What's up with the Spring 2024 season bringing back classics from all walks of life, from IPs like Spice and Wolf's remake and Bartender's reboot, to the pre-Mushoku Tensei era Syosetu titles of Re:Monster, The New Gate, and most specifically, novelist Kuji Furumiya's work that is Unnamed Memory (all of which preceded Rifujin na Maganote's masterpiece work)? All I can say that we live in a rather fascinating time watching old classics that took a decade plus (12 years to be exact, if counting Narou releases to anime) to get their anime adaptations, though for the same reason (as I've mentioned in Re:Monster's review) that these works were stories of their time, and by comparison, Unnamed Memory would be the best out of the 3.
That is...if not for the anime's literate "walk in the park" expression, that's almost just as insulting as being part of the 3 classic, but really bad adaptations to betray source material readers of the works that deserved much better than what was presented for the past 3 months.
To quote @Pekorn's words:
A witch who lives in an azure tower, and a cursed prince.
If they could rewrite time, what would they do with such power?
This is the story of what happens when everything is overwritten: encounters, love, and human conviction to do anything for the one they love that will change their fate and destiny. No matter how cruel it may be, love triumphs over them all.
A curse of devastating infertility that struck not just a random person, but someone of noble status — that's who Oscar is: the crown prince of his country, Farsas. The said curse that deprives Oscar of having potential descendants should he try to do the deed against any woman who will bear his child, which instead of trying to find the witch that imprisoned him, leads him to another well-known witch: Tinasha, the Witch of the Azure Moon. After completing her trial to climb up the azure tower to meet her and request a resolution to this long-standing curse, her answer is only one: overcome the curse by marrying somebody whose magical powers outweigh the witch who cursed him. And Oscar's thought process is plain and simple: "Said woman is in front of me, I will choose you to be my wife, even if you reject me firsthand." Of course, this is nothing but balderdash to Tinasha, who flusters in a shell-shocked manner, because having a witch be the future queen of Farsas is next to impossible, with Oscar potentially being ridiculed for his rather unkempt decision and quite possibly losing his credibility as a talented crown prince. Still, every person who succeeded in climbing the witch's tower gets a wish, and Oscar's wish is for both him and Tinasha to have a trial relationship for a year, to which the latter responds in kind and agrees to his request, descending down her tower and being his acting fiancée for the time allowable.
First things first, let's not beat around the bush, yeah? Unnamed Memory is a fantasy work that may not seem original as it comes, but at least it's an enjoyable work to read through the paces of both the original LN and its manga counterpart. And with Oscar and Tinasha's romance being set dead centre of the series, going through their past, present, and future, as well as what makes them tick and yearn for one another, this is a relationship that's not just a political one (like so many other Isekai/fantasy works are). But also, one that thrives on mutual agreement, maturity, and, most important of all, admiring one another's quirks well enough to make the year-long trial relationship a success on not just Oscar's part, but Tinasha as well, being accepted by the people of Farsas enough to stand alongside said crown prince as a suitable queen who can protect them in the long run. Whether it is their moments of independence or co-dependence working together to outrun enemies ranging from the usual baddies to old friends and the like, the hunky and handsome crown prince who wields his Akashia sword as a sign of his strength as a capable swordsman, along with the witch who is just as beautiful compared to witches similar to her calibre, and also just as strong as Oscar, their attachments towards each other may be fraught with fights and lovey-dovey moments, but what they have is an equally supportive relationship, which in my eyes, is rare to see in a fantasy/romance series. And that's what makes their interactions work, which makes the series great to begin with.
Sadly, this is the end of my praises, because, by the infinite wisdom and courtesy of Kadokawa and one of their subsidiary studios of ENGI, they proceed to butcher the anime horrendously and give everyone a not-so-good impression. Yes, even to Oscar, Tinasha, and the rest of the characters in the ever-growing love story, which made the source material so good to digest. But you, as the viewer, have to understand that for works like Unnamed Memory, the usual story arcs that we're so used to in series like Re:Zero and the like, did not exist back in 2012, of which authors will go by "Acts" (think of literature works and such) to define not just journeys made, but the "starting and ending" progression of the stories within the series as a whole. And the premiere season here covering the first half of the LN (the first 3 volumes of 6 of the LN, encapsulating Act One), it's definitely jarring to see pacing so out of whack and content needlessly removed, that anything and everything didn't amount to much when all is said and done. I find myself questioning why Oscar and Tinasha's relationship was going at a breakneck speed from the flirtations to partner stages that, over time, I just didn't bother to give a heck care for, only to realize that the producers had a choice to adapt less to cover more content that would help the anime pace the LN a lot better (as opposed to going by the story's Acts approach), but that someone, somewhere within Kadokawa, just ditched that idea and asked ENGI to go ham at it.
Speaking of ENGI, they're not the most consistent studio out there, and their being affiliated with Kadokawa doesn't make things any better. By the production standards of the show, it was supposed to look good, but after a considerable production delay that set them back from its intended original release last year, I have to say that it looks...alright. Though nothing truly stood out, I'm just relieved that in-house director Kazuya Miura and his production staff team at ENGI managed to get the product out considerably, even if it doesn't look the best.
The only positive thing that came from the anime was the music. I especially love Tei's OP "Yobigoe" (i.e. Call), it's the right amount of fit for a fantasy show like this, exasperated by her high-octane musicality and clear, majestic vocals that give the show the fantasy feel. It's the same story for Arika's ED "blan_", of which the music unit is composed of VA Yuko Natsuyoshi (Maou Gakuin's Sasha Necron) and composer-cum-guitarist Yamato, that the latter's vocals also contribute to the melodramatic cues of the song being bright, but also blighted in a way to tell of Oscar and Tinasha's rocky relationship in the story. It's a musical masterclass here, folks.
Since this show has gotten a Season 2 to finish off Act Two a.k.a the 2nd half of the LN (which is confirmed for Winter next year), I'm literally praying that the story resolves well, against all odds. That said, you could do worse by following the anime, and by the same complaints of the begrudging reader telling you to go and read the original source material, I truly think that at least you have to read the LN in manga form (even though the anime has already surpassed it) to get more context for the between-the-gaps missing content and how things spiralled from then to now.
There's no doubt in my mind that the anime is a far inferior version of the source material, and there's no hope for a decent adaptation like this one.
