HighWire: [Anime Review] Plastic Memories

"When Memory is full

Put on the perfect Lid --

This Morning's finest syllable

Presumptuous Evening said --"

-Emily Dickinson

Plastic Memories has been somewhat of everyone's favorite punching bag this year in spring of 2015. It only takes a glance through forums and the such to find people ripping up the show completely, claiming it to be a melodramatic and poorly written mess, and I was a little curious why that was. I mean, I'm relatively positive why backlash for Plastic Memories happened, but why has the public anvil fallen so hard on this seemingly simple series about robots, humanity and learning to let go?

Now, in case you've just got here and have absolutely no idea what this anime is about, bear with me, because I'm here to say that Plastic Memories has been unfairly prosecuted by the community based on misguided expectation. So what am I trying to do with this review? Well, give it a fair trial.

Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you're having a wonderful day, and today, I'll be giving my thoughts as I experienced them on the romance/drama/sci-fi anime of this past spring 2015 season: Plastic Memories.

Let's talk technicality first. Plastic Memories was animated by studio Dogakobo, a studio that has only recently appeared on my radar mostly for their work on the hilarious yet flawed comedy Gekkan Shoujou Nozaki-kun that aired last year, because besides from that anime, they haven't done many things of mention; as they are still a company more or less still finding their stride. And if this stride continues, I think we can expect great things from them in the future. Plastic Memories was directed by Yoshiyuki Fujiwara, who hasn't done a whole lot, but his most notable directing work was probably Engaged to the Unidentified, an anime that while I haven't seen, I can guess won't fair as well as Plastic Memories did under my scrutiny. The script was handled by Naotaka Hayashi, another one who hasn't done too much work, but on the other hand, as well as writing the script, he is also the original creator of Plastic Memories. I commend him for that because he has done something many of us only dream of, and I also get to blame him for absolutely all of the problems the story has. Nice, that makes things simpler. Finally, the anime is 13 episodes long, airing in between April 4th to June 27th of 2015. Now, into the story.

Story

In a world where scientific advances have allowed the creation of humanoid androids called "Giftia" that posses real emotions to exist, in one clean strike, the line between man and machine collapses, as Gifita are integrated into society as parents, children, brothers and sisters. In this changed world, 18 year-old Tsukasa Mizugaki is just trying to find his place. He has already failed his college entrance exams after collapsing half-way through the test, and his disappointed father, head of the SAI Corporation, the very company known for producing Giftia worldwide, offers him a position at the last place that he feels Tsukasa is eligible: the Terminal Service Department. There, Tsukasa will need to play reaper for Giftia that are reaching their "expiration date", forcing their depressed owners to sign their consent to allow Tsukasa to retrieve and deactivate the Giftia before their programming fails and they go berserk, potentially endangering society. Determined to make the best out of a clearly disheartening situation, Tsukasa encounters the rag-tag bunch of people that have gathered at the Terminal Service: his tsundere co-worker Michiru, who only started working a year before him, the timid head of the department, and of course, his new partner for retrieval: a Giftia named Isla. Isla is an emotionally repressed Giftia that, up until this point, has only served tea for her fellow workers at the department, but despite her rough exterior, Tsukasa finds himself inexplicably drawn to her, wondering who the real person behind her emotionless expression is.

The faithful first meeting between Tsukasa and Isla.

Okay, listen very close to me now, because this next part is very important, because understanding what Plastic Memories is trying to accomplish with its story is essential to enjoying the overall experience. This is not, like what I assume many viewers of this anime wanted as it started, an examination of what is defined as human in a world where the line becomes increasingly blurred; like what something such as Eve no Jikan set out to do. It's an easy preconception to have when you read the plot summary, but you can't go into Plastic Memories expecting commentary on the nature of humanity, because you are just not going to get it. Sure, the subject is touched on, that's sort of unavoidable judging from the nature of Tsukasa's and Isla's jobs, but it doesn't waver on it and it doesn't go into depth, and that is just how it is. So, if not about what you would initially assume, what is the purpose of Plastic Memories? Well, to put it simply, it's a romance... and a tragic one at that.

