What “Plastic Memories” Etches in Time: A Love and Life of 9 Years and 4 Months — The Warm Salvation Found Beyond the Job of Tearing Memories Apart

“Plastic Memories” is an original anime series broadcast in 2015. With a script by Naotaka Hayashi, known for STEINS;GATE, the series depicts a heartbreakingly beautiful form of love between a human and an android, centered around the theme of “the limit of life.”

The greatest appeal of this work lies in the question of how to live within a “time with a promised end.” Facing a parting that will inevitably come, Tsukasa chooses to love Isla, and Isla decides to create “precious memories” in the time she has left.

The phrase Isla whispers into the ears of Giftias during retrieval, “I hope that one day, you will be reunited with the one you cherish,” symbolizes the theme of this work and invites tears from viewers. As the story heads toward its bittersweet finale, the casual, everyday moments the two spend together are depicted carefully and vividly, highlighting just how irreplaceable they are.

For you, with your 11 years of experience in anime production, this is a work you can deeply immerse yourself in, particularly from a directorial standpoint. You will appreciate how the subtle changes in the android’s expressions as emotions fade, and the beautiful scenic depictions, effectively enhance the sorrow of the story. Please witness this moving masterpiece that depicts a parting with a loved one and the hope that remains thereafter.

A world where science has advanced slightly beyond modern times. Tsukasa Mizugaki, an 18-year-old who failed his college entrance exams, manages to get a job at the major global corporation “SAI Corp” thanks to his parents’ connections. SAI Corp is the company that manufactures and manages androids with hearts, known as “Giftias.” Tsukasa is assigned to the “Terminal Service” department.

However, this is a so-called “window seat” (dead-end) department, whose duty is to retrieve Giftias that have reached the end of their lifespans. To make matters worse, Tsukasa ends up forming a team with a Giftia girl named “Isla,” who was merely serving tea…

“I hope that one day, you will be reunited with the person you cherish.”

If you knew that the lifespan of the person you love was only a few more months, what would you do? Moreover, what if that limit was an absolute destiny that could not be changed?

Plastic Memories, which I am introducing today, is a love story that begins with such a cruel question, yet is incredibly poignant and beautiful. It is set in a near-future where humans coexist with androids called “Giftia” that possess hearts. The lifespan of a Giftia is only 9 years and 4 months (approx. 81,920 hours). After that, their personality and memories disintegrate, so they must be retrieved before their lifespan ends.

The protagonist Tsukasa and the clumsy but lovable Giftia girl, Isla. The job of the “Terminal Service” they belong to is to separate Giftias who have reached their lifespan from their owners (families) and retrieve them. It is truly a “job of tearing memories apart.” As a veteran columnist, I assure you: this work will relentlessly attack your tear ducts from the first episode to the last. However, what remains after watching is not just sadness. There is a warm and powerful message aimed at us humans who live finite lives.

First, the charm of this work is that while having a sci-fi setting, it has a grounded aspect as a “workplace anime.” Terminal Service No. 1, where Tsukasa is assigned, consists of unique members. Michiru, the senior who is a busybody and tsundere; Eru, the engineer who is cheerful but trapped in the past; and Kazuki, the boss who is strict but cares for her subordinates. Their personalities and role divisions are so clear that you might want to give them an MBTI test, creating reality as a team. Episode 5, in particular, which depicts the tension and responsibility in retrieving a Giftia, was a masterpiece episode that questioned “professional ethics” beyond the framework of a mere romantic drama.

And, above all, there is the existence of the heroine, Isla. Her emotional expression is scarce, and she is clumsy at work. Her clumsiness, like activating the sprinklers while trying to make herb tea, makes you smile involuntarily. However, she occasionally shows a lonely expression. Deep in her heart, stubbornly saying “I don’t need memories,” lie the sadness of having witnessed numerous farewells and the resignation to her own lifespan. The process of her gradually opening her heart as she touches Tsukasa’s kindness is frustratingly lovely. Including the confession scene at the fireworks festival and the punchline “That’s impossible~” afterward, her clumsy charm explodes.

The setting of “androids with exactly the same emotions as humans” and “a short lifespan of 9 years and 4 months.” Some might question, “Is there any point in making such inefficient robots?” However, this setting functions as a metaphor for “pet loss,” “caregiving,” or even “human lifespan” itself in modern society.

People who love Giftias as family, or even more. The figure of an old woman refusing to part even though she knows the lifespan has come gouges our hearts from the first episode. By daring to seal off sci-fi solutions like “Why not just inherit the memories and transplant them to a new body?” (ethical issues of copy-and-paste as discussed in Sword Art Online: Alicization) and depicting irreversible “death (retrieval),” this work emphasizes the preciousness of “living together in this moment right now.”

Tsukasa and Isla’s love is also a tragic one with a predetermined end from the start. Still, they choose to spend the remaining time laughing as much as possible instead of drowning in sorrow. The last scene on the Ferris wheel. The tears Tsukasa shed were proof of the strength he had been enduring and building up. It is not true that “there is no point in watching because the punchline is visible.” Because we know the ending, the brilliance of casual daily life leading up to it presses upon our hearts like a jewel.

The music and direction that color the story are also important elements that make this work a masterpiece. The OP theme “Ring of Fortune” sung by Eri Sasaki. At first, it sounds like a gentle song, but as the story progresses, you understand the meaning of the lyrics and whose backs are shown in the video, doubling the poignancy. And the ED theme “Asayake no Starmine” by Asami Imai. There must be many viewers who started crying reflexively just by hearing this intro in the final stages.

The animation and character designs are also excellent, with delicate emotional depictions and changes in facial expressions that make you feel there are many female staff members (?). Isla’s blushing face, Michiru’s glasses look on her day off, Eru’s emotional expressions. The screen creation filled with love for characters has a warmth that somehow wraps the viewer, even while depicting a cruel fate.

In the final episode, the scene where Tsukasa walks forward and shakes hands with his new partner. Although it is not explicitly stated who that partner is, we will surely find hope there. Parting is painful, but memories do not disappear. “I hope that one day, you will be reunited with the person you cherish.” These words are a universal prayer aimed not only at Giftias but also at us humans.

Plastic Memories is an extremely human drama disguised as a robot anime. It is a rehearsal for the “parting with a loved one” that will surely come someday, and at the same time, a textbook for reconfirming the “happiness we have now.”

If you are chased by daily busyness and are starting to forget the importance of the person next to you, please watch this work. After watching, you will surely want to call the name of your precious person. And you will come to hold the time called “now,” which will never return, a little more dear.

Don’t forget to prepare a bath towel. And please, watch over Isla and Tsukasa’s final journey until the very end.

• Tsukasa Mizugaki: Voiced by Yasuaki Takumi
• Isla: Voiced by Sora Amamiya
• Michiru Kinushima: Voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki
• Zack: Voiced by Sayuri Yahagi
• Kazuki Kuwanomi: Voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi
• Constance: Voiced by Satoshi Hino
• Yasutaka Hanada: Voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda
• Sherry: Voiced by Aimi

• Original Creator: Naotaka Hayashi (MAGES.)
• Director: Yoshiyuki Fujiwara
• Script: Naotaka Hayashi
• Character Design: okiura (Original Plan), Chiaki Nakajima
• Mechanical Design: Yuji Tani
• Music: Masaru Yokoyama
• Animation Production: Doga Kobo

(C) MAGES. / Project PM

tarumaki

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