I'm actually kind of shocked after reading these discussions how many people don't like the show.

Nov 29, 2018 8:22 AM

Offline

Dec 2012

I'm just amazed how many people hate this show or just don't like it. I'm trying to understand how other people deal with loss at any time in their lives. By looking at some of these posts on this anime, i'm assuming a lot of people either deal with loss very well or haven't experienced loss at all.

The "overly melodramatic" posts are a bit annoying. I'm trying to understand a well why you would watch a show that is pretty much about getting over loss and expect it to be any different?

Dec 2, 2018 4:47 PM

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564612

GrayxFullbuster said:
I'm just amazed how many people hate this show or just don't like it. I'm trying to understand how other people deal with loss at any time in their lives. By looking at some of these posts on this anime, i'm assuming a lot of people either deal with loss very well or haven't experienced loss at all.

The "overly melodramatic" posts are a bit annoying. I'm trying to understand a well why you would watch a show that is pretty much about getting over loss and expect it to be any different?

It handles its themes poorly. Yukiatsu's crossdressing is brought up as if it's the most important thing in the show and then forgotten just as fast. The whole show is a plothole in that Menma could have revealed herself to the cast in the beginning but only did it near the end because the plot demanded it. Menma isn't characterized much beyond being moe and caring about her mother( which isn't shown in even one flashback). The characters feel artificial because they're all uniform in motivations. These characters have lived the past 10 years without Menma and have definitely gone their own paths yet their diverging paths are not explored at all because everything comes back to Menma. Loss does affect one's life a lot but a childhood friend dying when one is 6 being the sole and only factor in one's adolescent development is unrealistic.

Even if I'm supposed to buy that Menma dying when they were 6 was the sole factor of change for the past ten years, then the depressive feelings should be ingrained into these character's psyche, taking years to cope with through intensive psychiatric care. Yet, everything is resolved lazily in one group therapy session. They all cry and they laugh and then it's over. There's also Anju's stereotypically bitchy friends that aren't explored at all. No answers are given about how Anju ended up with those two because the show isn't about the individual characters and their various struggles outside of Menma. Everything is Menma and Menma is everything. Nothing else mattered in the past 10 years. Also, the Poppo guy had no effect on the plot until a total asspull and weak justification for his existence at the end. Pointless character that broke the tone the show was going for constantly.

Probably the worst thing this show does is give very little time to the childhood selves of the main cast. They're not characterized beyond a few lines, so instead they feel like hollow shells meant for the viewer to self insert their past selves instead of real characters shaken by what they had just experienced. If the show doesn't make an effort to make me care about their childhood selves and the trauma they just witnessed, then how can the show expect me to empathize with the trauma the characters feel ten years after the event?

I honestly believe that the show would have benefitted so much by the character's ages increased by 8-9 years. Them being young adults in the present would have made their their situations more realistic and mature, and therefore their trauma to be easier to empathize with. Similarily, them being 13-14 in the past would have fleshed out the immediate trauma better through a more psychological means instead of brief glimpses of 6 year olds crying.

Also, I take offense to your assumation. I have dealt with loss before but the difference is I didn't cope with it through grand symbolic gestures that mean nothing in the real world or through teenage romantic drama. In fact, I didn't give a shit about girls because it hurt so much. Also, the person in question wasn't some one dimensional amnesiac loli ghost. Speaking of which, Jintan chooses this dead loli ghost over the flesh and blood real girl Anju, and the show never addresses the problems of that because it's treated as a legitimate option, just like how somehow crying puts the dead at peace. That's the solution folks. Anyone who has survivor's guilt, all you have to do is cry over the person who died and everything will be completely fine and resolved.

In conclusion, it's a show that tackles a mature topic in a childish way. (Almost) All of it can be justified with " They're hormonal teenagers so the nonsense in the show makes sense because they're unpredictable" but that doesn't work for me.

Dec 3, 2018 7:53 AM

Sagnik1004

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Aug 2016

it did drama well for the first 2 or 3 eps only. Then it got absurdly melodramatic in an unrealistic way. The anime had a lot of potential but it failed to live up to it. Yukiatsu's whole arc was stupid as hell. Several parts were cringe-worthy, for e.g. the scene where the MC stands up for that orange haired girl being wrongly accused of prostitution. The whole problem could have been made simpler if they just had Menma pick up a ball in front of Yukiatsu and co to make them believe she existed but they made the characters lack common sense to create more melodrama. The girl with glasses was pretty unlikable and generic. Menma was trying a bit too hard to be cutesy to the point of becoming annoying. The plot in general wasn't written in the best possible manner. That being said the last 2 eps made up partially for the shortcomings for me and ended in a serviceable way. The scene in front of the temple were the characters admit how flawed they are, and are bit of douchebags was done pretty well and redeemed the show for me.

Feb 18, 2019 9:30 AM

Dante012

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May 2018

342

I liked Anohana. But let's be real, it was overdramatic. First, most of the romance they added was utterly useless and only put the theme of grief aside. Also, many reactions felt just... not believable at all.
Remember how Yadomi's dad tells him Menma died? He comes in the room slamming the door and shouts "YADOMI! MENMA IS DEAD!". Did he never hear of the word "tact"...?
The same for the cross-dressing part. It felt just... retarded. Sorry but I have no other word for it. Now don't get me wrong, maybe some people do grief this way. But I highly doubt it. At least it definitely ruined the seriousness of the situation.