Now, as anybody who is familiar with the genre knows, pulling off a well-written and believable romance in anime is no easy task, and Plastic Memories makes more than a few missteps in its execution. The first mistake is probably not putting the romance as the priority right away, and instead Plastic Memories spends its first few episodes on multiple assignments that Tsukasa and Isla must complete, not really stringing together any focus between the episodes. It can even feel episodic at times, and it's probably in these initial few episodes that people got misleaded on what Plastic Memories would be focusing on. The romance between Tsukasa and Isla feels nearly like a sub-plot in this stretch rather than what in reality is the beating heart of what makes this anime work, and when you're not focusing on the core of a show, things get aimless fast. Plastic Memories plays around with some, quite honestly, immersion-breaking comedy that doesn't flow well with the rest of the story, that at best is slightly amusing and at worst is distracting from the more sentimental aspects of the anime. Some side characters get episodes to themselves for slight development, but besides from the backstory of Kazuki: Tsukasa's tough boss, whose backstory is intricately linked with Isla's development, these backstories feel like pointless distractions that never really feed into the story again. Sometimes it focuses on the anguish of the people who are forced to part with their Giftia, especially in the emotion-fueled episode 1, but then sometimes it simply skips over this without a second word. It still serves as a passable slice-of-life with a sci-fi twist, but nothing in this first half of the anime is truly engaging or mold-breaking.

It can also be quite juvenile at times, which probably didn't help the slowly burning rage of veiwers who were still expecting Blade Runner or something. Plastic Memories isn't above fan-service or tasteless breast jokes, which does nothing to help its situation, tainting moments where the anime does try to be serious.

Even Isla has hobbies.

But once Plastic Memories finds its identity, as a romance, and as a story, sometime around the end of episode 8, it's a whole different matter. It was around episode 10 I think that I realized that the show's writing had improved drastically, and the only explanation I could come up with was that Naotaka Hayashi had finally began to tell the story that he truly wanted to tell from the beginning, all these side characters and world-building aside. And... it's really damn good, actually, one of the best romances I've seen in a good long while. It's not melodramatic and it's not rushed, building deliberately and wonderfully from episode 8 onwards to probably the best final episode thus far of 2015: 24 minutes of pure storytelling so gripping and emotional, that honestly, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Yeah, I'll admit it: I had almost had something in my eye at the very end. Shut up. But that's rare, actually, for me at least, to be completely satisfied with what I am given in an anime's finale, but Plastic Memories managed to pull it off, and that's worth a lot of praise. I just wish Plastic Memories could have realized that this slow build-up is something it should have been doing from the very beginning.

The cast from left right: Michiru, Zack, Kazuki, Tsukasa & Isla.

Characters

Since I don't have a lot to talk about in terms of side characters, I'll go over them first. Michiru, the tsundere co-worker, is adequate as a character, getting an okay back-story and acting as sort of a cheerleader for Tsuaksa's and Isla's relationship, which makes her somewhat enduring despite her occasionally annoying tsundere tendencies, especially when her Gifita partner Zack can see right through her act and points it out constantly, usually for comic relief. As I said before, Kazuki is probably the only character that is essential for the main "plot"(for lack of a better word), and she is fairly likable too, being a sort of fussy yet tough mother-figure for Isla. At very least, though the supporting cast lacks of depth, they are all somewhat likable, which could be almost just as important depending on the situation.

Tsukasa as a main character is not a lot to write home about, as he very much comes from the same "bland main-protagonist" camp that characters like Otanashi from Angel Beats and Kirito from Sword Art Online apparently attended. He just doesn't have a lot of personality, not that the anime doesn't try to give him one(before giving up and moving on to Isla). It brings up briefly his rocky relationship with his father at some points before pretty much completely dropping it, and what I took as a hint that he is becoming repeatedly desensitized from his job(or what Isla calls "tearing apart memories"), is pretty much gone before you have time to consider the implications it could have on his character. The one trait the anime bestows on him and keeps around for the whole duration is Tsukasa's tendency to keep sadness and or depression hid behind a smile, and while that's not a bad trait per say, it's just not really explored that often, only being brought up when convenient for sentimentalism. Not that the trick doesn't work in the last episodes, and you could say that is somewhat manipulative, but whatever, I thought it seemed genuine enough.
Now Isla is by far the most developed character in the show, though I'm hesitant to say develop as opposed to change. She starts as apparently a near emotionless person, though through hints by her clumsiness and occasionally quirkiness, it's strong hinted that this apathy is not her real personality, or at least not the one she was born with. To be honest, she sorted of pissed me off in the beginning with this demeanor, especially since it was so obvious that Tsukasa was head over heels for her and was willing to do anything to make her happy. The show does well to strip away her character layers throughout the duration, and even if it is not hard at all to guess what the her character's underlying motivation is(and to be honest, it's pretty obvious), it's still well executed, which can matter more than complexity. What really sold it though in the end, was when I was watching episode 13, and watcing how Isla was acting. I realized just how completely different she was acting than how she had been in the beginning of the anime, and the crazy thing was, the change felt natural, like it had been built up; like it had been built up well. And that realization was enough for me.

