Line #130 Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay


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8	When a loved one dies -- be it a friend, a classmate, a significant other, or a family member -- it strikes a chord. Things change. Close friends drift apart. Some move on, and some stay firmly rooted in the past.
9
10	The latter is what happens to Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi, a high school-aged {{Hikikomori}}. After the death of Meiko "Menma" Honma, Jintan and their four other friends -- Naruko "Anaru" Anjo, Atsumu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki, Chiriko "Tsuruko" Tsurumi, and Tetsudo "Poppo" Hisakawa -- begin to lose touch with each other and move on with their lives. Five years later, Menma's ghost pays him a visit, asking him to help her fulfill a wish. Just what that wish is, she doesn't completely remember, but getting the old gang back together is a start.
11
12	''Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day'' (known in Japan as ''Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai.'', literally "We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day.") is a 2011 AnimeFirst series shown on Creator/{{Noitamina}} and produced by Creator/A1Pictures. It has been licensed for North American release by [[Creator/{{Nippon Ichi}} NIS America]] in July 2012. There's also a movie of the same name licensed by Creator/AniplexUSA which retells the story one year later, which premiered on August 2013.
13
14	Creator/AniplexUSA announced at Sakura-Con 2017 that they have license rescued the TV series, and it is receiving an English dub via Creator/BangZoomEntertainment with Creator/PatrickSeitz as the ADR Director.
15
16	A special 10th anniversary anime project has been announced for August 2021, likely as a connection to the ending song. It features updated character designs of the cast as adults drawn by the official character designer and chief animation director. More information can be found on [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2021-03-29/anohana-anime-reveals-10th-anniversary-project-with-image-of-characters-10-years-later/.171265 Anime News Network]].
17
18	Viewers in the US may watch this show legally on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anohana-the-flower-we-saw-that-day Crunchyroll]] and [[https://www.netflix.com/title/80075178 Netflix]].
19
20	----
21	!!''Ano-Hana'' provides examples of:
22
23	* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: In the movie, [[spoiler:Anaru tries a couple times to confess to Jintan that she still has feelings for him, but ultimately decides against it. Instead, she writes it in her letter to Menma, satisfied that she will one day be ready to tell Jintan]].
24	* TheAce: Yukiatsu. However, he begrudgingly acknowledges that even now [[MagneticHero Jintan has a certain persuasive charisma]].
25	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Tsuruko has a crush on Yukiatsu, but he is obsessed with Menma and later considers Anaru to be his ReplacementGoldfish. Anaru is in love with Jintan, but the latter is also obsessed with Menma. Menma does like Jintan back, but due to her being deceased, she cannot be with him. The only one among the gang who doesn't seem to be part of the romantic loop is Poppo, but being TheBigGuy, it is likely that he will get the short end of the stick. [[spoiler:In the end, Jintan/Anaru and Yukiatsu/Tsuruko are given a MaybeEverAfter.]]
26	* AlphaBitch: Anaru's friends Aki and Haruna.
27	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove:
28	** [[spoiler:Yukiatsu towards Menma when they were kids in a flashback in Episode 5. Anaru towards Jintan in Episode 8.]]
29	** Tsuruko does an indirect one towards Yukiatsu in Episode 11 when she rants to Anaru. She [[LoveHurts wasn't happy]] that he had a ReplacementGoldfish in Anaru when Menma disappeared.
30	* AnimationBump: Menma's movements rocket up to rotoscope-smooth at the end of Episode 10.
31	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:Satoshi Honma is able to drive home to his mother how much she has become so absorbed in her grief for losing Menma that she has been failing to pay attention to him simply by asking one of these.]]
32	-->[[spoiler:'''Satoshi:''' I grew three whole centimeters this year Mom, did you know that?]]
33	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Menma's ghost finally passes onto the afterlife, but not before she and her living friends properly say their farewells. Jintan reconnects to society and was last seen walking to school with Anaru, while Yukiatsu and Tsuruko grow closer to each other, and Poppo continues working part-time but also resumes his studies. The series ends with the five remaining friends gathering one more time at their old hideout to read Menma's letters.]]
