AnimeSuki Forums

wandering-dreamer · 2011-06-02, 22:32

I think it makes perfect sense for this to be the first time Menma has shown herself to the rest of the group, she's been out of the loop for a few episodes so she didn't know how strained the group was becoming and how much pressure they were putting on Jintan. And as soon as she did know she did something about it, plus it was shown in the previous episode that other people could see Menma moving things.

As for Menmama, geeze, are there no therapists in this town? She's still grieving and it seems like to the point where it creeps out her husband and son (and kind of neglects him, I felt really sorry for that kid) and that really doesn't seem healthy. I wonder if she was the one who convinced her husband not to let the kids have the rocket (as opposed to Menma's dad not trusting high school kids with really powerful rockets, I mean, you saw that plan they came up with as elementary kids

).

Guardian Enzo · 2011-06-02, 22:46

I got the sense that Menma's brother had been waiting to pour his heart to someone for years, and had no one to listen until Jintan wandered back into the picture. If Menmama resented the Busters for surviving when Menma died, it isn't hard to speculate that she resents her brother, too. Poor kid...

Kaoru Chujo · 2011-06-02, 22:47

The emotional tension and unease was horrible and wonderful. Great job by Tomacchan in the confession scene. Powerful cliffhanger: show you the physical event, but leave peoples' reactions to next week. Nasty.

I didn't feel the "hatred" from Irena that Anaru did. Just despair and envy and "why her and not one of them?" Seems highly understandable. The kids didn't have the wherewithal to keep talking with her and explain that they really felt guilty and still loved Menma. Her lines could have been delivered in a more hateful way than they were, or perhaps it was me drawing the wrong conclusion from the seiyuu's tone of voice. Oura Fuyuka is a good voice actress: recently Otake in Five Leaves and Kifa in Legendary Heroes.

Triple_R · 2011-06-02, 23:05

9/10 for this exciting episode eight.

Spoiler for Anohana Episode 8 thoughts:

hero147 · 2011-06-02, 23:13

All I can say or think about is: Wow, I'm utterly speechless. I think my heart skipped a beat, approaching the end of the episode because I was so emotionally drawn into it.

Johnny · 2011-06-02, 23:23

Would have liked to seen Jinta turn that situation around and slam Yukiatsu into the wall. Then voice what he was agonizing over earlier that he doesn't think it's fair that he can only see Menma either...

On a lighter note. Since she can interact with physical things why not dump flower or some kind of substance that will give her shape, or would that probably really creep the others out too much...?

Guardian Enzo · 2011-06-02, 23:28

Spoiler for 8:

I'm still a little exhausted by the emotional roller-coaster two hours after I watched the episode, quite frankly. This show is quite an intense experience.

deadite · 2011-06-02, 23:30

Another tidbit is how it seems that Menma did not cry one bit when the group was in turmoil.

Kotohono · 2011-06-02, 23:56

Before this episode I just generally felt the show was decent to good[which caused me to be too lazy to read/comment], but this episode was just phenomenal in the emotional level it pulled with, and the execution of the drama both in the scenes with Menma's mother and brother, and Anjou. And of course the ending of the episode was excellent too, easily a 10/10 for this episode from me

.

Reckoner · 2011-06-03, 00:04

Amazing episode. 10/10

The whole episode was slowly breaking down my emotional barrier until the very end with Yukiatsu shedding a couple of tears and the fade away into the ED. My god.

Ano Hana delivered an excellent episode just when I felt they needed to turn it up a notch again. Definitely the better Maria Okada anime this season by a good margin.

Master Chibi · 2011-06-03, 00:10

I haven't been this emotionally drawn into a show in a very, VERY long while, and this episode just solidified what an amazing job this series is doing. I clutched my damn shirt during Anaru's confession scene, Menma's mother's breakdown was so saddening, and the group turning on Yadomi only to be proven wrong in the last few moments had me turn on the fan just to stuff it in my face to get some air after all that.

God damn.

SoFarGone · 2011-06-03, 00:12

I personally didn't shed a tear instead I found it kinda funny. The last scene was the best.

Master Chibi · 2011-06-03, 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFarGone

I personally didn't shed a tear instead I found it kinda funny. The last scene was the best.

Oh yeah, a group of friends coming to terms with the guilt they've had for years over the death of their childhood friend, one of them confessing her love for the main character but being equally tormented, and a mother still grieving over the loss of her daughter and her public display of resentment to the group that inadvertently caused it all to the point where she breaks down in front of them IS FUCKING HILARIOUS. Pure comedic gold bro. Totally.

...

mpt37 · 2011-06-03, 00:53

I've always liked Haruka Tomatsu's voice and she has done a great job throughout the series but her performance during the confession scene was really something. Definitely one of the highlights of the series so far for me.

Nice to see the group finally got some proof that Menma's really there and Jintan hasn't gone mad.

Hiro Hayase · 2011-06-03, 01:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tu101uk

Well, that was rather exciting... :3

Spoiler for Episode 8 Thoughts...:

The episode could be split really into three parts, all with increasing levels of angst and emotion...

