Amnesia – 04
After last time with the cliff, you’d think Shin would learn not to bring her to dark, forested areas.
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Whee and it’s been a week already?! With school gradually picking up its busy pace once again, time seems to fly by. It’s just the beginning though, and although I’m not stressed yet, I’m starting to get really sleepy and tired. I also happen to be suffering from a slight case of Amnesia with anything that has to do with Math… |
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Just in case you weren’t aware, Nagi’s single for Zoetrope (the OP to Amnesia) is out~! …I can’t claim that I’ve had amnesia over math, my classes have suddenly upped their stress level. I hate presentations. I hate talking in front of other people. OTL Let’s move on to (somewhat) less depressing topics. |
Miyu || One thing I’ve noticed about Amnesia is that it likes to tell, rather than show. Many things like Shin’s past with his dad could’ve been done much better by showing it through a flashback of sorts, but nooooo he just has to tell us the whole damn thing word by word. It’s dry that way, and it also leaves less of an emotional impact than a visual scene would have done. I don’t know what they’re trying to do here, perhaps leave it all the way until the heroine gets back all her memories and then dump us with an episode-long flashback of everything that really happened, but this is causing these few episodes to be really boring. There is so much talking going on in the show that I really have to struggle to stay awake, and it’s not like the heroine’s voice is particularly invigorating either. Please, Amnesia, there are so many other ways to tell a story instead of having one of your characters read it all out.
Kara || Well, this episode was definitely an improvement over last weeks. Without Orion there to tell the heroine what to do, she’s actually taking initiative and learning to trust Shin on her own! There weren’t any memories recovered, but at least there wasn’t any reintroduction to things we already knew. The heroine actually had a good reason for keeping quiet about the murder thing and it turns out that it was a misunderstanding in the first place. I’m not going to say that her reaction to the murder thing is 100% Orion’s fault, but it certainly does look like the heroine is better off without him there… Oh, which brings us to the fact that she remembered the conversation happening, and yet, it hadn’t happened yet. She had memories of the conversation before it took place. They’re giving the viewer all of the hints about what’s actually going on and they’re doing it really nicely without giving too much away. I was iffy about the whole thing before, but now I’m really enjoying how they’re showing the story.
Damn, those thigh-high, mismatched boots are fabulous.
Miyu || And what was with the whole repeating the same time period again and again thing? I guessed that it would’ve been something to do with parallel worlds, but didn’t really think that they’d try to pull a Kagerou Days on us. Well it’s alright I guess, as long as they handle it well. At this point in time the heroine just seems to be confused and overwhelmed, talk to somebody (in this case, Shin) and start to understand some things, and then get trolled by fate and has the entire cycle repeat again. I do think that she was less annoying this episode though, maybe because she actually tried to be considerate instead of just being all afraid all the time and hurting tsundere Shin’s feelings. Not that she’s made any significant improvement in terms of being less timid, but hey, that’s at least some progress. Shin was better this week too, in my opinion! He’s finally manning up and knocking some sense into the heroine – even if you don’t like it, imma comeatcha.
Kara || So large improvements to the heroine this week, but also a better look into Shin’s personality. …Er, an even better look than what they gave us even last episode. So the cliff thing was his fault (or at least he blamed himself), which clears up that mystery. He also apologized for being impatient too and we had a better look as to how the two got together. It was kind of hard to imagine the two of them being a couple before (especially since the heroine had the personality of a cardboard box), but this episode, you could see that both were willing to at least try to make it work. …And then of course, the truck came out of nowhere. I hope that through all of the jumps in routes, the heroine gets more confident. I’d hate for her to start all the way back from square one each time she’s dating a new guy. Oh, and I neglected to mention this above, but they cut out a HUGE portion of angst in Shin’s story here. That’s okay though, since I think they got the main points of the route across and they still have the overlying mystery to go over. I’ve included it below (in a spoiler tag because who knows if they’ll go back to it) in case you were curious.