The rocket launch though, that was totally believable. Making a ritual to say goodbye, there's nothing more natural. It's a shame it took them 6 f*cking episodes to launch it...

Now, I don't agree with those who say they didn't handle the theme well. As far as grieving goes, they definitely nailed it. They made a point to show how each and everyone has a different way to get over it. There's nothing more stupid and egocentric than saying "I don't grief this way, so this is a wrong way to do it."

But Anohana does have many flaws. The story is poorly written and the visuals aren't great. But it was emotional and deep regardless, and since that was the point of the show, I definitely wouldn't say it was bad.

Everything changes. Even the happy and funny things eventually disappear. How can I still enjoy this place then?
- Furukawa Nagisa (Clannad)

You have to make a choice. Either you give up on your soul for the sake of science, or you give up on science to save your soul. In my case, the soul was already in pieces.
- Lloyd Asplund (Code Geass)

Do you understand the meaning behind Nunnaly's smile? She can't see or walk. So there are things in this world that she knows she can't do alone. Her smile... is her only way to show gratitude.
- Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass)

Death is part of Life.
- ... Me.

Mar 3, 2019 11:49 PM

goko-

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Oct 2018

514

i just watched this show and holy crap I was so close to crying. it did have a couple of plot holes throughout the 11 episodes but personally I don't always look at shows from a critics point of view, I just enjoy what's enjoyable and I loved this show.

Mar 11, 2019 10:28 AM

HaarWyvern

Offline

Mar 2012

755

It's one of the most stupid casting ever.
The only one with some semblance of brain is the fat one.
And Menma is one of the characters that I hate de most ever.

+ Overdrama and a not really interresting story.
It's one of the worst SoL that I've ever seen, despite good visual/OST.

Apr 14, 2019 2:49 AM

GreatAide

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Jun 2017

1249

I wonder if the show would be as popular if the characters weren’t wailing half the time

“Also, I take offense to your assumation” - HungryForQuality

haha boooohoooo 😭😭😭😭

Apr 15, 2019 11:27 AM

Raycee

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Jul 2013

391

Don't confuse majority with vocal minority.

Apr 15, 2019 11:51 AM

TsukuyomiREKT

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May 2015

5397

HaarWyvern said:
It's one of the most stupid casting ever.
The only one with some semblance of brain is the fat one.
And Menma is one of the characters that I hate de most ever.

+ Overdrama and a not really interresting story.
It's one of the worst SoL that I've ever seen, despite good visual/OST.

Holy shit that's an overreaction.

TsukuyomiREKTApr 15, 2019 11:56 AM

May 1, 2019 6:53 PM

#10

Stripes

otp haver 🤪

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Jul 2017

6386

The score is a 8+ obviously people cried over this because it's has all the "sympathy" motifs.

As for me I don't know how you can feel bad for these characters when none of them are very likable. Menma (and maybe MAYBE Jinta) aside she's really the only selfless one. Their childhood is very glorified when it's pretty basic and not worth all the fuss of this story line. And aside from Jinta and Menma, the pentagon of crushes collapses on itself pretty early on and it's like A HUGE I'd say 1/3 if not almost half these characters emotions. So I'm suppose to go along caring about petty teenagers who have barely any redeeming qualities who basically just feel bad about themselves. They all really have no purpose, no goals, no personalities. I'd say except for Tetsu who was probably the most effected by Menma death aside from Jinta in a way that wasn't romantic.

Think people just like feeling sorry for characters who cry but it ain't meeee.

May 20, 2019 11:47 PM

#11

GreatAide

Offline

Jun 2017

1249

Stripes said:
The score is a 8+ obviously people cried over this because it's has all the "sympathy" motifs.

As for me I don't know how you can feel bad for these characters when none of them are very likable. Menma (and maybe MAYBE Jinta) aside she's really the only selfless one. Their childhood is very glorified when it's pretty basic and not worth all the fuss of this story line. And aside from Jinta and Menma, the pentagon of crushes collapses on itself pretty early on and it's like A HUGE I'd say 1/3 if not almost half these characters emotions. So I'm suppose to go along caring about petty teenagers who have barely any redeeming qualities who basically just feel bad about themselves. They all really have no purpose, no goals, no personalities. I'd say except for Tetsu who was probably the most effected by Menma death aside from Jinta in a way that wasn't romantic.

Think people just like feeling sorry for characters who cry but it ain't meeee.

uh, what this guy said

May 26, 2019 12:41 AM

#12

Greyleaf

Offline

Jan 2018

1896

I love the show. I'm usually fairly critical towards most series, but as someone who lost a friend when I was young, I refuse to over-analyze Ano Hana. It holds a special place in my heart for even existing to begin with, and I feel like those who hated the series would've felt differently if they had lived through that kind of tragedy themselves. Then again, some will be overly critical no matter what, so to each their own.

"I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the
people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited."
― Jorge Luis Borges

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I'm actually kind of shocked after reading these discussions how many people don't like the show.

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