The best part about calling Narumi “useless” is how he even acknowledges it
Heaven’s Memo Pad certainly is a strange anime. Not strange in the “conventional anime sense”, but strange in the fact that it’s so surreal, yet so realistic at the same time. Everything about this series feels out of place, but upon closer analysis, everything seems to be fine. this type of surrealism actually made this show stand out more to me than any giant mech anime or magical girl anime could ever do.
About the series, the first episode was pretty cool, then the next five episodes varied in quality, but none of it was particularly sad. Well, until now, that is. I even knew what was coming, and it still hit me like a freight train. Yeah, the sadness is here in full force. I remember being pretty bummed out after reading the first novel, and watching the rest of Heaven’s Memo Pad, I fully remember why. Reliving what happened to Ayaka… it’s just very sad to me.
Well… that’s certainly a downer. Yeah, get ready for a bit of sadness in this post, because this didn’t turn out to be a particularly happy anime.
What I learned from Heaven’s Memo Pad, Episodes 7-12:
1. The continuity of the anime makes me question Ayaka’s fate. In the novels, Ayaka jumps off the school building half way through the first novel. Here, she jumps off the school near the end of the series. However, in the novels, since she already jumped off the school, most of the later cases didn’t involve her in any way. Because she hadn’t done that yet in the anime, they spliced her into these stories. Because I’m a dork, it makes me think about what happens to her after the series. She finally wakes up at the very end of the last episode, so what happened afterwards? I know she wakes up without any memories, but that’s never implied in the anime.
2. Addictions are heartbreaking, and this anime exemplified it perfectly. I think most people will agree with me on this one. There aren’t many things sadder to me that watching a junkie who just can’t get help for themselves, especially ones who are hooked on an experimental drug that is quite visibly killing them. When it’s revealed that Ayaka’s brother is a junkie who pretty much can’t be helped, it was like a dagger through my heart. The way this anime treated addiction was sadly quite accurate, and it’s ugly. It’s really, really ugly.
3. The story form episodes 5-8 was really good. It was a little confusing at times, but in the end, it came full circle and made sense. Plus, the ending actually took me for a surprise. When it turned out that the one character who was central to the bad blood between The Fourth and Renji was right in front of our faces the entire time, it was a legitimate shock. I applaud the writing to no end for making such a twist not only surprising, but believable.
4. Episode 9 (the one about baseball) was farfetched, but still very enjoyable. How could this ragtag team of complete misfits beat a team of highly trained baseball starts? There’s no way that it would ever happen, but it was pretty enjoyable nonetheless. It reminded me a lot of that Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi episode called “The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya” where the SOS Brigade gets a bunch of misfits together to play a baseball tournament, but this wasn’t as funny or memorable as that Suzumiya Haruhi episode. This episode had some admittedly funny scenes all around, especially one with Alice near the end.
5. These characters can do or say anything and I’d still have a strong emotional attachment to them. I was invested in these people from the beginning. They all have their own distinct personalities that make me like them all for different reasons. Ayaka is upbeat in the face of company, Narumi is observant and self-aware, Hiro is a ladies man who uses his talents with the ladies for good, Tetsu is reliable but can’t stop gambling, Major is the proud brainiac, Min is the babysitter, Alice is the loner, The Fourth is the tough guy, and the Hirasaka henchmen are the bros. I love them all.
6. The Fourth is a big softie who doesn’t understand his basic human emotions, but he learns. He uses violence and threats to cope with emotions such as happiness or appreciation. But in the end, I feel like he came around a bit. He actually showed signs of respecting Narumi a little bit! He even told Narumi to stay out of the Angel Fix case so he wouldn’t get hurt or killed. That coming form a man like The Fourth is probably the best compliment he can give.
7. The Hirasaka Group underlings are, without a doubt, the best nameless henchmen in any show/movie/anything ever. I love these guys! They’re hopeless, they take orders from a kid, and yet… they are incredibly loyal and will go to the ends of the Earth just to show their loyalty. They made me laugh, they made me smile… the deserve their own show. The way they always called Narumi “Big Bro!” and Alice “Big Sis!” always put a smile on my face. I mean, who can’t love these guys?
8. When Narumi is angry or depressed, I feel his pain. Because he doesn’t show a lot of emotions most of the time, it elevates the times he does break out into a rage of emotions. It makes me feel like this person who stays calm has just had enough, and needs to vent his emotions in a way that most normal people would. When he asked Tetsu to teach him how to box, we see him get gradually angrier and angrier after thinking about what had happened to Ayaka. It was pretty hard just watching him break down and vent all of his emotions about possibly losing the only person who ever took interest in him.
9. Out of the three NEET detectives, Tetsu was my favorite, and Hiro was the least memorable. I don’t feel like the anime version of Hiro is as faithful as it could have been to his novel counterpart. In the novels, he’s loyal, witty, calm, and acts as the primary source for second-hand accounts. Here, he’s not shown very much, and when he is shown, he doesn’t have a lot to say. Tetsu, on the other hand, is so animated! He’s all over the place, helping people out and begging Narumi for money. He was just lovable.
Even though this didn’t turn out to be a particularly happy anime, that doesn’t mean it’s bad; in fact, I probably liked it more for being able to get me to feel this sadness. I admit it, I got a little teary-eyed watching Narumi try to cope with things after Ayaka jumped off the school. Just the thought of watching somebody you care about permanently lose themselves (possibly) forever just kills me inside.
Sometimes the story ran a bit thin, but the characters really picked up the slack left by the story. I just had so much attachment to everyone, and their problems felt real. That sums up the two aspects of Heaven’s Memo Pad made me really enjoy it: the great characters and the realistic situations. If everybody was a happy-go-lucky person with a positive life and outlook on society, this would be boring. If the NEET detectives had to deal with stories that had happy endings, it would feel so fake. I’m glad that this anime took the more realistic rout and wasn’t afraid to shock the audience with its content.
Heaven’s Memo Pad is a mixed bag that’s certainly not for every anime fan, but I liked it quite a bit. Go ahead and check it out.
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Ben
20 year old university student studying economics by day, snooty anime blogger by night! I have high standards for anime, but I also keep an open mind when it comes to shows outside my comfort area, which usually includes dialogue-heavy drama. Always happy to have a discussion.Latest posts by Ben (see all)
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- What Ben Learned From Watching Heaven’s Memo Pad, Part II (Episodes 2-6) - June 14, 2014
- Notes of Baby Steps Episode 10 - June 12, 2014
- What Ben Learned From Watching Heaven’s Memo Pad, Part I - June 6, 2014