[UTW] Ano Hana - 02 [720p]

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I really like characters like Naruko. Not just because she's hot and for whatever reason I find her bouncy pigtails extremely attractive. I always have a fondness (maybe sympathy) for characters who got burned emotionally, then try to kill their feelings off but are still the same no matter what they project. It's more than something so easy to classify as tsundere or kuudere, it's about the reason they became that way.

Naruko effects that rather well. She tried to see if Jinta liked Menma in that way, and got burned twice over for it. His reaction all but confirmed her fears, and then Menma's uncharacteristic reaction to his words somehow lead to her death. So she blames herself for Menma's death, and out of guilt or whatever, distanced herself from the rest of her friends, and tried to kill off her feelings for Jinta. Of course that doesn't really work, as we saw in the game store, when she visited him in the first episode, laying on her bed, and when he and Poppo came over to play PokeNokemon. Deep down, she still likes Jinta a great deal, and she hasn't really changed at all, no matter what kind of "sluts" she hangs out with or what person she pretends to be.

The other things I enjoyed greatly about this episode were the awards on the wall at Jinta's and Menma's reaction to Naruko. I might be interpreting those wrong, but it looks like Jinta was pretty smart, and would probably be a quick learner if he went back to school like Naruko wants. It sounds like he was also a shoe-in to get into the elite academy that Yukiatsu and Tsuruko attend, but failed and went to the reject school...and so did Naruko. Hmm...

Menma's reaction to Naruko was interesting as well. Usually in these ghost kind of series, they remain oblivious. Menma knows quite well that her presence (or mention since only Jinta can see her) causes Naruko to get sad. I think she knew back when they were kids as much as she knows now that Naruko loved Jinta, perhaps even more than Menma did. They were rivals, and I'm pretty sure both of them knew it. Menma is not nearly as air-headed, childish and dumb as she comes off. I think she was more mature than many of the others even when she was alive. Definitely a surprise for this kind of series.

Lastly...Yukiatsu, totally a creeper. I wonder exactly how much he knows about Menma's death.