Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai - Episode 6

After failing to make it all the way there last time around, it's take two of Jinta's attempts to kick-start attending school once again, no doubt in the face of Menma's tearful reaction to Poppo's thoughts last week.

While suddenly turning up at school again looks set to see Jinta as the centre of attention, he finds himself upstaged courtesy of Anjou's love hotel "antics", which it seems were spotted by a member of the Parent Teacher Association and reported to her school - a scenario which makes her the establishment's hot topic, needless to say.  Although this is initially perhaps a relief to Jinta, it soon turns to concern as he realises that Anaru is wilting under the pressure of the idle banter surrounding her; thus, he decides to deflect it by making a spectacle of himself, in a scene which once again suggests that this series is Hell-bent on ruining some of its most dramatic moments by making them overblown ot the point of being ridiculous.

Anyway, the fallout of Jinta's outburst sees both himself and Anaru escaping school, with the latter not wanting to face her parents and thus deciding to stay in the "secret fort" for the time being.  Next thing we know, Jinta is being rather dragged along on a trip to visit Menma's mother, where she allows the group to take away Menma's diary and perhaps open up the possibility of finding out what her wish is - indeed, it seems as if even Yukiatsu and Tsuruko are considering the issue deep down.  As for Menma, she's more than a little upset at her mum having memories of her dredged up - although is that how she really feels given how she's stated that she wants to be remembered by those close to her previously.

Once again, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai continues to move slowly, but at least it feels as though we're finally moving towards a scenario where this group of former friends piece together what has caused Menma's appearance before Jinta, courtesy of the rather clumsy seeding of the idea that she called them together and had something to say to all of them before her death.  Speaking of clumsy, Jinta's performance in class to save Anaru's embarrassment really was a terrible piece of hammy drama/comedy, not so much in concept as implementation as it suffered from the same cringe-worthy overblown nature as Yukiatsu's cross-dressing previously.  It's another blot on a series that is still relatively watchable and interesting to boot, but also a show that feels like it should have so, so much more going for it.