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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2882#1552] |
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One Week Friends is a comedy-drama focused on the friendship that develops between high schoolers Yuki and Kaori that comes with a catch: the latter suffers from a form of amnesia where she forgets about those that she becomes friends with after a week. The series focuses on the gradual development of their friendship as Yuki adjusts to trying to befriend her in spite of her unique condition, comes up with ways to ensure Kaori retains her memories of him and having her learn to open up to others more easily as having her condition led Kaori to take on a passive and distant persona to drive away others to avoid having them learn of her condition. Before I hop into this review, let us address the obvious deal-breaker with this series in the form of its amnesia storyline involving Kaori. The particular form of amnesia she suffers from, anterograde amnesia, involves victims of it suffering from loss of memories from the recent past due to some sort of traumatic event, while retaining the ability to recall memories that took place before suffering this form of amnesia. Real-life studies of it have varying accounts as to how long anterograde amnesiacs can retain memories of recent events, being anywhere from seconds to hours, as the symptoms can be temporary or life-lasting depending on the severity of the circumstances that triggered it. In Kaori's case, the effects of the amnesia lead her to forget about any person she befriended during the week every Monday yet is able to retain details on knowing those that she doesn't have close relations with in school and the amnesia being the result of a traumatic event in her past she experienced before getting into an accident of some sort. Also, the use of a notebook to help restore any memories she lost from the prior week doesn't always work out in handling this type of amnesia. The makers of the series are obviously taking liberties with a number of elements to anterograde amnesia to tell its story and willing to suspend disbelief over its depiction of amnesia will make or break your enjoyment of One Week Friends. If you are open-minded enough to the show's lack of believably with depicting amnesia, then you will be rewarded with a series that is rather touching in its exploration of friendship that develops with Yuki, Kaori, Shogo and Saki. While it may seem like the series has nothing going on at first glance and seems like a typical slice-of-life title, One Week Friends features gradual developments in the relations that develop between these four characters having their high and low points, exploring the types of lives they have and their characters gradually changing for the better as Kaori learns to open up to classmates and Yuki learning not to be so selfish in the friendship he has with her. Some details about the events leading up to the loss of Kaori's memories are unveiled and get further explored in later episodes of the series when someone from her past appears as a transfer student at the school. The show has its dramatic moments that come along from conflicts and incidents that involve Kaori's friendship and memories, yet is smart enough to show restraint with the drama so it doesn't get too overboard. The visuals to the series take on a minimalist style having simple details with a pastel-like coloring style that contributes well to the gentle mood found often throughout One Week Friends' run. The animation is nothing too impressive, but characters are depicted to move at a natural pace with the occasional vehicles driving by in the obligatory conspicuously rendered CG animation. Overall, One Week Friends is a hidden gem from 2014 that is sure to ooze into your heart with its look into establishing high school friendships and overcoming personal conflicts that may arise out of them, provided you are willing to suspend disbelief with the title's handling of amnesia. Last updated Tuesday, October 13 2015. Created Tuesday, October 13 2015. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Devil Doll
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[series:2882#752] | ||||||
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The show Stretch is referring to is most likely ef - a tale of memories. I tried watching one episode and found the characters likeable, yet the premise is so frustrating that I don't expect to like this show as a whole (much like the aforementioned one back then which was good but I never considered rewatching it or would remember the characters now). The story takes a very different turn when a certain character from Kaori's past appears as transfer student in episode 9 (of which I've watched only some part, for the same reason as Stretch), and at this point there's a clear indication for the cause of Kaori's problem. Last updated Sunday, June 15 2014. Created Monday, April 28 2014. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Stretch
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[series:2882#628] | ||||||
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(All episodes watched): What was that show, maybe eight or ten years ago, in which a girl had a very similar problem?* Except in that one she lost her memory every 24 hours, if I remember correctly? The first episode of this show caught my interest immediately, as we basically bury ourselves within the personalities of the two main protagonists--how could they not get significant development and become fairly likeable? But the once-a-week memory reset seems kind of far-fetched ( a 'week' is a purely human concept, isn't it?), and as I mentioned, it has basically been done before. However, I was also curious to see where this might go, and cared about the main characters a little, so I decided to continue watching for the time being. Obviously, what we would like is for Kaori and Hase to figure out what's behind her strange memory problem, fix it, and fall in love. Having their romance reset every seven days is frustrating; is a meaningful romance even possible in a situation like this? Early on, the show does a decent job of telling an interesting story. The way the characters think, the things they say, and the conclusions they draw are more-or-less plausible and more sophisticated than most romantic comedies. Actually, comedy is subordinate to romance here. Kaori makes some slow progress towards memory restoration, but I found myself impatient for something more significant to happen. I seem to recall that things in ef were more gripping. Here, I started to wonder if we would ever get any startling and intriguing revelation which would explain Kaori's strange problem. Around the midpoint, the show seems to make a gradual turn and be trying to be funny rather than focusing on the romance. But the jokes were never all that great, and it's the possibility of romance despite the strange handicap which always interested me. There came a point at which I just realized that watching this show had become a chore which I dreaded rather than a source of genuine entertainment. If only Friends had kept the main plot moving at a brisk pace rather than watering the thing down with unremarkable comedy. I considered dumping the show, or maybe quitting watching for now, but watch the last episode, just to see if anything ever happens. The tone of this show didn't make me particularly optimistic about a moving and intriguing conclusion coming about later. Some shortcut answer like 'a traumatic event caused her to selectively forget about friendship' (is that really possible?) seemed likely to be what we would get, and indeed it more-or-less was. I also hate it when characters draw stupid conclusions (like 'she'll be better off if I abandon her') and I'm supposed to be moved somehow. People cry too easily here. Friends had an OK ending, neither good nor bad. But if I had known what a lackluster conclusion I would be getting in exchange for the time and attention I had invested, I don't think I would have watched at all. *Yes, 'ef - a tale of memories' is the show I was thinking of. Thanks, DD. Last updated Tuesday, July 08 2014. Created Friday, April 11 2014. | ||||||||
