The movie begins by showing six small children who are friends.
They consist of three boys and three girls.
They played in a field filled with flowers that bloomed sometime in the summer.
However, an incident occurred while they were playing. One of them, the black-haired girl named Menma,
fell into the abyss and died. So that made the other five friends look hysterical, crying.
The scene then moves, showing the time 10 years after the incident.
Four of the five children are now high school teenagers.
But, since Menma died, they never played together like they used to.
The first child shown is a nerdy girl with a shy but good nature at painting named Chiriko Tsurumi,
who is usually called Tsuruko. Then a handsome boy who is quiet and selfish but has a high sense of
self-esteem named Atsumu Matsuyuki, also known as Yukiatsu. Then a girl named Naruko Anjou,
or Anaru who is known to be very beautiful and easy to get along with,
and the last one is Jinta Yadomi known as Jintan, an orphan who spends all his time indoors.
The film then focuses on Jintan
by showing his daily life at home who always plays games and eats instant noodles daily.
After that, a ghost girl appears who is none other than Menma, Jintan's best friend.
At first, Jintan thought that he was just hallucinating. He was traumatized and kept feeling guilty
about Menma's death because he was the head of Super Peace Buster, a group of five friends, including the late Menma.
Jintan clearly doesn't believe it because how could his long-dead friend
Menma actually appear with a figure the same age as him. That boy was even more scared
when Menma's ghost tapped him on the shoulder. He actually felt that his hallucinations were getting worse.
Menma then explains to Jintan that she has returned to the human world to settle her affairs,
and the way is to gather members of the Super Peace Buster. But Jintan instead told Menma to
leave and said that her presence made him return to remembering bitter stories from the past.
Hearing this, Menma apologized, but she was happy that Jintan looked healthy and fine.
After that, Menma disappeared. The scene then shows Jintan going to a retail store to shop.
There, he meets Tetsudo Hishikawa known as Poppo, a man who is also a member of Super Peace Busters.
Poppo himself is a cheerful and energetic person. He then invites Jintan to go to their group's hideout when they were little.
It turns out their hideout is now inhabited by Poppo, and he has just returned from his trip around the world.
While talking, Jintan accidentally tells Poppo that he was met by the ghost of Menma.
However, instead of denying it, Poppo believes in Jintan and says it could happen because Menma had a wish.
The next day, Tsuruko, Anaru, and Yukiatsu gather at a cafe at Poppo's request.
The atmosphere between the three looks awkward and stiff, especially when Jintan comes with Poppo.
The three don't seem to like Jintan's presence, but lucky Poppo can lighten the mood.
Poppo then explains to Tsuruko, Anaru, and Yukiatsu that Jintan was visited by Menma.
Poppo has even written a list of what might be Menma's wish.
Unfortunately, no one believes in that. Yukiatsu even said that Jintan only hallucinated because he was too much
at home and never went to school. Not only that, but he also blames Jintan for Menma's death.
The scene then shows the past of the six friends at their hideout. Anaru, who secretly likes Jintan,
then asks if he likes Menma. But Jintan quibbles and is reluctant to answer Anaru's question.
However, Yukiatsu continues to force Jintan so he accidentally says something that slightly hurts Menma's feelings.
Feeling guilty, Jintan left the headquarters, and Menma then chased after him.
But unfortunately, while Menma was looking for Jintan, she slipped on the edge of a cliff and drowned in the river.
It also makes clear the scene showed at the beginning of the film. After that, the scene
returns to the present. Yukiatsu sat pensively in his room while remembering his memories with
the late Menma. Apparently, before Menma fell into the abyss, Yukiatsu confessed his feelings to her.
But Menma prefers Jintan over himself, and that's why Yukiatsu hates Jintan to this day. The scene
continues and shows Menma visiting her parents even though her parents can't feel her presence.
After that, Menma returned to Jintan's house. Then, she explains that only Jintan can see her,
and she is quite happy about it. On the other hand, Poppo, who was looking at his childhood
photo with his five best friends, was accidentally able to see the ghost of Menma. The next day,
Poppo went to meet Jintan. His arrival definitely makes Menma happy, but unfortunately, Poppo can't
see and touch her. He then told Jintan that he saw Menma playing around their hideout last night. In
the afternoon. Poppo also asked his three other friends to come to their hideout. When Jintan,
Poppo and Tsuruko were talking, suddenly, a scream came from outside. The scream came from Anaru,
surprised when she saw Menma's figure. Without thinking, Jintan, Poppo, Tsukuro,
and Anaru immediately looked for Menma in the forest until nightfall. But then Tsuruko realized
that it wasn't Menma, but Yukiatsu. Because he was caught, Yukiatsu tried to run away, but suddenly,
he slipped and fell. His four friends immediately approached him. Jintan, Poppo, Tsuruko and Anaru
are surprised to see Yukiatsu dressed as Menma. It turns out that even though Yukiatsu always asks
everyone to accept Menma's death, he can't accept her death. Jintan then approached Yukiatsu to help
him up but Yukiatsu just pulled and pinned him. He feels jealous of Jintan. After all, only Jintan
can see Menma while he also wants to see her, as well as Anaru, Poppo, and Tsuruko. Seeing this,
Menma then set off fireworks as a sign that she was in the midst of her friends. Everyone
seemed surprised to see this, but in the end, they then believed that Jintan had not been lying all
this time. The next day, Jintan rushes to Menma's parent's house to borrow Menma's diary to find out
what of her request that has not been granted. Arriving at Menma's house, Jintan met Menma's
brother, who immediately invited him in. Jintan also met Menma's mother. Jintan then explains the
purpose of his arrival and Menma's mother gives Menma's relics that Jintan needs. At that time,
Jintan is about to take Menma's diary, but Menma's mother still doesn't seem to be able to accept
her daughter's departure. Her mother felt it was unfair because only Menma died while Jintan and
his other friends were still alive. Jintan, who didn't know what to say, immediately left Menma's
house. But Menma's brother chased after him and gave Menma's diary, which Jintan had been holding.
