YoshiKyon

9/10

Anilist: [link]

Spent the last week or two basically non-stop watching some high intensity anime (gonna review all of Haikyu as one show, but getting through three seasons in a week was a bit much) so I wanted a break for something a little less action and a little more heart-breaking, and here we are.
I think Riley, who recommended this one, understands exactly where my tastes in anime lie better than anyone else - just where I draw the line on how much anime bullshit is too much, what sort of stories and styles appeal to me, etc. - so I had fairly high hopes for this one:

12 Anime in 12 Months:

These are listed in the order I thought I would enjoy them, from most likely to enjoy to least.

• Shinsekai yori
• Plastic Memories
• Vivy: Fluorite Eyes Song
• Kaiba
• Bloom Into You
• Princess Tutu
• Redline
• Monster
• Saint Onii-san
• Haikyu!!
• So I'm a Spider, So What
• In Another World With My Smartphone

Absolutely did not fail to meet those expectations. The first episode alone had me crying already, and when this show really wants to pull at heart-strings, it does it spectacularly.

Mild spoilers below the cut, as well as a cw: death & illness

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The basic premise of Plastic Memories gives away most of its secrets up-front - Tsukasa lands a job in the retrievals department for Giftia, androids that are completely human-like but with a very limited life-span. 'Retrievals' is essentially them shutting down Giftia before they lose their memories, personalities, and control of their abilities, and it's here that Plastic Memories is not subtle about what it's doing; for all intents and purposes, the Giftia are people with terminal illnesses, and the whole show revolves around what it means to die, and leaving behind both people and memories.

The characters, for the most part, are nothing special. Kazuki, the office chief, is a pretty fantastic character, but otherwise most of the main cast are fairly cliché or forgettable. The stories are where Plastic Memories shines, though, opening up with a range of side-stories to introduce the world and concepts before pulling in the main cast towards a grand finale. Each and every one of those side stories feels intricately woven, with a real eye for how the Giftia's existence would shape the world around them.

At its core, though, Plastic Memories is a romance, and it pulls out all the stops when it matters. There are some fairly tired clichés in there every now and then, but they're rare enough that it doesn't pull away from the stories being told, and the big moments hit at just the right notes.

More than anything, this is a show with an eye for detail - whether that's the world-building mentioned prior, the tiny scenes added in solely to add some depth and realism to the story, or even the opening changing ever-so-slightly as the series progresses, there's a real sense of attention and care in every aspect. The whole teen romance thing is a little overdone in anime, and especially with characters like these, but beyond that, there isn't a single element that Plastic Memories falls down on - as a romance, it's solid, and as a heart-wrenching drama, it's up there as one of the best.