34	* BlandNameProduct:
35	** Just from Episode 2, there's the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS Nindendo DZ]], [[Franchise/{{Digimon}} Dojimon]], [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds WcDonalds]], and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Nokemon]].
36	** Rocky anyone?
37	** Less obvious to viewers outside of Japan is [[http://www.virtualjapan.com/wiki/Cecil_McBee Giselle McBee]].
38	** Anaru and Jintan's game store stocks ''[[VideoGame/BrainAge Quiz Age]]''.
39	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The three girls of the group--Menma (blonde), Anaru (redhead), and Tsuruko (brunette).
40	* BlushSticker: Poppo as a child.
41	* BrokenAce: Yukiatsu looks perfect, smart, hot and all, but he's got massive issues.
42	* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Jintan and Menma have this dynamic, since he's the only one of the Peace Busters who can see her. It's a little unusual, given that Menma herself is TheLostLenore Jintan is brooding over.
43	* ButNotTooForeign: Menma is half-Russian.
44	* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Only Jintan can see or hear Menma. [[spoiler:Which pretty much scares the hell out Anaru and Tsuruko once the others discover that she is indeed real and can only see things floating whenever she grabs something. Just before Menma finally passes on, everyone can see and hear her.]]
45	* {{Catchphrase}}: Jinta's dad divides all the world's aspects into cute and not cute.
46	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Jintan and Menma have mutual feelings for each other, but Jintan was never able to confess to her before she died. Anaru and Yukiatsu have unrequited lingering feelings for Jintan and Menma respectively. Yukiatsu lampshades their unrequited positions in Episodes 5 and 9. Tsuruko also has feelings for Yukiatsu.
47	* ChildhoodFriends: The entire main cast.
48	* CreepyCrossdresser: Yukiatsu, to the surprise of few. The hints used to foreshadow this were too large for a majority of the audience.
49	* CuteGhostGirl: Menma.
50	* DateRapeAverted: For Anaru in Episode 5 [[spoiler:by Yukiatsu of all people]].
51	* DeadpanSnarker: Yukiatsu can be quite the snarker when he's in a lighthearted mood.
52	* DeathByNewberyMedal: Menma's death actually occurs in the backstory, five years before the first episode, but it plays out all the same.
53	* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Deconstructed. Back when they were children, Anaru liked Jintan and Tsuruko liked Yukiatsu, but both boys liked Menma and the girls, despite caring for Menma, felt that they couldn't compete with her. Menma's untimely death only made things worse for all of them, since such a tragedy ''tore the group apart'' and showed that, in reality, the demise of "the person who gets in between" does NOT equal to the others getting together: the guys got so broken (and Jintan already had his own issues) that no girl in their eyes can match the very high standard that Menma had left, with Jintan becoming a {{hikikomori}} and Yukiatsu both considering Anaru as a prospect "back-up girlfriend" (and neither she nor Tsuruko, understandably, are happy with that) [[spoiler: and wearing dresses similar to those Menma used to wear]].
54	* DeconstructedTrope: The concept of PuritySue is ''smashed to pieces'' here. Not only was Menma ridiculously pure and innocent (and kinda ditzy) because she died as a child and thus got mentally/emotionally stuck as a little girl forever, but it's made brutally clear how much pressure that kind of character would put on her friends: Tsuruko and Anaru remember Menma fondly but are also jealous and resentful of her because she (unintentionally) left an insanely high standard for them to meet when she kicked it; Jintan and Yukiatsu are very screwed up due to still loving her for a long time after her death, with Jintan unable to function in social situations and Yukiatsu cultivating an unhealthy obsession; and Poppo constantly has to put on a happy face in order to interact with others [[spoiler:due to his guilt after not being able to save her life]].
55	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In Episode 3, Menma expresses her desire for Jintan to go back to school whilst straddling him and bouncing. It's innocent on her part. Probably not so much on the animator's.
56	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The ending theme is performed by the voice actresses of [[Creator/AiKayano the]] [[Creator/HarukaTomatsu three]] [[Creator/SaoriHayami girls]] of the main cast.
57	* DysfunctionJunction: The death of Menma has far-reaching psychological repercussions for the main cast, but some of the underlying problems were there even before she died and the Busters disbanded.
