Plastic Memories

Episode 6

We went over this, Plastic Memories. No more comedy. You're not good at it.

This week, Plastic Memories decided to follow up Tsukasa killing a person with ten more minutes of the limpest romcom shenanigans. Unlike the last time they did this, the episode wasn't a complete waste, but it was a massive tone-killer.

Let's start with the episode's actual content – last time, Tsukasa was forced to shoot Marcia with the virus-gun, killing her. Isla collapsed from her injuries and has spent the past few days in maintenance. Tsukasa has been staying by her bedside overnight. Isla's lifespan has gone down to 1000 hours from the 2000 or so she had at the beginning, making the countdown more pertinent for the endgame. The best moment came when Tsukasa apologized to Souta for not saving Marcia. It was a quiet moment that understood life, loss, and the responsibilities of working in an emotional care profession.

Terminal Service No. 1 seems like a terrible place to work. They keep dumping horribly inconvenient revelations on Tsukasa. “Oh, by the way, you have to live in the corporate dorms with the partner you're obviously crushing on. Move in today.” “Oh yeah, that partner is dying, and we didn't tell you until she had one month left to live. Good luck with that emotional burden.” And some of them are still trying to arrange a romance between the two? I dread that blonde mechanic showing up onscreen.

I hope that we learn what went down between Kazuki and Isla soon. Kazuki's supposed to be the responsible and admirable mentor, but she just seems flaky and self-interested. If they were so close once, what could have led her to abandon Isla on her death bed? It had something to do with the incident surrounding Michiru's father. Plastic Memories needs to address the manipulation and avoidance going on in Terminal Service. Despite working as mobile grief therapists, they cannot handle death within their own ranks.

This was a slow episode hampered by the same old enormous tonal problems. When it acknowledged the gravity of what Tsukasa and Isla were going through, it was fine. However, the sitcom antics are still bottom-of-the-barrel even by anime standards. This is some Ranma ½ stuff, both untrue to actual human relationships and too tame to be funny. This show is saved by its premise and the two leads, who somehow shine through as likable, interesting humans despite the thick layer of atonal comedy. Naotaka Hayashi (Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes) is a decent writer, but he has some bad habits to shake off.

Grade: C+

Plastic Memories is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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