AnoHana - Spoilers & Speculation
 

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Time for some mass hyspeculah. Today - why I believe the "fake" Menma is Yukiatsu in disguise.

I am immediately suspicious of Yukiatsu, seemingly the most down-to-earth one of the group, to so readily and calmly claim he too has seen Menma's ghost. When Yukiatsu received a text from Poppo - the one who initally claims to have seen Menma's ghost - he didn't seem surprised at all. Instead, Yukiatsu smiles. We know Yukiatsu had a crush on Menma and hasn't quite gotten over her death. Yukiatsu has Menma's sundress in his closet - while not the right size, it leaves open the possibility of Yukiatsu crossdressing.

Well that not impossible. Though I'm more thinking he's upset about Jintan claiming to be able to see Menma, so he just claimed he could as well...

I'm inclined to agree with you, Sageblink. He seems oddly competitive...

Not only he claimed that, but also said he saw her just a few moments before, right there beyond the bushes.
Someone said he did this to get the others away and stay alone with Jinta (for a confrontation of sort?), however Tsuruko doesn't move. The persons who went looking for Menma are... Menma, Anaru an Poppo.

Anyway I'm more for the red herring option, do not trust the very blatant hints because they may be there just to confuse you.

That is one of the reasons why I initially thought Menma was just a figment of Jinta's imagination. That whole Anaru-feeling-weight in ep 1 just screamed itself as a 'diversion' tactic to make you think Menma had some level of presence. Despite the solid counter-arguments, I still feel that Menma is imaginary and that Jinta has, as someone eloquently put it, "Fight Club syndrome".

Certainly, Poppo turning his head at JUST the right time in ep 2 so Menma could "eat" the meat was also too much of a coincidence. I can only imagine Jinta imagining that she 'ate' the meat.

What about the glass that she accidentally dropped to the floor, when she went to visit her own family? Would that have been Jinta, as well?

There's been way too many scenes of Menma being away from Jinta and being around other people for this to be a Fight Club type thing. And obviously Menma isn't Jinta imaging himself to be her in those situations either...

Sad but true. I would certainly prefer if Menma was more likely a figment of a deeper psychosis for Jintan, but there are too many scenes of Menma separated from Jinta to really validate the theory. That is not to say that I strictly support the ghost theory (I'm hoping Jintan's the next stage of human evolution, and Menma is a thought construct of his that he can project to interact with the world...:); or maybe she is simply the spirit of the group’s friendship; etc), but that is the more likely theory currently. Hopefully we will learn more about Menma's death, and consequently more about the possibility of her being a ghost, in Episode 4.

Why would it be so bad if Menma was actually a ghost? Would it automatically detract from the enjoyment of the story (and therefore, the show), for some people? No, really, I honestly want to know.

To me, if she isn't Menma/her spirit, i'll be disappointed. :p

It's the difference between Jintan seeking to "cure" his "trauma" by literally forcing himself to change (by constructing a mental projection that can help him to realize and change his own faults), or Jintan being forced to change by outside help/interference (in this case, supernatural help). Both options are acceptable and interesting stories (with different themes and ideas), but Jintan seeking his own "cure" is certainly more dramatic (and potentially more interesting), than receiving help from an outside (supernatural) source. In the end, the results maybe the same, but the journey is very different.

(Then again, maybe my love for such films as Truly, Madly, Deeply is making my opinion slightly biased :).)

Well, as far as I'm concerned the red herring theory is only for Yukiatsu for now, ie I'm cautious before buying the many hints provided, I'd rather lean towards Tsuruko for that matter.

About Menma, I've seen enough that convinces me she's not just Jinta's imagination (specific scenes have been mentioned above). A theory about Menma I posted in the main thread was that she might be some kind of poltergeist, a ghost of a person who died with an unfulfilled wish. For this reason the spirit comes back into the world of the livings, and will leave once and only once his/her wish will be fulfilled.

It could be that. :D

However, I seem to remember that movie being rather "up-to-the-viewer" in terms of the interpretation of events, no?

And Alan Rickman is always a winning recipe for me.

Exactly. I would have simply preferred the mystery...unless this is intentional on the part of the creator for something more grandiose later in the series.

Here Here :).

I'll just ask the most obvious question:

Why won't Jinta just prove Menma's (ethereal) existence? Wouldn't that be the easiest way to solve everything? Have her bake those muffins right in front of everyone.

That'll make everything boring and it's still very early. The drama would nosedive if that happened.

Do they necessarily see and feel what Jinta sees and feels? When Menma hung onto Poppo's back, you would think he would notice the weight of a person weighing him down.

Currently a shit storm over Anaru doing enjou kyousai in the preview for episode 5.

First few messages were hilarious!



One step closer to my bad end :heh: