Amnesia

Eh? There was such an anime? I can’t remember. Really. Haha. Just pulling a fast one. Amnesia came out in early 2013 but only recently I made my decision to watch this show. I wonder why. Can’t remember the reason either. Besides, I don’t even know what made me decide to go watch a reverse harem anime that is based on an otome game of the same name. A straight guy like me watching a reverse harem anime? I don’t know. Can’t remember. But that who cares about such trivial stuff. The synopsis is also intriguing and perhaps that was what caught my attention. Just like the title suggests, our nameless heroine has no slightest clue to where her memories went after a certain date. Only one way to find out. Interact with the other guys and rediscover her memories. Aha. A convenient setting for a dating simulation, right?

Episode 1
It begins with our Heroine having flashbacks of being involved in some calamity. A fire in the building and falling into the water. When she opens her eyes, she is in the staff room of the place she works, Meido No Hitsuji. August 4th. She cannot remember anything. Worse, she thinks she is seeing things when this little spirit boy, Orion talks to her. Shin and Toma are here to pick her up after hearing from her colleague Sawa that she collapsed. Who are these guys, she wonders. They want to take her to the hospital but Orion tells her not to. If that is her wish, they guide her home. Uh… Don’t recognize the place you live? Wow. This amnesia must be terrible. Inside her room, Orion explains that she lost all her memories prior to August 1st in an accident. Orion who hails from the spirit world has been by her side ever since but of course she doesn’t remember him. Only she can see or hear him. Orion feels bad because it is his fault that caused her to lose her memories. He bumped into her soul. Thus he is here in place of her memories. In short, he is trapped inside her soul. The reason he is against her going to hospital is because in order to regain her memories, she must interact and be around people. Staying in hospital means lack of that and she will rot away till the point she dies! Even forgetting to breathe! That bad, huh? No wonder people hate hospitals. Can she follow all these since she can’t even remember who she is? Orion also feels she shouldn’t tell people she has amnesia or it may worsen the situation. Oddly, all her data before August was erased so they discuss about Shin and Toma who might be her childhood friend from the way they talk.

Next morning, Heroine still doesn’t remember anything. Orion says if she runs into trouble, she can ask him anything. Realizing it is already 9am, she hurries to work. With fellow colleague, Ikki, the café’s manager, Waka speaks to them about customers recently behaving inappropriately. If there are any, please inform him because worst come to worst, he’ll kill them with his bare hands! Scary. Ikki wonders if she is able to return to work so quick considering what happened to her. She feels it is okay. Of course, she has trouble doing her job since she doesn’t remember what she is supposed to do. Even so, how is she going to do it? Ikki guides her to make a parfait but she feels awkward and accidentally breaks the glass. Ikki treats her bleeding finger. Fellow colleague, Kent lectures her on some Pauli Effect (whatever that is, I couldn’t really care less). Orion tells her to make an excuse so that she can stay but Kent is being poker face so she doesn’t know what he is thinking. Eventually she gets to and the rest of the day goes by with nothing bad happening. Once she reaches back her home, a picture of her face being blacked out falls out from the post box. A group of b*tches confront her. They were observing her since in the café. They accuse her of breaking her promise. Traumatic memories of her hair being cut floods through her mind before passing out.

Episode 2
She wakes up, the b*tches are gone. Nothing happened. What just happened? She feels she must have done something horrible for them to be this upset. Orion thinks she shouldn’t tell about her amnesia for fear they may take advantage of it. Later at work, fellow colleagues Sawa and Mine tell her about a meeting for an orientation trip the company is having. She wonders if it is okay to come considering her mental state. When she sees the birthday candles, it brings back vague memories of playing sparklers with Shin. What was that all about? Worst, he said something about killing somebody. With everyone gathered for the meeting, Waka explains the purpose of this trip to Shinano on August 8th is to strengthen to bond of the staffs so there is no need for formalities and everyone should enjoy themselves. While walking back, Heroine has too much on her mind that she crossed the road without looking. If not for this hottie, Ukyou, she could have been run over. It seems Ukyou knows her but since he doesn’t recognize him, he leaves. When the gang arrives at Shinano, Heroine again has flashes of memories. This time with Kent at the festival and something about some promise. As suggested by Orion to ask him, however Kent doesn’t seem to know what she is talking about. The staffs play air hockey as ice breaker with Kent-Ikki team besting Shin-Toma. Kent was just whispering his strategy to Ikki who is doing all the hands on work. Maybe this strategy is what made them win. That night, Waka leads the rest to watch the meteor shower. It must be a long way trekking through the darkness only equipped with a flashlight. Heroine might have worn herself out from the air hockey game so Shin offers his hand to help. He also wants to ask her something, something Orion thinks it’s a bad thing for them to be alone together. She tries to make excuse to return to the rest but trips. Shin catches her. The thought of him killing somebody rings through her mind. She panics and runs off. Too dark to see where she is going, she falls off a cliff!!! Next morning, she wakes up in hospital. Strange. August 1st. Shin comes in and kisses her! Did that wake her up? Also, she cannot hear or see Orion anymore.

Episode 3
Shin helps her to pack her stuffs to head home. He feels if there is something wrong, please tell him. Otherwise she can go back to the hospital if she feels sick. Yeah, she feels fine suddenly. After Shin leaves, she wonders if all that was a dream, including that trip. Next day, Shin comes to visit her again. He knows something is wrong because she has been trying to desperately match her story with his so it’s useless to continue playing dumb. He mentions they have been dating for 3 months. He will respect her decision not to go back to hospital and although he guesses her memories are mixed up, she would be a fool if she thinks she could fool him. He has her follow her as he explains they are childhood friends. He brings her to the university where she attends in hopes it will trigger her memories. Nothing. She is also a vocalist in her music club and used to practice here a lot. This was also the place where he first asked her to go out with him. Also the first place they kissed. He tries to force kiss her in hopes something will come forth but she is frightened instead. Then they go meet Toma and he too has heard about her memories being mixed up. If she ever runs into trouble, she can also rely on him. Toma isn’t fond that Shin hasn’t told her everything as the latter believes she needs to figure it out by herself. Later Shin asks if she remembers about her accident. She thinks she slipped. She also keeps a diary of the events that has happened since she was discharged. After Shin leaves her at Meido No Hitsuji, Heroine is greeted by a very different Waka. He seems less strict and very caring. A bit gay? Then talking to Sawa and Mine, it is confirmed there was a trip to Shinano however it was only for part timers. Meaning, Ikki and Kent didn’t go but they were there just by chance. There was also no meteor shower watch. Shin went pale when told the rest that she fell off a cliff so everyone went in search for her. There was also someone not within their group (a photographer) who helped search for her and they found her at the bottom of the cliff after an hour of search. Oddly, Shin wasn’t panicking unlike Toma who was running about. On the way back while waiting at the railroad crossing, she sees Ukyou again and he wonders if her injuries are okay. He is pretty sure they met at the trip. Shin comes running to Heroine because he was supposed to pick her up instead she left herself. At the park, Shin explains he said horrible things to her after her concert and made her cry. When she asks about the accident at Shinano, he apologizes he is not emotionally ready to tell her but can only say it is his fault. For that moment, she thought she heard Orion’s voice.

Episode 4
Shin brings her home and asks what she is to him. As she has not sent any clear signals to him, he wonders if he is family or her boyfriend. He doesn’t want to go back being the former as they’ve only started dating. Sawa shows the fireworks display and Waka thinks it is a good idea and feels he should call the rest to come. Of course Heroine is made to call Shin but he declines since he has cram school tonight and won’t make it. So the gang are preparing their own little fireworks when Shin surprisingly turns up. You mean it was better if he didn’t? He has her follow him into the woods whereby he has her imagine this is the woods of Shinano as he goes on top of her. Remember anything? Shin gets a little aggressive in questioning her and it’s scaring her. She wants to go back to the rest but he stops her. He hasn’t done anything to scare her. He mentions her fall from the cliff was his fault. He blocked her way and wanted her to accept him as her boyfriend. He apologizes for being pushy because just when they have past being childhood friends, then this happened. He feels pathetic that he is supposed to protect her at times like this. After all, she saved him. Returning to the gang and playing sparklers, Shin reveals his dad killed somebody. Although it was in self defence against a drunkard, after that incident everyone viewed at them differently. Shin’s friends distance themselves from him but only Toma and her remained as they are and treated him the same. He gave up and went with the flow (explaining his cold exterior). Only recently he decided not to run away anymore and that’s why he is not giving up. Especially on her. Shin walks her home and despite being pushy and saying terrible things to her, he at least wants to protect and not hurt her again. She is glad to hear his story and thanks him. Shin asks her to go out with him and wants to forget this sense of distance between them. However she is not ready and he is not surprised because this was the same answer she gave the last time. He gives her a surprise kiss and will make her think of him as a man. Be on your guard because she will never know when the next kiss comes. Heroine is walking back and vowing to get all her memories back. But why the heck must she stand right in the centre of the road? To be hit by a truck???!!! She wakes up back home from a call by Ikki who wants to take her out. He gives her no room to decline. To her horror, today is August 1st and all that she has written in her diary are gone! Outside her place, lots of girls are clamouring over Ikki, including those bully b*tches. After he shoos them away, Ikki works his charms on her but she is still confused. A girl named Rika interrupts them.

Episode 5
Seems Rika was just checking if those fan girls were a nuisance to them before leaving. Heroine thinks she recognized her as part of those bullies. As Ikki takes her to the movies, he begins to feel that she is not her usual self. She is being quiet. During the movie, she thinks back that she has not forgotten but it seems time turned back. At the end of the movie, Ikki stares at her face and wants her to see his without his sunglasses because it seems when other people do, they fall into some effect. Ikki wonders if she has come up with the thing he wants to do for turning up late this morning. She wants him to accompany her to work. Heroine sleeps in her room and then suddenly she can see and hear Orion again. No, she’s not dreaming. He tries to explain that the world she is in now isn’t the one she was previously. How can we understand that if he himself doesn’t? Before he can tell the all important place she is right now, he disappears. Dang. Heroine gets a mail from Ikki, worried she is not her usual self. This is followed by a mysterious text asking for her daily report. Next day, Ikki walks Heroine to Meido No Hitsuji. They are colleagues. Waka is scolding her! He has got lots of anger! Heroine observes the girls falling into his charm while looking into his eyes. Yeah, they boldly confess they love him and want to go out with him. When they go off work, Ikki has to accompany those fan girls and wants her to wait at their usual place. Where the hell is that? So she waits at the back of her workplace. At least now she knows this isn’t it when Ikki calls her when she didn’t turn up. He heads to where she is and is certain something is wrong with her. He hopes as her boyfriend, she can rely on him. So he is her boyfriend? Don’t remember spending time with him. Ikki pushes Heroine to the wall and wants her to close her eyes so he can kiss her. She won’t. He was sure it would work this time. He backs off and notes there is a month left. Later when Sawa visits Meido No Hitsuji, Heroine is surprised to learn she doesn’t work here. But Sawa has something to say to her. She has checked the rumours herself about Ikki. Seems he dumps girls after dating them for 3 months. She doesn’t want her to seriously fall in love with him. Although Mine works here, she was away on a trip. She thinks Heroine was dumped by Ikki and asks for permission to make a move on him! That night, Heroine sees Ikki and Kent in a showdown. Are they going to kill each other? She tries to stop them but tripped. Back at Ikki’s place, she learns that they were going to do battle with some Sudoku puzzles. Kent thinks she must be fighting Ikki hard since this is her first time here. Heroine asks Kent about her relationship with Ikki and it is confirmed that he somewhat breaks up with all his girlfriends after 3 months. However he notes she is different from the rest. When Heroine is about to leave, Ikki wonders if she wants to stay for the night.

Episode 6
Of course he’s just fooling around and won’t force her. Back home, another anonymous mail asking for her daily report. Who is sending her this? At work, Heroine hears out Ikki complaining about girls trying to snatch him despite knowing he’s going out with someone else and even joked that it is more fun to date them. Sometimes he thinks he might come to hate girls. Heroine asks Waka about the daily reports but gets scolded. On her way back, she meets Ukyou who hopes she won’t make more enemies now that she is dating Ikki. Next morning, she becomes sick so Ikki comes to nurse her (he had to wear a weird mask so the girls won’t bug him). When she is back to work, Mine tells her about her confession but got rejected. She also mentions about the trip to Shinano organized by the Billiards Association and hopes she can come. That night, Sawa calls her and mentions she was part of Ikki’s fan club. And then a call from Ikki pouring out his heart telling her about another girl he rejected. It makes him so depressed so he came here to see and hear her voice to calm himself. Doesn’t it make him look like a stalker? Heroine joins the trip and of course Ikki is also there. Why else would so many girls be in it? Rika is the president of the Billiards Association and organized this trip. After Ikki awes the fan girls with his billiard play and let them have a competition among themselves (the winner gets to have tea with him), he goes to talk to Heroine. He explains he made a wish when he was young to be popular with girls. All the girls suddenly acted strange and nice towards him whenever their eyes met. He believed his wish was granted and since then is unable to feel close to people.

