Unnamed Memory
a review by Treepy
a review by Treepy
Classic Studio ENGI, when every reader’s dream of getting an anime adaptation for their favorite LN is finally realized and they see your studio being the one in charge of it, that dream just turns into a complete nightmare.
I don’t like writing negative reviews, and I rarely write reviews anyways, but something about this adaptation just rubbed me off the wrong way so I’ll try to articulate my thoughts here. To keep myself sane I’ll at least start off by listing the things that I did actually like about the adaptation because as much as I disliked it, I do still think there are some positives.
Firstly is the music. The opening and ending themes’ vibe and lyrics really fit the series. The BGM is nothing particularly outstanding but again, it just fits the series very well. I can see myself listening to the OST while reading the LN/Manga. I can’t say much in-depth about things like composition and melody so I’m basing this purely on my opinion and personal taste, simply put - I like it, it’s very good.
Music: 85/100.
Voice acting and cast choices were on point. Even the minor/side characters’ voices really fit how I envisioned their voices while reading the LN. In particular the standout performances for me are from Tanezaki Atsumi as Tinasha, and Kusunoki Tomori as Miralys. Atsumi has had a knack for voicing powerful mages that are hundreds of years old recently, and this time is no exception, she delivered a very engaging performance, especially with emotional scenes that I can appreciate despite all the problems I have with the script. Tomori voicing Miralys was a surprise for me, and even though her character in the show was effectively reduced to just being a one-off side villain (as with the other major villains in the story), I believe that she delivered an excellent performance despite the extremely limited amount of time that her character was on screen.
Voice Acting: 85/100.
Animation was decent, particularly the early fight scenes, however it was definitely noticeable that they cut corners for the non-action focused parts for later episodes (horse riding scenes in particular, them riding on the horse with the way they just jaggedly spun around killed me inside). ENGI book move frontloading all the budget into the first few fight scenes to bait you into thinking you were watching a good show.
Animation: 60/100
Now, as someone who can say that Unnamed Memory is one of their favorite LN series, despite all of the things that I can respect about this adaptation, I cannot in good faith recommend this show to anyone. There is one simple reason for this - the pacing of the show is absolutely horrendous. Whose bright idea was it to adapt three volumes, more than a thousand pages, into a single cour 12 episode anime? It would have been better to just completely adapt the first volume or two instead, or at the very least follow the manga’s pacing, but with that they did it was pretty much impossible to follow the story if you’re only looking at the anime. Yes, the important plot points are adapted, and that’s the core of the story, but it's just completely skipping entire chapters of buildup in order to meet the 12 episode deadline.
The main problem with having this pacing is that a lot of the charm of the series is lost. For example, in between major plot points, there were side stories and mysteries that showed characters in lower stakes situations which allowed the characters’ individual personalities to shine and show actual development. These stories often foreshadowed major elements of the later plot and expanded a lot on worldbuilding. However - these were completely cut in the anime, which lead to the development of the two main protagonists’ romance (which is pretty much the focal point of the entire series) just feel completely forced and out of the blue without the proper context, and it also makes them a lot less likable. Example; an episode ago our two leads seemed like they were at the same distance as before, with Tinasha routinely denying Oscar’s advances, then suddenly a kiss happens and they act like this is completely normal? Obviously something happened, but we are not shown this at all. Those who are uninterested in reading the source material or wiki snippets are completely unable to see the full picture.
There is only the payoff to Oscar and Tinasha’s relationship, and none of the proper stepping stones to actually make it satisfying to see develop. It felt like they ripped the pages of the book which contained the main plot points, rewrote some parts of it, and presented it like a full story. It’s an absolute disservice of the source material. If they are planning to make the second cour keep up with this pacing that they’re doing, it will be an even worse mess.
Story: 30/100
If you’re completely new to this series, I would honestly recommend skipping this anime and go read the LN instead. If you still want to watch this after reading the LN, just treat it as a visualization of the important scenes (like LN illustrations), it will save you a lot of sanity.
I believe that adaptations should be made to elevate the source material and give a great viewing experience to both newcomers and those who were already familiar with the work equally, and painful as it is, Unnamed Memory completely fails on both of these regards.~~~~~~
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