Ano Hana Review

Ano Hana is just how people generally refer to it, but the show’s official name is really Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai which translates to “We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day.” Yeah, I think that’s the longest anime title currently on record. Lol. It’s last episode just aired last June 24 so I guess I’d write about it while the intense emotional impact it had on me was still fresh – and I doubt it’s going to get away anytime soon. All thanks to the Zone/Scandal ending song Secret Base (10 Years After ver.) covered by our three leading ladies.

Plot: Jinta Yadomi, a reclusive high school student on the verge of dropping out, starts hallucinating his dead childhood friend Menma and considers it a mental ailment due to stress and the summer heat. Unable to ignore her any longer, he decides to humor his ‘stress’. On the first episode, they would incidentally meet their other childhood friends Anaru, Yukiatsu, Tsuruko and Poppo while walking around town. Jintan tells Menma how they have drifted apart and changed after the years, and are now indifferent with each other.

Menma then says she appeared because she wants a wish to be granted, but doesn’t have any idea what it is – only that the five of them must be present for it to be fulfilled. Jintan, remembering his childhood memories having no closure at all, decides to bring back their group together and make Menma’s wish come true.

Poppo, Anaru, Menma, Jintan, Tsuruko, Yukiatsu

Their group as children, the so-called Super Peace Busters, were loaded with fun, games and adventures just like any other bunch of youngsters full of life and enthusiasm. But those days came to an end after the tragedy that befell Menma – a terrible accident startled by the group, or so they believe. After that they stopped hanging out in their ‘secret base’, and eventually went on with their lives separately.

Seeing the Super Peace Busters in their present age makes you think they’ve moved on, but it’s quite the opposite. Each character’s undisclosed feelings, thoughts and guilt would slowly surface as you watch on. Just mentioning Menma to any of the characters would trigger an awkward stutter which would indicate that the event years ago still haunt them in their sleep.

Now that an older Menma has appeared, we ask: what is Menma’s wish and how will they be able to fulfill it? Is her spirit really there in the first place or is it just Jintan’s delusion? They don’t know it, but time has stopped for them ever since. How will they be able to overcome their subconscious self-hatred and continue their lives without regret?

Watching Ano Hana really made me nostalgic about my own childhood, as I somehow can relate. There were seven of us in our little village, always hanging out in the afternoon and playing games. Similar to the Super Peace Busters, we were called the Final Fantasy Alpha Club and we also had a secret base. It was fun while it lasted :D Then time flew by, we grew up and we almost never see each other anymore, even though we’re just houses apart. Lol. Anyway, enough reminiscing.

If you had a childhood filled with awesome friends and unforgettable escapades, I bet you’ll love this tear-jerking piece of an anime. And with that, I end this post with the heart-melting ending video of Ano Hana. PLEASE WATCH!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-BL5rXDr_4]

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