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| The "Rejection" Hairclip |
More of the group's past is revealed with the focus on Yukiatsu this time. His obsession of Menma is revealed to have existed far before her death. So now the relationships within the group have gotten even more complicated. But that is to be expected from an excellent drama anime like Ano Hana. The emotional pain that Menma is experiencing due to not being able to talk with anybody else besides Jinta is very sad to see. I don't really know how to put it in words but the ending of this episode was quite depressing. However, what I don't really understand is why Menma doesn't show the others a sign of her existence by writing her name on a paper in front of them or moving objects around. Hopefully, my question will be answered soon.
After discovering the Menma that Poppo saw was actually Yukiatsu crossdressing, Jinta tries to confront him about it but is greeted with actions depicting insanity from Yukiatsu. In this state of insanity, Yukiatsu confesses to being responsible for Menma's death because he said something to her. Even though Jinta tries to tell him that it wasn't his fault, Yukiatsu would not listen. With tears streaming down his face, Yukiatsu thought that Menma should have appeared to him instead of Jinta. After Menma sees the pain he is in, she uses Jinta as a medium of communication to talk to Yukiatsu. After hearing Menma's messages, something must have flipped a switch inside Yukiatsu's head because he stopped crying and slowly trotted away, leaving the rest of the group to ponder about what had just happened. When the rest of the group make it back to the secret base, Poppo asks Tsuruko how she knew it was Yukiatsu who was crossdressing. In reply, she tells him she only had a hunch because Yukiatsu kept telling her to accompany him on his "shopping" trips during which he bought girl's clothes. When asked if it was all right to leave him as he is, Tsuruko coolly uses the analogy of "draining an infected wound" to describe Yukiatsu, saying that, draining all the pus out is the best way to heal it although there may be nothing left in the end because of how disgusting he is. That indirect insult really packed a punch because as Tsuruko leaves, everyone else just stares at her, in shock.
Meanwhile, at Yukiatsu's house, he is now given the opportunity to clam down and reflect on his behavior because his cover had been blown. A flashback takes the audience back to the time right after Jinta accidentally called Menma ugly. Right after he runs out in shame, Menma runs after him. Up until now, only that part of that day was shown. However, it is revealed that Yukiatsu stops Menma as she is running after Jinta and confesses to her, offering her the aforementioned hairclip as a gift. Unfortunately for him, Jinta was Menma's top priority and she politely apologizes to him, saying that they can talk after, before resuming her pursuit of Jinta. This rejection must have been the reason for Yukiatsu's hostility towards Jinta. Later that night, in an attempt to cheer Menma up, Jinta goes to a local convenience store (*gasp*, the hikikomori went outside!) and buys a load of junk food. When he returns, Menma's big smile must have made him feel like his venture to the outside world was worth it. However the atmosphere quickly changes when Menma requests Jinta to grant her wish; this time, with a serious tone. At that moment, Jinta blurts out some random crap about not being able to help her because he's busy (*cough* hikikomorI *cough*). After a period of awkward silence, Jinta's dad comes home and, not knowing the situation, says some random things that definitely didn't fit in well with the tension that was in the air. When he gets back to his room, Jinta reflects on his words and realized what he said to Menma was a complete lie. He remembers that he is never busy because all he does is eat, surf the Internet, game and sleep; wasting his life day by day. However, it seems like something else had also come to mind though nothing more is revealed.
The next day at school, Anaru's good-for-nothing friends felt that it was time to let her know that she was acting cold towards them recently. As time progresses, I suspect that the distance between Anaru and her useless friends will grow larger which, in the end, benefits her. After school, Anaru reluctantly heads to a karaoke box with her most-likely-unintelligent friends and two other guys. There, while the other girls are having fun, Anaru just sits away from them, with a troubled look on her face. One of the guys notices this and decides to take advantage of her. He then announces to everyone that he and Anaru were going to leave. Thinking that he was going to take her to the train station, she reluctantly goes with him. Unbeknownst to her, the guy was taking her to a hotel to have sex. When the two reach the hotel, Anaru realized that something was wrong. In an attempt to get her in the mood, the guy starts flirting with her and touching her. After being unable to get away from him, she starts screaming. Luckily for her, Yukiatsu happened to be passing by and forces the potential rapist to flee the scene. As the two make their way back home on the same train, the conversation they had was responsible for the complicating of the characters' relationships with one another. During the conversation, Yukiatsu asked Anaru if she would like to try dating him. Because she knows about his obsession with Menma, she questions him about it. However, instead of acting embarrassed about it, he just admits it, making it seem like it was nothing special. In the end, she told him that she just can't go out with him. After getting rejected, he asks her if the reason for rejecting him was because of Jinta. By showing embarrassment, it made it obvious that she liked him. Instead of fully denying it like a typical tsundere, she just tells Yukiatsu that she can't get Jinta off her mind. But because of his mother's and Menma's deaths, she finds it hard to talk to him. And just when I thought things in this episode couldn't get anymore serious, the last scene proved me wrong. As Poppo is having dinner at Jinta's house, he suddenly notices Jinta turn his head towards a supposedly empty area. Thinking that it's Menma, he begins talking into thin air. The desire but inability to tell him that she was here really hurt Menma a lot. Seeing him desperately wanting to see her and talk to her made her feel bad for being unable to respond. It got to the point where the emotional pain was so unbearable that Menma started sobbing uncontrollably. With Menma in this much pain, Jinta had to step in and stop Poppo from making her feel any worse. After all this time, there is still no one who knows what is going on exactly. Menma's existence is still a big mystery for the group. The next episode doesn't seem to be the answer to this mystery either juding from the short preview during the ED. Nonetheless, looking forward to another drama-packed episode.
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