At the end of summer, a "summer beast" appears before Yadomi Jinta. It is his childhood friend Menma, who died in an accident five years ago. This is a bittersweet coming-of-age story about boys who are forced to confront the trauma of their childhood whether they like it or not. After airing as an anime, Anohana, also known as "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day," has been a huge hit with a feature film and live-action adaptation. One of the most captivating characters is the heroine, Menma. We would like to introduce you to Menma, aka Honma Meiko, the pure and adorable heroine of Anohana!
The Story Begins: Menma, the "Summer Beast"
The story begins when Jintan, also known as Jinta Yadomi, the former leader of the Super Peace Busters, is holed up at home, cursing the happy life and society, when a "Summer Beast" suddenly appears. The "Summer Beast" turns out to be Meiko Honma, also known as Menma, a member of the Super Peace Busters who died in an accident five years ago.
Menma is a cheerful and innocent mascot
Menma used to be a pure, cute, and innocent mascot for everyone. And when Menma appeared before Jintan five years later, his personality was just as it was back then. It seemed like his mind hadn't changed at all, even forcing him to go outside without considering Jintan's circumstances and repeatedly calling him "Anaru," the old nickname of one of the characters, "Anjō Naruko." Naturally, now that Anaru knows the meaning of "Anaru," she hates being called that. Anar is anar, anaruu.
Is Menma a Nokemon?
Menma may be a harmless character, but in the past, the other kids avoided him because of his hair color, and Menma herself didn't know what to do. Anyone who's different is ostracized! Kids can be cruel at times, but some are wayward, and there were even bullies who would try to force Menma into their group. That was Jintan, the leader of the group, and his friends were the Super Peace Busters.
The Real Menma
Perhaps because of this experience, Menma began to put the Super Peace Busters first, sometimes suppressing her own feelings. She knew that Anaru and Yukiatsu had conspired to ask Jintan, "Do you like Menma?", but she said nothing. Even when Jintan called her "Who's calling you so ugly?", she simply laughed with a troubled look on her face. Menma was everyone's mascot, but she was also the kind of child who would think of others even if it hurt her. That's why Menma's presence meant so much to everyone.
Horror Elements? Is Menma a Poltergeist?
Jintan initially believed Menma to be a manifestation of his delusions, caused by past trauma and the summer heat, and he himself was skeptical of Menma's existence. However, Jintan can see her, hear her voice, eat her food, and play games with her. Since Jintan can see Menma, there aren't any horror elements to this story, but from an outsider's perspective, it's a genuine horror story.
Scary Super Peace Busters
No one truly believed in Menma's existence. However, when Menma conveyed a message in her diary, everyone was forced to believe in her existence. Afterward, Menma served everyone steamed buns, but the sight of them spontaneously forming in empty space was nothing short of horrifying, leaving both Anaru and Tsuruko extremely frightened.
However, despite being able to physically interfere, Menma was somehow unable to leave messages anywhere other than her own diary or her secret base, and was unable to leave messages in any random memo book.
Menma and Everyone's Trauma
Menma's death was a major trauma for Jintan, and coupled with the subsequent death of his mother, this trauma continued to bind him to the past. However, Jintan was not the only one to suffer from such a trauma; each of the Super Peace Busters also carried their own.
Jintan's Trauma
Menma was important to Jintan, but when Anaru asked him, "Do you like Menma?", he blushed and said, "Who's calling me so ugly?" and ran away. Jintan thought he could just apologize tomorrow, but that tomorrow never came, and Menma died in an accident. If he hadn't said those words that day, Menma might not have died. That is Jintan's trauma.
Anaru's Trauma
Anaru has always loved Jintan. But she also knew that Jintan loved Menma. That's why she and Yukiatsu conspired to ask him, "Do you love Menma?" That might have been the trigger for Menma's death. She also thought that if Menma were gone, she could be with Jintan. Anaru's hopelessly ugly self is her trauma.
Yukiatsu's Trauma
Yukiatsu was the one who caused Menma's death. Yukiatsu has never been able to forget Menma, not now or ever. After Jintan ran away, Yukiatsu chased after Menma, confessed his feelings to her, and tried to give her his hair clip. But Menma didn't respond. After all, Menma loved Jintan. Menma died soon after. Yukiatsu's trauma is that he caused Menma's death, that he let his beloved Menma die.
Tsuruko's Trauma
Menma loves Jintan, Yukiatsu loves Menma, and Tsuruko loves Yukiatsu. So, if Menma were gone, I could be by Yukiatsu's side. But Yukiatsu never looked back at me. There was definitely a part of me that would be happy about Menma's death. In the end, I was only thinking about myself. I was the one who told Menma about Annaru and Yukiatsu's plan. Perhaps if that hadn't happened, Menma wouldn't have invited everyone to the secret base and wouldn't have caused her death. That's Tsurukko's trauma.
Poppo's Trauma
Poppo believed Jintan's words and actively cooperated. But it wasn't just for Menma or Jintan's sake. Poppo witnessed Menma's death, and could only watch in horror as she grew weaker and weaker. If he'd been stronger at the time, he might have been able to save her. After all, he was the only one present at her moment of death. Menma's decision to skip high school and travel the world was simply a pretext for him to escape everything Menma had been involved in. Perhaps Menma died hating him. That's Poppo's trauma.
Menma's Trauma
The Super Peace Busters, involved in Menma's death, are traumatized and torn apart. Menma has always wanted everyone to get along. In a way, this can be seen as a weathervane. In fact, Menma knew that Anaru and Yukiatsu were in cahoots that day. Even when Jintan called her ugly, she simply laughed in embarrassment. Because of her, everyone was torn apart. Perhaps Menma, who died, was also traumatized.
What was Menma's wish after all?
Menma asks Jintan to grant her a wish. Even Menma herself doesn't really know what that wish is. But the Super Peace Busters decide to take action to make Menma's vague wish come true. So what was that wish?
Making Jintan Cry
Menma's wish was to "launch fireworks and ask God to heal Jintan's mother." Everyone thought that, but that didn't stop Menma from disappearing. In fact, her wish was to "make Jintan cry." Jintan had begun to suppress his emotions since his mother was hospitalized. This was to avoid worrying his mother, who was worried about him. So Menma promised Jintan's mother that she would "make Jintan cry." In fact, at that moment, Menma's wish was granted.
Menma's True Wish?
However, Menma did not disappear at that point. Her body began to disappear when the Super Peace Busters released their trauma and returned to their former selves. This suggests that Menma's true wish was for the Super Peace Busters to always be friends. In fact, Jintan mentions something like this in the movie.
Anohana: Meiko Honma Summary
This article introduces Menma, also known as Meiko Honma, the cute and charming heroine of Anohana. The final scene where Menma is finally able to pass on to the afterlife brings tears to my eyes. I think it's because of Menma that this work is so moving and tear-jerking! After watching the film, I found it hard to look at Menma, she was the perfect heroine I could empathize with!