Just one of the many beautiful backgrounds of Plastic Memories. Also, remember this Ferris Wheel. It's kind of important.

Presentation & Sound

I must say, I'm impressed Dogakobo. Plastic Memories is a pretty gorgeous looking show, and I think that has a lot to do with a choice blend of color and aesthetic. Lush shades provide the sci-fi setting with a certain glamour that feels futuristic yet still very much connected to a present day setting, with colors exaggerated yet realistic. One problem you could say is that the setting isn't always strongly communicated through the visuals; you'd be forgiven for forgetting that this does take place in a futuristic setting occasionally; locations seeming like they could have been hand-picked from a present day setting. Though honestly, that's a mere nitpick in the face of an anime that looks amazing, from color, to character designs, to the way that certain scenes look.
Done by artist Masaru Yokoyama, the music of Plastic Memories was never really something I took notice of. Admittedly, since this is a show that has been released very recently, I havn't been able to give the full OST a complete listen yet, but from what I heard while watching the show, the OST never really strayed very far from light slice-of-life jingles and soft slow piano pieces for emotional high-points. Take this overview with a grain of salt however, because Masaru actually does have a few good OSTs under his name, namely: The Rolling Girls and Your Lie in April, so maybe I just wasn't paying attention when the stand-out songs where playing. The songs I did notice was the quite good opening "Ring of Fortune", notable if only for the amazing visuals besides from the music, and a song called "Again and Again", which... is a quite lovely little song actually.

Ring of Fortune

(follow the video link)

Again and Again

Verdict

Ever since it first started airing, Plastic Memories has been subjected to unfair comparisons to sci-fi giants of the anime medium, hell, even to Ghost in the Shell, arguably the most influential piece of science fiction anime has ever produced, all against a genre it never really wanted to emulate in the first place. So I'm not going to. Because Plastic Memories isn't sci-fi, not really; it uses sci-fi elements to make its story work, but I'll judge it as a romance. And as a romance anime, there is one essential question I need to ask myself to judge if Plastic Memories wasn't just a melodramatic mess that just happened to tug my heart strings, but a competent and engaging anime that actually succeeded in exactly what it set out to do. At the end of episode 13, when all the dust has settled, and all the tears of the fanboys have dried up, did Plastic Memories make me care about the relationship of these two people? Did I care what happened to them? The answer? Well...
Yeah. And that's enough for me.

Final Verdict: 7/10

P.S; "I hope one day, you'll be reunited with the person you cherish."

Recommended Anime:

Your Lie in April

If it's another tragic romance ending in sadness for everyone you're looking for, try this one, you sick bastard. Also brought to you by the same composer.

Psycho-Pass

But if it's some real hard-core sci-fi you're seeking, and want nothing to do with this romantic nonsense, Psycho-Pass should serve your needs nicely with its cool world, fully explored concepts, and a tone that radiates fondness and passion for old-time science fiction.

You can watch Plastic Memories through streaming with ad breaks on Hulu. That's right, it's free, it's legal, so drop by this link to watch it.

Also, special thanks for the awesome thumbnail for today's review goes to HB User: Horizon_, who graciously designed it for the purposes of this review, so give him a follow on his profile. Thanks man!

Goodbye for now guys.

Click here for an anime review of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU.

Or if it's a countdown you're seeking, click here for my Top Five Wishlist Anime.

How important is fun? Click here.

Find Me At: