Story: 8
I'm not saying I disliked the series at all, in fact I found it quite charming. There is, however, one MAJOR flaw that must be addressed as it is the focal point of the entire show, all the way down to what the series is called, that being the female lead's amnesia. The condition itself can be somewhat rare in real life, and almost never works in the manner depicted in fiction, but that's okay, as a story is, well, a story, yet this time we have a version of amnesia that truly stretches the suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. Our girl has the unique trait of forgetting her social interactions after each week. This appears to only affect her dealings in interpersonal interactions, as she's not shown to have any trouble with her studies in school, or in any other way. She simply goes to bed Sunday night, and Monday morning she has completely forgotten everyone she's interacted with the previous week. This of course puts her into a deep depression, and the entire show is built around trying to move her forward and bring the joy of friendship back into her life.
I'm pretty laid back on many things, but this issue was a bit of a stickler for me. If it had been portrayed differently, perhaps with a more 'complete' form of amnesia, such as what affected Haruka in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, then I would have given this series a solid '8', no problem at all. Yet with the girl only forgetting her friends and nothing else, I just couldn't roll with that completely without it troubling me. However, as it was clearly just a mechanic to set up the story about the power of friendship and learning to open up to others so I didn't let it discourage me from watching. A minor *SPOILER* here, later in the show it is lightly suggested that perhaps our girl's memory problems are the result of psychological trauma and not any physical one, but this is only tapped on briefly and then never explored. In the end, there is no resolution on if she truly forgets because actual brain damage, or if she forgets as an emotional response similar to something like PTSD. *END SPOILER*
The other primary issue I had with this series was that as it wrapped up, the main guy makes a rather perplexing leap in logic in regards to the main girl's condition. It seemed a bit forced to me, there to pad out the series and give one last dramatic thrust.
So with that, let's talk about what is good here. This series is driven by our main guy who notices a loner girl in his class and decides to reach out to her. He bravely approaches her, and even when she holds him at arm's length at first, continues to befriend her. His efforts are rewarded as he does break through her self imposed exile, and learns of her condition. He helps her move forward, helps her find a way to make her continuously lost memories more permanent, and in doing so, helps her be the person she truly is, and helps her rise from her shell of depression into the light of life.
The story speaks to the fact that no one is without value, even the weird quiet person at school or work are still people, and maybe they are just in a situation that forces them into their behavior. Maybe they are just introverts who are too shy to seek out friendship with others. No matter the cause, everyone has value in the world, and even to others. As a famous author once wrote, "no man is an island". That is quintessentially true, as humans are social creatures by nature. There is something admirable about reaching out to those who are, for whatever reason, isolated.
I come to this subject with a strong personal view. I was always the loner, I am even today. I don't have many friends, I'm very shy and introverted, and I generally shy away from social situations. I am speaking of 'real life' as one would say, as here at my keyboard I feel I can truly be myself. But IRL it is easy to say I'm a bit of a hermit and always have been. I've had times when I wanted to be included or wanted to befriend someone but didn't know how, or couldn't summon the courage to step forward, and it hurt. There have been people in my life, however, that came to me and said 'hey, I want to get to know you, I think we could be great friends' that have brought a good deal of joy to my life. I am not dismissing the idea that there is sometimes a level of annoyance involved, as some of us prefer to be left alone for the most part, there is still beauty in someone, who has honest intentions, taking an interest in us. Even if I decide I don't want to socialize with that person reaching out to me, if they are doing so for the right reasons, then they still gain a good deal of my respect.
I'm not saying everyone has to be a social butterfly. What I am saying is that some people are alone when they don't want to be. This is clearly the case in this story, as the main girl is obviously miserable until the main guy moves to become her friend. The fact the main guy continues to try to be her friend even after learning of her weekly memory problem speaks to his honest heart. He isn't willing to just walk away because it's a bigger struggle to befriend the girl than other people. He sincerely wants to help her, and that is where the charm of the entire series really emanates from.
