amnesia anime review…I really tried with this one guys. A friend was letting me watch new anime shows that they had and this was one of them.
Plot:
One evening Heroine faints while at work, when she awakens she discovers that she has lost all her memories prior to that day – her life, her relationships & even her very name. All that was left was a cell phone with numbers and names she doesn’t recognize and Orion, a young boy that only she appears to be able to see. With Orion’s guidance, she struggles to make sense of herself, a boyfriend she doesn’t know and the thousand and one little things that make up a daily life. But with no memories left, the only alternative is to forge new ones, even if that means leaving old loves behind.
Although the premise of Amnesia was quite interesting (a girl being in an accident, losing her memory and then entering alternate worlds), there was little or no explanation as to why she is always waking up on August 1st in a different world. The chronology is pretty confusing, and the ending is HIGHLY disappointing.
The main character is so frustrating I just want to grab her and shake her! She barely says a word other than ‘yes’, and always in a half-audible whisper. In some of the alternate worlds, she is physically threatened by the male characters, and yet never attempts to defend herself or fight back. I mean, Toma locks her in a cage and then barges into her house to apologize after she’s managed to run away and she just tells him that it’s okay because he obviously only did it because he cares about her?! Whatever your name is, it isn’t okay to lock girls in cages. Anyway, aside from that, there was no character development due to the characters personalities being different in every episode as a result of the alternate worlds thing, so you couldn’t really develop any sort of connection with any of the characters apart from the heroine.
In case you don’t get the vibe, this is pretty much a reverse harem used primarily for female wish-fulfillment. The story centers around our lead girl, I guess we just call her Heroine? Because her boyfriends that love her oh so dearly never bother to call her by her name? Yeah. Heroine finds herself awakening with no memories, and it’s up to her and a spirit called Orion to collect her memories. She’s also trapped in this sort of “time loop.” Basically, each time she dies, the date resets. By date I mean both the month and day and her current boyfriend.
Amnesia has two main issues…the pacing and Heroine.
The pacing moves by pretty slowly, to the point where even when we hit episode nine, nearly nothing is known about the main plot or what exactly is going on. The story is supposedly about the Heroine collecting her memories, but uh.. that’s probably the least she’s done throughout the show. And that’s saying a lot, because she hardly does ANYTHING.
And here comes our other issue, the Heroine herself. This girl is so bland, so personality-less, that she doesn’t even have a name. Isn’t that awesome, girls? You don’t even have to get depressed when hot guy #1 doesn’t call out your name! It makes self-insertion much, much easier. Heroine is a story-dragger — she provides little to no advancement to the plot herself and has to rely on everyone else to push her in any direction possible.
Speaking of Heroine’s reliance, this also brings another issue: she’s submissive. Too, too submissive. Almost all the guys do extremely improper things to her, like shoving her against a tree in the middle of the dark against her will or forcefully kissing her, getting too close to her, anything. And she just accepts all of this. She never sticks up for herself, and is even willing to stay with a man whom she pretty much knows will dump her when his time limit is up. Great example, right guys? The male characters ain’t any better — they’re all pretty much just a bunch of hot dude’s lusting after Heroine for their own messed up reasons. Some want to play her, others want to lock her up in a cage. You know how it is. (insert eye roll here)
But in relation to the story overall I felt a little overwhelmed at the start and I honestly wasn’t sure if I would get past the 2nd episode (obviously I did as I’m a trooper) as the trauma Heroine was experiencing was rubbing off on me as a viewer and the fact that no answers were emerging was frustrating. All in all the storyline was very well structured as most Otome games turned anime’s are very messy as they try to cover any thing and everything. I highly recommend this anime to everyone as it has a pairing for all romantic anime fans, however if you are like me then you will be a tad disappointed by the fact that your pairing never gets a true happy ending – As Heroine is for everyone due to the nature of the game it was based off. Simply put, watching Amnesia is like playing the game without getting to make any of the choices.
