The second episode of a series often dips from the first. It’s a shame because I can think of other series that have won me over by the second episode, but more often than not they dip. Plastic Memories dips, but not so much that it’s unwatchable. If you didn’t pick up on the fact that Isla is getting closer and closer to the end of her nine years, four months in the first episode, they really hammer it home here. They finally spell it out to the view at the end of the episode telling us exactly how much time Isla has, but no one thinks to tell Tsukasa… which doesn’t make any sense. It’s about 83 days in case you were wondering which is way more than I thought they’d do.

We meet a new character as well which makes for two senior characters that really know Isla. We learn that the way their department runs is not the norm. Basically meaning that other departments more than likely take the Giftia’s by force rather than making them sign the paper work and actually say goodbye.

It’s also very clear that Isla is getting worse and Tsukasa begins learning her part of the job in order to help cover for her. He even takes some blame for her from the girl who is already developing feelings for him even though he’s done jack shit. That’s anime logic for you. “I’m new and I don’t know this job very well, but I’m a nice guy so fall in love with me.” The reason it works is because that’s basically what we all want from life. It’s why I can’t fault its use.

My hope is that with Isla’s shelf life now established they’ll do something interesting with the story. Our main characters seem destined to fall in love with each other which of course is going to make things messy. I can see where the stories going for sure, but I want the journey to be entertaining so for that reason I’ll stick around.

The animation itself was a bit lazy this time around. The lighting was minimal and the richness of color was limited due to the settings picked for the story… which was three. It was okay, but a far cry from the beauty of the first episode. The first episodes coloring was very impressive and part of the drawl.

Overall there was a dip in quality and story, but not so much that I hated it. I just knew that it could have been better based on what I had viewed previously. Again it happens, but now the story really needs to hook us.

Score: 3/5

Plastic Memories 1.2 “I Don’t Want You To Hold Me Back” Official Website