©2022 古宮九時/KADOKAWA/Project Unnamed Memory
Welcome back to another episode of Wait, What? Did I miss something?! This week, we abruptly left the often confusing plot to enjoy one with even more plot holes, nonsensical strange romances, and awkward world-building. Yes, it's business as usual in Unnamed Memory, as it proves once again that there's probably a better way to adapt this story.
As usual, part of the problem is that Tinasha and Oscar's relationship has been underplayed. Even though the episode really wants us to root for them and enjoy a loud, dull “aww” at the end when Oscar kisses her on the forehead, there isn't enough material to support the so-called romance their. It's a shame because there are so many little moments here that could have been adorable, like Tinasha the cat riding on Oscar's shoulder or Oscar jumping into the void after she falls. The fact that Tinasha thinks she needs to turn into a cat because they'll be sharing a room and a bed still suggests that she thinks he'll move faster than she's comfortable with, but I think we're probably She must be attracted to her cat, that cuteness is no problem. And let's face it; Oscar isn't good at doing things by degrees – just look at the penultimate scene in this episode, when she asks him to make a small cut to retrieve the magic marble she swallowed, and instead, he ran past her again. Moderation is the key, Oscar.
But what's more worrying than Oscar's inability to listen to instructions is the other “romance” lurking for him. Oscar and Tinasha are visiting a border outpost to check on a village that a group of nomads destroyed. One of the survivors, Elze, is the widow of the village chief, and she was barely kidnapped during the raid. She even has nightmares that Tinasha might have, and those dreams show that Elze is afraid of her husband's killer. It's confusing, then, why she ended up with him at the end of the episode, sitting with him in the ruins of her village after she panicked when Oscar severed the man's arm and Tinasha refused to reattach it. As far as we know, Elze had never come into contact with this man before his murder and attempted kidnapping in her hometown, so why is she suddenly attached to him? Had she seen too much death and blood to want to witness any more? Is there a backstory we're missing? Or does this series not understand healthy romantic plots?
Honestly, the answer is probably somewhere in the source material. Unlike many series adapted from light novels, this one doesn't seem to be an attempt to attract more readers to the books and is more of something for readers already familiar with details when reading books. It feels almost like a greatest hits version of the novel, animated clips that everyone loves so fans can see them move and hear the dialogue spoken out loud. Details can be omitted because the audience being courted already knows them. It could also just be a clumsy adaptation, but I'm in a positive mood.
And so we continue to push forward. There are elements that remain interesting, like the barely explained mythology of the Ito people or how being in a cat's body affected Tinasha, which we get tantalizing glimpses of. . But most of this episode felt like a lot of information was missing, and that has become a terrible reality when watching this show.
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Unnamed Memories is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
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