[Anime] Ano Hana

Touching story/plot. I remember an anime the same as this (One as an illusion and only one person can see) somewhere...
I can see this anime acting like Amagami, "clearing" one person at a time.
Menma is cute.
I would like to see some backdrop on what happened to Menma to complete the introduction.

I'm a sucker for these kind of shows. It gives a suitable melancholic air, and I have the great feeling that it's going to aim to bring a myriad of heartwarming moments between the characters. So far, definitely one of my Top 3 for the season, and I'm expecting a lot from this show, now.

What I particularly like about the first episode is how it portrayed each character and their personalities before and after the time lapse. While you can tell that they still have similar traits from their olden days, they've managed to change significantly. For example, Yukiatsu has managed to take on an elitist air from attending a (assuming) prestigious high school, and this is completely natural.

I'm pretty happy that we have a protagonist that, despite his appearance and actions during the first section of the episode, is willing to go that extra mile for what he feels he needs to do. That sequence at the end, complete with nostalgic song, really helped.

The only real problem that I found in this episode (but that might be because I now expect a lot from it) was that we had several moments of unnatural dialogue (or the translation was just awkward).

Either way, I am very happy with this anime's first episode, and look forward to more.

Forgot to mention: the OP sequence is endearing, and I really like the singer's voice.

[youtube]~kimi ga kureta mono~(10 years after ver)[/youtube]

Nicely animated, and I'm already liking the tsundere, Anaru. I do hope they stop with the flashbacks every few minutes. It was particularly annoying since it was teasing the entire time with how Menma died. Jinta really didn't even try to remember Menma's wish, she had to tell him the first part of it to his face.

The first few minutes I didn't feel anything until I realized Menma was the only one who stayed the same.. and then everything became clear. the opening, the flashbacks, why Jinta became a shut-in, and I watched the rest of the episode feeling depressed. The story is bittersweet, something so simple yet it triggers your emotion and make you reminisce the good old days. Although I had a feeling I've seen/ read something with similar settings before, I'm curious to find out more. What promise did he make with Menma? Definitely picking up this series, GOD I LOVE THIS SEASON <3

Even more character progression, and for the better, too. I really like how they're gradually showing more and more of the characters, and nothing to this point has been out of character.

I was honestly surprised when I realized that Tsurumi (glasses, black hair) was far more close-minded than I had previously envisioned her to be. Whereas Tsukiatsu appeared to be the more elitist one, I think Tsurumi takes the cake, not wanting to be associated at all with Anaru (public image thing, very common in Asia). In fact, Tsukiatsu seemed to be the more open one this episode, being willing to talk to Popo. This also raised a question that was quickly answered: why did Tsukiatsu give a much more hostile reaction to Jinta in episode 1? Well, judging from the closet and cloth, I'm going to say he blames Jinta for Menma's death and harbors jealousy from back then. Beautiful.

Popo more or less acts the same, so I'll need to wait for more development on his part. I'm interested to see if his interest in traveling the world will bear any major influence on the story. Anaru is a fun character to watch, and I honestly like her. I'm glad that she comes off as a tasteful tsundere, and it seems that her tsun side comes more from awkwardness and uncertainty, rather than a blatant denial of any form of affection for Jinta. After all, it seems she's trained herself (look at her friends, for example) to only associate with the "scene" and "cool" people. Just look at how unwilling she was to play a "children's game". And my favourite part of the entire episode was when she asked him to come back to school; she wants to start to get to know him again, and she's actually worried about his future.

And then we come to the main character, Jinta. I love what they've done. They took a character that probably only has had joy playing games or the like by himself (judging by the Hikikomori comment Anaru's friends made), and gave him an opportunity to have fun with others, and realize that he actually does enjoy it.

Overall, this anime is still doing great, and Thursday cannot come quickly enough.

So far I liked everything shown in this episode. Popo is a real bro and he did a great job enlightening the mood everytime he's around Jinta, I'm sure he's going to have a big role in changing Jinta and bringing the gang back together. Anaru is also cute, at first I thought she was the kind of loud obnoxious bitch just like her friends, but it turned out that she still has some kindness and childish side in her. The role of a stuck up bitch goes to Tsurumi instead. Nothing much I can say about her, I guess we still have to watch some more to find out her secrets.

There's only one thing that made me cringe.

This. Oh man. This creeped me out. What the fuck. Why did he.. How did he get.. Where did he get.. Oh fuck.

I, too, was shocked by Tsurumi's actions, and I thought that Naruko was going to say that she didn't want to see seen with her, instead of it being the other way. I have a feeling that Tsurumi and Tsukiatsu are probably going to be the hardest to get to in order for Menma's wish to be granted. I also don't know about their own relationship with each other, (because they seemed a little bit hostile towards each other in the first episode).

Also, this episode touched my heart because it reminded me of my childhood. I remember meeting up with my friends who had the different versions of pokemon and trading them back and forth to complete our pokedexes or evolve. It's much easier to trade nowadays, via the internet, but it's lost some of its intimacy and satisfaction that way.

Yeah, that was beyond weird. I just want to know how he has her dress, and not her family...

1. They're all going to be at the secret shed together, having bonded together like old times. At this point, Menma may or may not be visible to everyone. The anime ends with Jinta finally apologizing to Menma, and saying something along the lines of "I liked you." Menma will give that sad as hell smile, reply "Me too", and then walk out of the shed and disappear.
2. The title will get dropped, and Menma will disappear after learning the name of the flower that they still don't know.
3. Clannad style.