This is about the same reaction I had too. Instead of saying something new about his character, it only serves to create shock value and tragedy without having a true purpose or goal. While this could have the potential to be good in other shows, Garo simply rushes through these interactions, and the relationships Leon develops ultimately don’t add anything to his character. Of course, disaster strikes and it’s not until the family is deceased that he remembers who he is, and grieves over them while moving forward. For example, in Garo, there are several episodes that focus on Leon after he gets the classic case of amnesia, can’t remember who he is, and settles down with a nice farming family. Not only can the amnesia trope be used as a cheap means to capture new fans, it has also been used to provide a cheap sense of drama. It’s possible that the show was trying to kick off the second season with amnesia as a way to introduce new fans to the show, but at that point, resorting to amnesia in order to get new fans is hardly worth it because it only exists to be confusing. Instead, it left me confused for the entirety of the episode. The number one factor that forced me to not continue with it was the “convenient case of amnesia” (this is a direct quote from Lelouch in the English dub by the way, that’s how bad this is), because it didn’t add anything meaningful to the show. I tried to watch the second season of Code Geass, and there were a lot of factors that prevented me from doing so. While there have been strong cases for the use of amnesia in an anime, more often than not the trope is abused to create a false sense of development or impact when in reality it contributes nothing and simply wastes the viewer’s time. I do think that this amnesia sequence of the show lasts longer than it should have, but it does such a good job of giving him new character development that I let it slide. By showing this uncorrupted side of his personality, it adds another layer to his character and who he has, and will, become. By doing this, the show works to characterize him in an entirely new light by presenting another path he could have chosen to live by. He maintains his attitude about justice, but doesn’t act in the corrupt way that he did before – his approach is much more humane and sympathetic. Part of the reason why the amnesia trope works here is because a change in Light’s behavior can be tracked immediately – as soon as he forgets about the Death Note and his desire to change the world, he becomes a genuinely good person. The amnesia trope plays a pivotal role in Death Parade by developing these characters in a complex way that tests their base instincts versus what is morally right and wrong.Īnother good case of amnesia being used effectively is in Death Note, after Light willingly gives up ownership of his Death Note and therefore loses his memories of it entirely. The Death Games exist to test the morals and the limits of these people, and because of that it creates a really fantastic look at their characters. Will they harm their opponent to become the victor, or will they play fairly? It’s this test of morals that determines whether or not these people are reincarnated or sent to the void. This is done intentionally so that they will try as hard as they can to win the Death Game, and it ultimately tests their morals. People who have died are sent to the Quindecim bar to play the Death Games, and their memories of how they died are erased. When done right, the amnesia trope can be a good thing that can contribute a lot to an anime.įor example, in Death Parade, the amnesia trope is a major part of the show’s narrative. Amnesia can provide a glimpse into the character’s mind by making them completely vulnerable, it can help the audience sympathize with the protagonist’s newfound ignorance of the world around them, and it can help humanize the characters by making them a blank slate and take their development into a whole new direction. When used effectively, the amnesia trope can be great. More often than not, the inclusion of amnesia bogs down the plot and doesn’t add any character development, especially in anime, which is disappointing because on its own the amnesia trope isn’t inherently a bad thing. It’s a trope that I’ve come to despise more and more over the years because of how often it is abused. Amnesia is one of the most commonly used tropes in countless media.
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