After dating a girl, for some reason she leaves him after 3 months. Because lots of girls like him, this creates enemies for her and she will get sick of it. If this continues, they are eventually destined to break up. So he limited himself to 3 months dating a girl for fun. He gave up on having a real relationship till he met her. At first he was interested that she isn’t affected by his eyes but not it’s different. He really wants to convey his feelings to her. Stay by his side forever. He loves her. Heroine is relieved he cleared things up and was wrong about him. They see a shooting star and he hopes she will fall in love with him for real. Later that night, Rika and the fan girls call Heroine out. They remind her that she was not allowed to hog Ikki all to herself as promised. Don’t remember? Well, it seems this fan club has this understanding of sharing Ikki. Rika was the one who sent Heroine the daily reports to document how she spent her time with him. This was the agreement for allowing her to date him. Should she forget, they will make her pay so be sure to submit all the reports from August 1st. The rest adds that they are only allowed to date Ikki for 3 months and warn her to stick to the deal or else they will make her break up with him at once. Besides, her 3 months are almost up. Heroine is still confused and thinking all this is wrong but the bullies take it as talking back and push her into the boat to cool herself down. As she floats adrift, Orion returns as Heroine explains about the fan club and their unusual dating terms for Ikki. At least now they know that Ikki truly cared for her and has had it rough up till now. The boat starts to crack and water gushing in. She panics and falls off. Orion tries to grab her but you know, he’s a spirit so nothing connects. Yeah, he vanished first before she vanished deeper into the lake.

Episode 7
The next thing she knows, she is outside her home and a message from Kent to come meet him at Meido No Hitsuji (Waka doesn’t talk much and Sawa is her colleague). Kent seems a little aggressive in wanting her to speak her mind and state her demands and dissatisfaction! When she apologizes, he feels odd because this never happens before so he too apologizes for being immature. Back home, she realizes the date has reset to August 1st and all that she wrote in her note are gone. She gets mail from him to meet at his university’s research room if she’s not busy. So she goes but sits there quietly. He thought this was her idea of them spending time together more often. He pats her head but it’s a little too hard and apologizes he doesn’t know how to control his strength. That night as Heroine waits for Kent to go to the festival, she waits and waits till Kent texts her he forgot all about it since he never had interest in such events. He rushes all the way and brings her to the festival grounds. He mentions she told him to promise one thing. When they planned to come here, they just started dating. He thought he would never find himself dating, that’s when she told him about this festival. At the end of the festival, Kent is surprised that he had fun with her. He thought their relationship would never work out.

Next day at Kent’s research room, when he points out this is the first time she brings coffee, it compels him to say she is not being herself. He has been observing her and from all the theories he deduced (including alien abduction), he concludes she has amnesia. Heroine can suddenly see Orion and he suggests telling Kent everything including the spirit. But Kent’s comments seem to piss off Orion because he thinks the spirit is possessing her, looking very human-like, acts human-like, probably not too intelligent and useless. Kent also has Heroine relay what Orion says. So it’s like they’re communicating, right? Kent learns the complicated stuff that parallel worlds exist and Heroine has been drifting from one world to another for unknown reasons. If this theory is right, this means she isn’t the same girl he knows. He feels sad that he thought her change in behaviour was because she had started to like him but alas it wasn’t. There is a possibility she might move to another world again. Kent explains the Heroine he knows always argues with him every time they meet. She told him to consider other people’s feelings more because he always sounded hurtful with his words. She replies the she in this world wasn’t able to be honest with herself and loves him. He hopes he can honestly convey his feelings to her next time. As he walks her back, while crossing the road, some guy bumps into her and their hands separate. Next thing she knows, Toma grabs her hand. Hey wait. Kent only gets one episode?

Episode 8
Toma grabs her hand before she gets run over by a vehicle. She loses energy and passes out. She is taken to the hospital and the doctors diagnose her with anaemia. She notices the date has reset to August 1st again. When she is discharged, she returns to her place. She sees a locked diary and a calendar with markings, especially to meet Ikki at the back alley. She checks her mail and it is filled with rotten food. Toma cleans it up but the next day nothing happened. She asks him about the back alley and hopes he could accompany her there. However she started feeling sick when they arrive so he brings her back and she has slept for an entire day. At Meido No Hitsuji, he asks understanding Waka for her to take some time off so he agrees to prioritize her rehabilitation. Talking to Toma at the back alley of her workplace, suddenly somebody (more like that bully) drops a flower pot, missing her by inches. Toma tries to go after her but lost her. Toma then brings her back to his place. She goes through his photo album and confirms that she is childhood friends with him and Shin. Heroine doesn’t want to make Toma worry and goes off herself. She bumps into Ukyou who is no longer mister nice guy this time. He grabs her hand and says she is going to die soon. Luckily Toma comes running to save her. In view of these unexplained dangers on her, he suggests he stays at his place tonight. Next morning, Toma is sleep talking and pulls Heroine close to him while she is checking on him. He wakes up and apologizes and explains she used to never sleep by herself and always came to him. Since she is going to stay here for a while, they go shop for some necessities. Toma probably has never shopped so much before so he feels tired. Heroine goes to buy some drinks when the bullies cut her hair from behind!

