little bit of a glimpse into the inner workings of Tsuruko and Poppo, though not as much as I would have liked at all. Through this episode, Tsuruko’s cuter and more vulnerable sides were revealed and Poppo’s obviously got his own issues with Menma’s death. Dear LORD, if we don’t find out more about these two in these next episodes I will seriously beat somebody up! I WANT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m not too pleased with Yukiatsu. I always felt kind of sorry for him because of his issues with Menma’s death. He seemed like a pretty great guy, especially when he saved Anaru, but it turns out that he’s not as mature as I thought. Seriously; look at how quickly he allows jealousy overcome him! He has this huge inferiority complex with Jinta and is so quick to lash out. He needs to get over it. And what was he doing with Anaru?! Yukiatsu, you are clearly still not over your dead childhood friend, so what are you thinking by asking her out? If anything, you’re probably just trying to one-up Jinta in some way. I think Anaru handled it pretty well by not giving in to his advances. I don’t think that Yukiatsu deserves Tsuruko at all.
Finally, Jinta and Menma are so cute and heartbreaking. Sometimes I find myself wishing that she was still alive so that they could just be together and live happily ever after and get married and make babies. It also sort of bothers me how happy-go-lucky and childish that Menma behaves at times because everybody around her is obviously still hurting. I don’t think that it’s her fault necessarily. She’s just rather…oblivious.
A-1 Pictures? It would make my life if you could just add two or three more episodes to this show. Could you please? Is that too much to ask for? Early birthday present?
Preview:
That is one cool hat! I actually have one just like it! xD
About Zabobinator
Doesn't get enough sleep. Dork with a rather eclectic taste in manga and anime. Adores Studio Ghibli films.
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
Two episodes left? The world is over!!!! It’s sad but so true…still, I agree, how are they going to tie everything up in just two more episodes, but for this ep, the level of D’AW is too high, especially when everyone’s sitting at the table when Menma (OMG Finally!) brings out the muffins/thingimajigs for everyone to eat.Yukiatsu’s awlsy been broken but it’s nice to have someone confirm it, nice job Tsuruko ;P Can’t wait to see what’s going to happen at this point, especially from Tsuruko and Poppo, the two most mysterious characters out of them…why do I keep thinking Ysuruko’s about to engage School Days-yandere mode? 🙂
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
*Tsuruko. Now i shall go give myself a facepalm
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
I knooooowwwww~ It makes me so sad! I think I’m going to cry harder at this show being finished than I will at the actual events that transpire. xD
I hope Tsuruko goes all yandere on Yukiatsu’s ass cuz he sure as hell deserves it!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Sad popo Nooooooooooooo! T__T I wondered if Menma recalls her death or say it “happens” again will she move on? or something dramatic will happen…
Anyway love triangle at the very end? ONLY TWO LEFT WHY?! LOL seems kind of pointless to throw that at is this late,unless they are setting up for another season? Should be fun if they do so but they might be dragging it on for to long.
Next week everyone wears awesome clothes and hats.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
Hmmm…I wonder. I don’t think the firework is gonna cut it though…
I feel as though, if they were going to throw in the romance, they should have given it more time to develop. But yes, my fingers are definitely crossed for season two. Even though, I highly doubt it would be as good as season one.
YAY FOR FASHIONABLE ANOHANA!!!
POWUH: Metanorn Regular and Bassun-yo~ with 118 comments
We share a lot of points in our posts so I don’t have much to add in that regard. I’m actually quite confused to the central theme of the show. Is it forgiveness? Moving on? At the moment with two episodes left, I’m not sure if I know what the morale will be since the direction has been pretty well hidden so far. That said, I really hope they can pick one and run with it.
As for the episode count, I wish it was more too. Sadly, noitamina shows only really go for 11 eps. Rarely do they go over. I still have hope for some sort of epilogue OVA though, that shouldn’t be too much to ask.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
Oh man, I just read through your post again and we really do share a lot of points. I totally didn’t realize. I guess, great minds think alike! ^_^
Hmmm, I never gave the main theme of this show much thought but it seems like a…blob of a lot of different mini-themes. But yes, I’m pretty sure that they will just pick one and go with it.
They really don’t ever go over? Boo. Not cool. T_T
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 339 comments
I’ve never been able to share in the grief in my family when someone dies since I hadn’t met most of them until recently, so show’s like AnoHana about dealing with grief are very interesting.
