Review of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don't Know the Name of The Flower We Saw That Day) is a powerful, well articulated tragedy about the difficulties of moving on after the loss of a loved one. In the beginning, we are presented with a cast who each suffer from an internal weakness and needs. These needs are not only psychological, but moral as well, as the actions they take in the first half of the show affect other people. The story takes place 10 years after the death of a girl named Menma. There are six childhood friends,and they have grown apart ever since Menma passed away. The "leader" of the group is Jinta (Jintan), and his life currently has no purpose. He spends all his time at home, playing video games and eating (hikikomori) and he is at the point of his life where he starts seeing Menma's spirit. However, when one of his past childhood friends (Anjou) visits him, he realizes that he is the only one who can see Menma's spirit. She tells him that she cannot pass into the afterlife until her wish is fulfilled, however, Menma is not sure of what that wish is, so Jinta gathers the group together believing that they are the key to granting Menma's wish. When they are brought together due to the re-appearance of Menma as a ghost, they hurt each other due to their own romantic selfishness, jumbled together in a very messy love polygon.