Episode 9
Toma is upset when he learns about it so he brings her back to his place. He tells her not to leave. However she can’t sit around and wait for answers to drop on her lap. Thinking back about the note to meet Ikki, if she asks him, he might know something. However he isn’t picking up his calls since Ikki doesn’t know whose number this is. She tries to go out but gets caught by Toma. He makes her go back him and warns that something worse than a haircut could happen. So for the next few days, Heroine seems to be sleeping. Each time she wakes up, she falls back asleep. Trying to be Sleeping Beauty? One evening, she hears Orion’s voice telling her not to drink or eat anything Toma gives because he laced it with some drug that caused her to feel sleepy. She follows his advice to also pretend to sleep. Then when he falls asleep, Orion cues her for a chance to escape. They see her handphone in his possession and are shocked to see nasty messages from the bullies. Someone has also been spreading her number and pictures about her. A message from Ikki reveals that she had something going on August 1st but Ikki couldn’t make it because Rika stopped him. Suddenly Shin is at the door so Heroine pretends to go back to bed. Shin is shocked that Toma is keeping her here and accuses him of wanting to keep her all to himself when he isn’t even her boyfriend. Say what? After Toma talks to Shin outside, the latter leaves. Toma becomes a little scary as he claims he setup those bullies just to keep her imprisoned here. Then he force kisses her that makes her feel drowsy.

When she wakes up, she is now in a cage!!! HOLY CRAP! This is serious! This is to protect her and prevent her from leaving for her own good? It must be real boring trapped like a caged princess. Toma also brings some of her dolls but I don’t think that’s going to make things any better. Maybe it’s a sign to say she is one of his toys… One night when they can’t sleep, seeing her in such pitiful circumstances, he lets her out for a while. He reveals because she seemed to have lost her memories, he took advantage of it and made her his girlfriend. He knows that Ikki’s fan girls have been harassing her and didn’t want her to see all the nasty stuff they left behind. However as long as she has feelings for Ikki, the harassment won’t stop. All Toma cares about is protecting her and he is going to do it his way even if it makes others and her think bad about him. He thinks she is starting to pity or forgive him so he gets back to his bad guy act and puts her back in the cage. His professor calls and informs him about the wrong data he sent so he goes off to the university to settle it. Heroine and Orion discuss Toma is acting weird and this isn’t the Toma she knows. She thinks the locked diary may have the answer. Somehow Toma forgot to lock the cage so Heroine gets out. She rushes back to her place, almost got hit by a car. Toma isn’t too happy to find her captive is out of her cage.

Episode 10
Heroine uses her hairpin to unlock the diary! Why didn’t she think of this? It seems she loves Toma and wants to confess to him and stop playing the role as his little sister. She went to see Ikki for advice and August 1st is going to be the big day. Toma comes in and he is mad that she doesn’t listen to him. Since she ignores his pain, he will ignore hers too. He isn’t going to let go of her hand and going to force kiss her when the diary drops. She makes him read it. The entry was written on July 31st, the day she collapsed. Toma felt guilty and dumb over what he had done. He was blinded with his own way of protecting her that he didn’t realize her feelings. He apologizes and doesn’t expect to be forgiven. Of course she will since it’s all clear now. It is probably too late for him to say this but he says it anyway. He loves her. Heroine is sent to the hospital to tend to her wounds. Ikki, Rika and the fan girls come in to apologize for the harassment. Late that night, Ukyou is seen holding Heroine in his arms on top the hospital roof. He mentions about him loving her and despite his constant warnings, she remained a fool. When she opens her eyes, he drops her! Heroine finds herself trapped in a building on fire. Ukyou can’t get to her. Next thing she knows, she is back in her room. Orion is with her. Definitely another world and it’s August 1st again. As she heads to university, she bumps into Ukyou. However he is not being the evil scary dude and wants her to not go to university. Although they remain suspicious, they decide to heed his warning. Arriving at Meido no Hitsuji, Sawa is glad she is alright because there was an explosion at the university. Then walking home, a metal beam is going to drop on her but Ukyou pushes her away. Ukyou continue to warn Heroine to stay away from certain places or take a longer route. Thankfully she listens because shortly, some sort of accident happened in that spot and she could have been a victim. One day when Meido no Hitsuji’s water pipe broke and Waka has to close the store, Ukyou walks home with Heroine. He tells her that he is a photographer and his passion in photography. He also mentions they used to walk down this road hand in hand many times. While crossing the railroad, her high heels get stuck in the tracks. Yeah. A train is coming and the brakes aren’t working. Ukyou tries to get her out. I thought it would be faster if she takes off her shoes but then again, it might not come off that easily. Eventually Heroine misses death by inches. I guess we are owed an explanation why does this guy accurate knows and predicts such disasters befalling on her. He thinks this world is trying to kill her. From now till August 26th, she will be caught up in many disasters. Heroine wants to know who he really is. He is her boyfriend.

