Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai – 11 (Final)

Episode 11 Final – The Blooming Flower of That Summer – あの夏に咲く花 (Ano natsu ni saku hana)

Man, this had to be one of the most emotional final episodes I’ve seen in a long time. It wasn’t really the best ending episode I’ve seen by any means, but it did wrap up almost all of the loose strings quite well. And did I mention it was emotional? Seriously, there was a ridiculously large amount of unnecessary crying in this episode, though it was at the same time extremely heartbreaking (and definitely one heck of a tearjerker). We finally get to see the Super peace busters move on with their lives, as well as see a lovely (yet saddening) farewell between Menma and the rest of the gang.

What I find a bit funny here is that my predictions in my episode 10 post turned out quite a bit more accurate than I had anticipated. I mentioned previously that everybody was only thinking of themselves, while they never actually were being true friends with Menma and genuinely wish the best for her. Well, this episode elaborates on just that, where everybody pretty much outright confesses that they wanted Menma to move on because it would benefit themselves, and not because they were thinking for her sake. Everybody did realize that they needed to have a genuine chat with Menma, as opposed to selfishly think for themselves.

In the end, though, Menma’s wish was accomplished (albeit, the fireworks were pretty much unrelated). As it was hinted at before, Menma had actually made a promise with Jinta’s mother, which ended up being her “real wish”.

The really heartbreaking moments, though, were almost definitely towards the end. What stunned me at first is how, when Jinta reached the secret base, he lost the ability to see Menma as well. Jinta’s desperate, frantic screams really got me worried. But the icing on the cake here was how Menma then declared that they were playing “hide and seek”, all while Menma wrote down her final thoughts for everybody. Seeing everybody tear up and cry felt a bit unnatural (especially for Tsuruko and Poppo), but when everybody is finally able to see Menma in her final moments while was delicately leaning on a tree, there was a powerful “punch” to the scene. It really hit the mark on being powerfully emotional and heart-rending, with everybody’s desperate “Mou ii kai!” chant and “Menma, Mitsuketa!” practically moving me to tears. Hearing everybody’s heartfelt goodbyes, all while Menma finally reveals her own sad yet hopeful feelings to the group, was truly a beautiful scene.

And not long afterwards, we saw Menma’s smiling figure fade away into the morning sun.

In the end, this final episode played everything very safe. All of the characters managed to truly confront and overcome their problems, while finally being able to wish Menma a genuine, happy farewell. The crying and drama in this episode felt rather forced at times, but it was still nonetheless very moving. The finale was, admittingly, disappointing in comparison to what I was hoping for, but it may be because I thought the ending would be less predictable than it turned out to be. The hide-and-seek twist towards the end was great though, and really got the emotions flowing. I personally loved how the hide-and-seek drama unfolded, and it made for an especially memorable farewell between the Super peace busters, and the “Flower seen that day”.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

P.S. All the relationships have been pretty much confirmed, Anjou x Jinta, Tsurumi x Yukiatsu, and Poppo by himself. Or at least, that’s what the closing scenes here heavily imply.

Screenshots are later in the post. Final series impressions will be up in a separate post.

The Super Peace Busters are always good friends - 超平和バスターズはずっとなかよし　（Chou heiwa basutaazu wa zutto nakayoshi)