Amnesia – 02
Orion, the eternal third wheel
Miyu is a bit busy with junior college this week, so it’s just me with Amnesia this time. If you couldn’t guess from what I just said, the two of us will be tagging this for better or for worse. …I’ve decided to take the stance that this isn’t as bad as the first episode made it out to be since nobody knows what’s going on yet. I’m not saying that this doesn’t have flaws, but I AM saying that you might not want to write this off just yet. It’s just going in a direction that’s hard to tell what the end result will be. …Yeah.
Well, I complained about the (still nameless) heroine in the last post, but it seems like they’re starting to give her more lines. At least she’s kind of trying to have a personality now and cover for her amnesia as opposed to all of her lines being “Eh?” or “What?”. It’s still a miracle that they even gave her lines in the first place, in my opinion. Anyways, with her lines and attempts to cover the holes in her memory, it seems less like she has no personality and more like she just has no idea who she is. A little confusion is natural when you have no idea who you are.
It’s not like she has anyone besides Orion to talk to either. Not just because whoever she confides in might cart her off to the hospital, where she’ll (apparently) lose all of her memories and become just a shell of a person (which I don’t exactly buy and even in the game it felt like it was just a plot device to keep up the heroine’s pitiful charade that nothing was wrong …and of course she doesn’t question it).There’s also the fact that a group of girls kind of (but not really) assaulted her for reasons she can’t remember. Attacking her with scissors either would have happened or happened in memories or… something. Anyways, they said she betrayed them, so who knows who else she might have betrayed? She can’t really afford to trust anyone at the moment. …And now she’s really screwed over by the fact that Orion has gone missing.
Now as for the characters… Toma, Ikki, Shin and Kent all (kind of) had some exposition this episode. It was mostly overshadowed by the plot putting so much emphasis on the heroine, but hopefully you have a better grasp on their characters now. …Or maybe this just opened up new questions. For one, Kent didn’t seem to remember ever going to a shrine with the heroine, despite that being in her memories. Another thing is Shin, one of the childhood friends, admitting to killing someone in the past. Oh, and then there’s Ukyou (who if you couldn’t tell, is my favourite character), the guy who saves the heroine from oncoming traffic one moment and then starts talking to himself like a psychopath the next. The characters all seem to have secrets to them, but Amnesia isn’t really doing more than just saying ‘oh, the characters are mysterious’ and then throwing more unsolved things at the viewer to question. The way the plot is moving back and forth, I wonder if the characters will ever get proper exposition.
Argh, they are trying to combine all of the routes. On one hand, this is going to be confusing as hell because nobody who hasn’t played the game knows what’s going on. We were just at August 1st, all of the stuff with Ikki and the hazing happened, time passed (and we somehow landed somewhere in Shin’s route), the heroine fell off a cliff and now we’re at August 1st again at the beginning of Shin’s route, where the first episode started with Ikki’s. I’m not saying following the game script to the letter is necessary, but if they keep cutting between routes like that, they’re only going to have people confused longer. On the plus side though, they’re kind of showing the Steins;Gate part of the plot this early, which is one of the good plot points of the original. …The only difference is that Steins;Gate had at least 10 episodes setting up the characters and general scenario before things went awry with the plot and Amnesia is just screwing around right from the beginning without bothering to let the viewer know what’s going on.
Game CG to scene comparison. Maybe it’s not exact, but it’s still waaaaaay better than any other otome game to anime thus far.
End Thoughts:
I wonder if they’ll ever give the heroine a name once she starts regaining more of her memories. I guess it’s an out there concept adding to the whole idea of her having no idea who she is, but at the same time, it’s kind of awkward having everyone avoiding naming her. Plus she’s a university student with ID. If she bothered going through her things at home to try to regain her memories (which seems like the smart thing to do), she would have easily found her name by now.
I can’t say that the show isn’t being ambitious in it’s own way since A.) the bishies are taking the back seat right from the beginning because of the heroine’s problems, which NEVER seems to happen in otome game adaptions. We know their names, but we haven’t seen a good portion of their personalities yet, which normally seems to take priority in these adaptions. Reason B.) for this show being ambitious is that it threw the viewer right into the middle of the plot without explaining things. I mean, the heroine doesn’t even have a name. Now, I’m saying these things are ambitious, but they’re not necessarily good for the anime overall. If you don’t have any idea who the characters are, then why should you care about the show? If you don’t have any idea where the plot is going, that’s not a good thing either. It’s cool that they’re making this a huge mystery from the beginning and unravelling it from there, but I’m afraid that by the time things start making sense (and the plot gets really good), this will have lost a lot of it’s audience from the confusion and flat cast.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Wow, no one commented yet. :3Our heroine needs to speak more. She’s voiced by the goddess Nazuka Kaori so it’s kinda wasted that she only mumbles, gasps and stutters here. She did say more lines in this episode but she’s still too quiet.
I still don’t trust Orion(the way Heroine says it, it’s like Oreo with an -n). There’s literally nothing that says he is saying the truth and not leading Heroine around. Plus his voice is irritating that I’m surprised Heroine is putting up with him. I guess it’s because he’s the only one she can talk to but still…
I’m kind of pleased that he was gone in the last part but he’ll probably be back.