While it is clear that the show is trying to cover all of the game’s routes (as in the different options that lead the heroine to end up with one hero or another), it does create a sort of strange fascination for the viewer. Recurring themes of wishing on shooting stars, bullying by other girls, and the fact that the heroine at one point did have a personality and some gumption combine to make things intriguing. What is the deal with August first? How does that fit in with her being stuck on some sort of karmic wheel? Who is that weird fellow with the green hair who apparently can jump timelines? The mystery factor of Amnesia is one that niggles at the viewer’s mind, allowing her to put up with the less savory elements of the show in order to figure out once and for all what is going on.
What was the Amnesia Ending? Game Spoilers Since the Anime Was Confusing.
Ukyo, long haired green guy that keeps showing up everywhere, is the last route in the game to play and there’s a good reason why. The reason the heroine has amnesia in the first place is because of Ukyo. Basically in his world (Joker) Heroine and Ukyo were dating. But not for long. On August 1st, you die in an explosion at your college and stay in the hospital until the 25th, where you die. Ukyo was so saddened by this, he made a wish to the gods to see you one more time. If you paid attention in some of the routes Orion might have mentioned his creator, a god named Nhil. He went missing prior to your meeting with Orion and here’s why. He’s inside Ukyo making sure to grant his wish. And if he can’t grant humans wishes his power will dull until he… dies? I guess? Anyways, it’s a big deal to make sure Ukyo’s wish is granted.
But poor Ukyo can’t catch a break. Nhil can’t exactly rewind time so he actually sends Ukyo to different worlds. And THAT‘s why Ukyo knows so much about whats going on. He’s been to a world where you get with Shin, Ikki, etc before. Unfortunately in each world the two of you have this sort of ‘Fate of Death’ thing going on where in each world only one of you is alive, and if either tries to live in the world they’re fated to be dead in, the world goes bonkers trying to kill you with anything possible. So Ukyo keeps dying, and Nhil keeps sending him to alternate worlds to fulfill his wish. Eventually something in Ukyo snaps and he forms a split personality (Ura Ukyo) who wants self preservation more than seeing Rosa alive and makes it his duty to kill Rosa.
So to recap, in every route you play? Ukyo dies. Ukyo continues to travel worlds until Nhil realizes that, shit, he’s running out of magic. So he decides to actually REWIND time at last in his original world and pray the two of you get out of it in one piece. So Ukyo finally becomes Homura except a lot better. His route had SEVEN bad ends, all easily avoidable if you just listen to him. Beautiful. Most of his route is trying to not be killed and also to find out what happened with the two of you before the time loop because, ya know. Amnesia. But not only are you avoiding explosions, falling pipes from the sky, or dying of hypothermia. Ukyo himself is obviously a danger to you. At one point he handcuffs himself after you ask him to stay over so that he wont switch to Ura and kill you.
Eventually you find Ukyo and come face to face with the terror known as your school. The two of you tried to find shelter because uh, a typhoon started to strike. But everywhere you could find water was piling up and you two would have died from the cold if you weren’t inside somewhere.
UNFORTUNATELY your house isn’t close so you two take refuse in the college that you died in an explosion at! Great idea! Ukyo snaps into Ura and tries to kill you by lighting the building on fire and chasing after you with a knife. Though really slowly. He manages to catch you and start choking you, but the good part in him holds his hands back and gives you a chance to escape. You do, but eventually he’s there with his knife again. Right before the clock strikes midnight you think he’s gonna kill you but nope! Good Ukyo stabs himself and starts to cry over how now he can finally see you live on happy since in all the other worlds he died before this point. You don’t accept this and keep telling him that he will not die! The clock strikes midnight and Rosa has a moment of silence…
Honestly I burst out in tears even though I knew it was coming BUT he’s not dead. He starts to move even after midnight and you all are like YEAH. Nhil reveals himself to you and starts telling you all the shit I already said about Orion and Ukyo. It’s then the two of you go back to being a lovely couple and get ready for shopping to buy a new mirror since Ukyo broke yours the day before you died in the original timeline. The end.
I would say that the game is better than the anime. Much like the book is always better than the movie. Hey, at least it was/is better than Diabolik Lovers. This anime made me want to scream but DL made me want to punch my laptop screen.
Have you already seen this anime or played the otome game? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!
As always,
Keep Smiling!