The Menmama part was quite an awkward encounter. Nothing really untoward happened, it was just a parent still heavily grieving for her child and refusing to let go. Of course, it's natural to shift her sadness, anger and hate towards those closest to her daughter, but it left everyone in the group (except Jintan) wanting to stop with the whole Menma "nonsense". Jintan chooses to continue on regardless, that scene with Menma and The Dog of Flanders was quite touching, with yet another clue for Menma surfacing from her recovering memories...

The emotions were raised another bar with Anaru, who finally unloaded her feelings onto the one she's in love with, hoping to get a response from him and to stop him from continuing on in his quest to fulfill Menma's wish. Hopefully this will spur on Jintan to actually look at Anaru for a change - it seems pretty much that she's the next most important girl in his life and I wonder how he'll handle this once the whole Menma thing is resolved.

His collapse was slightly worrying - methinks it was just him being overworked, seeing as he's bearing the brunt of carrying out the wish. I certainly hope it's nothing more than that.

The plot thickened as strange things start to occur while Jintan is at work. A "slight breeze" knocks over some fliers as Menma eavesdrops on Poppo discussing how the group was beginning to fracture. Soon, Tsuruko and Yukiatsu both get cold calls from Jintan's house. Meanwhile Jintan had a short chat with Menma's little brother. The flashback was a nice touch as we see Menma acting like a rather responsible older sister.

The final scene was quite something else. So much was said by practically everyone, who seemed like they were at their wits' end with Jintan and the whole deal with Menma. More or less everyone was on the verge of turning on him, but then Menma intervened (in the nick of time too). The buildup took an entire half of the episode, but the execution in the end was spot on and so powerful, my eyes were swelling up slightly.

I definitely cannot wait 'til next week now to see how they follow on from this startling revelation (for the group anyways). Darn, no Tsuruko development this week, but looks like something's afoot with her next episode. Those "yandere" vibes are back......

O-O~

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Haruka Tomatsu's voice acting was superb.
I really sympathize with Jinta and Mema's little brother so much its scary. Jinta should just put a blanket over Mema or have her draw stuff in front of Peace Busters to prove her existence again. This episode had me close to tears twice...

SoFarGone · 2011-06-03, 01:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master Chibi

Oh yeah, a group of friends coming to terms with the guilt they've had for years over the death of their childhood friend, one of them confessing her love for the main character but being equally tormented, and a mother still grieving over the loss of her daughter and her public display of resentment to the group that inadvertently caused it all to the point where she breaks down in front of them IS FUCKING HILARIOUS. Pure comedic gold bro. Totally.

...

I didn't mean it funny as in comedy. More like funny feeling instead of sad, you know what I mean?

Master Chibi · 2011-06-03, 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFarGone

I didn't mean it funny as in comedy. More like funny feeling instead of sad, you know what I mean?

No.

Funny = haha I'm laughing.

Sad = Boo hoo I'm crying.

Explain it better.

eplipswich · 2011-06-03, 02:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoFarGone

I didn't mean it funny as in comedy. More like funny feeling instead of sad, you know what I mean?

It's most likely you call it funny because you have never felt something so emotional before. In that case, you should call it "so emotional I cannot take it!"

Yeah, indeed, it's a very emotional episode this week, especially the end. When I saw Yukiatsu grab Jinta's shirt, I was like thinking "Come on, Jinta! Punch him back, man. Show him that Menma's the real deal! Be more aggressive!"

I hope Menma does more things so as to further prove her existence

From the start, I'm always convinced Menma's a ghost and not a hallucination, and all along, she is

SoFarGone · 2011-06-03, 02:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master Chibi

No.

Funny = haha I'm laughing.

Sad = Boo hoo I'm crying.

Explain it better.

funny feeling as in bad vibes, strange, etc. Something like that. Thats just how I felt after watching the episode. I didn't feel sad but felt weird.

Valin · 2011-06-03, 02:15

Amazing episode. This anime is quickly rising its way to my top picks of all time.

View Poll Results: AnoHana - Episode 8 Rating
Perfect 10	86	72.27%
9 out of 10 : Excellent	15	12.61%
8 out of 10 : Very Good	10	8.40%
7 out of 10 : Good	5	4.20%
6 out of 10 : Average	1	0.84%
5 out of 10 : Below Average	1	0.84%
4 out of 10 : Poor	0	0%
3 out of 10 : Bad	0	0%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad	0	0%
1 out of 10 : Painful	1	0.84%
Voters: 119. You may not vote on this poll

2011-06-02, 22:32	Link #21
wandering-dreamer reads too much Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: you know that's a great question.....	I think it makes perfect sense for this to be the first time Menma has shown herself to the rest of the group, she's been out of the loop for a few episodes so she didn't know how strained the group was becoming and how much pressure they were putting on Jintan. And as soon as she did know she did something about it, plus it was shown in the previous episode that other people could see Menma moving things. As for Menmama, geeze, are there no therapists in this town? She's still grieving and it seems like to the point where it creeps out her husband and son (and kind of neglects him, I felt really sorry for that kid) and that really doesn't seem healthy. I wonder if she was the one who convinced her husband not to let the kids have the rocket (as opposed to Menma's dad not trusting high school kids with really powerful rockets, I mean, you saw that plan they came up with as elementary kids ). __________________ If it has a plot I have something to say about it! Twitter time!

