It was a good winter anime season, at least the shows I watched, and looking ahead, spring season might be even better.
But first, a wrap-up of the winter shows. I'll talk about the spring season in my next post.
Blue Exorcist’s Blue Night arc was as tragic as expected, as it revealed the twin’s origins and the true story of their mother, father, and adoptive father. I was more moved than I thought I would be, even though most of what happened was fairly predictable.
The series has always been slightly insane regarding its wild use of Catholic iconography and symbolism. Rin and Yukio are literally sons of the Devil after all, but even so, the story plays fast and loose with its outsider view of Christianity. And then that’s combined with the paranormal aspects, and the True Cross Academy for that high school feel, and suddenly you realize that Blue Exorcist is actually more multi-layered than you thought it was. The academy setting and the protagonists being teenagers fools you into seeing it as your usual shounen story, just set in a weirdly religious environment. And with the main characters being the Devil’s sons.
The Blue Night arc has Rin going back in time to find out the real facts about his and Yukio’s births.
Their mother Yuri Egin was an orphan who, as it turns out, was targeted by the Devil when she was still young. She stumbles upon Shiro Fujimoto, Rin and Yukio’s jiji, the one who later on more or less raises them with the help of monks and the rest of the staff. Shiro has run away from the academy, having been one of those students who were experimented on under Mephisto Pheles’ orders, but he is captured and returned to the academy. The academy discovers that Yuri has the potential to become an exorcist, and she is accepted as a student.
Shiro and Yuri, friends who frequently quarrel on the outside, are in love with each other but can never quite admit it. Meanwhile, through some plot complications that I had trouble following, the Devil is being held captive at the academy. He is a handful to deal with, and the only person he emotionally relates to is Yuri, who taught him when he was young.
By the time Shiro acknowledges his love for Yuri it’s too late, as Yuri has already committed to become the Devil’s lover in an attempt to pacify and prevent him from destroying the world.
The upshot of this trip to the past is that Rin sees the sacrifices that were made by a whole lot of people, Yuri especially, so that he and Yukio could survive. And Shiro’s sacrifice in raising the boys also finally makes sense. It never did before this, as all we saw was this old irascible priest, basically, who seemingly was stuck raising these two kids for an unknown reason.
Blue Exorcist’s Blue Night arc ends on a cliffhanger, but not the kind you resent. More like, yes, it makes sense to end it here and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I watched Momentary Lily because it was a GoHands production. GoHands was the producer of K, sometimes called K Project, one of my favorite animes.
Momentary Lily was... okay. I mean, it was certainly no K and I wasn’t expecting it to be, based on the premise and the previews. It’s about a gang of young women who survive the apocalypse, and who are somehow gifted with incredible sci-fi type weapons to fight the “Wild Hunt,” huge mecha-ish monsters that enforce whatever new order now exists in the world.
Momentary Lily suffers from pacing issues. For the first seven episodes, it’s what you’d expect. The young women - teenage girls, actually - spend their days fighting the Wild Hunt, running from the Wild Hunt, hiding, and foraging for canned foods to make meals with. Meal prep is a running theme in the show, as the main character, Renge, loves to cook and eat meals with her new friends.
Two things happen in the first few episodes that hint at the mystery at the core of the story. The blonde-haired Yuri, who seems like a main character, unexpectedly dies at the end of Episode 2. Another issue is that Renge can’t recall any of her memories. Her body also heals miraculously, without treatment.
It’s not until Episode 8 that the truth begins to be revealed. When it is, it’s not a bad plot twist, but more hints could’ve been dropped sooner, and the fact that they waited so long means that the first seven episodes felt aimless. The visuals are pretty - the GoHands team are masters at character design - but this time, the story simply wasn’t that engaging.
Which brings me to Unnamed Memory, season two.
I already knew I would enjoy Unnamed Memory’s second season regardless of whether they explained everything that happened at the end of the first season. The first season was a wonderful slow-burning romance with a huge payoff in Episode 11, as Tinasha and Oscar married in a beautiful ceremony.
It was in the first season’s final episode, Episode 12, where the jaw-dropping reversal happened. One should always be wary of fantasy stories where magic is a thing. Meaning...