What I also find interesting is the concept of being that close with friends from child hood, and holding grudges from that age of what, 5? Pretty sure when I 5 everyone just played with anyone. At least I only talk to one friend from back them (ironically my first anime friend too :D).
I am very VERY curious to see where this all goes.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
I am definitely with you on that boat. I’ve never had somebody who I’m really close to die so I don’t think I’ll be able to fully understand how these kiddos are feeling like. It is very intriguing…
DUDE! I KNOW! HOW ARE THEY SO SERIOUS?!??! Then again, going back to before, I guess we wouldn’t really understand their feelings…
Man, I agree with you on all points. We’re awesome. xD
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
meh I give yukiatsu support now. after jinta started ignoring anaru and forgetting her confession, im not really on their ship now.
I prefer anaru over menma.
I think yukaitasu and anaru can be a good pair. they’re both heartbroken, friends that know each other, and lost their loved ones to the other loved ones. yukiatsu has shown that while he’s still hung up on menma, he’s willing to try to forget about her, its just not that easy. he did save anaru from that guy hitting on her and teased her to make her temporarily forget about jinta. anaru has also shown to be quite direct at him like calling him a crossdresser, which he was “glad”. they can mend each others hearts.
the main problem would be tsuruko though. like someone said, she’s giving off vibes of a yandere.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
I feel like we’ve switched. In the beginning I liked Yukiatsu and you didn’t…and now it’s the opposite. *high five* I agree with you though, Jinta didn’t treat Anaru that well but I don’t think he meant it. He is really socially awkward…
I do not approve of Anaru and Yukiatsu in the LEAST! Just because they’re heartbroken doesn’t mean that they should just get together and lick each other’s wounds. Plus I don’t trust Yukiatsu’s motives. I mean, I can sort of see what you’re saying but I don’t approve. 😛
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
Well, one has to wonder if Anaru doesn’t pick his interest apart from their similar tragedies. One can argue he asked Tsuruko out (we don’t know, not like a date anyway), but maybe he had her all along and didn’t bother asking her out, to forget Menma.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
bah! im the “romance expert”. im perfectly sure they would work out.
im fairly sure yukiatsu isnt doing it to spite at jinta, especially since he’s gone more engrossed with menma so much that he forgot about anaru’s confession.
POWUH: 600-699 and Romance Expert with 652 comments
also…
*accepts high five*
POWUH: 1100-1199 and Meta's Evil rice-flour Product with 1137 comments
It’s testament to the quality of the anime that the one failing we can find with ano hana is that it’s TOO DAMN SHORT WE NEED MOAR!
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 323 comments
Agreed. 100%
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 79 comments
Yukiatsu really is an odd duck, but he’s certainly been a complex character so I’m not sure if his intentions are particularly good or bad here. I kind of get the feeling that hearing Jinta talk to Menma in front of him is salt being rubbed in his wounds, even though he probably doesn’t mean the kinds of insults that Yukiatsu sees in all of this. As for his conersation with Naruko… honestly he’s kind of a creeper, and the fact that he’s jumped between asking out her and Tsuruko doesn’t speak well to his intentions, but he’s not a bad guy and I’m willing to see where this goes before I judge him too much.
Agreed about Poppo and Tsuruko, they haven’t been ignored but I would have liked to see the show get into their heads a bit more. I’ll definitely be a bit disappointed if the show doesn’t do more with them in the next couple of episodes, since there’s a lot of potential for both of them.
As for the runtime, I’m not really sure. I kind of like the 11 episode limit since it really put the writers on the clock to address most of the plot and characterization without much filler, but there are definitely points that could have been touched on better. I wouldn’t want the show to run another cour, but a couple more episodes could help flesh out some of the things we’re a bit dissatisfied with, and I would like to see that.
POWUH: 400-499 with 406 comments
THIS EPISODE WAS SO AMAZING. I was dying throughout the whole thing.
The scene with Yukiatsu and Anaru was so cute!
POOR TSURUKO UGHHH This anime is killing meeeee (in a good way.)
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 83 comments
Poppo and Tsuruko’s resolve cracked a bit in this episode. Poppo can’t always be that jolly ole fellow all the time and Tsuruko is meeting some drama. All of the characters are meeting love issues, urgh, just let them have a happy ending already! But that wouldn’t make for a logical ending to this show. (BUT THEN AGAIN, GHOSTS IN GENERAL ARE IRRATIONAL)
Great thoughts and commentary! I pretty much don’t have anything else to say either ^^
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
they are going to make a movie this summer (2013.)
i am soooo looking foward to it !! 😀