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OH-MY!!!!!!!! This is a must see episode!!!

I really feel bad for Anjou i really like her but Menma is just way cuter :D still it was a very bad move Jintan...

I think that by the end when Menma crosses over Jinta will make up with Anjou, I bet Menma will help in that big time.

I'm surprised she didn't try to do something sooner to have them acknowledge her existence.

Well, were betting on the same thing happening then. (and hoping in my case)

FINALLY!
I've been waiting since the first episode for Menma to do this!

To make me suddenly cry on the end on the episode is something I have to say remarkable...

I agree that Menma should of done this episodes ago but I can see why the needed to wait until later in the series to do it. Is she gonna communicate via writing stuff down now?

Also I liked the part with Menma's brother. In fiction I've always seen scenarios with parents who push the surviving child to be more like the dead one (and sometimes become the dead one) but not when they don't seem to care too much.

I predict they'll all see her in the last episode before she moves on. Also I think Jintan's mom is behind Menma's return.

Yukiatsu flipped out. can't say I blame him there. that could have easily had a more creepy feel. I think they were just humoring him before based on memories but at the end you could see their disbelief that Menma was really there and why they couldn't see her. the happy music when everyone realizes a ghost really is there felt a bit off.

kinda feel bad for her brother, not just looking his sister but pretty much his mother too and she's lost it and the father never seems to be around. the mother looked like she was going to hurt Tsuruko.

Jintan was kind of a jerk to Anjou. she kind of confessed and he almost ignores her. it's not like he has a chance with a ghost anyway. I mean she could cook somehow!

the phone calls and the diary were good ideas by Menma, why didn't her or Jintan try that out earlier? now maybe we can have some progress if everyone believes.

I'm probably the only person that doesn't like the Jintan x Anaru shipping, aren't I?
I don't know why, but I'm not very fond of Anaru.. ):
And if they end up together in the end, it'd just kill the entire series for me and I'd feel like slapping everybody around me. >____<

Is it wrong of me to hope that Jintan would die and go with Menma? ROFLROFL.

The episode was good though, Jintan's crying was so saddening.. and Menma cheering him up was the sweetest thing ever!

I wonder what Jintan was going to do at the secret base in the first place? I think he was going reply to Anjou's confession but the other people ruined it -_-

No you are not the only one but I am hoping for more if anything mind screw up is that Anjou does a double suicide with him or Jintan commits suicide due to Anjou. Now how many people will be "OMG D: " and "Oh no! O_O" ?Thank you! I did not have the guts to say that but Jinta was a fucking shit ass jerk now that I feel I could share same feelings as you. Anjou confessing and making her cry double tear streams, Jintan you make girl cry bro and I want to smack you is that I though but the emotional wreck prevented me from it.

Ok where to start.

Scene One: Menmom.

You knew this meeting was going to be ugly from the start when in the previous episode she called their plans "foolish". She blew my expectations right out of the water. I thought people were going a bit overboard that she might be psycho, just like some were speculating Yukietsu murdered Menma. But damn she was full on nuts. She let out her vitriol at the group and damn Tsurumi had to pay the price. It's not uncommon for people to shift their sadness into hatred. Especially to those who survived when their loved one didn't. Grief does powerful things to even the noblest of individuals. Menmom really let them have it. Thankfully, the brother shows up to break up the creepy vibe and give them an exit strategy.

Scene Two: Post Menmom/Shrine.

You knew it was coming. Yukietsu didn't waste any time. The going got tough and he turned on Yadomi. Not that Yukietsu was fully into it in the first place. Tsurumi would follow Yukietsu so you know they were done. Yukietsu was way out of line about Jinta pushing his pain on others. To be honest, it was Poppo who really started the whole Menma's wish thing, not Yadomi. But Yukietsu's hatred of Jinta was totally overlooking that fact. I also think Yukietsu was projecting again as Anjou mentions right after.

Scene Three: Secret Base #1.

Yadomi goes deep into a funk, because of Yukietsu, which was a given. I'm not sure why he'd brush off Poppo and Anjou like that. Poppo has always been on his side helping him. Even if that help put the target on his back, Yadomi should have at least been somewhat better about it. But his whole "there is no WE, since Menma died" speech pretty much told it all. This is where Yadomi finally says "fuck it" I'll go it alone.