58	* EarnYourHappyEnding: After much angst and tribulation [[spoiler:in which the group vent their anger and express their true feelings to one another, they are finally able to overcome the psychological traumas each one of them acquired after Menma's death, and Menma's ghost is able to say one last tearful goodbye to all of them. Jintan stopped being a hikikomori for good and started attending school regularly, and it's implied that he and Anaru will end up together as a couple eventually. The same is implied for Tsuruko and Yukiatsu. Meanwhile, Poppo also has gone back to school (although he did not quit working at the construction site)]].
59	* EnjoKosai: Anaru's friends set up a group date with older men in Episode 5. When Anaru looks like she wants to back out early, one of the men walks her out and tries taking her to a {{love hotel}}. [[spoiler:Thankfully Yukiatsu noticed her beforehand.]]
60	* EtherealWhiteDress: Menma wears a white dress with a blue ribbon throughout the series, since that was what she was wearing when she died. A fitting choice, since the color white is usually associated with [[VirginInAWhiteDress purity and innocence]].
61	* EvilPhone: [[spoiler:Not evil, but in Episode 8, Menma tries making phone calls to the gang to get them to believe in her. Seeing as only Jintan can perceive her, the most they hear is a vague scraping.]]
62	* FreezeFrameBonus: When Jintan holds up Anaru's plush toy and security towel after she runs away from home, the characters change expression when she snatches it back.
63	* FieryRedhead: Anaru.
64	* FightingTheLancer: It never escalates to an all-out brawl, but Jintan and Yukiatsu's relationship is constantly on-edge for the majority of the series, with Yukiatsu even ''strangling'' Jintan at one point.
65	* [[FourPhilosophyEnsemble Five Philosophy Ensemble]]:
66	** The Cynic: Yukiatsu.
67	** The Optimist: Poppo/Menma.
68	** The Realist: Tsuruko.
69	** The Apathetic: Jintan.
70	** The Conflicted: Anaru.
71	* {{Foreshadowing}}: A subtle example in episode 10 that might be missed on first watch: [[spoiler:Poppo, normally the most cheerful and upbeat of the group, slows down for just a moment to say that he feels like 'all he can do is watch' the rest of the group. This foreshadows the revelation in the finale that he witnessed Menma's death but was helpless to prevent it.]]
72	* GhostAmnesia: Menma can't remember what UnfinishedBusiness is stopping her from being able to rest in peace.
73	* GhostlyGoals: Menma reappears to Jintan to have him help her fulfill [[UnfinishedBusiness her wish]]. [[spoiler:Her wish turns out to be fulfilling a favor to Jintan's mother--getting him to stop bottling up his emotions, though Menma ended up extending this wish to the rest of the Super Peace Busters as well because she wanted closure with all of them before she left.]]
74	* GirlishPigtails: Anaru.
75	* GratuitousEnglish: Poppo peppers his speech with a few phrases every now and then, which should be of no surprise, considering that he's a traveler.
76	* GratuitousRussian: The sign on the gate of the Honma residence lists the family members' names in Japanese and Romanized transliterations, except Irene, whose name is given in Cyrillic instead. What's more, the Cyrillic rendering appears to have been simply transliterated letter for letter from the Latin script spelling as Ирене. While not entirely inconceivable, this variant is highly improbable as a name for someone born and raised in Russia (the most common Russian equivalent to "Irene" is Ирина, "Irina", while the show's katakana spelling イレーヌ, ''Irēnu'', is normally used for the French variant ''Irène'', whose Russified version is spelled as either "Ирэн" or "Ирен").
77	* GreenEyedMonster: Anaru and Yukiatsu have had their share of this when it comes to Jintan and Menma. Even [[TheStoic Tsuruko]] has a bit of a moment when she eavesdrops on Yukiatsu comforting Anaru in Episode 9. In Episode 11, Tsuruko admits that the person that she's always been jealous of is Anaru for being his ReplacementGoldfish and the person who understood Yukiatsu the most.
78	** One of Tsuruko's female classmates acts this way towards her because of how close the former is to Yukiatsu, yet aren't dating.
