Unnamed Memory – Episode 01 Review

OP Sequence

OP:「呼び声」(Yobigoe) by Tei

「呪いの言葉と青い塔」 (Noroi no Kotoba to Aoi Tou)
“Cursed Words and the Azure Tower”

It’s both an ironic blessing and a hilarious curse that some shrewd bastard managed to get a hold of Crunchyroll’s subs this season and leak a whole whack of them. Besides the big one in Konosuba (two episodes out now) there’s also smaller shows like Unnamed Memory which got the preemptive treatment and lead to this weird situation where I’m blogging it a week after its “technical” release. What can I say, raw screencaps are necessary and by god I’ll hold off watching until I can get them. Or at least I’ll try!

Much as alluded to in the RC Preview, Unnamed Memory is probably one of the few unique fantasy shows this season. At its heart is Prince Oscar (Nakajima Yoshiki), the proud and forthright crown prince who, thanks to some ominous circumstances, got himself cursed to have any wife of his – and his unborn progeny – die horribly. Naturally this is an untenable situation for any royal, so Oscar does the next best thing: finds a nearby witch in an isolated tower to ask her to lift his curse. Enter Tinasha (Tanezaki Atsumi), the titular azure witch of the tower who forces Oscar through a series of challenges – both mental and physical – before he can reach her and lay out his request. Crazy situation sure, very much fantasy definitely, but quite fun watching play out, especially once both characters finally meet.

The one thing which probably sold me the most this episode was the chemistry between Oscar and Tinasha following their face to face. Normally you’d expect the guy to be meek, dweeby, or some variation of Wal-Mart isekai flavouring, but Oscar is the opposite, being confident, ambitious, and full of enough moxie to quickly fluster the totally young and definitely not centuries old Tinasha once the banter got going. Likewise Tinasha herself isn’t a shy or demure girl, having her own sense of pride and confidence which makes for some very chuckle-worthy scenes when it runs headfirst into Oscar’s own scheming, particularly once it comes out that Oscar’s curse isn’t a curse but is rather a so-called blessing and likely solvable by simply finding a woman capable of withstanding it.

When taken together the mature feel, personalities at play, and the ending reveal of Tinasha living with Oscar for a year (as recompense for Tinasha rejecting marriage outright, heh) have me quite looking forward to seeing this one play out. Besides the interesting chemistry there’s also some significant story at work under the surface, and from what I know about it, let’s just say it’s going to be a wild ride. Definitely keep on eye on this one if you want a different flavour of fantasy this spring, you won’t be disappointed.

ED Sequence

ED: 「blan_」by Arika

Preview