Episode 11
Ukyou adds they just started dating and recounts the moment they met. He warns her of a dark well and not to approach it. He seems to be in sort of pain while saying that. He tells her the world will be out to kill her and must survive till August 25th. She will face many dangers but the most dangerous one is himself. Back home, Heroine and Orion discuss about Ukyou. Although he has warned and saved her on several occasions, there is a possibility he can move between worlds like them and need to find out more about him. Ukyou is trying to fight off with his other evil split personality. Next day after work, Heroine finds Ukyou sleeping on the grass. When he wakes up, he is upset he is stuck in this world and blames her for everything and that she should not exist. He tries to kill her when his good side takes over. He wants her to be careful around him. That night, she gets a call from him to meet him at the shrine. However it’s a trap by the evil side to kill this naive girl by dropping her into the well. In the nick of time, his good side cuts his own hand and pulls Heroine up before she falls. He tells her to run while vowing not to meet her again. Ukyou continues to text her places to avoid. Finally he calls her to confirm she is safe. He reminds her tomorrow is the day the world will kill her with all it has got and to stay indoors. He doesn’t want her to die no matter what. He hints this is the last time he will see her and has always been in love with her. She gets worried thinking he is going to kill himself (since he did say he just needs to vanish from this world) and tries to go to his side. But there’s a big storm. A real big one. You know her. She can’t leave him alone. Yeah. She almost gets killed a few times. Once she finds Ukyou in the university building, turns out that his evil side has taken over. He relishes this convenience that she came to him just to get killed. He is going to make sure he will kill her with his own hands. Where can she hide? Ukyou has set the place on fire. Yeah. The entire building is conveniently made of wood.

Episode 12
Evil Ukyou corners her but the good side takes over and realizes it was his mail that sent her coming here. He explains that she was caught in an explosion at this university on August 1st and remained unconscious for 25 days before she died today. That was what happened in the first world. Unable to accept her death, he travelled through parallel worlds to find one that she is still alive. His only wish is that she lives. Now his evil side takes over and continues. But if she dies, he lives. Because in worlds where she lives, he never exists. So when a person who isn’t supposed to exist forces his way into a world, he is treated as a foreign object and the world will try to purge it. Therefore in order to maintain the balance, she is supposed to die today. Heroine avoided all the dangers thanks to Ukyou’s advice. That’s because he was the one who caught it and died many times! This time he is going to kill her! Good Ukyou fights back and admits that many times he killed her to save himself from death’s pain. But each time he did that, the good side would feel guilty and move to another world. Evil Ukyou notes Neil doesn’t have that power anymore. Neil who? Orion says he is the creator of the spirits and gains power from people’s wishes. In order to grant Ukyou’s wish of seeing her alive, he was moved to different worlds. Evil Ukyou corners her and is going to stab him but stabs himself. Oddly, Ukyou doesn’t feel pain anymore. Could it be because he chose to die? But Heroine wants to save him and leave together. He continues he is supposed to die here. Each time he travelled to a new world and found her, he was a stranger. He felt lonely even though her smiles were for somebody. But being with her briefly here made him happy. That is enough. He is to pay for what he has done to her. When the clock strikes midnight, he dies. Then he revives. WTF?!

