poorlifedecisionsemily:WARNING: I’m about to geek out here.Due to the resurgence of my Ano Hana obse

poorlifedecisionsemily:WARNING: I’m about to geek out here.Due to the resurgence of my Ano Hana obsession, I’ve decided to actually sit down and type up all of my thoughts on Tsuruko. She’s one of my all-time favorite characters, and such a multi-faceted one who so often gets overlooked, despite being, in my opinion, one of the most interesting characters. So this is just me expounding on my thoughts about Chiriko “Tsuruko” Tsurumi. If you haven’t seen Ano Hana (full title: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, or We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day) GO WATCH IT NOW. It’s beautiful.The story revolves around a group of six childhood friends. After Menma dies in an accident, the friends drift apart. Ten years later, Menma’s ghost appears to Jintan, claiming that she thinks she has a wish that needs granting, but doesn’t know what it is. In an attempt to grant Menma’s wish, they get the gang back together. (SPOILERS AHEAD.)Chiriko “Tsuruko” Tsurumi has remained friends with Atsumu “Yukiatsu” Matsuyuki. Yukiatsu is smart and charming; all the girls want him. Tsuruko is quiet and studious and seen as a threat by the other girls, despite the fact that there is nothing between the two. Yukiatsu is still infatuated with Menma, going as far as to dress as her on several occasions. He sees Jintan as his biggest rival when it comes to Menma’s affections. As the group gets back together, he displays a romantic interest in Anaru.To be completely honest, at first, I thought Tsuruko was cold and really had no personality. After having watched the series a few times, though, she’s become my favorite character. She’s such a strong character, despite the fact that she’s deeply flawed.When she finally confessed that she had loved Yukiatsu all along, my heart just broke for her. She has lived all these years knowing that she is not even a back-up, but second to a back-up, and yet she stays by his side. Despite how screwed up he is, she’s been there for him. Not to say that she puts up with his crap. She calls him out on it every time. She tells him when he’s a jerk to Jintan, and she tells him when he’s a jerk to her. She admits that it’s exhausting to be around him. She knows everything about him and still loves him. Later in the series, she says, “I’m not like you, I don’t dream about things that won’t come true.” She knows Yukiatsu will never pick her. She doesn’t try to convince herself she has a chance, she has no illusions regarding him. But she stays with him nonetheless. She knows that she’s being hypocritical when she reprimands Anaru for liking Jintan, and she admits it. She doesn’t lie to herself about anything.The second thing I wanted to address because I see a lot of people commenting about it online is her haircut in episode 10. I’ve read people say that it made her seem petty or immature, and I think that’s mostly because they haven’t taken the time to really look at her character and the reasons behind it. This situation is particularly interesting to me because it shows a side of Tsuruko that is so contradictory to what we’ve seen before, but is also in complete agreement with her personality.Some have speculated that it was a “I just want to go back to how things used to be” thing, due to the fact that Menma remarks that her hair looks like it did when she was little. I disagree. Others have said it’s a “break-up haircut,” which is closer to what I think, but not quite. After outing Yukiatsu as a cross-dresser, Tsuruko comments, “There are some things you just can’t deal with without changing your costume.” I think this is her way of changing her costume. The other factor that I believe comes into play is Yukiatsu’s own preferences. When asking Jintan about Menma, his first question is if she still has long hair. This would imply one or more of three things. One: that Yukiatsu prefers long hair. Two: Tsuruko believes Yukiatsu prefers long hair. Or three: Tsuruko was actively imitating Menma to gain Yukiatsu’s affections. Any or all of these could be true. Tsuruko isn’t blind to the way human minds work – she’s shown this again and again by picking up on subtle cues given by other characters. She knew that when Yukiatsu was telling Jintan he was pathetic, he was really talking about himself. This makes me think that when she told Anaru to stop trying to be Menma, she may have been talking about herself as well, which is where that third option comes from. So, if we assume the first and/or second option(s) are true, then cutting her hair may be her way of defying Yukiatsu after vying for his attention for so long and relinquishing his control over her. If the third is true, it is a way for her break free from Menma’s memory and become her own person.The last thing I wanted to talk about was Menma’s letter to Tsuruko in the last episode. Menma tells Tsuruko, “I love how gentle you are.” I’ve read people’s opinions that this was an indication of Menma’s childlike mentality, that she got it so completely wrong. This is another place that I disagree with most people. I think Tsuruko is incredibly gentle, and Menma was one of the only people who could see it. While Tsuruko is also blunt, sometimes to the point of being rude, she never says anything which she doesn’t think will help anyone. Even in her confrontation with Anaru, she isn’t saying things just to be cruel. She still cares about Anaru and is pointing out her flaws so that she can see them too. Despite the fact that this is the girl who was effectively stolen Yukiatsu from her, she never attacks her for that, because she knows she can’t change the situation. In addition, she’s the first one to object when Yukiatsu and Anaru try to reenact the events surrounding the day Menma died.I guess in conclusion, the reason Tsuruko is such a beautiful character to me is that her outlook on life is so incredibly depressing, but she’s honest about it and she keeps going anyway. She knows she will never have Yukiatsu, and doesn’t try to delude herself into thinking that, and she yet she stays with him because something is better than nothing. That’s so tragic, but beautiful in a way. So very few people possess the kind of love that drives Tsuruko.Photo credit:[x](original source unavailable)[x][x][x] -- source link

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