Meiko Honma

Meiko Honma is the main female protagonist from the Ano Hana anime.

Meiko, whom is also called by her nickname Menma, is a ghost that shows up to Jinta because of her wish that he and his friends must grant. She is a child-like girl who was part of the Super Peace Busters before she died because of an accident.

Appearance
As a child, Meiko appears as a small 5-year old girl with long, straight, silver hair that reaches past her shoulders with her bangs cut fringed on top of her forehead. Her eyes are light blue and wide, making her look like a cheerful, innocent child.

Her child and her "grown up" appearances are almost identical. She wears a tiered white dress, fastened with a blue bow. Her dress is often described in the anime as "a white one piece with a blue ribbon". Since she's a spirit, she always goes barefoot unlike her past self, who always wore simple sandals on her feet. In her older version, her hair is about waist-length. Her skin is the palest among the other characters. Unlike her childhood friends, she still has not grown fully yet and has quite the same personality like when she was five. She is very skinny and very short.

Personality
Menma is a very cheerful girl with a very air-headed nature. She's kind and often worries about others before herself, especially when it comes to Jinta. She is extremely childish (although this may partially be down to the fact she died as a child and has only recently been 'resurrected'). Menma's favorite food is curry.

Although throughout the series she is surrounded by her friends, she does often get very lonely and upset easily, especially when she visits her family and realizes she no longer belongs to them, nor does she have a home. Also, due to the fact, only Jinta can see her, she can communicate with the others in the group using her notebook, and only her notebook, although Menma does wish to be able to talk to the other members. Despite being "dead", she is a very positive, energetic and lively person. According to Jinta, she is quite selfless and cries very often for others when they are hurt or upset, but not for herself. Jinta calls her "the beast of the summer" as he relates her to being a manifestation of his stress instead of a ghost girl.

Trivia

 * She makes an appearance in episode 1 of the anime Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata as figurines
 * Like many other anime girls (and some guys), Meiko entered Saimoe Contests.
 * Menma's nickname is derived from combining the beginning of her given name with the end of her surname. The word menma also refers to a type of pickled bamboo shoots.