AnoHana Ep09

This is late only because gg was so slow in releasing their version. Earlier today, though, I really wondered why I was waiting for a specific group; there's very little chance that I'll be archiving this anime, so it doesn't even matter which group(s) I have. With that in mind, I'll pick the first one that comes out next week.

This is really the best character so far.

I'll be honest about it: I didn't like this episode so much. I'm really trying, but I can't sympathize with the overall angst of all the friends. I won't say something like, "They just bottle it in and don't talk about it," because that's wrong; they've been voicing it so far (Yukiatsu several times showed off his obsessive side, Anaru confessed her feelings just a little while ago, and so on). I just don't think I like this anime too much. This episode was the aftermath of the friends finding out that Menma really existed, and deciding to gather to fulfill her perceived dream of fireworks.

I need to use that line.

Doing what I had desired to have done about at least 8 episodes ago, Menma cooked for the friends so that they could see the various items floating around. I can accept their acceptance of the note in the diary a little better now; at least they didn't just take that and believe Crazy Jinta right away. It's pretty hard to say that Menma isn't around when supernatural things (like the lights flickering; what was that all about, anyway?) are happening. Of course, one might say that it's just a ghost and not necessarily Menma, but that's out of the scope for this anime. People trust in each other (at times).

I know. Why?

The solidification of Non-Crazy Jinta and Real Menma caused Tsuruko to return to her usual personality, although she (typically) was a little bit creeped out by the ghostly aspect of it. This much I can understand; that's not really OOC. The revelation also allowed Yukiatsu to wallow in the pits of his emo some more; he resented the fact that Menma, despite being right there, was unreachable. The question of why Menma didn't introduce herself right away was posed, and the answer was that they (she and Jinta) are airheads. I have a hard time swallowing that as the complete explanation, but fine. Judging by the way that Anaru was still hung up on whether or not Menma had forgiven them makes me wonder what they did to her. Was it just the fact that they moved on after her death? separated as friends? pushed her into the river? I don't know. (Tsuruko posed that Evil Menma might be purposely not showing herself, though I think that's out of that ghostly girl's league.)

That can really mean something different in a different genre...

The plus side to the rest of the friends believing in Menma's ghost was that Jinta no longer had to work hard all by himself to finish the fireworks. Yukiatsu, taking the leadership role that he craved, told Anaru and Poppo to save the money from their part-time jobs (to add to Jinta's sum), and then he headed to Menma's father. Tsuruko tagged along - it was a little shameful to see that she seemed to do nothing in terms of helping other than providing moral support to Yukiatsu, who didn't seem like he even needed it. Either way, Yukiatsu managed to convince Menma's father to override Menma's yandere mother (who turned out to be the one to put the kibosh on their plans, not the father as had been implied) and let them get assistance for the fireworks. There were some man tears in the scene, but I expected that of Yukiatsu.

Tsuruko is such a side character...

The successive two scenes served as emo-building sessions for Yukiatsu and Anaru. The former went crazy (as Tsuruko said, "Yukiatsu has snapped,") with jealousy and insecurity since he could only talk to Menma through Jinta. At least he was very transparent with his feelings; he asked if Menma had become hot upon finding out that it was a grown-up version - of course, it only served to bring Menma and Jinta ever closer. The scene at the temple with the friends (and the man helping out) building the various (non-combustible) components of the fireworks was a little strange; the group talked about Menma freely and she roamed around unabashed. I guess now that the friends know, it's okay for Ghost Menma to show her ghostliness in public? That, or the dense man didn't notice or hear anything (he knows Menma's family, so he must have thought it odd if he heard them talk about Menma in the present tense).

What large tears and slow reactions.

As much as I dislike it, Yukiatsu and Anaru are being pushed together a lot. The initial triangles had been Menma-Yukiatsu-Tsuruko and Menma-Jinta-Anaru, but now it seems to have turned into Menma-Jinta and Anaru-Yukiatsu-Tsuruko (with traces of Menma). It's confusing. Anaru feels like a weak character, having such a huge breakdown after she thought about how she could see Menma through Jinta's eyes. It happened just a little while after she decided to not give up on Jinta; why wasn't she better prepared to face his feelings for Menma? I felt bad for Tsuruko when Yukiatsu proposed a relationship to Anaru again; it's pretty clear that she had always thought she was "safe" in her role in Yukiatsu's life because of their extensive history together. However, seeing Yukiatsu getting along with Anaru, given that they have the same time together, must be disconcerting. Of course she'll wonder if her passive actions up until now have been acceptable.

A tiny branch swung him out with such force.

The remainder of the episode was focused on Jinta's angst at the thought of Menma disappearing, which culminated in him holding her and whispering, "Stay here forever," only to recant seconds later and heading into the water to catch a fish. (There's some kind of foreshadowing that Menma died after wading out into the stream/river to get something, but I could be wrong. I didn't really care by this point in the episode.) Poppo also jumped into the emotional fray by almost asking Ghost Menma about something that probably happened "back then" or "on that day"; it was pretty cryptic. The detail about Menma being unable to use a pen while at Jinta's house but able to do it while at the shack was slightly interesting; I wonder if it's the idea of the shack being where the friends were "most together" so her powers get a boost, or something like that. (That counters the "Menma is powered by attachment to Jinta" idea, a little.)

The secret sides of Tsuruko...!

Overall, I can't wait for this anime to be over. I'm more interested in answers than the build-up at this point; I can no longer sympathize with many of the characters. The climax is yet to come, but I've disliked the progression up until now so much that I wonder if it'll be an invigorating scene or not. I still think that Menma's wish has something to do directly with Jinta (and potentially his mother), and I really hope that Tsuruko is some kind of happy by the end (which indirectly insinuates that Yukiatsu and Anaru shouldn't get together). Poppo is fine just the way he is.