What an episode! The more things start coming together, the more everyone starts falling apart. Everything is ready for Menma’s sendoff. The group’s main, tangible goal is within each but the thought of it finally being over is becoming too much for Jinta. And the need to talk about and come to terms with what happened years ago is pulling the others in stressful and even angry directions.
I’ve heard some like RabbitPoets and TheTangles say that this episode could be in their top ten episodes of anime ever. While I wouldn’t go that far myself, I’d probably include it in the top ten episodes that I’ve seen in the last one or two years. The timing was perfect, the dialogue was excellent, visual direction was straightforward but very communicative, and the music was used to great effect. There wasn’t any moment in the episode that wasn’t meaningful and packed with emotion. It’s a wonderful thing to see such forethought in putting an episode together and efficiency in executing it. This was such a dense episode, writing so much material and feeling into twenty three minutes so well is quite an accomplishment.
On to the episode itself, where things start with Jinta delivering a letter to Menma’s family’s house informing them about the launch of the firework rocket. Later in the day Menma’s mother is angry and upset about the group going through with it but Satoshi interrupts her and says that he will be going. And he implies, without any bitterness, that she’s missed part of his life because she’s been so wrapped up in her grief, and that Satoshi himself has grown up to be able to face this. She’s just more upset but her husband uses the opportunity to reach out to her and asks her to, if she still needs to grieve, that she do it together with him and their son. Elsewhere, Tsuruko fends off more Yukiatsu admirers but has become quite bitter about him and lets slip his crossdressing to them. For the first time Yukiatsu seems to be hurt by something she’s said but when he tries to catch her she cries and runs away from him. He had earlier called Naruko about meeting to discuss something earlier, a favor he has to ask of her, and Tsuruko apparently followed them and can see them together. This love triangle issue from the last episode lies behind her actions, and when she calls Yukiatsu she calls him a weakling for wanting to be around Naruko who is as hurt as he is by unrequited love. And this is just the beginning of things.
Showing off her Yukiatsu trivia to the fangirls.
And dropping the crossdressing bomb on her way out.
Meanwhile Menma does her best Nessa impression while she, Poppo, and Jinta prepare decorations for her sendoff party.
Always so angry lately.
While her child is the only one in the family to really try and move things forward.
He seems kind of happy about her misery, though whether it’s about having company while he’s miserable himself or if this was his way of making sure his plan for later would work is not completely certain.
This was cool. Now that they’re opening up more to each other Yukiatsu joins her in her trademark reflection shots like a thin reflection of himself, or the transparent ghost of himself that can’t move past Menma’s death.
The sendoff party that night turned out to be a very heavy scene. Far from having a jubilant party atmosphere, the atmosphere becomes tense and heavy with memories when Yukiatsu asks Naruko for the favor he talked about earlier. He suggests that they reenact that day from years ago. It will probably help them move forward, but it’s the kind of borderline dick move that only Yukiatsu would pull off. He still seems stuck between wanting to keep putting Jinta in agony and actually trying to move on throughout this episode. Everyone standing roughly where they were ten years ago, Naruko asks the question again: “Jinta, you like Menma, don’t you?” The others are shocked, aghast even, at this repeat of events. Jinta first tries to dodge the question, then gets pulled back by his memories of what happened last time and Yukiatsu’s urging. Then Poppo keeps quietly saying, almost chanting, “say it, say it” over and over again. Jinta actually does manage to confess his feelings for Menma in front of everyone but then tries running away, only to have Poppo intervene again and remind him that things won’t change if he just runs away again. The walk home for four of the characters is equally eventful as Naruko cries to Tsuruko and talks about her unrequited love, which finally gets Tsuruko to snap back at her and admit her love for Yukiatsu. She’s jealous of Naruko and angry because she sees Naruko as Menma’s replacement, but perhaps she will believe Naruko’s words that she’d never go out with Yukiatsu, that she loves Jinta. Menma and Jinta walk home themselves and Menma asks if Jinta really meant what he said. He repeats that he did but asks if she understands that he likes her more than as a friend, which she does in a somewhat childlike way. And then he cracks. He says that she can stay like this with him instead of leaving this world and being reincarnated. But she confidently says that she will leave so that she can be reborn.
Yukiatsu: somewhere between troll and desperate.
Tsuruko most of all seems alarmed by this.
Poppo was kind of scary almost with this. We’ve gotten a few more hints about his past with the group, that he was an outcast that they brought in, that he still felt like a bit of an outsider, but he never lets himself open up very much after hinting at things.
Poor Tsuruko. Menma tears the group apart as much as she brings it together.
DDDDDAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW.
He’s done it now.
Dear Madoka, he talks to it! Yukiatsu, retaining his super-creep status.
