Amnesia - 2

"II"

Doesn't anyone ever notice the Heroine talking to herself? Though, I tend to do that too...

I'm not 100% sure that I'm keeping Amnesia, but I'm very close. For all its bishounen glamor, the series itself has proven intriguing, though not quite engaging. I'm finding the art to be pretty though; those eyes look doll-like, or mechanical, but they're strangely captivating nonetheless. The overall aesthetic is Gothic and it's definitely pleasing to look at, which is a plus in my book.

Even without nice visuals (and a very good opening sequence), Amnesia brought quite a lot of plot to the table for a weekend trip episode. First, we get a glimpse of the bullying scene from last episode, but other than the arrival of a mysterious woman, no new answers are reached on that front, as our unstable Heroine (who from this point on will be known as Shujinko, the Japanese word for Heroine and easier for me to use as a name) faints and wakes alone. She and Orion momentarily discuss the promise she was accused of breaking by the group of would-be bullies, but no new memories resurface. On the otome front, things are getting suitably complicated. Last week the focus seemed to be on the competitive Ikki, but this time around Shujinko seems to be especially aware of Shin. Not only does she catch him staring at her several times, she also seems to flashback to a memory fragment where she and Shin are lighting fireworks together, and he confesses that he's killed someone. That's a convenient place for her memory to cut off (at least for plot purposes), but at least Shujinko becomes appropriately wary of Shin afterward.

The other bishounen aren't to be ignored, however; this is a trip after all, and according to the rules of shoujo, vacations are chances to exploit certain characters (ie, love interests), and Amnesia is no exception. We get a closer look at all the boys, though not a very in depth one. Ikki is good at games, Toma is fun and bright, Shin is a serious student, and Kent is quiet but not unfriendly (and he's apparently such good friends with Ikki that he's willing to get on this boat with him). Kent is the only other character this week who gets remembered by Shujinko, who recalls them sharing an umbrella together at a festival. Interestingly, however, when Shujinko and Orion try to pry more information out of him, he has no memory of such an occasion. Does this mean that there are more people suffering from amnesia? Personally I doubt it; there's several indicators of this, but I have a feeling something supernatural is afoot.

In any case, we actually learn a little bit more about Shujinko herself here, even if she's somewhat oblivious to it all. We learn that she's a senpai to her female coworkers (I have rarely been happier to see more girls added to an anime cast), albeit a ditzy and spaced-out one, and that she seemed to have some interest in astronomy (points for Shujinko!) prior to losing her memory, as she's the one who suggested going out to see a meteor shower for their trip. We also get a closer look at that mysterious stalker, who saves Shujinko from getting run over by a car. Interestingly, he seems to know her personally, and when he walks away both Orion and Shujinko mention feeling something strange in their chests. That makes me wonder if perhaps he isn't the main love interest after all, though at the moment he seems to reek of evil villain, with that scary laugh and stalking tendency of his.

The really confusing stuff happens while everyone is walking out to see the meteor shower. Shin attempts to confront Shujinko, but she runs from him, terrified after hearing what he said about murder in her memory. As the mysterious stalker chuckles evilly about it being too late, Shujinko slips off the edge of a cliff and plummets to her death, with only the incorporeal Orion reaching to try and save her. She awakens abruptly in the hospital, Orion gone, on August 1st, with only Shin at her side and the implication that he's her boyfriend.

I can think of several explanations for this apparent time travel, but all of them sit comfortably in the fantastic. For example, it's possible that a Higurashi time-loop is in place, where Shujinko is taken back to August 1st whenever she dies or reaches a "bad end". It's also possible that her memories aren't memories at all, but possibilities for different outcomes. It's way too early to do anything more than guess, but things certainly have gotten interesting, if not confusing, and Orion's disappearance is surely cause for concern.