First Impressions – Amnesia
Introducing, this season’s bishie party~
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Ahhhh, Amnesia. Out of all the winter shows, this one looked like the best out of the bunch (plot-wise), so I was fairly excited to see how it would turn it out. The sheer amount of bishounen was also a nice bonus. What I didn’t consider was that most game adaptations tend to fall a little…flat. |
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Another otome game adaption despite the failures the predecessors suffered from. Maybe this one will be different? Ah, WHO CARES. YAOI BAIT. Duhuhuhu. |
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Ah, yes. The otome game adaption of the season! I’m not going to be making the same mistake with this as I did Arcana Famiglia (that being, getting excited only to have my hopes crushed under the reality of a really poor adaption), but I still am fairly excited to see the Amnesia anime. The heroine here had no personality to begin with and if they don’t go with romance themes, there’s always the mystery themes in the plot to keep this going. |
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Yay! I always make it a point to check out adaptations of otome games because of the bishies and possible epic romances (…even though they usually fail to meet expectations), but still, I’m hoping for the best! Sorry for the late post, we’ve all been busy with real life in one way or another, but late’s better than never, isn’t it? xD |
setting&story // As you can tell from the title, the premise of the entire story is about Amnesia. The heroine (who still lacks a name lololol) wakes up in some weird place without her memories and meets a strangely dressed, floating shouta that only she can see. It’s his fault that she lost all of her memories. Hoever, he feels bad and so he gives her the choice of four doors an- wait a minute. There were no doors to chose from? Sigh, yes, it looks like the anime is going to combine all 5 routes into a single storyline. I don’t know how I feel about this since each route followed a completely different story and throwing them all into one will be messy. …Or at least I think they’re trying to put this all into one. They did mostly show the introduction to Ikki’s arc (which is good if they start with that one because that was definitely the most rage inducing one) so maybe they’re doing that route’s content first and they’ll explain the different world thing later. …If that even comes into play. Otherwise, the first episode was pretty great for setting the story up with intrigue. From having the heroine being called a traitor by a bunch of people at the end of the episode, this is obviously going to be a bit darker than that story of some girl having 4 guys help her (without knowing it) get her memory back. If you’re wondering about the location of where they are themselves… hell, I don’t know. It’s some city where weird fashion is all the rage. Just wait until Rika shows up.
seiyuu&music // Ah, as it seems, all otome game adaptations usually have awesome OPs and EDs, and Amnesia is definitely not one to disappoint. The lovely OP, Zoetrope is sung by Nagi Yanagi (former vocalist of supercell) and has a really addictive tune to it and the PV is enjoyable to watch. I found the part with the heroine falling into the stars strangely hypnotizing, and again, it’s one of those Ops that I wouldn’t skip while catching the episode. Although I’m not too sure I understand what’s going on with that Rubik’s cube. The ED definitely doesn’t lose out either, with Recall being sung by Ray, who’s also been active in the animusic sphere with former singles Sign (AnoNatsu) and Rakuen Project (To LOVEru). I think that music plays a big part in the overall enjoyment level of the series, and since it’s actually rare that both the OP and ED sound good, I’m glad that Amnesia has good numbers to start it off on the right track.
click to view music videos >> Show ▼
Onto seiyuu, although as mentioned in the Winter preview there weren’t any big names in the cast, I thought that all the guys sounded appropriate for their different characters. They have the androgynous-sounding voice for the tsun character (Shin), the sexy voice for the mysterious bishie character (Ikki), so our bishie cast is pretty much covered. Only thing is that it’ll probably take awhile for me to get used to our heroine’s soft voice that sounds permanently breathless/timid, which can get annoying at times. So far the only emotion she’s expressed is confusion and fear, but I honestly can’t imagine her voice going much further than that. Oh well, we have to deal with what we get.
Yeah she pretty much sticks with this facial expression for the whole episode
heroine&orion // At least with Persona 4 they gave the nameless protagonist an actual name. Amnesia doesn’t even bother to bestow a name let alone a personality deeper than a paper plate to the female protagonist (who I will just call MC for Main Character). MC is woefully demure and obedient to the point where she just follows the instructions of a mysterious voice without questioning her sanity in the slightest. Her most complex thoughts seem to be “Man, I sure forget a lot of stuff.” How any of these guys can stand to be around this walking doormat is beyond me. She must have always been like this for them to not notice anything different either. The one character type I absolutely hate is the uselessly shy girl with no personality. As someone who worked damn hard to get over that, I can’t help but cringe at characters who just can’t get it together and form a proper response without tripping over their own tongue.
