「2人で、おかえり」 (Futari de, Okaeri)
“Welcome Home to Both of Us”

So last week’s cliffhanger was, as they so often are, a fake out. Actually, I didn’t immediately realise that the opener was a flashback, so it felt like I got double bluffed. The bottom line is, Isla is hospitalised but fine, because Tsukasa is the best bad shot in the world. It’s not too surprising an outcome, since killing off the female lead less than halfway through the series would be tricky move to follow up on, unless this was something like Psycho. The Dominator does kill Giftia, right? Makes them blue-screen or something, right? Well, it did something trippy to Marcia, and I’m assuming she is now lost to us. I felt sorry for Souta, even though it was partially his fault. And it must have been hard for Tsukasa to face him again, but he’s a responsible sort of lad. Ultimately, he failed them both despite his efforts, and there is no way to bear that bad news easily. This is basically why Saving Private Ryan happened.

Well, that was depressing. Back to the rom-com!

The good thing to come out of this tragedy is that it allowed Tsukasa to showoff his steadfast sense of commitment to Isla and score some points, and a smile. Woo, progress! I was fairly happy with the antics this episode, as I felt it drew back relatively more smoothly from the drama, and Isla was far too precious to dislike. Aw, she’s in love. Well, not quite love yet, but at least affection, and maybe a dogged sense of attachment. After her past ordeals and, er, domestic breakup it’s evident that Isla is full of insecurities and, perhaps, an abandonment complex. And from what we’ve seen of human-Giftia relationships, attachment seems to be a big part of them.

The series of hijinks also allows some of the secondary cast make another round of appeals so that the audience does not forget who they are. Since there’s actually quite a few of them, this is probably necessary. So the apprentice mechanic is crazy, the Giftia are terrifyingly superhuman even with limiters, and the boss is still drunk and violent. On the more serious side, the tsundere can be dere, the amoral corporation still has a human face, and the boss looks out for her people. It’s mostly all brief asides and mixed together, but I found it a relatively effective balance, overall.

1328 hours ~ looking ahead

So, a mixture of both the light and heavy this week, and considering what we had in the previous episode, this one may seem a bit a defused. While Isla confined to bed gave her a lot of time to reflect (sorry, sorry, I really can’t resist the puns) and contemplate her own mortality as much as any other episode, it all ended rather positively and comically. This is probably a good thing, as I’m not sure I can stomach an entire 20 minutes of Isla moping about her failings. Instead, her internal struggle is presented more constructively, juxtaposed with Tsukasa’s, and having having her be genuinely interested in her foil. It presents her as a more active player, rather than the relatively passive role she’s had so far. It’s both character development and relationship development, which are centrally important elements of Plastic Memories.

Tsukasa also found out about Isla’s lifespan this week, which is sooner than I expected. I thought they would spring it on him when his relationship with Isla was more concrete as some sort of foundation shaking surprise, but considering that the audience already knows it probably wouldn’t have been too effective. He takes it rather well, all things considered, but Tsukasa has seen a fair few Giftia expiring by now and the point is probably not to let the separation overshadow the memories. It certainly not going to be all smooth sailing from here, though, since we’re only half way through the season, and I imagine there will be more trials for Isla and Tsukasa in the future. If the mortality issue is not the final hurdle, I wonder what is.

Full-length images: 09, 18, 19.

15 Comments

  1. I think the Weapon he fired, has some kind of Energy beam that vaporize the Giftas Biological Structure. You could say, this Light triggers some kind of self destruction “acid”. They have some kind of Fail safe build in in their Skin or something

    But i think, the Show should focus more on the Bonds with Humans and Giftia, not the Technology in how they give them Birth and Life to them. Or this Show would break the Budget of TV Series. Perhaps an OVA could tell more in details in how they are born and such..

    Focus more on the Warmth of Humanity, they are there to fill Holes. And they also should focus on the “Family standard” model. Sure, the Giftias for Red Light would get the Money, and perhaps Military Soldiers, but Family Standard Giftias are there to gain experience with social life’s of Humanity to refine the Spy’s and other Military types. But then this Anime would shift totally to the Dark Side, i do not think that are the Story the Director and Write want to tell us. Please, let it be Light, and where Light there is Shadow. But do not let the Sun die out

    This Agency is there to respect the Humans that grown Bond with these Giftias and to thread this Giftias as Humans, because living with them surly affect their “AI”. And that was the Company truly wants, not the memories of their customers. No the experience of the Giftia became a step closer to Human

    WorldwideDepp
    1. oh, and the Guy is smiling for her. To be the Light in her Dark Hour. Even i realized it. there are so many kind in the Past, where Boys try to put the “Live happy” mask on, to life on for the Girl

      WorldwideDepp
  2. Yeah, I was wonder when he would learn about her time left.

    I don’t think it’s in this Anime to do this, but IMHO
    and interesting thing would be if Tsukasa’s time left turned out
    to be shorter than Isla’s remaining time; that some tragedy takes
    his life. As an audience, we assume all of the humans will “outlive”
    any Giftia, and the series seems to imply that. But statistically,
    over 9+ years, some Giftia handler(s) will pass in that time.

    I wonder what happens to the Giftia that was in their care?

    mac65
  3. The feels in this show. This episode surprised though. My eyes did not water one bit! Going to be interesting to see where the show goes. I suspect towards the end, Tsukasa will be confessing his feelings for Isla. Is this show pursuing a romance between human and giftia? Will we some how try to find a way to preserve Isle? Cant imagine they’re really going to let her fade away

    So many questions..

    Rick Anime
    1. Whoops,

      “Will we some how try to find a way to preserve Isle?”

      I meant to type- Will they try to find a way to preserve Isla or will the viewer have to watch our heroine come to a tragic end?

      Rick Anime
  4. It’s rather weird in the recent (2 or 3) years when the reversed stalker ploy gets to be played off for laughs while the straight one is straight into “call the police” dangerous from the first minute.

    https://randomc.net/image/Plastic%20Memories/Plastic%20Memories%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2013.jpg

    Surely this should’ve been reported…like what she said:
    https://randomc.net/image/Plastic%20Memories/Plastic%20Memories%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2016.jpg

    W/E, justice served in the end:
    https://randomc.net/image/Plastic%20Memories/Plastic%20Memories%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2022.jpg

    OTOH, what happened to Isla to have her body in such a bad shape that she have to be called off the field (and for Kazuki to venture out and ended up having her leg amputated?)

    info600
  5. https://randomc.net/image/Plastic%20Memories/Plastic%20Memories%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2033.jpg

    isla’s “irregular” smile hurts… isla is happy that she has finally found someone who will stay with her till the end and yet, thinking that she has only a thousand left in her tank, makes it very painful for her at the same time because she has only a month to cherish and enjoy “life” with tsukasa.

    —- damn… please let be there a miracle in the end…

    The Last Idiot
    1. This one is going to give us one of two options: The sweetest of all endings or something dark and sad, made of tears, with tears on top, a real tear jerker… I guess you got the point xD
      And i honestly would love to see the first but i believe we’re heading for the second option!

      Kiritsugu
      1. in some bbs, i have found a tragic-drama end plot theory:

        “since the story is yet to fully elaborate on black market retrievers and there is some sort of special emphasis on the wanderers, it seems isla will become a wanderer too, more likely injuring and killing tsukasa and then isla will die after that via the hands of her first spotter, kazuki and terminal service. drama ensues” —- in other terms, it would be a forever love in heaven.

        thoughts?

        my ending is that isla will of course dies, and finally tsukasa will end up with the tsundere girl.

        The Last Idiot

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *