Although the premise and genre and even the events of the story lend itself to be a romance, One Week Friends has a different angle in its presentation and tells a story much more pure and wholesome.

Monday (Plot Concept) The concept of One Week Friends starts as innocently as any romance story. The main character, Yuki Hase, has a passing interest in the secluded yet eye-catching, Kaori Fujimiya. With the support of his best friend, Shogo Kiryu, Hase starts to approach Fujimiya, and slowly but surely, breeches into her social circle, which, at the start of the show, is non-existent.

Everything so far checks out. We have an innocent, emotional, and naïve lead, who’s holding as much good intentions as he can approaching Fujimiya. Of course, being the heroine, she has a cold exterior in class, but a soft interior when approached outside of class, and this is all too familiar. In fact, it’s this familiarity that the first episode plays on, where we’re led a false sense of security as the ever looming threat of the show’s twist follows behind these two characters. This isn’t as potent to those who may have surmised the premise from the title of the show or have read the synopsis on a streaming site, but, this dramatic irony is what makes this first encounter and twist interesting and engaging. This show isn’t just your ordinary romance.

Tuesday (The Twist of Memory) By the end of the first week and the onset of the next, Hase realizes his task of becoming friends and engaging with Fujimiya is one that would be filled with struggle, heartache, and reward. For reasons related to her childhood, Fujimiya’s memories reset every week, with a specific caveat of being unable to remember friends. This hook helps frame the rest of the show, with every interaction, every moment, and every development having that much more impact on the characters, and story. Although the atmosphere and tone of this show is light hearted and takes elements from slice of life, the fact that the concept of the heroine having memory loss is always relevant makes the stakes so much more potent. It feels strange to say stakes in a story that’s as calming and wholesome as One Week Friends, but the show really does lend itself to be high tension due to the fear and realization of Hase essentially meeting a new Fujimiya every episode and needing to reestablish a relationship that’s built solely on the diary she keeps. Amidst the fluff, amidst the feel good moments of the show, where Hase invites Fujimiya to do things that friends would do, like going out to eat, doing karaoke, creating memories and joy, there’s always going to be this insurmountable distance. Wednesday (Complexity) It’s this complexity underlying One Week Friends that makes its tropes and characters, that much more interesting and really did invite me to consider the overlying themes it had. Memory is a huge part of the show, and the way it deals with memory through the relationships of others was an interesting angle, especially since many episodes actively used memory as a point of conflict. Either Fujimiya has a mishap one way or another and loses her diary and memory is lost, or Fujimiya’s memories seem to get better and she’s forming more connections, and memory is gained. No matter what, the theme of memory is always in the show, either in the background or in the foreground and it keeps things fresh. For me, there was hardly a dull moment in the show, as it moved at a nice forward pace, constantly giving us moments of development and characterization while dangling this complex notion of memory. Whenever things seemed to move in the right direction, the show found a way to add a new element, a new member of the cast, or a new situation, and despite the solemn nature the show had, the possibility of the relationships we’ve watched bloom fall apart was always there. Again, it’s a sense of tension we don’t usually get in this kind of show, and it didn’t feel dramatic or unearned whenever it did happen. Earning the development of the characters, earning the emotions that it wanted to display, was I think one of the stronger points of the show with some exceptions, and its unique concept definitely helped in supporting it.Thursday (Critiques) Of course, with the time frame of the show, there inevitably had to be cuts to tell a cohesive story from front to end which means that characterization and development with the entire cast had to be truncated. Some of the side cast that are introduced as the story moved forward was less potent. For me, the weakest part was in the information we didn’t have time to explore, in the side characters that seemed like they could go a myriad of directions and have a strong supporting role. After all, one of the lessons learned by the end of the show is how important making memories are, and we just didn’t have time to explore making memories with the other cast. Other issues I found were in motivations, especially with the main character, Hase, not having the clearest motivations, or at least, not explicit to the audience.

There’s also the obvious, romance show that doesn’t focus on the romance but instead focuses on friendships and this idea of creating memories shouldn’t be called a romance but more of a slice of life or drama, and as such that was also something that felt lacking. To me this show isn’t a romance, despite it wanting to be one. It’s an interesting exploration of the depths of friendships, what we do to create connections, and how important memories are for our lives, and for others. There were honestly some thought provoking moments bundled in this show of warmth but that’s all ignoring what this show presented to us, which was the promise of romance.

Friday (Conclusion) At the end of the week, I really enjoyed the show. Its concept is really engaging, adds an interesting twist to a formula we’re familiar with, and contributes to the complexity that the show can offer. The characters were fun, enjoyable, and when they grew and progressed in their world, it felt rewarding to watch. Despite being so wholesome and heartwarming, the show spared no punches and when it hit it was effective. It may not be the most satisfying show if you go in with certain expectations for the characters, but, certainly, the emotions and journey that One Week Friends offer will surely last longer than its name sake.