Miyu || On the other hand, Ikki looks like he’s going to be a much sexier boyfriend. Although I like Shin’s gentle concern and kindness, there’s nothing like someone confident enough of himself to pave the way. (Sorry, I tend to fall for these types. *shot*) The heroine’s memories are starting to overlap, and it seems as if the different “flashbacks” that she’s been getting aren’t really from the past, but more of from one of the parallel timelines. This means that if these glimpses continue, she’ll probably be able to predict what may happen in the future as she continues to jump between the parallel worlds – of course, that if she can get over her confusion and bewilderedness. But the thought of being able to foretell what’s coming next is cool indeed, except that what’s coming up probably isn’t pretty. Ikki’s fangirls look like they’re ready to eat any possible rivals up. And to make matters worse, now it seems as if we have a third wheel in Ikki and the heroine’s relationship. Her clothing style eerily reminds me of that of the Ice Princess in Mawaru Penguindrum, although I suppose she’s nothing like her. Sigh, as if things weren’t complicated and confusing enough.
Kara || Aaaaand now on to Ikki’s route. Yeah, I’m not sure how they’re planning to do this, but I know that no matter what, there is going to be suffering. Ikki is a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but the fangirls… Well, you saw them. They’re just a tiiiiiny bit psychotic and hair cutting is only the tip of the iceberg. I like Rika’s character a bit more after the sequel to Amnesia (or to be more accurate, I can’t take her seriously anymore), but in the first game she was a total bitch. … Rika is the blonde woman at the end of the episode, if you were wondering. Things should be interesting now, but I hope that the heroine doesn’t recede back into not talking again after the events of dating Ikki. I think she made a lot of progress over patching things up with Shin, so it would be a shame if she went back to how she was episode one. Oh well, at least Waka should be entertaining whenever he pops up. I’m pretty sure that Ikki’s route contains my favourite version of him.
In short, I disliked the presentation of the content that they tried to put through in this episode, but I’m glad that our characters are actually getting somewhere. I honestly do not have much hope that the heroine will grow any much more of a personality, but at least we’re getting a variety of personalities from the guys, and that’s really still what’s keeping going for this show. Also, Ukyou had zero screentime this episode, which makes me sad as he’s probably the most intriguing character out of all of them. Ah well, there’s always next episode—oh wait, that’s what I said last week too?
This may be the first otome game adaptation I’ve seen where I’ve legitimately enjoyed how they’ve adapted it (UtaPri doesn’t count because I didn’t play the game beforehand, so I couldn’t say anything about the way they adapted it). The things they’ve taken out weren’t really necessary, they’ve added in an overlaying plot/ mystery and they’re not telling anyone anything, but they are including hints along the way so when the reveal comes, it won’t be out of nowhere. It’s actually really clever. Though it’s not to say that Amnesia doesn’t have it’s share of problems. There weren’t any flashbacks in the game unless they were part of the heroine’s memories, so I’ve just been writing off the long bouts of dialogue as part of that. Miyu brought up a good point with the lack of actually showing us anything though. Why don’t they do that? I can think of a few reasons… Like how it makes us reliant on what the characters tell the heroine, where they could be lying, thus adding to the whole element of mystery/ not being able to trust what the characters say. But for some things, like the heroine using the same words with Shin twice, I don’t see why they couldn’t have had a mini flashback there. Oh well, I’m still looking forward to the upcoming events.
Third wheeling in style
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
It was nice to see the Heroine not being a deadweight like she usually is. Her relationship with Shin was so cute…or Shin was cute and Heroine was just…herself. When she walked out into the street, I knew something was going to come out of nowhere and hit her. That’s what she gets for just standing in the middle of the road…
Of course now it is Ikki’s arc! 😀 Who is one of my favorites along with Toma and Ukyou. Although this makes me wonder whose “arc” it was in the first episode. I thought Ikki because of how it seemed to focus on him but he is acting very different in this world than episode 1 world.
And I have to say, I like Rikka’s dress.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahahaha too true. It’s a giant truck. You’d think that she would at least hear it coming.
The first episode was part of Ikki’s arc (which I know for sure since the rabid fangirls were around), so you’re not wrong. I don’t really see him acting differently this time around, though I guess he is acting a bit more familiar.
Her dress is pretty nice. I’m personally really fond of Mine’s look (the pink haired girl who works with the heroine)
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
I agree with Miyu about the flashbacks. Something besides just talking would be better. I’m kind of tired of Shin’s face, so I’m glad that these route-arcs are only going to be 2 episodes each. (At least, that seems to be the precedent.) And hopefully, the heroine will start thinking about what’s happening around her and who she might have been.