The next day is launch day. The group gathers on a hillside to help prepare the rocket for launch. This scene was another one of those THIS SCENE moments. Tsuruko shows up a little late, with her hair cut to how it was when she was little. Then Satoshi arrives to help as well. Menma runs to hug him and he can feel her presence in some way. Then some very weighty, sad, but not overdone, music begins and lasts through the scene. The music was an important factor in what gave the scene its impact, the piano notes carrying most of it in a way that was downbeat but still held tension. The rocket is prepared and all Jinta can think about is that he can still stop things. As they carry the rocket uphill each character has a moment for their thoughts but Jinta’s remain the same. Carrying the rocket together reminded me of a funeral procession, like they were carrying a casket together. I’m sure this was intentional as they were trying to send Menma off, to finally allow her to pass on and to come to terms with it themselves. They couldn’t face it ten years ago but now they have their own ceremony in a way. The rocket is set and everyone looks on and upwards…except Jinta. Poppo is getting teary eyed, Satoshi appears sullen, but Jinta looks down at the ground still thinking about stopping things. But the fuze is lit and before he can yell “stop” the rocket lifts off and detonates as planned. And just then Menma yells out excitedly about the display…she’s still there.
I loved how everyone had a line while carrying the rocket. Yukiatsu’s was especially determined. He alternates so much that it’s hard to say whether he’s determined to prevent Jinta from stopping things because he thinks it’s the best thing to do, or if he’s doing a good thing for the wrong reason as a form of petty competition with Jinta.
The shots in this scene were great, the best in the series so far.
This one especially so, for Jinta’s place in it.
Not much to say, just great reaction shots.
It was supposed to be the end…
Poppo getting teary eyed just makes me wonder more about him and his place in the group.
Yukiatsu has had a much more reflective look in his eyes when he hasn’t been wearing his troll face. Here and especially at the end.
While Jinta is looking panicked more than anything.
Yukiatsu looks like he’s about to collapse at this. It’s that more sincere look again and he seems like he’s gone weak in the knees at hearing that Menma is still there.
Final Thoughts: - There were a lot of things that needed to happen this episode in order to have enough time to wrap things up in the next one, and luckily the director, writers, and staff managed to make it work. And threw in another surprise at the end with Menma sticking around. Though I have my theory as to that.
- I’m thinking that it’s not actually Menma’s wish that needs to be granted, per se. It’s Jinta’s mother’s wish, as Menma attempted to carry it out before she died. The flashback to the hospital showed where Menma got her ideas about reincarnation, and Tsuruko’s phone call to Yukiatsu when he was with Naruko mentioned that Menma called the group together to do something for Jinta. So now it just remains for Menma or someone else to remember what Jinta’s mom’s wish was.
- I still think that I feel the most sympathetic to Yukiatsu lately. As RabbitPoets said in the post of his that I linked to, how is Yukiatsu supposed to move on when the past won’t leave him alone? He still has his petty moments and can be mean, but it seems more like it’s coming out of a desperate confusion about how to move on. The last part of the episode where he seemed so scared or in shock about Menma remaining with them was probably my favorite moment of the episode.
- Poppo is like some sort of priest for the group or something. He’s mentioned learning shamanic rites and other things, but he seems the most spiritual about all of this and the most serious about the spiritual aspect of putting Menma to rest. I like the role that he has in the group in this way, I just wish he’d open up a bit and give us some background on his past with them.
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I liked everything but the confession. I just really can’t. I was hoping he didn’t “love her love her” or at least that she didn’t love him back. I almost wanted to rage quit at that moment. It just irks me.
This whole group of friends (are they really even friends???) just comes off as Looney Tunes to me. I was actually enjoying everyone’s progress but then this episode made it seem like it was all for naught when it came right down to it. Tsuruko is still stuck on Yukiatsu and is kind of snarky to everyone but Jinta. Jinta has just fallen off way too far for me to really even care about what happens to him anymore. Yukiatsu is still sniffing stuff. Anaru is still in love with Jinta for whatever reason as I can’t see many redeemable qualities in him, anymore. I’m off that ship. Unless something spectacular happens in the next episode, I can’t support her getting with a guy who seems to care about little else but marrying a ghost. It would make my day if they allow her to move on from Jinta.
I’m hoping that whatever the wish is, it’s something that will bond the group together. They don’t seem like friends to me, yet. I was happy earlier in the series when Jinta, Anaru, and Poppo had a nice, friendly vibe going, but now it’s just painful to watch. At this point, I’m not even so much concerned about the wish, I just want this group of friends to regain some normalcy and actually become friends.
Also, one of my favorite scenes this episode was Sa-kun confronting his mother. This episode was actually really good even though I hate the confession.
I’m speculating that Menma will be reincarnated as a flower after she finally passes. I also speculate she can’t move on until she fulfill’s Jinmama’s wish and/or Jinta finally let’s her pass on. I’ve heard of people not passing on until their family has allowed them to. On her deathbed, my great grandmother didn’t pass until the evening after her children let her know that they’d be alright without her.
I also think Jinta might think to kill himself to be with Menma since he seems like he’s just that selfish.
Also, Menma has already started to disappear. Follow the link for the screenshots.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=3655748#post3655748
So much hate
How could you not think that Jinta was in love with Menma all this time? But I do agree with you on wanting the group of friends to actually be friends. Whatever the wish is, it’s meaningless otherwise.
I had wondered about Menma’s hand when she looked at it this episode, though I wasn’t thinking about fading, I was wondering if it linked at all to the apples and knife at Jinta’s mother’s bedside. Those comparison images could point to something though.
Well, I was hoping they’d do something different. You can be extremely close to someone without being in love, so I guess I was hoping he was just really close to her or obsessed with her because of his guilt. It could be also that it’s hard for me to count Menma in as a love interest since she speaks and acts so young. She comes off more like is dead little cousin than his dead love interest. Him liking her irks me so much. I’ll happily sip the haterade on this one.
Though I still didn’t like that move to make Menma real in episode 8, this seems to still be an equally dramatic ending.
Episode 11 will be one of those episodes that we just can’t predict what will happen. A lot of expectations are weighing on next week, which will definitely determine whether AnoHana is going to be an amazing show or just a good one.
This episode just opened things up instead of narrowing down how things would end, so next week will be interesting indeed. Though with how the show has gone so far I think the writers and director can pull it off. Though only having one episode is cutting things pretty close.
The next episode has to be about the flower. You know, the flower they saw that day which they still don’t know the name of? The one covering the ending sequence? The one the show is named after?
C’mon, I’ve been waiting for the flower reference since ep 5 or so. Don’t fail me now! XD
Hm….I must’ve missed the awesomeness when I watched the episode. I just thought it was good because it was Ano Hana; I didn’t see how this episode stood out from the earlier ones. Then again, I watched the episode at 4 in the morning XD
Haha, I wonder about that too. They have cut to shots of the flowers that Menma collected and put in the empty soda bottle, and Poppo in the present doing the same. As well as that yellow flower that the scene cut too at the rocket launch. And Jinta’s mom talking about possibly being reborn as one. But any direct relation between the title and the plot remains vague at best.
I like Yukiatsu, the most honest one of the bunch. He admits he’s weird and may do some off-hand things, but at least he’s being real about everything. Not like Jinta, who seems to love parading the fact that he can see Menma in front of his friends – I just hate a main character who has no direction.
I’m not sure that Jinta enjoys showing off that he can see Menma, though that’s probably something that Yukiatsu thinks of him. But Jinta definitely has gone wishy-washy about things and doesn’t seem to know where he wants to go, only that he doesn’t want to go forward.
This is actually close to a common technique in Jdrama: the second to the last episode gives the show its strongest buildup, only to meet an epic twist at the end
True, but in most jdrama it’s not done nearly as well as here. I think that the problem I have with a lot of jdrama is that the twists can be pretty transparent. Well sure the love interest says she’s leaving during the next to last episode, but you always know that she’ll just come back and have a tearful reunion with the guy. Here things are a lot more uncertain, and it makes for a much better show.
I liked this episode so much because of exactly what you shared – there was so much to be said and it was neatly and tightly knitted together within 22 minutes. Not only that, but more was told than I expected, and it was done well (and in an emotional manner).
During the middle episodes of Ano Hana, I found myself often disappointed at what I thought was lazy storytelling. What this episode and the couple immediately preceding it have shown me is that there was rhyme and reason for elements I thought were lacking earlier on, and that in time, the animators would get around (I think) to telling a complete story (btw, I’ve been thinking along the lines of your “Jintan’s mother prediction” for where the series is headed).
I can’t wait to see how this all ends.
Earlier in the series there was an episode or two where I wasn’t quite sure if it was the best use of time. But things have all worked out for the best, the events have just kind of built up and then accelerated quickly after the elements are in place. It has followed a build-run pattern in some pairs of episodes. Though I imagine that the final episode will just keep moving at full speed like this one has since this was hardly a building episode, more of a resolution episode that was interrupted by a new reveal.
At this moment i would even consider a final where Menma is still alive in coma and held captive by Poppo O_O.
Yes next episode is anyone’s guess, but i do believe that the group will not remain together. Even if they can move on pass their own issues about Menma’s death and reappearance, there is some much that has happened between them that i doubt that they restart their friendship and become a united group again. As much i would say that they would reunite a few years after to remember Menma, but at the end they would continue their own separate ways.