The guys are still looking fabulous(everyone has such weird and fabulous fashion sense in here) but still one-dimensional. The random revelations in those flashbacks give them some mystery and depth but I’m still not liking them. With how the episode ended and what you said, it’s Shin route now. I have no idea what happened in the end and why it happened. Though now that you mention S;G I think I can guess now what is going on(was I spoiled though?)
I’m not exactly thrilled by this show but it got my interest for just a bit. Plus the character design is very good. I don’t have much to watch in the middle of the week so I can spare some time for this.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Well from the looks of it, Orion is on the way out. He’s sloooowly becoming more transparent, which was a sign that the heroine was regaining her memories. …I’m a bit surprised that people are suspicious of him. In the game, there was just so much depression and angst that Orion was like a ray of sunshine.
…My mention of S;G was totally a spoiler. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have said that in the actual post. …Oh well. Yep, it’s the Shin route now. They’re probably going to cut to Kent or Toma the next episode because they can. …I’m really waiting for the Toma route. It’s going to be entertaining to say the least.
Well that’s good that you’re not dropping it for now~ I can’t see it being the best of the season, but I think it will be worth watching.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Not sure why ppl hate on Orion…. I’ve heard even annoying voice… (Haru/SHOE)
Also, spammy is eating my post even though its my 1st comment today D:
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Spammy does not wait for you to be ready! Spammy is not considerate or fair! And make no mistake, here in Metanorn, you face Spammy! LOL
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A surprisingly good OP and ED but I’m still skeptical so the next episode will be judgment day for this anime in my opinion. The character designs always bring memories of Persona 4 but the guy with the long green hair screams N from Pokémon Black and White. They have some interesting clothes as well.
The girl’s name is tied with her amnesia which is the foundation of the anime itself like Tasogare Otome x Amnesia where the information comes in piece by piece. It will defeat the plot’s purpose if she suddenly remembered so early in the story. The images that goes through her, I wonder if they’re repressed memories or if they are indications to what is going to happen later on as Kent has no idea what she’s talking about and doesn’t look like the type to easily forget.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, the OP is great, the ED is growing on me. …Oh my god, Uykou totally does look like N. I was looming through previous character designs and actually, one plan was to have them all in kimono at one point. …I don’t know if that would be more or less ridiculous at this point.
I still think it’s incredibly awkward (but admittedly a cool concept) that they haven’t named the heroine yet. Ahahaha yeah, Kent isn’t the type to forget things. You’ll see how this turns out. I really liked the plot at least.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I’m thinking in this adaptation heroine is jumping in between the different guy routes and she is getting memories from all of the different routes so that’s why Kent didn’t know about the event she was talking about. Of course, I haven’t played the game(I really want to now in order to really get what is going on) so I don’t know if this is an anime only thing or there was something very confusing like this in the game.
And I already love Ukyou. >_> Who cares if he’s a crazy maniac. He’s adorable…and looks like N.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…Do you want an answer to that guess on how close you are?
Anyways, the game definitely wasn’t as confusing as this is. Each route was pretty clear and didn’t jump through time like the anime is doing.
Ukyou is a loveable psychopath. xD
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Wait. Did I actually guess something right? 0= I must knowwwww. How close am I?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
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POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
What is so good abt tht psychopath except tht he looks good when he not putting the crazy face?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Er, I guess I liked his
sufferingstoryline the best. You’ll see.POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
You know, I kind of like the way this show is jumbled and doesn’t make any sense. I particularly liked the twist at the end of this episode (even though I don’t really understand what the twist is yet).
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Er, I’m not entirely sure what the anime was doing at the end there. Orion never disappeared in the game until the heroine had all of her memories back. Oh, it’s good that the anime’s direction is actually keeping people. Maybe this will work out.
POWUH: iLurker with 14 comments
I don’t have much of a clue what’s going on in this show, but I kind of like it. It’s interesting to try to piece together all of the memory snippets, and to guess why Protagonist-chan is apparently time-traveling or entering alternate realities or is trapped in dream worlds or something. It may not be going about the plot in a smooth way, but the show is at least doing well with building a pretty tense atmosphere. I like how the spirit imp has vanished at the end of this episode, as that ups the antea bit.
The Creeper with the Flashlight amused me though. >:}
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
So the mystery plot is actually working? That’s good!! Yeah, Amnesia did tension pretty well in the game, but how they’re going about it here is really building it up.
Creeper with the flashlight is the best character xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I don’t think you should have told who’s the best character so soon. Expectations will rise prematurely.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
He’s a psychopath. What’s not to like? xD And that’s all up to personal preference really. There’s a yandere (kind of) in this too.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Point taken. I thought a yandere and a psychopath were the same thing. Am I wrong about.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I’ve always considered yanderes just obsessing too much over someone. A psychopath doesn’t have to obsess over anyone to be a psychopath. Ukyou… has his own reasons for being mentally unstable, but I wouldn’t quite call it yandere.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Well, count me interested. Did not see “I kill some1” and “My guide fairy is gone!” coming. And God, tht creepy stalker….. GOAWAYGOAWATGOAWAY
Kara, thk 4 blogging this show. Its nice to seesome1 who familiar with the source material blogging this show. IIRC this game has no english patch ryte.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yay! Glad to have you here d-LaN!
Aww thanks. Good to know someone doesn’t mind my constant comparisons with the game. Yeah, no English patch for Amnesia… They’re bringing over another Hakuouki game to North America though, so maybe there might be one in the future. …Though that might be a stretch.