Meaning that everything that came before then got wiped out, reversed, in that final episode. ARGHHH
So season two begins with the characters starting over from scratch, essentially. The characters are beautiful and the writing was so good in the first season, that I had no worries that this season would go awry.
And in fact, it didn’t go awry. Basically, as this is a fantasy romance story, the characters had to fall in love with each other all over again, just in a different time period and with a few things that were changed.
And they did. And... as it turns out, this wasn’t their only time that they had a do-over, not hardly.
Here’s the thing. Magic on its own, with rules, okay. Time travel on its own, with rules, okay. Both magic and time travel... there are no rules left that mean anything.
The first season’s end saw Oscar go back in time when he touched a certain magic orb. And Tinasha - who retains the knowledge of what happened in their other relationship in season 1 - in season 2, she has to proceed with Oscar knowing that he doesn’t remember her from that time, and is under no obligation to fall in love with her again.
Most of the plot tension in season 2 comes from this. Along the way, Oscar gleans that he loved Tinasha in another time and that he made a certain sacrifice to save her.
The story’s antagonist, Valt, is from the mysterious Time-Reader clan. We don’t get how critical his role is in the overall story until fairly late in season 2.
He appears to be resetting time, or causing new timelines to form, or something... maybe I’d lost focus or stopped caring by the middle of the season, because I wasn’t clear on it. But finally, near the end, in Episode 11, he comes out with it.
And it’s a huge info dump when he does. Basically, it was this:
TINASHA: Valt...? Did you transport me here?
VALT: Yes, I did. It was for a reason.
TINASHA: What reason?
VALT: Well, let me tell you why... and explain my powers... and what I did to you before... and the significance of it... and...
Okay, I’m exaggerating, but not by much. The scene goes on for long minutes as the two stand facing each other and Valt explains about the Time-Readers and what they do and what Tinasha must do for him in order to save her kingdom of Tuldarr, etc.
It’s amazing, but this continues into the beginning of the final episode, Episode 12. More truths are revealed, including about Oscar, about whom it’s been hinted from the beginning that he also has the ability to use magic.
The bottom line is, the series ends well, or at least decently, in a story sense. The different timelines are stopped, leaving one new timeline that can’t be interfered with. Oscar and Tinasha find each other in that timeline and it’s implied that they’ll fall in love yet again.
My point about magic and time travel in fantasy stories is that we need to be told earlier than the final few episodes not only what is going on, but also what the parameters of the magic and time travel are, what can and can’t be done, and how to counter those abilities. Otherwise it’s a free-for-all where anything can happen, simply because we are told so.
It felt like the producers thought they had a season three coming, only to be told around Episode 9 that they would have to wrap the story up in season two instead. At least, I hope that’s how it happened, otherwise I don’t know why the end was so rushed.
But would I recommend Unnamed Memory despite its flawed final season? Yes.
At its heart, Unnamed Memory is a solid romance. The characters truly love one another; you can feel it. Each is drawn to the other again and again through time, realizing that the other is the only one for them.
Again, the character designs are wonderful. And the seiyuu for Oscar, Yoshiki Nakajima, has a great voice, very masculine and yet velvety smooth.
Another reason to recommend Unnamed Memory is that Tinasha and Oscar are equals in status and power. Oscar is the King of Farsas, while Tinasha is the most powerful witch, and in at least one timeline she’s also the inheritor to the throne of Tuldarr, her own kingdom. I love stories where the characters, whether romantically involved or not, are equals and have to respect each other.
I’ll probably rewatch Unnamed Memory in future. Actually, I would consider buying the DVDs if they’re ever released in the U.S.
Finally, Dragon Ball Daima, a holdover from fall season, came to an end in the middle of this season. The series had a rushed feeling at the end, similar to Unnamed Memory, but sadly, I think we can guess why.
Akira Toriyama passed away in the midst of developing Dragon Ball Daima. I don’t know whether he had figured out the ending or if he’d had the time to fully work through the details. Regardless, I enjoyed Dragon Ball Daima. It is an addition to the Dragon Ball canon universe and to Toriyama-sensei’s memory that is entirely worthy of both.
