Plastic Memories

Episode 10

Plastic Memories dishes out some information that should have come up a few episodes ago: Isla designed the department's humane tactics and that's why she's so valued by her coworkers. In order for this to mean anything, this should have been revealed at about the midpoint and been interspersed with more procedural episodes of them on the job. Plastic Memories has de-emphasized its interesting science fiction premise (mobile therapists/euthanasiasts for robots!) past the point of recovery. It now feels disconnected from the actual story about a bumbling boy and dying robot girl stumbling their way into romance. By now, I've accepted that this will be pure Dying Girl Romance melodrama. (Not the worst example of it at least – Looking Up at the Half Moon still exists!) It just could have had the decency not to pretend otherwise. As it stands, Plastic Memories will always exist in the shadow of what it could've been. What a tease.

At the end of last episode, Kazuki broke up Tsukasa and Isla's partnership. This turns out to have been at Isla's behest. She's afraid to enter into a relationship with the little time she has left, so Kazuki and Isla start acting as partners again. Over the course of their day together, Kazuki realizes that Isla belongs with Tsukasa and urges her to embrace her desires. Isla confesses to him, the office cheers, and this show somehow has three episodes left.

I'm still annoyed by Kazuki's character. Her actions are inconsistent and draw on whatever aspect of her character is necessary for the next dramatic turn in Tsukasa and Isla's romance. The lovers need to be split up? Kazuki breaks them apart. Someone needs to be cold to Isla so that Tsukasa can reassure her? Kazuki continues to ignore her beloved friend. Isla needs someone to push her into embracing happiness with Tsukasa? Kazuki gives her a talking-to. It doesn't help that I still don't buy the event that the show claims tore them apart. Isla failed to support Kazuki in a mission to retrieve a senile Giftia, and she ended up losing her foot. Why did Isla do this? It has to have been more than an accident for Kazuki to bear as much enmity as she has for this long. If this is building up to another reveal, it's been dangled over the audience past the point of suspense and into annoyance. Plus, Kazuki doesn't seem all that haunted by it. Mostly, she's been overemphasized as a fun-lovin' gal, primarily as an extended homage to Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion. (The shots of Kazuki pulling beer out of her fridge this episode are directly lifted from Eva.) I have nothing against characters who primarily serve as instigators for drama, but Plastic Memories has executed that function badly by making Kazuki too transparent a narrative tool.

That's part of the overall tonal problem though. Plastic Memories keeps juxtaposing serious moments with long stretches of the weakest anime comedy. They don't jive together. Whenever Plastic Memories transitions from slapstick antics to meditations on mortality, it feels like I've switched between two different shows. Right after Isla and Tsukasa are split up, there's a sequence where Kazuki gets super drunk, trashes her apartment, and draws on Isla's face. They're just so separate. The comedy doesn't feed into the serious moments at all.

At least the main couple is finally together. There are three episodes left, so Plastic Memories is either going to try and throw some plot at us (bring back the illegal Giftia retrievers?) or dwell on Isla's death hardcore. I'm actually curious where they'll go now that the "will they or won't they" aspect is out of the game. I doubt that it'll redeem the show for me, but it might end up more weird or interesting. Worst case scenario – three straight episodes of domestic comedy.

Grade: B-

Plastic Memories is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Gabriella Ekens studies film and literature at a US university. Follow her on twitter.