“I like to watch you while you sleep…” Stalker lvl +100
I don’t know what role Orion plays in this mystery (aside from that it’s a BIG ROLE) but he wouldn’t have to make annoying commentary every 5 seconds if they just gave MC a personality and had her voice her own opinion. It’s weird having him hang around and just say things while MC stays quiet or just mumbles a weak response. I can only hope that as she gets her memory, her personality will become more developed. Orion said he bumped into her spirit and is now stuck in her soul in return for her memories, but there still seems to be the issue of her memories disappearing. He constantly asks if she remembers things and worries about her forgetting how to breathe if she isolates herself. While he seems keen to help, his very existence seems to drain her memories. Therefore, his motivation to get her to remember things may be more so that he can survive (since he dies if she dies) as opposed to benevolence. Of course, I haven’t played the game so I can only guess what Orion is there for. I’m just not as trusting as MC is towards him.
harem of bishies // Oh yeah, bishies. Love ’em pretty boys. They always look so pretty, especially the ones in Amnesia. Jeebus, they’re dripping with sexiness. Sexy clothes, sexy hair, sexy faces, and god sexy double-colored eyes. Seriously, their eyes. Ehm, anyhow, since this is based from an otome game, the harem Heroine has is the typical harem that offers a wide range of bishie stereotypes. Shin and Toma are the childhood friends who have opposing personalities. Shin is the ignorant tsun guy who’s secretly a dere, while Toma is the kind friend who shows his affection openly. There are also the coworkers, Ikki and Kent. Ikki is almost the same with Toma, except that he’s a senpai who helps his kouhai sometimes too much, and Kent is the smart megane coworker who can only think logically, but of course, behind his logic there’s deep concern. The bishies have different characters, but they have one thing in common: their affection and concern for the Heroine is past the boundary of friendship. Usually, in otome game, the bishies will be introduced with zero knowledge about the Heroine. However, in Amnesia, the bishies look at every little detail the Heroine does, and it’s obvious that they have their own secrets that’s involved with the Heroine. I can’t wait to see the interactions among them. And the most important question: who is going to be Heroine’s lover? The childhood friends, the coworkers, or Orion? Or maybe it’s the long-haired stalker who’s showing the signs of a yandere?
Amnesia was…pretty disappointing. The mystery aspect to it is only marginally interesting, and that might not be enough to get me to even try episode 2. I’m curious what MC has forgotten and what on earth is going on, but can’t handle seeing her stumble through life while gorgeous men in ridiculous clothing put up with her. Even the guys seem to be a bit bland, with only 50 belt buckles and an equal amount of various fabric patterns to give them any presence at all. They all exude the same suave attitude of hot guys, leading me to believe they really are nothing but hot guys for the girl to date. The only real good thing about this show? The cool clothes and rainbow eyes. I guess I’ll just look at screencaps to find out what’s happening and hit my head against the wall so I get retrograde amnesia and forget I ever watched this.
Either I’m easy to please or I’m in a good mood this week, because everything, including Amnesia, is fabulous to me. Unlike other otome game-adaption anime, Amnesia starts in a unique way that no other otome game has ever done, and that definitely piqued my interest. The mysterious aura every character in this anime has just adds my curiosity and this definitely helps at building up the excitement while I was watching the anime. To be honest though, I’m more at drooling at the art. The art is just beautiful. The characters are really pretty in their own ways (THEM EYES!), and the different clothing styles just add to their uniqueness. The artwork feels really soft and warm too, definitely a plus for my side. Too bad I can’t say the same about the backgrounds, but so far, I’m satisfied with everything that’s laid out so far. I hope the same excitement will always stay as I watch this anime until the end.
