Atri: My Dear Moments
Entry updated 28 October 2024. Tagged: TV.
Japanese animated tv series (2024). Troyca. Based on the visual-novel Videogame of the same name. Directed by Makoto Katō. Written by Jukki Hanada. Voice cast includes Hikaru Akao, Yoko Hikasa, Masako Katsuki, Kensho Ono and Natsu Yorita. Thirteen episodes of circa 25 minutes. Colour.
Seventeen-year-old Natsuki Ikaruga (Ono) still has nightmares about the childhood accident in which he lost both his mother Shiina (Yorita) and a leg; at age nine he was on the brink of Suicide, only to be dissuaded by a young girl. At that time he was cared for by his (now late) grandmother, Nonko Yachigusa (Katsuki), a Scientist whose warnings about an imminent rise in sea levels are ignored by the scientific establishment: they duly occur (see Disaster), though the cause is unknown; global warming (see Climate Change) or tectonic movements are both posited. Natsuki observes that as a result, society becomes paralysed (see Sociology); he now lives on an Island – formerly part of the mainland – and is working with the debt-ridden private detective (and former teacher) Catherine (Hikasa), diving down to Nonko's now flooded laboratory in the hope of finding something valuable. They do: Atri (Akao), a young girl humanoid (see Androids) in a capsule who on awakening says that, as Natsuki is the descendant of her previous owner, she will follow his orders; she also mentions there is one instruction from Nonko she must complete ... unfortunately she has Amnesia and does not know what it is.
Catherine wants to sell Atri, but Natsuki grows increasingly reluctant and – as mentally she seems a child – sends her to the school used by the few children remaining on the island. Though previously solitary with only one friend (not Catherine), he becomes more sociable owing to the resulting interactions. It turns out that Atri's model is advanced, but was recalled after one unit attacked a child in a school, causing the company to go bust and the head scientist to die shortly after. When a bitter ex-employee tries and fails to destroy Atri, we learn she was that rogue unit. It turns out Nonko had bought her for Shiina, who had later been bullied into attempting suicide by other pupils at her school: Atri beat up the ringleader, then – avoiding capture – watched over Shiina and Natsuki; it was she who prevented Natsuki leaping off a cliff when nine. He remembers the young girl (who he had a crush on) as being "about fourteen" and "a much calmer, older woman" than Atri: as he would expect her to be about twenty now and Atri's amnesiac temperament is so immature, he never consciously makes the connection; though unconsciously he has done so, as – reluctantly – romantic feelings are stirred. Atri reciprocates, but Natsuki is concerned that her apparent feelings are merely algorithms at work (see Identity); a central concern of the Anime; however, he eventually accepts this is not the case.
When Atri's battery runs out Natsuki hits upon the idea of returning her to the capsule: sure enough she is recharged, but also receives Nonko's instructions (the amnesia was deliberate) which concern Project Eden: an artificial island she built where people can live, which needs Atri as its Administrator. Natsuki protests, but Atri stands up to him and – after a farewell party – enters the capsule from which she will control the island. We cut to seventy years later when the oceans are covered with Edens and stalled humanity has been saved. Eden 1 is being closed down and Atri awakes at the entrance to a virtual world (see Virtual Reality) created by the aged Natsuki, into which he has downloaded his consciousness (see Identity Transfer): he greets her as a seventeen year old to explain the situation, then shifts to nine years: they hold hands and run into this new world (which seems to hold Shiina too).
Atri: My Dear Moments is a fairly good Anime, though it has some problems: the age difference between Natsuki and Atri is exacerbated by the latter behaving younger than her apparent fourteen years; whilst not too much happens and Natsuki's attraction is due to his subconscious recognition of her as the older girl from when he was nine, it is still uncomfortable. The two main characters are not particularly memorable and the world-building is vague: one is left wondering where Nonko found the resources to build an AI-controlled artificial floating island. Overall, though, the story is entertaining and busy, covering – though not too deeply – several interesting topics: aside from those already mentioned, the issue of humanoid rights is raised and a long-postponed space mission to research Weather Control is eventually launched. [SP]
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