Quote:
Originally Posted by MeoTwister5
In another forum it was commented that the more everyday-ish approach of the story, especially the ones about the character's daily life events (such as Jinta's xenophobic life and Anaru's attempts to always go with the flow) detract from the overall tale of a wandering spirit in search of her wish and her friends, wanting the story to focus more on Menma's inability to move on than with the lives of those she left behind
I disagree with this assessment precisely because her stay on earth and the lives of her her friends are so deeply interconnected that you can only have one with the other. Episode 3 proves this well enough that Menma's spiritual existence there is completely dependent on the status of her friends, such that her wish is dependent on the goings-on within each of the 5 friends she had left behind so suddenly.
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I always thought the point of the story was the five remaining gang members coming to terms with their loss and moving on. The whole wish thing (and Menma in general), for me, was just a catalyst, a vehicle to move the story onwards...
Sure, we find out bits and pieces about her past and what her unfulfilled wish could be, but methinks that's only a smaller part of the bigger picture. Surely it was going to focus more on how a shut-in like Jintan, a lost soul like Anaru, a wandering soul like Poppo, a distant soul like Tsuruko and a troubled soul like Tsukiatsu would get past their problems. It's what coming-of-age stories are usually about - it's not the destination (in this case, Menma and her wish), but rather journey (the healing process for themselves and their broken bonds of friendship), no?
I've been likening this series to something like Stand By Me and other stories, only slightly different in that not only is it remembering the past, but it's also trying to resolve the present as well, which adds a nice dimension. Plus seeing the differences between the characters in their childhood and adolescence, as well as seeing their slow development as they get past their troubles, is pretty neat.
O-O~