Yay!!!! I’m so happy they introduced Ukyou early on~. …If you’re wondering, he was the psychotic green haired character stalking the heroine outside the window. …Yep. Anyways, this episode might have seemed a little… lacking, but there were a whole bunch of clues that were hard to pick up about the truth hidden in this episode that will pay off later. Amnesia always had a mystery element to it’s routes, so I’m happy that they still have that element in there as opposed to shoving it in the background to make the first episode mainly a harem exposition. It might be hard to believe, but the heroine has 48303421 times the personality that she did in the game too. Seriously, the entire game was narrated completely through Orion talking to the heroine. You never even read her thoughts until there was a flashback. Here though, the lack of her having anything intelligent to say comes off less as ‘she’s being shoved into the background because the plot cares more about other characters instead of her’ and more as ‘she doesn’t say much because she has no idea how to react’. Who knows, maybe she’ll actually develop a personality once the memories come back in the anime. Anyways, I can’t say that this was the best opening episode ever, but where people are writing it off, I thought it was actually pretty decent. Yes, this could completely unravel and become another Arcana Famiglia or Fate/Stay Night, but the story looks promising since they’ve set things up well for the rest of the plot. …As long as they don’t try to shove all of the routes into one plot. I can’t see that working well.
Amnesia was… unfabulous. The only things that’ve impressed me so far about Amnesia are the music and the art style. You can’t go wrong with a harem of bishies (although one may have to question Kento’s fashion sense – seriously guys, what is with all those belts?!), and I found myself liking the ombre eye colors. It’s unique and I’ve never really seen anything like it before, but it grows on you and it’s lovely how they manage to make different colors look pretty together. I also especially love the heroine’s default outfit, it’s so cute! One thing though, is that I can feel myself disliking the heroine already. I can totally imagine her being one of those main characters that you completely forget even exist because her presence is so… negligible. I find the concept of watching her regain her memories really interesting, but the way she is so clumsy/fragile and helpless without encouragement (fainted/tripped etc) makes it kinda annoying. I hope I can look past her lackluster personality for the eye candy and the (hopefully) mindblowing story elements that are going to come into play later.
And now I leave you with…
LOVE EM BELTS
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: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Miyu, you are a mind reader. Exactly my thoughts. I am still gonna watch it; Brains Base is still good production no matter what.
Oh, and 🙂 Love Orion’s Hammerpants. Stop Faery Time..
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
PFFFTAHAHAHA that’s fabulous.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“They say “Hey Hammer, do you really have a weenie? With pants so big you look like a genie!”
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I have to say, those are slightly better than Nishizumi Shiho’s jodhpurs:
http://sushigokart.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/shiho-wears-jodhpurs.jpg
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
For me, a forgettable show. All I remember from the ep. were the eyes which looked nice.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I don’t blame you really. If it weren’t for playing the game and knowing what this is setting up for, this would have been quite disappointing.
I won’t lie and say it gets amazing, but the story does improve once the plot explains wtf is going on and we get past the fact that the heroine has absolutely no personality to speak of.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Since you’ve played the game, does the girl develop over time? Because I intially had the same opinion of no personality on Yuu on the first few episodes of Persona 4: The Animation and was about to drop it but then slowly started eating my words as he began and continued to exceed my expectations as the story went along. From cardboard cutout character to badass over the span of 25 episodes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Uhhh… to tell you the truth, she’s a Mary Sue all the way through. She sings, she’s unbearably nice to everyone and everyone loves her for no real reason (not to say that she doesn’t gather other people’s hate). She’s also a rather large doormat. Her personality kiiiiiind of changed each route, but she’s not the reason you should be watching this.
…I’m giving things away, but the plot kind of goes Steins;Gate if they bother putting the True route in here. If they don’t, then we still have a lot of darkness and drama ahead. The tension in the game was unusually high for an otome game and not just like the usual “Oh noes! Our social statuses don’t match!” otome game problems. There were some routes where it seemed like people were actually out to kill the heroine and because she had no memory, there was the mystery factor. She might not have a personality, but being the heroine is suffering.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In the end, all this turned out to be was eye candy for the ladies by having bishies.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Actually, after writing the paragraph above and thinking about the stories, I’m slightly more optimistic about this production. At least give it the 3 episode test. …Or ignore it and I’ll urge you to back if it gets good. xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
eeeeeeeeeeeehh? the opening?? Don’t you like Nagi’s voice ????