In a different plane, Orion explains both of them are saved, Neil speaks to her via Orion. He thanks her that because of Ukyou’s wish, he regained his power. Because Ukyou’s wish is not easy, he had no choice but to hurt him repeatedly. He also apologizes that her amnesia was his fault. Her meeting with Orion wasn’t a coincidence. Neil who had merged with Ukyou, searched for her in many worlds and was also responsible in moving her to parallel worlds. It all started when she fell from the cliff (Shin’s arc). Evil Ukyou wanted her to die but since his other side couldn’t bear to see her die again, Neil sent her to another world but it took him immense amount of power to transport her consciousness. Neil lost control of his powers because of that and Heroine ended up being tossed from one world to another. The date will always reset to August 1st since it would determine if she lives or dies. Because Heroine didn’t succumb to fate and fought back, it helped Neil regain his power. Now she will be able to regain all her memories and return to her original world. Orion blames himself for being useless and the reason she suffered a lot. She disagrees because on many occasions he encouraged her. They’re both grateful. But if Heroine regains her memories, the price to pay is that Orion will be separated from her consciousness. She can no longer see or hear him. Plus, she will forget about him. But she is confident that if he ever sees her again, try calling out to her and she feels she can tell that he is there. She walks through the door and returns to her own world.

Alone Against The World
I’m confused. I was ready and prepared for the final episode revelation but honestly, it was confusing that I couldn’t comprehend things and make sense of everything. For example, the original Heroine died, right? At least the one in the world where they were a couple. Therefore this Heroine isn’t Ukyou’s original girlfriend. So Ukyou travelled through different worlds just to find her. So… If Heroine isn’t supposed to exist in the world she is thrown in, what about Ukyou? If only one can exist, so what the heck is he travelling through worlds for? I know it’s just to find Heroine but get this. Heroine is supposed to be a foreign object not supposed to be in that world. But yet, how come she is the boyfriend of the other guys? Unless you tell me that there are 2 Heroines existing at that time. Or it could be just their conscious being transported and not their physical body. So the Heroine of the earlier world may be occupying the mind of the Heroine of this world. Same case with Ukyou. So could it mean that the Ukyou of subsequent worlds are evil?

Either way, shouldn’t Ukyou not be in any of this world? If evil Ukyou wants to live, he should just find a world where she doesn’t exist. Are you confused? There is something that I am not getting. In short, when the air of mystery that Heroine didn’t have her memories was around, despite the slow pace drama, at least there is something interesting thanks to that air of mystery. Now with this confusing revelation, I just feel worse off than before. It’s like things were better when I was in the blur just like her. Only difference is that now I’m still blur. And then I don’t know why she has to survive until August 26th. Does it really guarantee she will survive? If she does, will Ukyou die? Unless she is supposed to die in every world but good ol’ Ukyou took her place. Think about this. The world is trying to kill her and she manages to dodge it all. It’s like she ‘defeated God’, right?

Despite this being a romance genre, I just don’t feel the impact of the romance between the Heroine and the guys. Most probably it is because Heroine has lost her memories and this makes her so damn confused. She is not sure if that guy is really her boyfriend or not and can’t play along since she herself doesn’t know if she is the romantic, intimate kind or not. So most of the time she is like putting on that dumbstruck face that makes you think this romance isn’t going to work out anyway. Pity the guy. It must be hard for your girlfriend to not reciprocate your feelings. In short, the romance feels like a disappointment and a turn off with Heroine so wooden and a big blur case. Well, if she did give in and start kissing back or make love, that would be even shocking. I guess this will do. So having her travelling to various worlds is just an excuse for this reverse harem romance thingy. Although it is sad that she didn’t end up with one of the 4 main guys (at least during their arc) or nothing close to a multi-branching arc, hey, you can say that she has experienced the best and worst from all worlds, right? Can you consider her as four-timing?

There is an OVA released way back at the end of the 2013. It went largely unsubbed for some time and when it did, I lost interest in the series seeing how the ending went. I know it was a good ending with our heroine going back to the original world, and it even leaves it to viewers’ discretion of whose world she chose. There are pictures of her ending up with each of the 5 guys individually. Or maybe she didn’t end up with anyone and remained single. Yeah. Not after what she went through. Anyway I did watch the OVA but didn’t really sat there for the full length and was just fast forwarding and picking several scenes. From what I say, the OVA takes place in another parallel world. All the guys are working at Meido no Hitsuji and are being told by Waka to come up with some sort of theme to attract more customers to the cafe since I believe there is a rival cafe opened nearby. They tried animal suits to even Power Rangers style but it all ended up in some disaster. Also, Ukyou pays a visit and it seems the guys didn’t like him and spiked his food with something spicy. Of course he can handle it. Which brings up this inconsistency: Ukyou and Heroine cannot exist in the same world, right? And what do we see in this OVA? That’s why I don’t understand what is going on.