I don't think he shut out Anjou and Poppo out of spite. I just think he was over-thinking Yukietsu's BS about "hurting others" and wanted to spare them from being involved any further.

Scene Four: Store Front and Office Room.

Yadomi double shifting is catching up to him and Anjou notices. Anjou mentally notes that his working himself hard must equate to his love for Menma. You can start to see that jealousy of hers is still tied to everything she thinks about in regards to Yadomi, the wish, and Menma. Her suggesting to Yadomi to heed Yukietsu's advice and stop pursuing the wish a few times also seems to promote a sense of jealousy. It's like saying "stop looking at her, and please look at me."

Jinta then passes out. TBH, if he was sitting on top of a ladder, i thought the fall would have been more severe.

Yadomi comes to after some nursing from Anjou. It's here that things explode between the two. Anjou again pleads for him to stop. I do think it's a genuine concern for his well being. Yadomi begins to storm off and Anjou lets it all out. Her jealousy, her guilt, her feelings towards him all come out in one tearful tirade. Yadomi just goes silent and walks out. One thing that annoys me about him is his inability to comfort anyone. He just stands there with a stupid look on his face as usual and makes mental notes.

Anjou is hurt and then shouts that if "he loves Menma that much why are is he fulfilling her wish. It will only make her disappear." Anjou being so upset and envious doesn't understand that until Yadomi does this, there can't be any meaningful relationship between them. It's like dating someone who still is tied to their EX in some way. Until they've emotionally moved on, your stuck in limbo with them.

Yadomi pretty much hears "I don't believe you" out of that whole thing. I could understand him being upset at that moment. But damn, that ended rather ugly.

Jintan hears it all and continues on. and Anjou breaks down crying.

I love Anjou even with her jealous behavior. She's a girl who deeply cares about someone and sometimes emotions get the better of you. I sure hope things pan out for them two. But I got the feeling they will just be friends in the end. Jintan hasn't shown any desire towards Anjou whatsoever. He only seems to act towards her as a caring friend. His walking away like that might be the poison pill that kills Anjou's crush on him for good.

Scene Five: Yadomi's Place.

Menma is being her usual silly self while Yadomi starts pondering what Anjou said about him losing her if he fulfills Menma's wish. Him breaking down crying seemed so awkward to me. Was that thought so painful to him it made him feel that way?! was it because of Anjou?! was it just emotional breakdown of feeling helplessly alone in the situation?! It just really didn't seem conveyed in his narrative thoughts to make him break down like that. I get the feeling that the animators wanted it to be the thought of losing Menma again made him break down and cry. If that's true, kiss the Anjou ship possibilities goodbye.

He then tried to blame it on some stupid story/show and just starts balling. Menma sees Jinta's mother again and she starts balling while consoling Jinta. It was just so awkward that I couldn't get into the scene at all. just strange.

Scene Six: Jinta's Dream

Yeah pretty much. It sure sucks that no one can see her but Jinta. It sure would be easier on everyone if they could. Hell, Menmom is an nutcase. If anyone should be hallucinating Menma, it would be her.

Scene Seven: Visiting Grave with Dad.

I'm not sure why Jinta gets weirded out by those older ladies. They freak him out for some reason. Hell, if they give you dirty looks, tell them to "piss off."

Jinta's dad seems to be dealing with him carefully. I guess he's like the opposite of the "Asian dad." Almost like a Japanese Hippie. Dad knows what's going on. But I guess he feels it's best to let Jinta come to him when the time is right. I can see where Jinta gets his aloof disposition from.

Scene Eight: Paper shop

Menma finds Poppo and overhears the conversation either with Tsuruko or Anjou. It freaks her out and she runs off. she hears his last words "even if only jinta can see him" and she has a brainstorm.

This idea of hers was almost a disaster for Jinta thankfully it ended ok.

Scene Nine: Yukietsu's Hallway.

Tsuruko is freaked out by a cold call from Jinta's home number. Just then Yukietsu also gets a call from that number. Menma is on the warpath and it's stirring up a heap of shit on Jinta. Tsuruko had that freaking out feeling that it might be Menma. However, you know Yukietsu is going to go nuts after this cause he not going to believe it.


