from left: Tsuruko, Yukiatsu, Menma, Jintan, Anaru and PoppoIt's a long name, I know. Even now I had trouble remembering it.
Anyways, I've been cooped up with all the exam revisions recently ( the exam is still ongoing til this very moment ) that I desperately want to de-stress. Knowing myself that I'm a hardcore anime and manga fan, I searched all over the net for some really nice anime to relieve the tension. Then it struck my mind. The recent Shounen Jump, well NOT the Shounen Jump from Japan but the one translated by our locals featured this beautiful piece of Anime. Due to its lengthy name, the production group and fans called it Ano Hana, which basically means that flower. Well, if you want a full translation of the lengthy anime title, it's called We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day.
It's a beautifully done piece of work. With its plot surrounding 5 grieving childhood friends who are still feeling guilty over the death of our protagonist Menma that lead them to drift away from each other. Given the recent Anime which deals with more physical appearance ( showing more skin) this focus more on the emotional side of human nature.
The story starts out with our main character Yadomi Jinta, or known to us as Jintan started seeing his deceased childhood friend Honma Meiko (Menma) at his house. Jintan thought it was a manifestation of his guilt and stress towards the death of Menma that he started hallucinating her, even calling her the beast of summer. However, Menma told him that she haven't fulfilled her wish so she can't go to heaven and be reincarnated yet. The problem is that, Menma can't remember what's the wish she wanted to fulfill. Thus, the story begins. Jintan had been a shut-in since Menma's death and so we can slowly see the changes as he try to help Menma fulfill her wish. And this means that he would have to go back to the painful past. The beautiful thing about this story is that it is so realistic. All the childhood friends are guilty about her death, thinking that they played a part as they were with her that very day. They think that if they didn't do what they had done that day, Menma wouldn't have died. They were stuck at the time when Menma passed on. Her name has been a taboo for all of them and when Jintan told them that Menma is around them, they were all thinking that he was mad, telling him to snap out of it while trying to convince themselves at the same time too.
Each episode gives emphasis on one of the people close to Menma. How some were envious of her, some were in love with her and it even gives us a viewpoint from the family of Menma. How the parents were also unable to move on, how the mother cope with the death of her young daughter. You might think it's kinda creepy as it revolves around a dead spirit clinging onto a person, but it is being projected in a way that totally does not resembles any ghost movies.
enma, although she knew that she died, still holds on to her happy-go-lucky personality and certainly does not blame anyone for her death. Each character are also projected as someone you can relate to. How they struggle to live everyday despite the death of a person very dear to them. As a saying goes, it's not the one who pass away are sad. It's those who were left behind and have no other choice but continue to live. Although the Anime only last 11 episodes, it's still worth a watch. It finishes the story bittersweet. The difference with such Anime is that right from the very start, we know that at the end, the protagonist will be gone. Another example will be Final Fantasy Crisis Core, where from the very start of the game we know the main character is going to die at the end. However, this does not stop you from playing. This Anime has that power to make you wanna watch til the very end.
Anyway, I highly recommend this Anime :) It'll make you think twice before being nasty to someone and encourage you to live your life to the fullest, treating each day like the very last day you'll be on Earth.
What might happen if Menma didn't died that day :)
