Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai Discussion Thread

[Senku]

Re: Episode 11 (END)

Haven't seen a straight drama show in a while, and this show fired on all cylinders perfectly! Definite buy if licensed.

[Momoka Kibi]

Re: Episode 11 (END)

It was nice to see everyone open up. As well all of them getting to see Menma before it was too later.

Also, lots of crying. Of course I'm above crying. *Destroys video evidence* Yeah, definitely above it.

A series like this needs an ending that's fitting and powerful, otherwise it makes all the stuff that came before it worthless.

Thankfully for this series, it succeed in having the type of ending that the series needed.

[Draneor]

Re: Episode 11 (END)

Bought and marathoned the NISA set. Overall, I thought it was an excellent series. I cried quite a bit, particularly in episodes 8, 10, & 11. ranted, I'm always a sucker for bittersweet, touching stories about friendship The overall themes and feel of the series reminded me of Key. G. As far as original anime go, AnoHana is my second favorite, after Stellvia and just ahead of Angel Beats. While I generally like romance, I'm glad that, while there was tension throughout the series, none of it was resolved.

My favorite character was Anjo. I emphasized with how there was a disconnect between who she really was and how who she was around molded her into someone she wasn't entirely happy with. I think, to a certain extent, this happens with all of us. Whether it was Menma or her crappy friends. While I wish she would have ditched them, I do think the epilogue indicated that she was now much more comfortable asserting her true self, even if it conflicted with those around her.

Menma was my second favorite character. Adorable and utterly selfless to the end. I cried quite a bit at the parting scene. I can see how losing someone like that could have had such an impact. The show said multiple times that Jintan was the leader, but I think it demonstrated that Menma, was in fact, the core of Super Peace Busters everyone gathered around.

Poppo was my third favorite character. I thought he was a pretty lovable, carefree guy. I'd love to be friends with him.

Tsuruko was the most normal of the five. I liked how she was the only one who came to terms with the past and that her desires never could be prior to Menma leaving.

Jintan... was extremely frustrating at times. I'll cut him a lot of slack, since losing your mother and friend would hit anyone hard (plus, being a hikikomori). I liked how, over the course of the series, he slowly started to come out of his shell and even started working. On the other hand, he had a tendency to do stupid stuff (class room scene/the koi scene with Menma/walking out on Anjo's confession) and wavered quite a bit, even after a decision was made. He was a very complicated character so, like I said, i cut him a lot of slack. He's t-shirts were cool, I have to admit.

Yukiatsu--I thought he was an unlikable asshole to the end. I understand the show tried to redeem him somewhat by saving Anjo and some other stuff. But his assholeness kept coming back so my opinion of him never changed. Also, his utter cluelessness about Tsuruko's feelings bothered me (and the switch to Anjo... grrr).

Jintan's dad was just awesome. I liked how he was comfortable with being different (both in his dress and his parenting). He had a pretty difficult situation with Jintan, and I think his handsoff approach was probably the best way to handle it at the time. Certainly, sometimes a kid need a good kick in the butt, but I don't think Jintan needed that.

Regarding the cross dressing, I can see why it was an issue. Crossing dressing in anime is usually used as empowerment, a joke, or for fanservice--none of which I have an issue with (and rather like the first and last one). In this case, however, it was used to denote mental illness. I'm not sure that's a message I'm comfortable with. Had Yukiatsu been a character who came to terms with a real desire that he was a girl--I think I would have been far more comfortable with it. Perhaps it could have been addressed had the show been longer.

The only other criticism of the show is I wish it was longer. Certainly, the epilogue demonstrated that every character grew from the experience and was no longer stuck as they were when Menma died. I just wished we had one or two episodes of that.