Reviews

Nov 7, 2015
Ever so rarely do I get drawn to this type of story (anime/manga or otherwise). My encounter with Tasogare Otome x Amnesia was the result of pointless web searches on a sleepless melancholic night. The encounter began and ended on that same long night. And I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This is a very biased review - from the viewpoint of someone who enjoyed the show so much, they are more or less blind to its flaws; be it pointless fanservice/ecchi moments or major plot flaws. Every story and every piece of artwork has a number of those; and no piece of art is ever judged by that number. Imagine Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and tune out, for a moment, the words of those high heeled "enlightened intellectual" wanna-be critics. Subjectively (and quietly, lest the savvy critics hear them), anyone might have a few or more objections to the painting - strokes and colors they preferred having been brushed differently. But if The Starry Night gives you that mysterious sense of glorious tranquility, it becomes a reference image for that sensual experience and you accept it as a whole, with (and not in spite of) its "subjective" flaws. Well, in that case your opinion is backed by the voices of the fine arts-educated critics and you might be pleased by their affirmations. Such was the experience of Tasogare Otome x Amnesia for me. The comparison certainly sounds absurd - since it is conventional wisdom that The Starry Night is much closer to the ideal form of art as a painting, as Tasogare Otome x Amnesia would ever be to the ideal animated picture. But I'm only interested in my subjective viewpoint - I enjoyed it so much (perhaps because of the particular setting - melancholy and all) that I do not recollect any of its flaws (as much as I'm certain there are quite a few) and have a distinctively positive take which I'm going to defend. So, this is a biased review.

Story 10/10:

The love story is not original - it hasn't been for a very long time. Every version of the story has been told over the eons by master story tellers in every setting one can imagine. Not to state that there can't be anything original about a love story - the originality lies in the setting and the extent to which it explores the elusive concept of love. For a great love story, it's how it is told that sets it apart. One can easily point to quite a few great examples in the literature. Not so in the motion picture universe - especially anime. While there are a few examples of good love stories in anime, so often they are burdened by dragged out stories, confusing relationships and superficial takes on deep concept duos such as love and longing, desire and fulfillment loss and mourning, jealousy and rage. That's regrettable given the war-chest of design, character and concept anime has to tell good stories.
Tasogare Otome x Amnesia excels ever so greatly in the story department. The sotryline is purposely and masterfully designed to be light and without pretense. While the underlying events and the overall settings are indeed grave and sometimes very depressing, the story never loses sight of what it's supposed to tell and pulls all the elements at its disposal, positive or negative, masterfully in the progress of a relateable and heartwarming story. The two grand schemes of the story, that of denial of suffering and negative emotions and that of "love", are interweaved so naturally and effortlessly, that there is no need for long pretentious monologues/dialogues about the meaning/nature of those - and there are none. There are no grand transformations, no heroic rescues or selfless sacrifices. There are only simple sensible emotions and very relateable characters playing out in a surreal situation mixed with humorous and dark moments in a simple line of story that is adamant on being the most believable ghost story.
There are more than a few points and twists in the plot that are the common culprits for abusive over-exaggeration and pointless lingering in other shows/stories. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia however, simply uses them as anchors for the progression of the story, no more or less than they ought to be used.
In the end, this is one of the better told love stories; one of the best told ghost stories, and certainly among the very few exceptional stories that anime has ever told.

Art and Characters 10/10:

The show does a fantastic job of utilizing the ambient and character design in service of the story line. Here there are no outrageous figure designs (with anime standards) and no over-use of colors and scenery to create forced appeal and suspense. The obsessively ordinary design resonates with the uniquely simple story. The design spares no effort to make the characters and settings likable and immersive; and it does an outstanding job at that.

Sound 9/10:

I have no significant objection to the use of sound effects and insert music throughout the show - the sound blends in with the story and scenery to create a wholesome experience. I should however note that in a few occasions the background music could have been chosen more carefully.

Overall 10/10:

It was hard to watch the curtains fall; This is a magnificent anime worth re-watching.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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