Review of Amnesia

A mystery anime that involves traveling through parallel worlds, in each one where the main character is dating a new cute boy, but as soon as everything seems happy, BAM she dies and is transported to another world. Not many ways you can mess this one up, eh? Will, Amnesia finds a few. Amnesia is an anime adopted from an otome dating sim of the same name animated by the studio Brain Base and directed by Ohashi Yoshimitsu, his most notable other works being Sacred Seven and Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto. It tells a tale of our nameless heroine (because, you know, all of the guys shedates just prefer to call her you and stuff like that) who one day wakes up with amnesia. Her only guide is a fairy called Orion, who says that to regain her memories she needs to hang out with the people who she used ot hang out with to regain her memories. Quickly however, she begins hopping between dimensions somehow (whenever she dies she goes to a new one) and in each of those new worlds she is dating a different boy. Thus she needs to hide her memory lost from these boys so she won't be sent to the hospital (you see, if she never talks to anyone, then she will die or something along the lines of that) while trying to understand exactly what her relationship is with the boys so she can act like she knows them, and of course try to figure out exactly what is happening to her.

So the plot. It is rather good in the mystery area. I mean, while I did guess what was happening, I couldn't figure out how it was happening. And the stories with each one of the boys are rather good enough. Well, okay, some of the events are a little extreme, but more on that later.

Due to the fact this is an arc-based show, I'll go over each one of them. The first one is over Shin, and the heroine has a memory of him saying “killed a man”. However, that is resolved rather nicely and due to the fact this is the first arc, it's more or less just the heroine trying to get used to her situation. Shin is a decent enough heroine. Sure he's your typical dark boy with a mysterious past, but he's not annoying at all. Then comes Ikki's arc, which is a little worse due to how idiotic the heroine acts (I quickly solved the mystery that bothered the heroine in this arc almost instantly). Ikki is a rather good protagonist though. He's a ladies man and has dated several girls besides the heroine in the previous months before the show started, but he's not rude or annoying at all. Then comes Kento, my favorite boy by far. Blunt, awkard in romantic relationships, smart and actually figures out part of what is happening, so of course his arc is the only one to last 1 episode, while the rest before him got two. And the half of episode he sacrificed goes to the two other heroes, who are both my least favorites. Touma, oh my god, just Touma. Well, going into why I disliked him so much would be spoilers, but just the things he does. While it does make a little sense at first, the extremes he goes to, and how the heroine acts like a total doormat too and forgives him quickly at the end. And the boy of the last arc, it's a spoiler to go into it that much, but it was... Meh. I mean, the ending of this show is awful. Just an dull info-dump in a setting that makes no sense whatsoever. They even leave it in the air who the heroine ends up with.
Speaking of the heroine, she is terrible. She has no personality at all and acts like a complete idiot. I swear over half of what comes out of her mouth is “Um... Er... Ah...” and stuff along the lines of that. Just some of the decisions she makes and how she is unable to comprehend her situation at all. She's easily the worst part of the show, even with the bad ending and Touma's arc. Other notable characters include the manager of the cafe where the heroine works at, who changes personality every arc for some reason, and the fairy who helps the heroine out, who is eternally cheerful and happy.

The music was good, some of the soundtracks help add to the suspenseful mood. The opening theme is very good, with the ending theme being more forgettable. The voice acting was also good enough, minus for the above-mentioned heroine, though that has more to do with script than anything.
The animation... Well, okay, so they don't move much, but all of the designs are very detailed and look pretty, and this being an anime where the point is the cute boys, that is sort of needed. Another thing to note is how everyone wears these extremely ridiculous outfits that are card-themed. Shin wears clothes to the theme of hearts, Ikki wears clothes with the theme of spades, and so on. But they all still look really stupid in those decked-out clothes that no one wears in real life.

Amnesia is far from a bad show. The mystery is decent, most of the characters are good, the music is a plus, and the designs look pretty. However, it is pulled down by a terrible lead character, one of the arcs is terrible, and the ending isn't very good. If you're a fan of bishonen or mystery anime, then check this out. If not, then watch it if you don't know what else to watch. It's a decent show, despite the fact it has several flaws.