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This pretty much seals it. I hadn’t tried the show, and was kind of waffling on whether to or not (Pro: Brains Base, new show; Con: Harem of Color Coded Bishies), but this pretty much pushes me towards the ‘no thanks’ side.
Hey, I watched all of Arcana Famiglia, so it’s not just bias against otome games!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I don’t know how much you like angtsy drama, but there will be some of that coming up later if you can get past the fact that the Harem of Color Coded Bishies aren’t that exciting yet.
…Or maybe you should stay away. It’s amazing that you made it through Arcana Famiglia. I don’t want to turn you away from otome game adaptions forever if this flops. xD
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Actually, your other responses probably lock it down more. I’m not one for watching people get trolled by the universe / fates.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Well, I tried. At least I’ll see you on Haganai xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
In my opinion, Amnesia is an average show that should do better if it wants to attract viewers or risk ending up like Arcana Famiglia. A story where only a girl has lost her memories isn’t enough to sail this ship. On the other hand, I will say the art style and animation are nice to watch and in a way, brings back memories of Persona 4: The Animation.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Hopefully it was just bland this episode to draw in the fangirls and then the story will start screwing the heroine over soon. The art style is definitely a plus~.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
Don’t forget, there’s also a mystery about her. I wonder, what the hell was happening to her in the beginning of the episode. Though if she’s just a princess or something along that lines it’ll really sink in the sea of averageness
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
What did I even watch? I have a case of Amnesia muhahahahah wait who am I? SAVE ME AHHHHHHH.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Fosh, Fosh, Fosh……don’t make me give you a -1.
lol
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think the definitely deserves a -1.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Penalty game. Fosh has to wear Orion’s pants….
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
D: D: D: D: D: < My face
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Come on, Fosh, you’ll be fabulous. Wear the pants. You know you want to.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I shall order 9000 pairs right away~
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
IT’S OVER 9000! =O
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
If the main heroine will say this I will turn off the episode, I swear O_O
POWUH: 500-599 with 543 comments
The OP kind of over-excited me for the actual content. This episode pretty much highlighted the failings of a shy doormat as it walked around meeting pretty double-eye color people. I mean, the manager has more personality.
…But I will give it another 2 episodes. Karakuri, you sound pretty convinced that the plot has some good things to it. So if they start to show up, I will try to get over the doormat. And all those belts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
The manager has the best personality of them all. I hope they do all of the routes separately because he’s a different type of person in each one.
If they adapt the game I played, the plot should be excellent. If they adapt the J.C. way,take a few things in and out of context and halfassedly mash them together, then I’ll apologize profusely and maybe cry a little.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I’m still hoping that the pot will prove being worthy of an opening like that. Though expecting a personality from a person who just lost her memory is kinda too much for now, if she won’t change her facial expression in the next couple of episodes…… TT^TT
And yes. Those belts!! Kinda looks like an S&M outfit, but meh. I don’t mind
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I loved the OP and ED but the content… MC, you are so flat that you make a piece of paper have more dimension than you. I wish the studio gave her a personality, or at least something other than her quiet voice that agrees with everything Orion says…
At least the episode had some suspense in it, with MC being a “traitor” and was apparently traumatized by a pair of scissors.
At least there are pretty bishie men to look at.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I think the heroine is supposed to be flat because she has absolutely no idea who she is, but that could just be me trying to justify myself watching this. I’m hoping the anime gives her more personality then the game did at least. She certainly has more lines here. …Which is pretty sad. xD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 322 comments
I think the MC’s name was Hime….or maybe that was just the name they gave her as well since there is no actual name for her haha
I have to agree with the herione being the most transparent character in this story. Her voice and personality just piss the hell out of me. I mean i lost count of the time where i just wanted to bitch-slap her and tell her to get a grip and speak a bit more confidently. Man, how is he ever gonna succeed in life with that kind of wishy-washy personality. Seriously…
Crap heroine aside, the only reason I’m watching this is for the bishies. OOOH GOD!! DEM EYES, DEM HAIR, DEM FACES (not so much the clothes though…eurgh..)Ikki, you can do so much better than her. Unless she improves and grows some guts, I’m wont be liking her anytime soon 🙁
But great colours, and AWESOME MUSIC!!! Looking for to some improvement in ep 2!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
That was just the name whatever you read gave her. The heroine doesn’t even have a default name. …I, personally, strung together a bunch of easily recognizable kanji to make her name easy to pick out only to find out that Orion voices everything and there are no lines that aren’t dialogue. …I think she ended up with “Blood Sound Death Moon” or something similar as her (translated to english) name at first before I changed it to something less… hilarious to read.
