Ano Hi Mita no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai – 11 [END]

One word: Tears.

Good lord. It’s over. I…I don’t even know what to say. I had to brace myself for this episode because I had a feeling that I would be sobbing at the end. Of course, I did just that. Not only so, but also I forgot to arm myself with tissues so I ended up wiping all my snot and tears on my new, just-bought-the-day-before shirt. It was so worth it though. I REGRET NOTHING!!!! Man, I’ve enjoyed AnoHana so much and, as I have said numerous times before, it is my favorite anime of this season and, possibly, the entire year. Naturally, I’m quite upset that it’s over, but I was pleased with the ending so, in the end, it’s all good. Also, I would like to point out that if I seem rather calm about all this, it’s only because I’ve had a day or so to get over it. I was a lot more…ah…grieved when I first saw the final episode BUT IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! Read on my darlings!

After the firework-fail, the whole gang is rather somber as Saa thanks them all for what they’ve done for his sister. The moment was made lighter as Menma was touched that her parents had come to see the firework go off as well.  Later on, Menma notes that the firework wasn’t her wish after all and jokes about how she had gotten attached to a show on TV anyways. After she has fallen asleep, Jinta receives a phone call from Yukiatsu asking that he meet up with everybody else.

Jinta arrives at the shrine to find the others questioning why the firework didn’t work. Anaru admits that she didn’t care about Menma’s wish. All she wanted was for Menma to go to heaven so that she wouldn’t have to see Jinta only think about Menma. Yukiatsu then reveals what we all knew already: he was jealous of Menma being Yadomi’s and wanted her to go to heaven so that it would be easier on him. Tsuruko calls him horrible to which Anaru snaps back that she is no better than them. She accuses Tsuruko of being jealous of Menma and wanting her to go to heaven because of Yukiatsu. It turns out however that Tsuruko was never jealous of Menma…she was jealous of Anaru.

Yukiatsu and Anaru had plotted together to test Menma’s feelings for Jinta. Tsuruko was jealous of the bond that Yukiatsu and Anaru shared and decided to tattle on them to Menma. In the end, Tsuruko knew that she would never be able to measure up to Menma and was just upset that she wasn’t the one by Yukiatsu’s side. She wanted Menma to go to heaven so that Anaru could have Jinta such that she would then be able to be the one with Yukiatsu. She was just as terrible as the others. Yukiatsu then states that, with all their feelings, it was impossible for Menma to go to heaven.

At this, Poppo says that their feelings don’t matter – all that matters is trying to make sure Menma goes to heaven. He believes that, if Menma doesn’t go to heaven, she will never forgive him. On that day, he actually saw Menma die. He tried to run away from it, to forget about it, but he couldn’t get away. Sobbing, Poppo falls on his knees and begs for Jinta to make sure Menma goes to heaven. It may be selfish of him, but otherwise, he will never be able to get over the image of Menma slowly drifting away from him. Jinta realizes that everybody wanted Menma to go to heaven for their own reasons. They weren’t taking her wish seriously.

Anaru decides that she will apologize to Menma. However, Jinta interrupts her by informing her that her fake eyelashes have come loose. Everybody begins laughing at her expense and they all realize that they’ve gone back to using their nicknames for each other. Jinta then confesses that he was actually secretly happy that he was the only one that could see Menma. She didn’t feel the same way though. Menma wanted to be able to speak with everybody and as such wanted to go to heaven so that she could be reincarnated again. They all decide that they should all talk to Menma try to fulfill herwish again because, after all, there were six members of the Super Peace Busters…not five. Jinta runs off to bring Menma to the secret base but arrives home to find that her wish had already been granted.

Menma had made a promise with Jinta’s mom. His mom was fine about passing on but she was worried about one thing; ever since she had fallen ill, Jinta seemed to be holding all his feelings back and forcing himself to be strong. She wanted Jinta to be able to laugh and get angry and cry. Menma then promised her that she would make Jinta cry no matter what. She didn’t know how to do it, so she called the rest of the gang together that day to ask for advice. Jinta begins to cry as he hears this and Menma notes that she’d always liked it better when he smiled. She starts to say goodbye but Jinta stops her. He tells her that all this time he had wanted to see her, to apologize, to tell her that he loved her but he wasn’t the only one – everybody else had felt the same way. With this, Jinta piggybacks her and runs back to the secret fort.

Once he arrives, Jinta realizes that he can no longer see Menma. She tells him that she’s playing hide and seek and they all rush outside to find her. They cannot find her and assume the worst when Anaru notices that there are pages from the diary under a tree. Menma has written something to all of them and is happy as she feels as though she has given a proper goodbye this time. Still, Jinta protests to this sort of goodbye. They were playing hide and seek weren’t they? The game cannot end until they find her! They all ask if she’s ready yet, chanting it over and over again, until she finally shouts out that she’s ready. And finally, every single one of them can hear her…and see her.