The characters feel uninspiring. With the convenient setting of Heroine not having any memories, she is always in the dark and has this worried look on her face. So much so I thought she was born with it and her permanent feature. If she smiles, better whip out your camera and record this rare moment. Without memories, how would you move on? She also feels weak and to a point submissive sine when the guys corner her, she is mainly unable to do things on her own. Because the guys take pity of her state, they back off. Orion I feel is being largely useless and only exist at certain times to help Heroine out. Even so, it was by a small amount. So when he admitted that in the end, I somewhat wholeheartedly agree. That explanation of how their meeting wasn’t a coincidence I do not understand so I can’t connect the dots why he hangs out around her and then suddenly vanishes at crucial points and then appears again as he likes. The other guys too aren’t anything much despite their distinct personalities and they only play a significant role in their arc. A lone wolf, ladies man, rational-cum-logic-FTW guy, social-cum-friendly guy and a caring ex-boyfriend. I guess each really love her. Some with their own twisted way. Lock her in a cage? Now I’ve seen everything. Otherwise, her acting would have turned them off and they would conveniently dump her and find somebody new. Hey, she’s got amnesia, right? Eventually, the guy didn’t get the girl in the end. Waka is the more interesting one since his personality changes in different worlds. I wonder if there is a world where Heroine and him are a pair. That would be interesting.

The drawing and art as I can consider to be beautiful. Why not? With your pretty protagonist and hot looking bishonen around, it is definitely a must especially in a reverse harem setting. Personally I think the art is quite smooth and vivid with lots of colours. Especially the harem guys whose dressing seems to be like dressed to kill. It is as though they have come out from some cosplay or comic convention. You don’t really see the practicality in dressing up like that in your everyday life. Also, something about the characters’ eyes that make it feels unique. The pupils and iris are like upside down rainbow with dual tone colours. Weird? Odd?

On a trivial note, the next episode preview is narrated by Orion but it feels like it has nothing to do with the next episode but something that has happened in this episode. For example, talking about the parfait in Meido No Hitsuji, wanting to be part of a band, fireworks, movies and the sky. Sometimes I think it serves to be some sort of a joke for the end card animation because like the time he says he doesn’t want to see 2 guys riding together in a swan boat, suddenly we see Ikki and Kent together (it did happen in that episode). Then there is a time Orion mentions about the different mineral bottle water brands. Then the next scene, we see the repeated scene of Heroine drinking a bottled water but each time with a different brand on it. And there is the case he is talking about stuffed animals being scary and the next thing you know, all those stuffed toys in the cage with their eyes glowing!

Voice acting seems okay and nothing to shout about with Kaori Nazuka playing Heroine and is probably her most soft speaking roles ever compared to Tsukasa in Amagami SS, Nunally in Code Geass and Yui in To Love-Ru. Other casts include Hitomi Igarashi as Orion (Hina in Papa No Iukoto Wo Kikinasai), Tetsuya Kakihara as Shin (Natsu in Fairy Tail), Kishou Taniyama as Ikki (Natsuki in Uta No Prince-sama Maji Love 1000%), Akira Ishida as Kent (Hakkai in Gensoumaden Saiyuki), Satoshi Hino as Toma (Saito in Zero No Tsukaima), Kouki Miyata as Ukyou (Fujisaki in Danganronpa), Hidenori Takahashi as Waka (Nagayasu in Oda Nobuna No Yabou), Satomi Moriya as Sawa (Hikari in Aikatsu), Kana Akutsu as Mine (Minori in Minori Scramble) and Seiko Yoshida as Rika (Kyousuke in Mahou Shojo Madoka Magica). The opening theme is a rock outfit, Zoetrope by Nagi Yanagi and has this mysterious feel to it. Personally I don’t think it sounds that bad. The ending theme is also another rock piece, Recall by Ray. It also has this enigmatic and ominous feel (towards the end). The ending theme for the final episode is Shinshin No Watadori by Nagi Yanagi and sounds pretty normal and toned down, like a song for happy endings.

Overall, I feel that this anime isn’t a good adaptation even though I myself didn’t play the game. Mostly if you like reverse harem romance with hot guys, you might tolerate this but the romance is very lacking so you might be disappointed. You just watch this show to get from point A to point B to point C without that satisfied feeling of having completed whatever you’re supposed to do in the point you reached but have to go on to the next. And what awaits you at the end? Makes you want to forget that disappointment, huh? That’s why memories are so important so as to move forward and not make the same mistake again. Now you know why you shouldn’t forget your girlfriend’s birthday or your wife’s anniversary :). As for me, I am hoping maybe I should have some sort of amnesia about this show. But then again, if I ever did, I might end up watching it in the future and say the same thing over and over again. It’s like Groundhog Day but only in different worlds.