 |
| Yukiatsu looks like a pervert here |
With only two more episodes to go, I'm starting to have my doubts about whether Ano Hana can finish strongly. There have been far too many times where an anime starts out really good but ends up very bad. With Ano Hana being one of the better drama series I have seen so far, I'm hoping that the ending will blow me away, or at least be unique so I will remember it. As for this episode, I was kind of disappointed. Firstly, I dislike the Yukiatsu x Anaru pairing so the scene where they are alone together made me sigh. Personally, I prefer the Jinta x Anaru and Yukiatsu x Tsuruko pairings. Secondly, because Menma is so happy now, it can be argued that their problems are now solved. Now, I'm not saying that I want Menma to be sad but seeing her so filled with joy while the others are wallowing in their own self-guilt makes it a bit awkward. Anyhow, the ending scene made up for the lackluster episode. The trauma of Menma's death evoked fear in Jinta; fear of seeing the same thing he saw when he was younger. Because he already lost her once, he doesn't want to lose her again. However, this ending makes the series lean more towards Anaru not getting paired up with Jinta. Even with the series now winding down, the ending is still open-ended. Hopefully there will be some answers in the next episode.
As Anaru, Poppo, Tsuruko and Yukiatsu are sitting around the table in Jinta's house, they nervously wait while Menma, whom they still can't see, cooks some steamed bread with raisins for them. When Menma finishes, she brings the plate full of steamed bread over to the table. To the others, all they see is a floating plate. The thought of a spirit being beside her freaks Anaru out, causing her to cling to a disgusted Tsuruko. After giving Poppo the largest steamed bread since he is physically the largest, Yukiatsu asks Menma which one he should get. Before Menma could answer, Jinta says that he should get the one with the most raisins. This annoys Menma because she didn't say that. However, it seems that question was just a joke one as Yukiatsu then asks Menma to tell him something directly. Since Menma can't "tell" him, Anaru suggests that Menma write down her response and gives Jinta a pen and paper. Menma quickly snatches them from Jinta's hand, surprising the group, and tries to write. Unfortunately, she is unable to. However, when Jinta tries to write on it, he is able to meaning the pen is not out of ink. Menma then grabs the pen and tries again. This time, the sight of a floating pen causes Tsuruko to cling on to Anaru, choking her. All the while, Yukiatsu just sits there, looking like he's deep in thought. While on their way home, Anaru tells the others that she is glad Menma isn't mad at them and that Menma forgave them. However, Tsuruko reminds her that, even though Menma made steamed bread for them, it doesn't mean that she forgave them. On the contrary, it is very possible that Menma is here because she hasn't forgiven them. In order to change the increasingly sad mood, Poppo starts saying how Menma could have proved her existence earlier. All of a sudden, Yukiatsu, who was silent all this time, starts talking badly about Jinta once again, saying that Jinta just wants Menma all to himself. Not wanting that to happen, he tells Anaru and Poppo to save their paychecks because they are going to make those fireworks no matter what. And when that happens, Menma will finally be able to attain nirvana. Contrary to Yukiatsu's thoughts, Jinta also wants Menma to attain nirvana. He puts her happiness above his desire for her to stay in this world which shows how much he cares about her.
After several more days (or possibly weeks) of working, the Jinta, Anaru and Poppo go to the fireworks maker once again with more money. Unfortunately, he closes the door on them without even letting them in this time. When they reach the shrine, Menma starts running around it and Poppo joins soon after, even though he can't see her. With Jinta and Anaru now alone, Anaru starts thinking about her confession to him. While she is still thinking, Jinta sudden turns around and apologizes. He then asks her to take over his shift next week so he can work at the construction site because the construction site pay is higher. Anaru is clearly disappointed at this development because she thought he would apologize for being so rude to her after she confessed. Later that day, Yukiatsu, with Tsuruko tagging along, bump into Menma's father in a parking lot. After being told about the fireworks situation, Menma's father confirms that it is, indeed, his wife who is against the fireworks. However, when Yukiatsu asks him if he is against the fireworks, he doesn't answer directly but explains that his wife is still living in the past because of Menma's death and that he is against anything related to Menma. He also apologizes, meaning that he is against it. After hearing that, Yukiatsu walks up to the man, gets down on his kness and begs, unashamed of what he is now doing. While on his knees, he explains that he, too, is living in the past. When he says that he loves Menma in front of her father, the look on Tsuruko's face was that of extreme surprise. Before Yukiatsu could finish his explanation, his emotions got the better of him, causing him to start crying. On their way home, Tsuruko asks Yukiatsu if he is really all right with granting Menma's wish so she can attain nirvana. She reminds him that, once Menma attains nirvana, he won't be able to talk to her anymore unlike now, where he can talk to her through Jinta. However, the fact that he can only talk to her through Jinta bothers him. Coincidentally, Jinta just happens to be on his way to work and sees them. After confirming that Menma is there, he begins to ask her questions with Jinta answering for her. However, when the question of "Is she pretty" arises, Jinta thinks back to the day when he accidentally called Menma ugly. This time, however, he calls her "somewhat pretty" and "cute" while looking very uncomfortable. The "somewhat" annoys Menma as she demands to know why the "somewhat" got put in front of the "pretty". To the other two, it looks just like a one-man show. After Jinta walks away, Yukiatsu takes out his anger by repeatedly kicking a fence while Tsuruko looks on, worried about her friend's mental stability.