Scene Ten: Work Place Lockerroom.

Anjou blowing off work cause she's still upset about earlier. It would have been so much better if she was there. At least Jinta would have an immediate Alibi regarding the cold calls.

Scene Eleven: Menma's Brother.

Nice kid. My earlier impressions of him was that he was bratty and insensitive. But now I realize his barking at his mothers behavior from previous episodes was just him getting frustrated at being abandoned psychologically by his parents. He does have a few fond memories of his sister which was sweet.

At the end Jinta was about to say something and the scene ended. I get the feeling Jinta might be setting up something with either the dad or another meeting with the nutcase mom. There was definitely a purposeful intent with the editing there.

Scene Twelve: Secret Base #2

I must say this was one of the most intense moments in the series so far. Even more intense than the Crossdressing one.

I think Jinta was going to talk to Anjou alone and make peace with her. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. Everyone was there and they didn't look happy. They already had it in their head that Jinta was the one cold calling them. They were going to completely turn on him. Menma's plan was backfiring.

Yukietsu in his spiteful rage goes nuts on Jinta. His douchebaggery is getting to an unforgivable stage at this point. he cuts off Yadomi's explanations and gets enraged at him even mentioning Menma.

Menma appears and Yadomi mentions her. Yukietsu is completely off his rocker now. Tsuruko is totally siding with him and they're all turning on Jinta. It's at this point Menma had to do something or no one would ever talk to him ever again. Thankfully she pulls out the diary trick just in the nick of time.

Still, I'm not sure where it goes from here. the group is going to go 20 questions on Jinta and Menma. it's going to be really interesting to see where this plays out. They're definitely going to want answers if she's there with them and they know it. It might just turn into another heated session with people storming off.

Next Episode Screenshots:

It looks like Anjou and Jinta have a heart to heart. I hope they can patch things up. The reality is, with Menma still being there, until she's gone, they have no future. In the end I think they might never have one at all.

I'm not sure who's dropping tears. At first I thought it might be Tsuruko, but the quick succession of screenshots are of two totally different scenes.

Tsuruko must be bummed because now that Yukietsu thinks Menma is around, she's totally on the back-burner. She may be having feelings of guilt much like Anjou. I sure hope we get her back story and maybe even Poppos in the next episode. There's only 3 left now.

FFFFFFUUUUUUU I CRIED SO MUUUCH!!! T-T!!!!111!!!1!

Wow, that's one rather comprehensive post. Nicely done. Was thinking along the same lines on most of your points/observations, particularly the ones regarding Anaru x Jintan and Memna's brother.
Overall, a terrific, very emotional episode. We're in the homestretch and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

HOLY SHIT.

That is the only way to describe this episode. We get a confession, triple tears, and menma revealing her existance. Although i thought she was going to stop his fist or something the second time Yukiatsu picked him up.

Glad they didn't keep her secret anymore - everyone blew their final fuse at him at the end there before she wrote it.

About time Menma decided to communicate with them.

Anyways, wonderful episode, I couldn't imagine the makers doing a better episode than this.
Poor Anjou, I can't imagine the amount of guilt that she put on herself, especially being happy what Jintan said about Menma back then.
Loved the mom scene, it really showed a lot of emotion and what she's been going through ever since her daughter's death.
Last scene was really nice. The whole 'not believing Menma's alive' act and the diary really gave everyone a surprise. The message she wrote was nice as well.

GIVE US THE NEXT EPISODE NOW. :)

Oh how I long for an anime of this caliber. Not even Madoka filled the desire that lingered inside me. But this might just be the one. 10/10 for this episode, I really look forward to the grand finale, this might just make it up to my favourites.

Wow. The episode started out boring, I thought the show reached its limits, but then the ending changed everything. It was really awesome, it's been quite a while since I've been so excited for an anime.

I agree that Menma/Jintan could have come up with something like this sooner, but I suppose the whole anime would have lost its meaning then.

Indeed, HOLY SHIT...
This episode really got the show going. It had kinda slow pace lately. But this one really started it. Now we will see everyone's regrets towards Menma, so far we only knew Anaru's and Jintan's.
Best anime this season and the year so far, hands down. It made me vote just after 3 episodes and if it goes like that Id increase its score from 9 to 10 :D