This isn't romantically motivated either, though the main guy does want a very special friendship, it's never indicated that he is thinking in any way of a romantic one. He just wants to be an important friend to her, as she becomes an important friend to him. It's through the efforts of the main guy that the girl is granted the life and friends she thought she would never have. The struggles everyone faces with the main girl is truly the meat of the series, and makes a satisfying meal, as long as you can see past the weird amnesia issue.
Art: 7
I would call this title's art 'simple and clean' if I had to put it shortly. There's not a huge amount of detail forced in, but the story doesn't require it anyway. By going with lighter details and a cleaner look, small touches like blushes are more apparent, and speak a lot more clearly than some of the more 'busy' art forms. The look works for the story well, and I don't find much to fault in it. I find the views on the artwork to be the most subjective, and I do tend to prefer the more detailed series, so I say '7', which by scale is still good. Your mileage may vary.
Sound: 8
I did enjoy the voice work in the show. The main guy sounds honest and sincere, and the main girl is appropriately bubbly once we learn her true personality. The rest of the cast is well done, though they do go with not one, but two rather monotone characters, one of each gender. The supporting guy is played as an aloof but wise personality, whereas the supporting girl is played more as a humorous deadpan. They both work, just not too often have I heard the 'flat' voiced character be more than a single person in most titles.
The music is pretty, the opening and closing themes match the sentiment and movement of the show nicely. The music is either airy and vaguely reassuring or is deep-keyed and mournful, which is exactly what the show calls for. Sound effects all hit, no wonky sounds to be heard anywhere.
Character: 7
Our main guy does seem to be too honest and good hearted at times, like he's putting in a level of effort that at first seems a bit excessive. His determination is admirable, but I did find myself at first wondering what was in it for him. This quickly dissipates as we see how wonderful a person the main girl is, and we quickly know that he continues to try because she is a great friend once she is reoriented with her relationship to him. Otherwise he's played off as a good person.
His supporting guy is, as I said, aloof but even though he puts on a tough act, his advice is pretty much always spot on, and while blunt, is truthful. He might act like he doesn't care about any of the things going on, but I believe we are shown that deep down he does. He just plays the 'whatever man' role, but he doesn't actually believe it himself.
The main girl is beautiful and tragic at the same time. When we see her in her states of loneliness and isolation, it's almost painful, but once she brought up to speed with who her friends are, she opens up and is just a joy to watch. She's kind hearted, and tender, and cares deeply for her friends. In a way, even her self imposed isolation is in the spirit of protecting those that would be her friend. Watching her move from this spirit of fear and hopelessness to a world where she can be as normal a girl as possible is enchanting.
Enjoyment: 7
Watching the main guy do his best to befriend the main girl is the admirable hook, and then watching his good deed enrich another's life draws one in even more. Watch the main girl learn to live again is the payoff, and is worth it, without a doubt. As I said before, the reason this isn't an '8' at least is the memory problem itself. I find it to be distracting enough that some scenes that were meant to be moving left me slightly annoyed because the arbitrary amnesia rules seemed at times to be there to complicate the situation and not for any other reason. However, I do recommend seeing this show, as it was a great story of personal growth and the love of friendship. It tries to show us that we should care for each other, and that friendship isn't all about what *you* get from it, but instead what *you* give to it as well. It's a great message in a nice little series.
Best Girl: I kind of wanted it to be Saki, but in the end, our main girl Kaori has to be the winner. She's just so adorable when she's out of her shell, and so heartbreaking when she's in it, I just came to love seeing her blossom over and over again, and watching as she overcame her challenging life.
So yeah, this is the one week anime version of 50 First Dates, but it doesn't fall nowhere near as flat as Adam Sandler's film did. I say spin it up, don't let the memory thing drive you off (though it is damn annoying at times) and see if you can remember this one next week. I know I will!