With the fireworks maker finally agreeing to make the fireworks for them, the group start to gather and create the necessary equipment needed to launch their fireworks rocket. While the others worked, Menma starts running all over the place excitedly. Because of this excitement, she almost trips and falls while descending some stairs. Jinta, being the only one who can see her, warns her about the danger but forgets about helping Poppo hold the bamboo while it is being cut. Anaru, who is watching Jinta, finally realizes that she will never win against Menma. Holding back her tears temporarily, Anaru runs away from the group, using the excuse of buying juice to make it sound less suspicious. While she wallows in her sorrow, Yukiatsu approaches her from behind and the two start talking. He first tells her that she saved him by running away from the group since he was about to scream because he can't handle the fact that, even though Menma is right there, only Jinta can see her. After teasing her with the fact that she has stopped calling Jinta "Jin-tan" and switched back to "Yadomi", Yukiatsu tells Anaru that he the two of them are alike. However, after a short burst of anger, Anaru suddenly starts crying which surprised Yukiatsu. As they continue talking, Tsuruko sees them but hides in order to eavesdrop. After wiping some tears away from her eyes, Yukiatsu reminds Anaru about what he said before; about them going out. He tells her that he is serious about it which pisses her off. While Anaru starts lashing out at him for teasing her, the fact that Yukiatsu is now flirting with Anaru didn't seem to sit well with Tsuruko. Later in the day, back at the secret base, Jinta marks the 9th of this month as the date of the fireworks launch. After remembering that his shift is going to start soon, Jinta leaves while Menma decides to stay at the base with Poppo. While on his way to work, Jinta realizes that it has almost been half a year since Menma appeared to him. Back at the secret base, Menma begins to communicate with Poppo by writing on her diary. Apparently, the only thing she can write on is the diary. With the problem of communication now settled, Poppo starts to ask Menma a serious question that seems to have been bugging him for a while but ends up deciding not to. Instead the two play letter chain with pictures (taken from UTW's translation). When Menma finally leaves the secret base later that night, she wanders around the area, ending up at a bridge. There, acts extremely random and ends up looking over the side of the rails. After a short while of staring at the water below, she sees something jump up. Meanwhile, Jinta returns home but is unable to find Menma anywhere. As he is running around the area in search for her, he doesn't understand why he cares so much. Out of breath, he reaches the bridge and hears Menma's voice soon after. Unfortunately, the sight of her near a body of water brought back memories of her death which evokes extreme fear inside him. Because of this fear, he quickly attempts to find a way down to where she is. While running down a steep cliff, a tree branch cuts the left side of his face and the pain causes him to lose his balance. He finally reaches the bottom of the cliff after rolling down most of it, flying through the air and landing painfully. After his fall, Menma quickly rushes over to him, jumps on him and starts crying, telling him that she doesn't want him to die. Her overreaction to his fall amuses Jinta leading to him calling her weird. Before leaving the area, Menma tells Jinta that there is a koi in the water. As Menma starts walking towards the water to show him, he yells at her to stop and hugs her tightly, restricting her from moving. While embracing her, he tells her to stay here forever. However, he quickly realizes what he just said was very lame and clarifies that he means for her to stay here so he can get the koi. As he wanders out into the waters, he looks back at the water near Menma's feet with a melancholic expression. The episode ends with Menma telling Jinta to come back. This ending doesn't really set up anything for the next episode. Also, the episode preview doesn't hint anything either so waiting is the only thing that I can do now. Looking forward to the next episode.
0 comments:
Post a Comment