But hey, thank goodness Orion is gone! The heroine is learning to move forward and do what she can. She still has the shock element of switching boyfriends, but duh, anyone would be surprised to be hit by a truck and wake up 3 days earlier with a new boyfriend. But it also makes me wonder how many accidents they can come up with…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Shin’s route (arc?) seems to be that short at least. Which takes us up to episode 9 if each guy gets 2 episodes and then 3 for them to tell you wtf has been going on this entire time. I’m looking for a little more self exploration from the heroine as well so she doesn’t stay silent and unsure the entire time. A name would be nice too.
How many accidents? A ton. This was one of the few games I’ve played where the bad ends would involve death xD …The only other one that comes immediately to mind would be Hatoful Boyfriend
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I like Zoetrope, so I’m glad the full version has been released. The lyrics seem well suited to the story as well.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Does anyone have any ideas as to where you can download this great OP? So far, I’m coming up empty.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I got mine on gendou.com. That’s a good place to get it, provided you have an account.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Is there a site where you can get it without an account being required?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There are torrents of it…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Thanks for the suggestion. I just found one and I’m downloading it right now.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
But that said, I do wish that it was possible to buy these singles in non-Japanese countries without importing. Digital Downloads? Hello? Makes it easy to transport things like music all over the world. But they don’t even sell them as downloads through Amazon.co.jp.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I completely agree. I would buy singles and OSTs if I could. Only a few get imported as CDs, and even fewer become available on iTunes/Amazon. It should be trivial to make them available at the same time as the Japanese release.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
And just when I was warming up to Shin…
I definitely had the wrong impression of him, though that’s understandable since he hasn’t appeared much in the first 2 episodes and was just thrown in the spotlight last time.
He’s forceful but he does it because he doesn’t want to stay the childhood friend and wants to be seen as a true boyfriend. Which I admit rubbed me off the wrong way last time but with his reasoning and some more screentime this episode, that changed my view of him.
Heroine definitely improved, showed more expressions(sort of) and did well in adapting in this situation. And I’m still loving her voice even though it’s so soft and quiet. Though her getting hit by a truck made me facepalm hard. Though now she has some idea on what’s happening to her because of the diary.
So now it’s Ikki’s route. As someone who barely registered in the first episodes and was non-existent in Shin’s route, this does not bode well. Plus his personality is something I don’t quite like. And them fangirls. This is gonna be brutal.
I lol’d though when he called and said he’ll be over in 30 minutes, then called again and said he’s over in 10 minutes.So fast.
A major improvement from the last episode, save for the narration of Shin’s in the middle. It really is resorting to a tell, not show thing, which is mostly the other way around in most shows. It’s a weird thing which has pros and cons. Either way, I’m still sticking around with this show.
Though the reason why, I already forgot. Oh shi…POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
I think the presentation of events without flashbacks is because of the fact that everything is based on main character’s PoV. Remember she said that she still can’t remember anything even though Shin told her everything? That’s probably the reason of the lack of flashback, she doesn’t remember anything yet.
This kind of thinking made me survive this episode (and the lack of Orion), and I think this episode is pretty decent. The MC is more active, and Shin somehow improves as a character from being the silent type to the more forward type.
As for Ikki? I don’t like him already. Sure he’s nice and gentle, totally the perfect guy, but I can’t stand the fact that he doesn’t mind his fangirls at all even though he’s in front of his girlfriend’s apartment. It seems that he’s the type of guys who can’t be mean to girls, and that’s going to be a huge problem
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What I can say now is that the heroine is actually beginning to develop. She’s being more responsive instead of being curled up in a ball, staying silent and following people as if she’s a puppet and she’s finally told someone that she has amnesia.
After what happened after Shin was expressing that he was going better himself, I assume the heroine is being sent back in time whenever she comes close to an accident but the male friend switches. In this case, from Shin to Ikki. That plot indicates as much since her filled planner suddenly got lighter. Much lighter.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Terribly late, but yeas I’m in till the very end. Screw you haters! This is one of the more positive reviews of Amnesia on9… Its shaping up to be the otome countepart to LB! anime ^.^;
And I found a TL LP of Amnesia! Its going through Toma route though so spoilers alert? Also I found this pic… New datable guys yo!