Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai – 05

Episode 05 –

Man, this episode was kind of depressing in a few scenes. The one scene towards the end, in particular, really did pluck at the heartstrings a bit. Once again, this series focuses in on the characters trying to slowly mend their torn relationships, and heal themselves in the process, but this time this expands a bit to focus more on the previously mostly unexplained cast. Anjou and Yukiatsu, as usual, are going through their own emotional phases. The difference here, though, is that even Tsuruko and Poppo are beginning to become more heavily involved emotionally. There is also a bit more of a focus on just how inconvenient and heartbreaking it is for Menma to be invisible to everybody but Jintan. Slowly, but surely, AnoHana is unveiling just how complex some of the issues the main cast has.

The characters we’ve already seen a lot about would be Anjou, Jintan, and Yukiatsu. Jintan is still conflicted over his current Hikikomori lifestyle, and his efforts to move on from Menma’s death. And Yukiatsu, obviously, just has an issue with Menma’s death itself.What surprised me was how Yukiatsu had actually managed to confess to Menma back when he was young, only to be practically rejected. This was literally right before Menma’s death too, which probably left a huge jarring impact on Yukiatsu. It’s pretty obvious that even now, his frustration with regards to his failed confession and Menma’s death are haunting him, which resulted in the whole cross-dressing debacle.

Anjou, as usual, is still rather insecure about her own self, as well as uncertain with regards to her relationships with everybody around her. Now Yukiatsu may have been a jerk at times, but he does admittingly redeem himself a bit by saving Anjou from being forced to go to a love hotel. This stems back to Anjou’s issues with lack of self confidence, as well as her questioning of what direction she is taking in life. Her thoughts about the friends she hangs out with (and why she is hanging out with them), as well as the guy who was out to seduce her, are all pretty reflective of this. Her uncertainty with regards to her own feelings for Jintan, too, roots back to Anjou’s lack in self confidence and how she always considered Menma “better” than herself. I guess you could say she always feels inferior to Menma, and it’s tough to “update” your self confidence when comparing yourself to someone who has already passed away.

What took me by much, much more surprise here would be the inclusion of Poppo and Tsuruko’s problems. Considering how they’ve usually played more of a “side character” role recently, seeing their problems become more of a focal point wasn’t exactly a twist I was expecting. Tsuruko, as anticipated, does harbor some sort of jealousy towards Menma in some way. Either that, or she just resents Yukiatsu’s obsession with Menma, or perhaps a bit of both.

Poppo’s issues, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to pinpoint. Based on his rather carefree wanderer-style lifestyle, and the fact that he mooches meals off of Jintan, does indicate that he simply tries to live out an obliviously carefree, maybe “fantasy”, life. His desperation in trying to be able to see Menma is certainly reflective of some rather dire faults in him as well. I would have to say that his desire to “believe Menma is there” is an indication of him trying to search for something that he wishes to see, to believe there is a world beyond what he sees. I do believe he has a more complex issue at hand here, though I do wonder how his problem will be resolved.

What was the biggest eye-opener for me here, though, was the emotional conundrums that Menma is going through. Considering how Menma is always so happy and carefree most of the time, it’s quite easy to forget that she too is simply a young girl who scared and uncertain about what is going on, and is heavily affected by what goes on around her. Menma’s “invisible” nature not only causes troubles for the rest of the cast, but it also allows Menma to overhear everything that people have to say about her, completely unfiltered or anything of the sort. Menma’s emotions are probably being pushed really hard in a lot of scenes where she realizes that she can only sit there and watch in agony. The final scene in this episode, where Poppo desparate wants to be able to see Menma, was probably the final straw for Menma, where she finally broke down in tears. Seriously, being in Menma’s situation (where she can do nothing but watch) must be the most depressing situation out of the everybody’s.

In the end, Anohana builds up more upon the characters themselves, exploring their personas in much more depth and detail than before. I do appreciate the attention to details with regards to each character, but at the same time I kind of wish we could get some more happy turn of events here. It’s just one depressing event after another, after another. Well, either ways, I’m really curious as to the direction of the story from here on out, with the next episode preview in particular perking my interest. Is that a love letter I’m seeing there?

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.