Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai 02

(aka We Still Don`t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day)

As a fan of noitaminA, I spotted this baby out of the other crap scheduled to be airing during the Japanese Spring season. It had promise written all over it. A six-person ensemble cast. Coming-of-age drama. Warm scenery. Best of all, no robots or aliens :D

It starts off with Jin-tan who is a socially withdrawn boy who starts "hallucinating" Menma, a childhood friend who supposedly died when they were kids.

She suddenly appears because she wants her 'wish' to be fulfilled, and in doing so, the Super Peace Busters who had drifted apart since that day, are once again reunited.

By episode 2 I was reeled in. First of all, the opening sequence is very cute. I don't know why i didn't notice until now.

L-R: Poppo, Anaru, Jin-tan, Menma, Yukiatsu, Tsuruko.

                           

Secondly, a bit of the love polygon is revealed (oooo). A good indication of lots of juicy dramatic goodness to come!
So we know Anaru had a thing for Jin-tan in the past and obviously still does. Menma liked Jin-tan when she was still alive and vice versa, but Jin-tan being a stupid little boy refused to acknowledge it. Yukiatsu also seems to have had a thing for Menma, but it's speculation at this point.

In this episode we find out that Poppo is now fat, has hair and has unfortunately has lost his boyish cuteness. But he's very jolly and optimistic and likes to travel, so he gets points for that. He's ready to believe that Menma wants her wish fulfilled so he joins Jin-tan in the quest to go to Anaru's house to play Nokemon (Yes, very subtle). We also find out that Tsuruko is a bitch...some character development needs to be in order.

Jin-tan successfully catches Poison. YAY!
Realisation of skin-to-skin contact...awkward.

Playing Nokemon is obviously not Menma's wish, but she's happy to see Jin-tan slowly emerging from his socially retarded shell. And agreeably so..I have a feeling that her wish being fulfilled will signify the end of the series.

I have just one teensy little complaint about this series. Is there REALLY a need for fanservice??? I was getting a real good Hachimitsu to Clover vibe until this shit happened.


For God's sake someone put some clothes on that Loli!