79	* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend:
80	** A shopkeeper mistakes Tsuruko for Yukiatsu's girlfriend. Her reaction is silent but strong nonetheless. Apparently their classmates also assume they're an item too, and Yukiatsu does little to dispel the misconception.
81	** Anaru also says this about Jintan when her friends tease her about dating him. Jintan's response [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere was to walk home]].
82	* HiddenHeartOfGold: Anaru is surprisingly nice and pretty much a huge nerd under her jerkish [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundere-isms]].
83	* {{Hikikomori}}:
84	** Jintan has a reputation of being this. He is obviously uncomfortable to go outside without [[PaperThinDisguise glasses and a beanie]].
85	** [[spoiler:Mrs. Honma, according to Menma's little brother]], refuses to leave the house and doesn't want to see other people.
86	* {{Hypocrite}}: Yukiatsu accuses Jintan of being obsessed with Menma. Yukiatsu is much, much worse.
87	* IdiotBall: Menma can interact with physical objects, carry them and can also eat normally but she holds the idiot ball for two thirds of the series not realizing than she can prove her existence by making objects float/disappear or by writing to the Super Peace Busters' members. It later gets lampshaded that Menma and Jintan can be TheDitz sometimes.
88	* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:Tsuruko in Episode 10.]]
89	* InSeriesNickname: Every member of the old group of friends has one.
90	** EmbarrassingNickname: Anaru. In Japanese, ''l'' and ''r'' are pronounced identically, and ''n'' is the only consonant that doesn't need a vowel on the end. Jintan seems to realize it now; [[TheDitz Menma]] doesn't. [[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke It sounds like "anal".]][[/note]]
91	* JacobMarleyApparel: Menma's appearance doesn't display signs of her death, but she's wearing the same outfit she drowned in (although it's larger, since her ghost looks older and is taller than she was at death) and wears no shoes (which were washed away by the river).
92	* {{Jerkass}}: In his first modern-day appearance Yukiatsu has the gall to mock Jintan for not getting into a good high school and for mourning Menma. Then, in Episode 4, he tries to manipulate everyone into not working toward Menma's wish. Following Episode 5, he starts showing his HiddenHeartOfGold more frequently, only to eventually relapse into full Jerkass mode in Episode 10 when he sets a cruel trap for Jintan to get him to either confirm or deny his love for Menma, even emotionally manipulating Anaru into assisting him with this, and vows to get Menma's spirit to Heaven just for the satisfaction of knowing that Jintan can't have her for himself anymore.
93	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yukiatsu's [[BreakTheHaughty haughtiness gets broken]] in Episode 5 after [[spoiler:everyone finds out that he's crossdressing as Menma and]] he breaks down, blaming himself for Menma's death. In the same episode, he later rescues Anaru when she gets sexually harassed by a guy intending to take her to a love hotel. Even when he acts like a jerk at other times afterwards it's usually for reasons that he believes are right and would be helpful to others.
94	* {{Keet}}: Poppo.
95	* LastNameBasis: Some members of the group have stopped using their nicknames or given names with each other on the few occasions they meet. As the group is getting closer again, this might be reversed, however. For example, Poppo calls some attention to Anaru referring to him as "Jintan" when the latter isn't around in Episode 7 and Yukiatsu calls attention to her almost saying "Jintan" but changing to "Yadomi" in Episode 9. [[spoiler:By Episode 11, everyone has gone back to referring to each other by their respective nicknames.]]
96	* LawyerFriendlyCameo:
97	** Episode 2 has Jinta and Anaru trying to get a rare [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Nokemon]].
98	** And in Anaru's words: "Who the hell buys [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Nokemon Gold]]?"
99	** Other famous titles, such as ''[[Franchise/{{Digimon}} Dojimon]]'' and ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' show up in Anaru's manga and game collection.
100	** Friendly or not, there are insanely blatant posters of ''Manga/WanderingSon'', ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'', ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'', ''Manga/BlackButler'', and ''Manga/{{Wagnaria}}'' in the shop Yadomi and Anaru work in.
101	* LimitedWardrobe: Averted. There are school uniforms, of course, but the characters (barring [[JacobMarleyApparel Menma]]) have consistently worn different casual clothes. Consider [[http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=301443 Anaru]], for example.
102	* LongingLook: Both Anaru and Yukiatsu still have feelings for Jintan and Menma respectively and are very obvious with their feelings (at least, to the viewers). [[spoiler:Yukiatsu, however, leans toward the obsessive side with his gestures, such as [[SmellsSexy deeply inhaling the scent of one of Menma's old dresses]] and ''[[CreepyCrossdresser crossdressing as her]]''.]]
103	* LoveHotels: A guy attempts to take Anaru to one in Episode 5.
104	* LoveDodecahedron: Jintan and Yukiatsu are both in love with Menma, who reciprocates Jintan's feelings. Meanwhile, Anaru and Tsuruko are in love with Jintan and Yukiatsu, respectively.
105	* LoveHurts: Almost every character, with the exception of Poppo, is in love with another, and aren't very happy that [[AllLoveIsUnrequited their love interest likes someone else]].
106	* MaleGaze: Mostly on Anaru.
107	* MaliciousSlander: Anaru suffers through this in Episode 6 when rumors leak out that she went to a love hotel with an upperclassman. [[spoiler: It was a DateRapeAverted, and Yukiatsu bailed her out.]]
108	* ManChild: Poppo is a bit younger than most, but the fact that he lives in his old clubhouse suggests that he hasn't really matured since the gang split up.
109	* MarketBasedTitle: The localized version of the series is called ''[=anohana=]: The Flower We Saw That Day'', presumably due to the long original title.
110	* MaybeEverAfter: The epilogue and the movie drops some hints for Jintan/Anaru and Tsuruko/Yukiatsu.
111	* {{Melodrama}}: The final two episodes.
112	* MissingMom: Jintan's late mother Toko.
113	* MovingBeyondBereavement: The plot concerns five high school friends coming to terms with the death of their friend Menma, who died in an accident five years ago. The sudden appearance of her ghost to one of them brings them back together and allows them to admit and work through the guilt and feelings they still have about her and each other.
114	* MuggleAndMagicalLoveTriangle: The two girls with romantic interest in Jintan are the CuteGhostGirl Menma and the still living ChildhoodFriend Anaru.
115	* MultitaskedConversation: Menma talks and talks...
116	* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Invoked by Jintan in Episode 6 [[spoiler:for Anaru, though they are not a couple]].
117	* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:Poppo was unable to save Menma when she drowned.]]
118	* {{Narm}}: In-universe--in Episode 11, Anaru's false eyelashes detaching themselves is enough to cheer everyone up after their ''extremely'' tearful confessions.
119	* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Menma died before Jintan could confess to her properly or apologize for lashing out at her when put on the spot.
120	* NoAntagonist: The main obstacle that needs to be dealt with by the still living main characters are themselves and how they come to terms with a tragedy from their childhood that they never properly coped with. The characters closest to antagonists in the story are [[TheRival Yukiatsu]] and [[StepfordSmiler Irene Honma]], but both are sympathetic characters whose antagonism comes from the way they've mourned Menma's death, and the only real HateSink in the whole series is a single JerkAss upperclassman who tries to take advantage of Anaru in episode 5.
121	* {{Nosebleed}}: It was a ''normal'' nosebleed, but Jintan getting one gives Anaru the [[AccidentalPervert wrong]] [[NotWhatItLooksLike idea]].
122	* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Jinta thinks Menma is a figment of his imagination. She's not.
123	* NotWhatItLooksLike: A classic one for {{UST}} purposes in Episode 7, where Anaru slips and falls into Jintan, dragging them into an intimate position. Then Poppo walks in, sees them... and promptly beats a retreat.
124	* OneHeadTaller: Menma is much smaller than all the rest of the Super Peace Busters, allowing this to be invoked with any of them, though it's usually with Jintan. [[spoiler:Averted with each implied OfficialCouple, who are roughly the same heights as each other.]]
125	* PairTheSpares: During their childhood, Tsuruko saw this as probable scenario between Yukiatsu and Anaru after Jintan and Menma would get together. Five years later, Yukiatsu himself started to see it as a good solution. [[spoiler:It probably didn't end this way, though.]]
126	* PaletteSwap: Discussed. Menma wonders if Yukiatsu had really seen another apparition of her. And if so, would that make that apparition the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros "Menluigi" to her "Menmario"]], and if its possible she was wearing "second-player colors".