That’s definitely a possibility. The good ending to this might just have all of them come to terms with what happened, hug, and then mostly go their separate ways. I’m pretty sure Jinta, Naruko, and Poppo would still be friends, or at least Jinta and Poppo barring any major reveal involving Poppo. (Though we’ve gotten so little information on Poppo that I’m very much expecting something big involving him next episode.) Yukiatsu and Tsuruko might be able to stick together after this sort of ending too. Though I have to say that I really would like all of them to become friends again.
well here here for yaoi shipping jintaXYukiatsu(in drag)… that way jinta can marry menma and Yukiatsu can have someone help him indulge in his fantasy.
This is the only ship I can support at this point in the story
welcome aboard Merq
Lol, I’m sure it’s been done and is all over Pixiv.
Lol, EO you know you wanna join this ship.
Well, in my opinion this series just went from a really solid 8 to 7.5.
The whole group,as character development, just made a step backwards ;the only ones that I still like as much as I did is Poppo and Yukiatsu.Even my top favorites, Anaru and Tsuruko fell from their pedestals .
Everything ‘s getting rushed and it’s mounting to a huge climax that , more than surely will be unsatisfying and will bring a crappy or predictable end (like separating , it’s the easiest thing to do ,right?).I can’t see how the last episode will make me say : yup, this was worth watching!
I would love it if they made at to end like Honey and Clover or Paradise Kiss, but these are one of the best slice of life(s).
So I’m frustrated now, I was having high expectations from the last 3 episodes and it’s only one left and I don’t like the plot ,this far.It was kind of predictable;everybody asking :”It’s this what you want , are sure you want Menma to disappear?” And than Jinta losing it and Menma remaining.There was no way the fireworks would have made the trick , that much anybody can understand from the plot.
Maybe I’m too old for this >.<
I'm very curious what all things have to do with Jinta's mother, Popo and that 'mysterious' flower.
I’m not sure if I get the thoughts of this being one of the best episodes in anime ever. I mean the ending was predictable since I certainly didn’t think the fireworks were going to do more than explode with everyone realizing Menma wasn’t gone. Maybe the only surprise being that the fireworks were pretty weak visually
.
The development for Jintan has been kind of a painful one. It was clear he’d have to accept the feelings he had for Menma before he could move forward. It still hurts though to see him going to the extreme of wanting her to stay by him as a kind of ghost bride. Not much time left for him to just let her go and move on.
Seems like everyone is suffering in this. Yukiatsu is struggling and well talking to a wig….Tsuruko is dealing with the possibility that her feelings really never will be accepted. The moment that Yukiatsu looked outside Menma for a girl he picked Anaru. Certainly makes sense since she is suffering from unrequited love, is easier to control, and doesn’t have the painful insights that Tsuruko can unleash. Anaru is dealing with never being able to compete with Menma for Jintan’s affections when she was alive and even know that she’s a ghost. Poppo is the most interesting in some ways. A guy who felt like an outsider and who’s connection with Menma’s death (if he has one) hasn’t been explored yet. Menma of course is a ghost, can’t seem to find the way to move on, though that seems connected with Jintan’s mother.
Do wonder about the future of this group. Seems incredibly easy for them to split apart again since the bonds currently supporting them seem rather weak. Depending on how Menma goes things might truly end for them all. A good leader can keep a group together, but I’m not sure Jintan will ever come close to recovering the qualities that brought this group together. Certainly some parts of him haven’t been lost, but really has lost a lot over time.
I was busy but if I had more time I couldn’t put it in words better than you did.Great job (analysis), if I ‘ m allowed to say it like this
I can’t describe how much I’m anticipating the final episode, I’m literally sitting here right now listening to the extended opening song, reading other people’s speculations, and checking every other minute to see if it’s been subbed yet.
With the amount of symbolism that the anime has already shown (even just episode 10 alone), I think it’s safe to assume that the flower in the title is merely symbolic. My best guess is that the title refers to the JInta’s mom (she did say that she wanted to get reincarnated as a flower), I suppose it’s about remembering the wish of the flower that Menma saw that day.
This episode for me was absolutely astounding. It’s been the first time in a while that I’ve re-watched an episode of any series immediately after watching it for the first time. I loved every second of it. I suppose I’m not crazy about Tsuruko’s new haircut, but I’m certainly glad she’s moving on. The scene where everybody looked towards the sky and Jinta looked at the ground, I thought that was pretty powerful. Probably the highlight of the episode for me.
I really do wonder how they’re going to wrap this story up though. I really think they’ll struggle to do so in a single episode. I think the anime could have really done with being a 13 episode series. Although, I have no doubts that the last episode will amaze me (whether that’s just me being biased as an AnoHana obsessed freak-I don’t know).
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[...] that speculated that Menma’s wish actually had to do with Jin-tan’s mom’s wish were right on the [...]