Finally, with her wish granted and all goodbyes said, it’s time to end the game of hide and seek. And thus, Menma passes on to heaven with a smile on her face. Time passes, the Super Peace Busters grow up together and, though they can’t remember the name of the flower that bloomed during that season, they’ll always keep granting its wish forever…

“We found you Menma!!!”

“You found me…”

End Thoughts:

I just wanted to start off by saying that the flower that bloomed during that season, the one that they couldn’t remember the name of, was a forget-me-not. At the end of the episode, they showed that flower at the tree where Menma finally passed on which suggests that she was possibly reincarnated as one. Also, seeing as they’ll always be fulfilling the wish of that flower, they won’t forget Menma. That’s really sweet. Awww…perfect ending! Show ▼

Just as expected, Menma’s wish had to do with Jinta’s mom. I found it to be a lot simpler that I had anticipated and yet, quite fitting. Jinta definitely had a rough childhood and he had to hold back a lot of his feelings. It took a while for him to reach the point where he was able to let it all out and finally be honest with how he felt. Though Menma may not have understood the magnitude of what her promise entailed as a child, what it came to represent was Jinta’s growth emotionally. In the process of granting the wish, the Super Peace Busters came together again, so she kind of hit two birds with one stone there. Good job Menma! xD

So, I found that whole confession session to be slightly forced and more-than-slightly annoying. First off, it was just one massive, hormonal, butthurt cryfest. I was rather aghast at how Yukiatsu, Anaru and Tsuruko were still so hung up over childhood crushes. I understand that it must have been difficult for them, especially considering how the center of the love quadrangle (or whatever it is) died, but I still found it very hard to sympathize with them. I mean, come on! You can’t have possibly been in love with these people. You were CHILDREN. I refuse to believe that sort of crazy, dramatic, romantic desire exists within children. No way. Sorry. Not only so, but also, the whole eyelash part where they just started laughing out of no where was pretty forced. I understand that the entire scene was meant to be a catharsis of sorts for the characters; they were all fully being honest with how they felt and letting it all out. Quite honestly though, the way they all just decided on the spot to try and fulfill Menma’s wish again was unrealistic to me. I couldn’t find it in myself to believe that they were genuinely trying to fulfill it. I think that the main problem with the scene was that it should have been an event that spanned a bit more time. But, given that they had one episode to finish it all off, I think they did an alright job. What slightly fixed the scene for me was the fact that Menma was disappearing a lot more quickly than they had anticipated. Thus, they were all sort of forced to get over it.

Of all the characters, the one I felt the most sympathy for was Poppo. Hell, this kid saw one of his childhood friends die. No wonder he wanted Menma to go to heaven so badly. I don’t think that he should have blamed himself for it, but his reasoning for Menma going to heaven was the most justified in my opinion. Prior frustrations aside, I’m glad they left Poppo’s grand reveal for last because his trauma was the greatest and it definitely added to dramatic effect. Not only so, but his past gave a whole new meaning to what he had said in the previous episode about only being able to watch.

The final hide and seek game was really beautiful. That whole stretch from when Menma’s wish was revealed to when she finally passed away had me SOBBING. I was crying so hard. I’ve watched this episode several times and I cried every single time. There is a fine line between sweet and sappy, and this part was borderline, but it was SO GOOD. I love how she wrote them all individualized messages and admitted to wanting to stay with them more. Of course, this part was ruined for me the first time I watched because my sister came in, took one look at the screen and busted out laughing while I proceeded to rage at her, but the beauty of the scene was clearly not lost on me. xD It really was a gorgeous ending though. What better way to send off a childhood friend than with a game of hide and seek? They were all able to express how much they loved her, they were all crying and that was realistic to me.

You’ve gotta admit, they tied up all loose ends quite nicely with this episode. First, and most importantly, Menma’s wish was revealed and fulfilled and she passed on happily. All the Super Peace Busters divulged and supposedly got over their grievances to become true friends again. There was even a sense of closure with Menma’s family, along with glimpses into what kind of future the Super Peace Busters would have (I’m not the only one who though Poppo studying was ADORABLE right? xD).

All in all, I absolutely adored this show. It has earned a spot in my top ten shows EVER (thus far) and for good reason. The plot was super sweet and emotional. Also, the animation throughout AnoHana was absolutely beautiful and the seiyuus of course did a brilliant job. Even the background music was gorgeous; at times, it was the music that finally caused my tears to spill forth. *sniffles* Back when I first heard of this show and saw the preview, I immediately knew that it was going to be my favorite show of the season and that it was going to be pretty amazing. I’ll miss the Super Peace Busters. ^_^