127	* PatientChildhoodLoveInterest: Anaru, based on her attitude towards Jintan. Tsuruko towards Yukiatsu.
128	* PortmanteauCoupleName: Used in-universe. Anaru invokes this by calling Yukiatsu/Tsuruko as Yukiatsuruko, though they're not a couple.
129	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Menma can't remember her wish but believes that it would be a step in the right direction for Jintan to pull this off.
130	* PuppyLove: All over the place. The unresolved romances of the Super Peace Busters are a main driving point of the plot.
131	* RealPlaceBackground: The series takes place in the [[SceneryPorn extremely scenic]] town of Chichibu, in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan.
132	* {{Reincarnation}}: [[spoiler:The name of the anime is about this. Jintan's mother told Menma about how a person can be reincarnated as another creature (such as a cat or a flower) after they die, and this becomes Menma's objective after she remembers her original wish. She wants to be reincarnated so she can be in the same world where her friends are.]]
133	* ReplacementGoldfish: In Episode 9, Anaru admits that she thought Jintan would like her best after Menma died, but he didn't, and Tsuruko loves Yukiatsu and believes that he will never feel the way because he sees Anaru as his "back-up".
134	* TheRival: Yukiatsu towards Jintan.
135	* TheRunaway: [[spoiler:Anaru stays out at the clubhouse in Episode 6, fearing reprisal from her mother should she go home. She returns to her house and gets her anticipated chewing-out and decides to make her stay at the clubhouse a bit more permanent until Episode 9.]]
136	* RuleOfSymbolism: The name of the flower they saw that day? Forget-me-not. They adorn the OP and ED, and pop up frequently in the anime. It also makes Jintan's words about fulfilling the wishes of those flowers all the more meaningful.
137	* ScaryShinyGlasses: Tsuruko gets them momentarily to intimidate Anaru away from the subject in Episode 9 when the latter comments that she never expected to hear Tsuruko talking about cute things.
138	* SecondLove: Hinted at in the ending with Tsuruko for Yukiatsu and Anaru for Jintan.
139	* ShipTease: [[ChildhoodFriendRomance As children]], Jintan and Menma had feelings for each other with Anaru crushing on the former and Yukiatsu crushing on the latter, and Tsuruko crushing on Yukiatsu. In the present, Jintan and Anaru share a bit of {{UST}} while Yukiatsu and Tsuruko are usually seen together and are twice [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend mistaken for a couple]]. Yukiatsu also attempts to pull the PairTheSpares route with Anaru by asking her out, and Poppo has declared a slight interest in Tsuruko too, which would make LoveDodecahedron complete.
140	* ShoutOut:
141	** Episode 2: There are ''Manga/WanderingSon'' and ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' posters in Anaru's workplace register. The Sekirei one returns in Episode 8.
142	** Episode 6: Jintan is watching ''Anime/OccultAcademy'' at the beginning of the episode. Anaru is shown to have carved a Anime/{{Hamtaro}} into one of the pillars of the clubhouse.
143	** Episode 7: Anaru's workplace has a ''Manga/{{Wagnaria}}'' poster near the register. A television show features a ''female'' pug named [[Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles Oscar]].
144	* SleepCute: Jintan and Menma in the second episode.
145	* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler:Mrs. Honma]] and [[spoiler:Poppo]].
146	* TheStoic: Tsuruko.
147	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Tsuruko has grown into one.
148	* SurvivorGuilt: All of the main cast are lamenting and blaming themselves to some extent over the death of Menma, due to actions that occurred on the day of her death. [[spoiler: Jintan and Menma had crushes on each other but both denied it. Tsuruko told Menma about Jintan's feelings, and then Yukiatsu and Anaru attempted to make Jintan confess his feelings about Menma in order to express their own feelings to the two, but Jintan ran off in denial. Yukiatsu then awkwardly confessed to Menma, but she runs after Jintan, before falling into a river and drowning, which was witnessed by Poppo.]]
149	* SymbolicCastFadeout: The opening credits show the main cast as kids, then as teenagers, but missing Menma (whose death as a child broke up the friend group and drives the entire plot).
