Plastic MemoriesIn a future world, there exists androids with synthetic souls called griftia. The only problem is they have a lifespan of just nine years, after which they lose their memories and personalities. Tsukasa just got employed at the company who creates them and his job is to go out with his partner, a griftia named Isla and retrieve griftia approaching the end of their nine years. At first they start out impartial to one another, but their feelings for each other slowly start to evolve from workplace colleagues into something more...
It’s such a simple and even predictable story, and yet it’s because of that very reason that it incites such strong emotions. Knowing that Isla has a set number of days left and watching her fall in love brought tears to my eyes, and I didn’t know if they were from joy or sadness. The exposition was decent, but there was little background on most of the characters or the world they live. There were episodes that were relaxed, and ones that filled me with anxiety, I laughed, I cried; it moved me. It was a very straightforward style, from a first episode that made me cry, through a rollercoaster of emotions that ended in tears. I will say that it did feel like it was rushed at times to fit everything into 13 episodes. I feel like it could have been done in 24 and been way better.
The characters were simple and I mean that in a good way. It allowed you to connect with them through the smallest things. Their conflicts with each other and life were very straightforward which I thought added to the realism of their characters. All of them, especially the main characters, were very lovable. The dialogue was pretty decent, and I could easily feel the relationships and emotions of the characters. The writers did a good job of instilling empathy for them into you and I was very attached to them. I thought that the interactions and relationships were written in a very realistic way without obvious drama to keep viewers entertained.
The animation was pretty good with a few subtle details that improved the overall viewing experience. A small thing I would like to add is that the intro’s ending changed very slightly throughout the series with Isla slowly becoming more and more happy every episode, something insignificant that could have easily been left out, however I think adds a lot to the feeling of the show. Despite not having many action scenes, the small bit of action there in the show was animated very well. The artwork was consistent throughout the episodes and pretty average with maybe a few parts slightly above. As far as character design, the faces of the characters clearly and accurately portrayed their emotion and each character was drawn in a way that made you not help but like them.
There isn't much to say about the audio. It was good but average. The ambient sounds and background music definitely set the mood, but no more than any other anime. However, there were a few parts with very little audio that I believe actually added to the emotion of the scenes, which raised my rating overall to slightly above average.
An objectively good anime, it has received much praise from the community and I myself started it because of recommendations. It was a story that made me want to keep watching and kept my attention the whole time, so much so that I finished the entirety of the show in a single day. I am happy with how it ended and do not expect or necessarily want a second season, however if there were one, I’d watch it as soon as it was released.
Personally, this is one of the greatest animes I’ve watched and is now one of my favorites. I love romance but hate cliché or cheesy things. However, this story was very heartfelt and I enjoyed every moment of it, even the ones where I was wiping the tears off my face. With the combination of heavy attachment to the characters and a hopelessly sad premise, it was guaranteed to tug on anyone’s heartstrings. It’s the kind of thing that makes you have a sad smile and happy tears.
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