The scene then moves to a park, and Jintan is seen reading Menma's diary. While reading the diary,
Yukiatsu suddenly came and snatched it from Jintan. They then read the diary together
and immediately, Jintan began to remember Menma's wishes as a child. Menma wants to make super-large
rocket fireworks with her friends, the members of the Super Peace Busters. However, because at
that time they were still children, her wish could not be realized. But now that they are all adults,
Jintan is determined to make a rocket firework just like Menma wanted. That way, Menma's business
can be finished, and she can leave peacefully. Jintan is working hard at the construction site
along with Poppo to make this happen. After that, one morning, the scene shows Jintan kneeling in
front of a middle-aged man who is a fireworks maker. He knows that the money he earns is not
enough to make the rocket fireworks that Menma wants and tries to plead with the fireworks
maker. However, the old man who made fireworks said that Poppo, Anaru, Tsukuro, and Yukiatsu
had already given their money, so the funds needed to make rocket fireworks were sufficient. Jintan
went to the hideout, and four of his friends were already there. Jintan, Anaru, Tsuruko,
Yukiatsu, and Poppo are determined to make big, festive rocket fireworks. The following day,
the five of them looked so excited when they were about to make rocket fireworks, led by the old man
who made the fireworks. Menma also felt very happy to see all her friends working together again and
looking united. A few days later, their homemade rocket fireworks were finished. However, instead
of feeling happy, the five friends actually felt sad because when the rocket was launched,
Menma would leave them for the second time. In the evening, Jintan, Anaru, Tsuruko, Yukiatsu,
and Poppo gather at their hideout to bid their farewell to Menma. Through Jintan, Menma said
thank you for her friends' hard work and tomorrow, she will rest in peace. Then, as her last wish,
Menma wanted her five friends to go back to playing together like they used to and never
be apart again. The next day, Tsuruko and Anaru come to Menma's parents' house to invite them to
the rocket fireworks launch event. Unfortunately, Menma's mother looks hysterical and refuses their
presence. However, when the five friends were preparing to launch the rocket fireworks for
Menma, Menma's family came, and it was seen that Menma's mother seemed to have begun to accept her
daughter's departure. The long-awaited time has come. The old man who made the fireworks slowly
ignited the wick of the fireworks and instantly made the rocket fireworks spark and begin to be
propelled upwards. The fireworks successfully slid in the air and exploded in the sky,
accompanied by the cries of Menma's five best friends and Menma's family. But it turns out,
Menma is still there and makes Jintan and his four other friends confused. The scene then moves to
Jintan's house. Menma is watching Jintan's father praying for Jintan's late mother. She immediately
remembered about Jintan's late mother's request before she died when she asked her to make Jintan
cry so that he could express his emotions. Because, all this time, Jintan has always
hidden his feelings and acted tough in front of his late mother. Menma then promised that,
so another reason she returned to the human world was to fulfill her promise. However,
because Jintan was already crying during the launch of the rocket fireworks, Menma's promise to
Jintan's late mother has been fulfilled. Not long after, Menma's body slowly began to disappear.
Jintan who had just returned immediately embraced Menma, who also seemed to be drooping limply.
Menma then explains to Jintan that she came back to fulfill her promise to Jintan's mother, which
is to make Jintan cry. Without thinking, Jintan immediately carried Menma to the Super Peace
Buster hideout so she could say goodbye to her other friends. However, when he got there, Jintan
couldn't see Menma anymore because she would soon go to the afterlife. Jintan then went out
of the headquarters to look for Menma, followed by his four friends because Jintan thought that
Menma was just hiding, even though she had been in their hiding base. With her remaining strength,
Menma wrote a farewell letter in her diary. On the other hand, her five friends continued to search
for Menma in the forest, but instead, they found five pieces of paper with their names written
on each. The papers were farewell letters from Menma to each of them. Jintan, Anaru, Tsuruko,
Yukiatsu and Poppo were crying while reading Menma's farewell letter. Only after that the
five of them could see Menma's true form. They said they loved her as much as she loved them and
finally, Menma disappeared from the presence of her five friends. The film ends by showing Poppo,
who is applying for a job. Tsuruko, who used to like Yukiatsu, begins to express her feelings.
Meanwhile, Jintan decides to return to school with Anaru, who used to like him. They all
re-establish their friendship while continuing to live their own lives. The moral that can be
learned from this movie is never to be trapped in regrets in the past because we must be able
to accept them so that we can try to be better in the future. And don't forget to always fulfill
the promise we have made to someone because that promise is something that must be repaid.