Oooh, scandalous.

Menma’s Last Wish

Man, I can’t wait to find out what’s in Menma’s diary. It’s going to be major, isn’t it? After all, her diary must contain her intimate thoughts. Menma has been so carefree on the surface that she just has to be compensating for something darker. Family strife? Childhood trauma? Wait, wait, lemme get ready for this major development.

Okay, hit me with it. What’s… in the diary!

Oh… oh. Well, I’m sure there’s heavier stuff in there. C’mon, flip the pages.

There you have it. The diary’s big “secret” is a firework that can carry a message to God. What kind of message? A wish for Jinta’s mom to recover. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this plot development… it just feels a little tame, that’s all.

The anime still has a few tricks tucked up its sleeves, I guess. A conversation between Yukiatsu and Tsuruko reveals yet another clue about the last day the entire gang hung out together: Menma arranged the meeting, but she also wanted the meeting to be a secret to Jinta. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I don’t do plot speculation so I’ll just leave it at that. The firework storyline is going to be the main focus for the time being.

Jinta’s Part-time Job

First things first, the gang needs to raise money. After a very, very brief return to school, Jinta decides to get a part-time job to fund this little project. At times, he works alongside Anjou; if not, he’s getting down and dirty with Poppo at a construction site.

You know what this reminded me of? What’s another hikikomori in recent memory?

Hm, a little far back, but still relevant.

Oh right, Takizawa of Eden of the East shipped a ton of NEETs off to Dubai of all places to get them appreciating hard work and life again. There seems to be a common perception in anime that good, honest, blue-collar employment is simply what hikikomoris need. Jinta confesses that he feels alive now that he’s not cooped up at home all the time. I honestly don’t think what ails the youth of Japan is that easily solved, but I’ve argued this elsewhere so I won’t drag it up again. It was simply interesting to see Jinta’s new found appreciation for labor.

What really puzzles me is Menma’s initial disapproval when she found out that Jinta got a job. Sure, she eventually comes around when she sees how hard he’s working and for what purpose, but why was she mad about it in the first place? Did I miss something? Maybe someone can fill me in.

Jinta’s father, on the other hand, seems rather pleased to see his son up and about.

Anjou & Jinta

I’ve reluctantly advocated this pairing in previous entires even though I normally don’t bother with any romantic pairings in anime. Why? Simply to avoid any further developments between Menma and Jinta. That shit can stay in the realm of fanfiction.

We got the full package this week. Anjou accidentally trips and falls on top of Jinta at the start of the episode. If this was a lesser anime, her breasts would have magically fallen into his cupped hands like magnets — boob magnets. Of course, this beats real life, where helping an intoxicated woman into her home will accidentally lead to “snuggling” with a condom on, but enough digressing….

Anyway, Poppo just so happens to walk in on the pair. It never gets old in anime, does it? Seriously, nobody trips and falls outta trees or magical portals more than anime characters. Maybe the giant eyes are throwing their coordination out of whack.

At the place where Anjou works, her subplot comes up again, i.e. the enjo kosai rumors that has been spreading around school. Again, Jinta comes to the rescue… by screaming “Welcome!” at the top of his lungs. I guess that’s one way to do it. Coincidentally, I was just watching a show on ABC today where the premise involved actors pretending to be prejudiced against minorities in public just to see if anyone would stand up against all the hatred and bigotry. I was watching this video, in particular:

I’m glad Jinta sticks up for his friend, but honestly, being an awkward nerd in public won’t stop the rumors and it won’t stop the virgin/whore mentality pervading society. Is it really okay to merely hope that the rumors go away? In other words, I hope someone will just get a spine and tell the jerks off, cultural standards be damned. People can’t understand what’s wrong if everyone’s too scared to even talk about it.

I did very much like the opening conversation between the two though. Anjou is thinking of cutting school, but Jinta warns her:

Haven’t we all felt this way? Whether it’s going to school, procrastinating on a paper, or merely doing the latest load of laundry, it’s like inertia. The longer you wait, the harder it seems to get going again — to build momentum, so to speak — until the problem is too big to ignore. Then we run into real problems.

Yukiatsu & Tsuruko

Everyone seems to be happier and healthier except for these two. They are still rather stand-offish and isolated from the rest of the gang. No doubt, Yukiatsu still harbors some resentment for Jinta, and unfortunately for some, I don’t think it’s sexual frustration.

As for Tsuruko, she’s still the queen of cryptic remarks. For whatever reason, she won’t let go of the cruddy hairpin both Menma and Yukiatsu rejected. Even though it’s obvious that she’s closer to Yukiatsu than anyone else in the show, she’s reluctant to do anything about it.

Ultimately, I find her character the most interesting. This isn’t to say I think she’s a good person or anything — I think she’s a bit of a stuck-up bitch — but she seems to be the most complex character on the show and it’s a pity that she tends to get the least screen time. Anime characters are often very transparent; everyone wears their emotions on their sleeves. If a character likes another character, it’s usually demonstrated very overtly, i.e. copious amounts of blushing and stammering. It’s as if anime characters are using online tags but in real life, I guess.

When we want to be sarcastic in day to day conversations, we subtly change the inflection in our voice. The humor lies in picking this up, but sometimes, also in others failing to notice the change. Online, we all use /sarcasm, *sarcasm* or even explicitly say “SarcasmMode” like they do on TV Tropes just in case you couldn’t tell! Well, I find that this is a lot like anime. Anjou likes Jinta. Did you pick up on it? No? Okay, we’ll just have Anjou glow bright red whenever she’s around him! To tie everything back to the subject at hand, I guess it’s just refreshing that Tsuruko’s thoughts and motives aren’t so spelled out. The exaggeration in expressions and voice acting is definitely part of the charm of anime as a genre, but it doesn’t hurt to swing the other way every once in a while. We don’t always have to sweat a gallon every time we’re nervous.

What’s Next?

And by that, I’m wondering what the end game is for Ano Hana. Let’s say the gang do fulfill Menma’s wish — then what? Does she go to heaven? Does she come back to life? I hope she comes back to life… as a zombie. Wouldn’t it be cool if the anime ended with a double barrel shotgun blast to Menma’s tiny head? Obviously, she’d be the witch.

Unfortunately, we can’t have good things. For the next episode, it seems that Jinta will have to finally have a talk with Menma’s father to buy fireworks. Sounds fun.