Amnesia

When the heroine regains consciousness in an unfamiliar place, she has suddenly lost all memories of everything that happened before August 1. What is this place, and what was she doing there? Who is she, and what sort of life had she lived?

Before her appears a young man named Orion who calls himself a spirit. With his guidance, the heroine begins to search for her lost memories before others can find out she has forgotten them. Gradually, relationships with people around her begin to materialize... childhood friends, respected seniors, and even lovers whose names and faces she no longer knows. Without her memories, though she is keenly aware of their feelings toward her, she is unable to respond to them in kind...


As fragments of memories come back to her and unexpected crises befall her, the story grows increasingly complex as it pulls our heroine in deeper and deeper. What answer lies just beyond the memories she has lost?

Opinion: If you suddenly wake up with a total inability to remember anything, up to and including your own name, and a pointy-eared spirit dressed like an anime harlequin tells you not to go to the hospital, do not listen to him. Had the unnamed heroine of the otome game-based series Amnesia  listened to this sound advice, of course, there would be no show, but it is difficult to think of a thinner premise upon which to base a story, or even one less flattering to the protagonist's intelligence. That aside, Amnesia's first six episodes make for strangely attractive viewing, if only to figure out what it is that keeps us watching in the first place.

The basic plot of Amnesia is that a young woman, who is either in her last year of high school or in college, wakes up on the morning of August first with no memories. A spirit named Orion tells her that she has Amnesia and counsels against going to the hospital. Instead, he says, she should just try to live her life as normal and see what comes back to her. As might be expected, very few things do and she has to learn the hard way that she works at a trendy maid cafe and apparently spends her time surrounded by a bevy of attractive young men with playing card themes. After the show introduces all of the main players, episode two ends with the heroine falling off a cliff, presumably to her death, because when she wakes up in the hospital, it is August first again, but this time she appears to be dating Shin, the heart-themed guy. This state of events helps her to recall a few more things before she is hit by a truck in episode four, causing time to reset again. Now she's dating Ikki (spades)...until she appears to drown in episode six. Presumably when she awakens in episode seven, it will once more be the first of August and she will be dating either Kento (clubs) or Toma (diamonds).

While it is clear that the show is trying to cover all of the game's routes (as in the different options that lead the heroine to end up with one hero or another), it does create a sort of strange fascination for the viewer. Recurring themes of wishing on shooting stars, bullying by other girls, and the fact that the heroine at one point did have a personality and some gumption combine to make things intriguing. What is the deal with August first? How does that fit in with her being stuck on some sort of karmic wheel? Who is that weird fellow with the green hair who apparently can jump timelines? The mystery factor of Amnesia is one that niggles at the viewer's mind, allowing her to put up with the less savory elements of the show in order to figure out once and for all what is going on.

Unfortunately it has a lot to compete with. The female protagonist is one of the least sympathetic to grace the small screen in a while, coming off as terminally stupid (if you fall off a boat, you swim, not stretch your hand up to the surface) and rarely speaking in complete sentences. The male leads fare a little better, but that's not hard given the fact that they have actual lines. Perhaps the biggest blow against Amnesia, however, is the way it is primarily animated in still shots. Characters are rarely seen moving, and oftentimes those who have played the odd VN can spot where a dialogue option would have popped up on the screen. Simply put, watching Amnesia is like playing the game without getting to make any of the choices.

Visually speaking it does have some interesting aspects. The clothes are by far more stylish than the average, albeit in a somewhat odd style that consists of checkerboard patterns, particolored tight pants, and lots of buckles. It works for the show, however, making everyone stand out in their own way. Eyes are the most sour note in the visuals, with everyone having a strange block of color on the bottom half of their eyes that gives them a slightly robotic look. The animation isn't much to look at, mostly because there simply isn't a lot of movement, but the color choices and patterns do their jobs to keep eyes focused on the screen.

Amnesia is a tortured mixture of intriguing mystery and irritating plot devices and characters. Parts of it are fascinating as we try and sort out the heroine's memory issues and what the deal is with those first days of August while other parts are intensely annoying. It is the kind of show that has you saying partway through every episode, “I'm going to drop this,” before ending in such a way that makes you say, “...after the next episode.” How the next six episodes handle the wrap up (assuming there is one) will ultimately determine the worthiness of this series, but at this point, it is the equivalent of the food that is not quite to your taste, and yet somehow you keep on taking another bite.

Death Note

Summary:

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects – and bored out of his mind! But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, and notebook dropped by a rougue shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal… or his life?

  

Thoughts:
Light Yagami is a brilliant young high school student who appears very serious and focused on his studies, getting ready to take his college entry exams (after already pretesting as the highest score in Japan). The only problem is that Light is completely, utterly bored. That is, until one day a mysterious notebook falls into his path. Emblazoned on the front of the book are the words “Death Note”. Intrigued, Light picks up the notebook and studies it in the privacy of his room, opening it to find some very rudimentary instructions:

At first, Light thinks the notebook is a joke–would someone really die if he writes their name in the book? Once he begins experimenting, however, Light discovers that the Death Note is the real deal. With so much power at his fingertips, the very intelligent Light decides that he wants to recreate the world in his image, as a god that will preside over a new-found utopia–and he begins to systematically kill the unjust, prisoners and criminals whose names and crimes he has seen on the news and researched online. Each criminal Light targets dies 40 seconds later of a heart attack.
As it turns out, the Death Note is a tool of the shinigami, or literally translated “death god”.

Each shinigami has a Death Note, in which they write the names of humans who will die. Occasionally, a shinigami will lose his Death Note, or allow it to be picked up by a human. Such is the case with Ryuk, the shinigami that owns the Death Note that Light has found. As Light soon learns, those who touch the Death Note can see its shinigami owner though no one else can–and Ryuk and Light become strange acquaintances as Light provides Ryuk with incredible entertainment. As Ryuk says to Light, “Humans are…a RIOT!”

Soon, the rash of mysterious deaths catches the eye of the International Police Organization (Interpol), who believe all the criminal deaths are related–and dub the murderer “Kira” (the Japanese katakana letters ?? and pronunciation of “Killer”). Interpol pulls its Ace-in-the-hole by setting their top agent, the mysterious, faceless and nameless man known only as “L”, on the case. Though Light’s murders are the ultimate untraceable crime, he is soon locked in a battle of wits, with L closing in on his trail, while Ryuk observes these interesting human behaviors with his shinigami eyes.

Death Note is a trip. Throughout the story, we see the cat and mouse game between Light and “L” as each formulate brilliantly elaborate plans to stay one step ahead of the grim reaper that awaits either one of them should they fail. While this may sound like just another detective story like Detective Conan - it’s NOT. “Death Note” is a much more complex tale than that of the boy detective, but it’s just as addictive.

 

Light

 “Death Note” goes beyond being a story about good and evil; it makes you question what exactly IS good and evil? Is Light evil for killing criminals and acting as judge, jury and executioner? Is “L” good for using whatever means to capture Kira, even if it means using morally unacceptable practices like forced interrogations? Who’s to say? That’s what makes “Death Note” so deliciously addictive; you don’t quite know who the heck to root for. Of course, you have your favorite character; heck, everyone does. But do you support what that character stands for? Just like politics: you have your favorite candidate, but do you support what that candidate stands for?

The interactions between Light and Ryuk, with Light not even batting an eyelash to the nightmarish figure and Ryuk’s growing amusement to the whole situation, are priceless.