150	* ThereAreNoTherapists:
151	** You'd think that someone would suggest that Jinta should see a therapist, being a shut-in who obsesses over a friend who died back when he was little and all.
152	** In general, just looking at the Super Peace Busters [[spoiler:and Mrs. Honma]] is enough to make you ask yourself "Dude, where are the grief counselors?"
153	*** This is weird by ''Anglo'' standards, but not by Japanese ones. Japan has more ''sex therapists'' than it does counselors and psychologists - psych problems and mental illnesses are still taboo in Japan, doubly so for conditions that bring shame upon the family [[{{Hikikomori}} like being a shut-in]]. [[spoiler: The same goes to Mrs. Honma.]]
154	* ThirdPersonPerson: Menma refers to herself in the third person, both as a child and as a (ghostly) teenager; in the present, this shows how she's still as childish as when she was alive.
155	* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Menma was an unbelievably cute CheerfulChild who always put her friends before herself and rarely considered her own feelings. Of course she had to go.
156	* TragicKeepsake: Yukiatsu's keepsake is [[spoiler:a pin just like the one he offered to Menma when he confessed. Tsuruko seems to have the actual one.]] At the end of the series [[spoiler:Tsuruko is shown wearing the new hairpin that Yukiatsu had, heavily implying that they are now dating and he gave it to her as a gift]].[[spoiler:Inside the pouch, Poppo is always carrying around his neck are flowers, specifically the flowers that were blooming on the day Menma died]].
157	* TripleShifter: [[spoiler:Jintan works both during the day at the store with Anaru and at night as a construction worker. And this he does]] in order to save up the money [[spoiler:for the fireworks]]. The lagging school work issue is justified though, considering [[spoiler:he was a {{Hikikomori}} to begin with]].
158	* {{Tsundere}}: Anaru. Jintan tsuns back at her quite a bit as well.
159	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Jintan and Menma, Jintan and Anaru, Yukiatsu and Tsuruko, and Yukiatsu and Anaru.
160	* WalkingTheEarth: Seems to be Poppo's ambition. The mapping of his travels looks quite impressive. According to the map shown in his introductory scene, he's been to Merida, Venezuela, Quito, Ecuador, Lima, Peru, Santiago, Chile, Brasilia, Brazil, Guadalajara, Mexico, San Diego, USA, Okhotsk, Russia, Matsuyama, Japan, Qingdao, China, Manila, Philippines, Kimann, Papua New Guinea, Makassar and Bima, Indonesia, Kuala Dungun, Malaysia, Phuket and Bangkok Thailand, Nha Trang, Vietnam, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Mumbai, India, Dubai, UAE, Salalah, Oman, Adana, Turkey, and Athens, Greece. Later shots in Episode 4 also include Havana, Cuba, Khartoum, Sudan, and Maintirano, Madagascar. [[spoiler:All this was meant to forget his bitter memories of ''seeing'' Menma drown and being unable to help.]]
161	* WeWereYourTeam: The group drifted apart [[WeUsedToBeFriends after Menma died and Jinta broke down]].
162	* WeUsedToBeFriends: At the start of the series, it's most apparent between Jintan, Anaru, and Yukiatsu, whose relationships are the most tense. Everyone mostly gets along with Poppo, and only Yukiatsu and Tsuruko remained friends.
163	** Although, there's some question of whether Jintan and Yukiatsu were ever really friends, as the flashbacks indicate that the latter was always [[GreenEyedMonster rather resentful]] of former. Even more so than Anaru and Tsuruko were of Menma.
164	* WhamLine:
165	** Near the end of Episode 4, Tsuruko calls out to the "Menma" that's running away from them, and [[spoiler:calls him "Yukiatsu," revealing that she's on to him]].
166	** At the end of Episode 7, Jintan, Poppo and Anaru have gotten enough money for their fireworks, only to find that an official is refusing to approve their plan. Jintan then asks for the person's name.
167	--->'''Man''': It was... [[spoiler:Manabu Honma]]\
168	''Jintan, Anaru and Poppo gasp.''\
169	'''Jintan''': [[spoiler:Menma's dad...]]

Context Anime / AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay