afreakingdork

“ Jinta Yadomi is peacefully living as a recluse, spending his days away from school and playing video games at home instead. One hot summer day, his childhood friend, Meiko “Menma” Honma, appears and pesters him to grant a forgotten wish. He pays her no mind, which annoys her, but he doesn’t really care. After all, Menma already died years ago.

At first, Jinta thinks that he is merely hallucinating due to the summer heat, but he is later on convinced that what he sees truly is the ghost of Menma. Jinta and his group of childhood friends grew apart after her untimely death, but they are drawn together once more as they try to lay Menma’s spirit to rest. Re-living their pain and guilt, will they be able to find the strength to help not only Menma move on—but themselves as well? “

A series I have spent years putting off watching. All I ever knew about it was it was supposedly heartwarming? After watching it I would agree with that sentiment. Overall I guess I just wasn’t that impressed with the story and while that might vilify me, there were just some glaring issues that bugged me but let’s save that for… 

Criticism:

• Ugh perv pandering… Right out the gate too… So much, It’s killing me I am so over it. Menma is nothing but loli bait while Anaru fills in the busty high school trope. They even put both characters in endless positions to show off their bodies. Disgusting and distracting to the story you are trying to tell
• Small pet peeve, but this drives me crazy. Just x-ray visioning through the glasses? How about maybe you draw her in a different shot so that you don’t have to do something so dumb???

• The pacing of this show isn’t really jarring, it’s flat out confusing. I mean it pulled a tear out of me in the end, but what the characters were feeling at any given time could be a complete mystery and then they would react in a way that was completely outside of how they acted before. 
• Yukiatsu’s whole cross-dressing as Menma thing makes zero sense. So much so that the show even makes a note to point it out. Why even do it then?
• While I guess the show does come to an emotional helm, it just feels like the first 10 episodes were just wasting time. It didn’t feel like the characters earned their emotional climax. I realize that that was partially due to the fact that they were supposedly ‘stuck’ in the past, but the show does a poor job of really even showing that. It keeps telling the audience that these characters are the same as when they were kids without actually showing it. The only clip as children we see over and over is the day Menma passed and we really only get to see about 5 minutes of it tops. If you want to watch a better show about the loss of a loved one just watch My Roommate is a Cat… 
• Also while we know ultimately WHAT happened to Menma, they really don’t actually give the how. Poppo even admits he saw ‘it’ happen and never elaborates. 
• The show gets Hamtaro but not Pokemon?

• Also the opening and ending credits both spoil Tsuruko’s haircut so it really kills any emotional impact that could have had… 
• Menma’s promise to Jintan’s mother comes out of left field. You only find out the kids visited his mother in the hospital about half way through and you don’t find out that Menma visited her alone until those last two episodes. It’s almost like they didn’t know what Menma’s wish was and they had to shoehorn something in. 
• This shirt 

• ALSO WHAT FLOWER!? THAT YOU SAW WHEN!?!??! THERE WERE NEVER ANY FLOWERS!! THE ONLY FLOWER I CAN KIND OF SEE IS THE WAY MENMA ARRANGED THE LETTERS AT THE END!? BUT EVEN THEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE WAY THEY SMELL AND SHIT LIKE IT WAS NOTEBOOK PAPER WHAT THE FUCK FLOWERS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE SHOW WAS NAMED AFTER NOTHING?!!?!?!?
• ALSO ALSO WHATS UP WITH THE HIDE AND SEEK THING!?!? THAT NEVER HAS ANY BUILDUP AND HAPPENS FOR NO FUCKING REASON!? HOW THE FUCK DO JAPANESE KIDS PLAY HIDE AND SEEK!? WHY DO THEY SHOUT ARE YOU READY WHILE THEY ARE LOOKING!? THAT CAN’T BE NORMAL RIGHT!?!?!?!?!??
• Also also also Jintan never really did deal with his mother’s death…

Positives:

• Even though he basically means nothing to the show, I really like Jintan’s dad. I like that he was effeminate and just trying his best to support his son from the sidelines without directly interfering. It might not have been the best parenting choice, but at least his character makes sense. 
• I appreciate (though am confused) as to why almost everyone reacts positively to Jintan’s ability to see Menma. Is it more common in Japan to be visited by ghosts? Is this one of those adolescent syndrome symptoms?
• While I’m still pissed it took Jintan 11 fucking episodes to say he loved Menma, I do appreciate that a protagonist is willing to stick his neck out for a girl when she is getting bullied (Anaru)… 

Verdict:

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