First Impression: ATRI -My Dear Moments-

Life is difficult for the sullen Natsuki Ikaruga. His demanding grandmother, a formerly notable marine geologist, has recently passed and the future is bleak. Natsuki must find a way to work around his disability, suffered during a catastrophic childhood event while living in a world that’s undergone an apocalyptic-sized event—a sudden rising of the sea, which submerged many coastal cities. But hope may be on the horizon. Teaming with an opportunist named Catherine, Natsuki will use a submersible to visit his grandmother’s former home to search for treasure. What he’ll find is neither gold nor jewels, but a humanoid named Atri who is full of life but lacking in memories. She’ll likely be worth a fortune, but might she be worth even more than monetary riches to Natsuki?

Queue the latest sad robot girl anime! Yes, the history of these shows is long and full of tears (and honestly, dead robot girls), and a number of them, like Plastic Memories, are moving and well worth the watch. ATRI -My Dear Moments-, like many (ex. Planetarian), is based on a visual novel, which is the ideal platform for a series where a protagonist boy works through severe challenges to find emotional healing through the quirky but loving robot. I mention the VN because I wonder if ATRI is better experienced through that medium; as an anime, it’s kind of awful. The creativity begins and ends with a vision of the world that’s undergone a very quick rise in sea level, resulting in some lovely backgrounds featuring the new landscape and a city underwater. The rest, though, is the same old fare from similar anime. Natsuki is a character with a disability, which is a nice touch, but he’s otherwise no different from a million other protagonists with traumatic pasts. And Atri, the star of the show, is kind of obnoxious. I’m sure she’ll grow on the audience and probably end up making viewers cry, but I’m not keen on tuning in until that point, particularly since the direction for the show is also poor. There’s an unusual energy to some scenes that doesn’t fit the rest of the show’s dullness; it’s as if the director wants the series to pop, but can only make the series do so once every few minutes. All in all, this opening episode isn’t very good; what it does do well is serve to remind viewers that there are better series along the exact same vein, and you’re better off watching them and skipping this one.

ATRI -My Dear Moments- can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

Twwk
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