Nothing says love like a girl you know shoving you down a set of concrete stairs.
What They Say:
Yuuko’s memories of Teiichi and everything they’ve done together is gone. Teiichi is losing his ability to see her and slowly his memory of their relationship. What will happen to the paranormal investigation club?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Yuuko having given up part of herself in order to eliminate that fear that was within her, she’s also lost a lot of her memories. And not just any memories but the ones that involved Teiichi for the most part as she was only feeling fear and jealousy over his interactions with other people. Her question, asking simply who he is, is a powerful one to be sure and it strikes hard at Teiichi. Yuuko’s nature has been playful and fun for a lot of the series, but the shift in personality here to one that has her far more disconnected and aloof, very cool and distant, makes her much more of a frightening character, especially after how she pushed him down the stairs.
Because of this, we see that Kirei and Teiichi are now going to figure out exactly what’s going on with Yuuko’s reasons for pushing him away. There’s obviously something more to it, and Kirei is intent on finding out even as Teiichi seems to be waffling on the club as a whole. It’s understandable to some degree because of what happened, he is in a lot of pain, but there’s something underlying to his relationship with Yuuko that needs to be dealt with. Kirei has a way of cutting to the core of things though in a way that’s amusing but also speaks to her own feelings as well. She’s been an interesting character in the show because of how she handles herself and the dialogue she has with Teiichi here when it’s just the two of them paints a really good picture.
A lot of the episode keeps Yuuko out of the picture as it focuses on the living as we see Teiichi spending time with both girls separately as they work through the problems a bit, but also just go on with their normal everyday lives. It’s a situation that has both Momoe and Kirei getting closer to Teiichi in a way since he comes across as a bit more accessible as time goes on and he heals. But there’s still that edge to Teiichi in that Yuuko has meant so much to him, so quickly and intensely, that the loss of at the moment really has left a deep impact on him. Which is also why it’s not a surprise that he does fight hard to try and help her, to get her memories back, by doing something that some shows would consider radical as he admits her feelings for her. I love shows that do that simply because so many play the will they or won’t they game. Here, he makes his play, knowing the hurt that can be there, but also unable to not be honest about feels and takes the risk. Silly as it may get because of his condition, it has its heart completely in the right place.
In Summary:
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia does some fun stuff here as it puts Yuuko out of the picture for a bit in order to let Teiichi deal with his inner feelings while the other two girls. Momoe continues to be the only character I really don’t care for in the show and this episode is no exception when you get down to it. Kirei manages to handle herself a lot better, especially with the feelings that she has that are going to end up unrequited. When it comes to Teiichi, the episode is almost all on him with just a few snippets of Yuuko that are properly placed to be key scenes. I’m still not won over by Teiichi as he feels like a fairly bland guy, but he has his heart in the right place here and does the right thing that so many of us are often afraid to do, and that earns him some points.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