Hopefully there will be improvement to speak of in coming episodes. There’s actually a reason Ikki is so close to her, but that will be revealed once the heroine gets back some of her memories and such.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I agree with the voice. I just don’t like the voice Nazuka Kaori is using for the MC, it makes me want to throttle something. A shame, since I really wanted to like this show. But that voice is just painful. I’ve liked some of her other characters, like Eureka and Nunnally.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Although the show wasn’t particularly exciting, I did like the art-style. The way the heroine just accepts that she is being haunted by a spirit creature was kind of amusing.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
That art looked so prettyyyy~ *~* like a mix of K and Uraboku <3 those multicolored eyes….
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
She seems pretty okay with it after only a small, initial moment of shock. My first thought was “Oh no, she not only has amnesia, but schizophrenia!”
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
This anime has beautiful art, bishies, and homophenomeron
I think this anime is perfection
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Can’t tell if sincere or sarcasm lol.
Homophenomeron…I learned a new word XD
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
Dibs on the buckle-guy voiced by Ishida Akira of course. Also, megane~ <3
Pretty eyes and OP by NAGI YANAGI! Oh how, I had at least some good hopes for this show... I'll watch it because it's Brains Base but I hope things pick up soon enough. D:
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
I think the biggest potential of this show comes from the studio itself. I love a lot of their stuff, so…… brains base, don’t disappoint~
POWUH: Meta Resident and Metanorn's Hime-chan~ with 1758 comments
The only remarkable things about this show so far are the op/ed sequences and bishies. That’s it. Oh, and Hino Satoshi too. I started to like his voice a lot.
Just as Overcooled said – the main heroine’s timidness is kinda boring. Well, it’s understandable,because she has an amnesia after all. But still, if she won’t become a bit more confident, I’ll be really sad, annoyed and disappointed. And PLEASE,if those two guys(not bothered to remember their names yet) really are her best friends, they just HAD to notice that she’s way off. Come on, people!
I’m not gonna drop this just yet, but if the storyline and heroine’s facial expressions won’t get a levelup, I’m not even going to give it a second thought. Don’t disappoint me, winter’s bishie fest! I have to get my bishies before the second season of Kuroko no Basket~! ><"
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Wow I’m surprise at the hate this show gets… Come on its not tht bad. Sure the heroine is boring but amnesia does tht to you. I just hope her personality will show up eventually *crosses hand* The only thing holding me to this show is its mysterious atmosphere and those weird eyes/outfit. I just hope they don’t screw this up *prays*
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Also wht I am going to call the heroine: Missus Amnesiac (temp)
I just hope those ladies gets punished (or something soon)… Bullying a amnesiac is just mean.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I think I facepalmed way too many times watching this.
Even if you had amnesia, her reaction was too bland, beyond a little surprise. FP#1. Apparently one of them is her lover, another best friend, another something else etc. Yet none of them could realize she became a zombie with no emotions? Or was she like that before (then how did you manage to build a harem?!?) FP#2. Orion’s outfit FP#3. Orion came into this world, somehow bumped into your soul (wut), and is now embedded in you. Oh, and you somehow lost your memories. Why don’t you try to figure out what he is? FP#4. Why don’t you try to figure out a way to kick him out??? FP#5. Isn’t the first assumption that he’s some evil being draining your life (and memories) away? FP#6.
I think that’s too much of a workout for my arm, I think I’ll drop this for now and maybe pick it back up if manages to drum up enough of a fanbase/interest in the blogs I follow.
Outfits were definitely shoujo/otage material. Kent’s outfit reminds me of OH MY SHOE (second half). Maid costumes ewre fabulous though. Loved the red/black contrast.