2011-06-02, 22:47	Link #23
Kaoru Chujo Yuuki Aoi Join Date: Jul 2004	The emotional tension and unease was horrible and wonderful. Great job by Tomacchan in the confession scene. Powerful cliffhanger: show you the physical event, but leave peoples' reactions to next week. Nasty. I didn't feel the "hatred" from Irena that Anaru did. Just despair and envy and "why her and not one of them?" Seems highly understandable. The kids didn't have the wherewithal to keep talking with her and explain that they really felt guilty and still loved Menma. Her lines could have been delivered in a more hateful way than they were, or perhaps it was me drawing the wrong conclusion from the seiyuu's tone of voice. Oura Fuyuka is a good voice actress: recently Otake in Five Leaves and Kifa in Legendary Heroes. __________________ YUUKI Aoi 悠木碧. b92.03.27 (age 29). 2008 Kurenai (Murasaki). 2009 Yumeiro Pâtissière (Ichigo), Kiruminzuu (Riko), Yutori-chan (Yutori-chan). 2010 Vampire Bund (Mina Tepeş), Shiki (Sunako), Samurai Girls (Juubee), Pokémon: Black and White (Iris). 2011 Madoka Magica (Madoka), Gosick (Victorique), A-Channel (Tooru). 2012 Symphogear (Hibiki). 2014 Pilot's Love Song (Claire/Nina), Nanatsu no Taizai (Diane). 2015 Owari no Seraph (Krul Tepes), Rokka no Yuusha (Fremy). 2016 Boku no Hero Academia (Tsuyu, Froppy). 2017 Kino no Tabi (Kino). 2021 Kumo desu ga (watashi), Kaizoku Oujo (Karin), Heike Monogatari (Biwa), etc., etc. Total of 513 roles in anime and games.

2011-06-02, 23:05	Link #24
Triple_R Senior Member Author Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Age: 42	9/10 for this exciting episode eight. Spoiler for Anohana Episode 8 thoughts: I'm surprised - not pleasantly, or unpleasantly, just surprised - that Okada chose to address the nature of Jinta's Menma so conclusively in this episode, even to the other Super Peace Busters. It's a bold move, particularly with 3 episodes to go, and I appreciate Okada having the courage to make it. Menma's timing in that moment was excellent, as without her demonstrating her presence as she did, there's little doubt that most (if not all) of the rest of the Super Peace Busters would turn on Jinta. Menma has shown considerable character growth in this episode and the last. I felt that there was very good drama and plot build-up in this episode. While watching, I had that tangible sense that things were coming to a head, and that the anime was carefully and methodically building up towards both a good episode climax, as well as a climax for the anime's story as a whole. It's not often I see this level of very tight plot pacing and shrewdly applied dramatic buildup, and so I have to commend Okada for her work here. I am really hoping for Jinta and Anaru to end up together now. I think that's what Anaru wants, and I think that such a relationship would signify that Jinta is moving on in life. __________________

2011-06-03, 00:10	Link #31
Master Chibi .: A bad doggy :. Join Date: Jun 2007	I haven't been this emotionally drawn into a show in a very, VERY long while, and this episode just solidified what an amazing job this series is doing. I clutched my damn shirt during Anaru's confession scene, Menma's mother's breakdown was so saddening, and the group turning on Yadomi only to be proven wrong in the last few moments had me turn on the fan just to stuff it in my face to get some air after all that. God damn. __________________ ~*Hai! Back to Japan! Updated once a week - http://pishi.wordpress.com/ Last updated - 5/30/10 - Random Manga Roulette!

2011-06-02, 23:13	Link #25
hero147 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008	All I can say or think about is: Wow, I'm utterly speechless. I think my heart skipped a beat, approaching the end of the episode because I was so emotionally drawn into it.

2011-06-02, 23:23	Link #26
Johnny Working the bags... Join Date: Mar 2009	Would have liked to seen Jinta turn that situation around and slam Yukiatsu into the wall. Then voice what he was agonizing over earlier that he doesn't think it's fair that he can only see Menma either... On a lighter note. Since she can interact with physical things why not dump flower or some kind of substance that will give her shape, or would that probably really creep the others out too much...?

2011-06-02, 23:30	Link #28
deadite Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010	Another tidbit is how it seems that Menma did not cry one bit when the group was in turmoil.

2011-06-03, 00:12	Link #32
SoFarGone H.A.M. Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: somewhere on this planet	I personally didn't shed a tear instead I found it kinda funny. The last scene was the best.

2011-06-03, 00:53	Link #34
mpt37 Senior Member Join Date: May 2007	I've always liked Haruka Tomatsu's voice and she has done a great job throughout the series but her performance during the confession scene was really something. Definitely one of the highlights of the series so far for me. Nice to see the group finally got some proof that Menma's really there and Jintan hasn't gone mad. __________________

2011-06-03, 02:15	Link #40
Valin Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Irvine, California	Amazing episode. This anime is quickly rising its way to my top picks of all time.