Nusrat Progga
Last year I had an emotional-tearjerker-anime run where I only watched anime that would make me sad. That is the power of what is said to be one of the saddest anime ever, Clannad. I was suggested to watch Angelo Beats, which I didn’t really enjoy, but thanks to a Facebook post, I came across an anime called Plastic Memory. I have mixed feelings about this anime and you ought to read on to know why.
The first episode of the anime was nothing short of amazing. Although the whole robots-with-feelings gig has been played before, Plastic Memories’ plot felt more original, refreshing, and it had a lot of tragic elements. I thought it would become the next big thing and would eventually climb its way to the mainstream.
However, as the episodes went by, Plastic Memories betrayed my expectations. Despite the opening, the anime turned out to be another cutesy slice of life/rom-com. Of course, I am not saying that the anime sucked in the end, rather, it was pretty good till the last episode, but it just did not reach the position I thought it would.
The anime is located in the future where humanoid androids a.k.a. “Giftias” are a basic part of human culture. The Giftias possess human emotions and help their human owners however possible. However these bots have a limited lifespan and have to be taken out before it gets too late and they start to dysfunction terribly (hint: “dysfunction” is colloquialism here). Tsukasa is an 18 year old boy who is offered a job in the SAI Corporation which is incharge of retrieving the Giftias before their system becomes obsolete and installing a new personality within them. His partner is Isla, a quiet and cute Giftia who is nearing the end of her lifespan. By the order of their boss, they team up, live together, socialize together, work together, and needless to say- fall in love too.
This is the point where Plastic Memories becomes something completely different from what I imagined it would be. Despite the foundation, the anime is in fact not about the retrieval of various Giftias, or the SAI Corporation itself or any corrupted antagonist working there. It is simply about Tsukasa and Isla. To be honest, Tsukasa and Isla make up one of the cutest awkward couples I have ever seen and you really do not get tired of their romance but it also feels like there is a waste of potential because the unique plot was very promising.
But if you can put aside you expectations and watch the anime as what it really is i.e. a romantic comedy, then you will love it. Because the show actually has proper romantic development unlike other anime where there is a confession in the end and boom it is over!
All in all, your impression on the anime will depend on your expectations. Was it a good anime? Yes it was. Could it have been even better? From what I was expecting, yes.
Year of release: 2015
No. of episodes: 13
Rating: 7/10