Plastic Memories: Say to Good-bye

How should we start with this masterpiece? This is one of the best manga I have ever read. This is a sad slice of life comedy using another person's perspective to view the same story as the anime, "Plastic Memories". You have to watch the anime first to get a better understanding of this show, so if you have not watched it yet, don't read this manga because you would be confused. There will be some spoilers since they will be used as examples. So let's start digging into this work. Story 10/10 The story is about Giftias, a new technology that somehow recreated human souls,but with the downside of a limited life-span. This brand new aspect gave us another view at the Terminal Service in one of the Senpai of Tsukasa(The main character in the anime), a sixteen years old prodigy called Michiru and her Giftia partner Zack. The manga explored how they first met, how they handle different task and Michiru's aspect on the same timeline as the anime. Even though almost all of the timeline is the same as the anime, it still won't let you be bored with the information that never existed in the anime. For example, when she was harsh to the new employee, she was also thinking about did I went too far which was briefly explained in the anime. Even though this is based on a sad background and the manga still manage to bring jokes and the comedic side too, like how she easily to be 'betrayed' by Zack by saying embarrassing facts about her. How the characters interact with each other is also a huge plus side of this. Every character has a purpose in the story, so they don't just feel like plot moving devices. It feels real like something that can happen in real life so you could relate to it. Some are turned off because this did not go into the Sci-fi side but one would argue that this is not supposed to be on that side. This is called "Plastic Memory: Say to Good-bye" which already gave a lot of information that it is more emotionally or drama based than Sci-fi. Art 9/10 This is the work you would expect from great mangakas. The pictures and the text fit perfectly together like a piece of artwork, it never contradicts with each other. The text box is nicely fitted, the pictures also say a lot, like how the character is thinking, moving, and their mood. Its says way more information than the words which is what we expect. Since only some of the pages could be coloured, shading plays a huge roll in mangas and this just happened to hit the spot, the shading showed the different colours like they were coloured. The cover of this is also great, it showed a humongous amount of details which showed that a lot of patience, time, and effort was put into this. But since it did not have much unique art styles that can differentiate it for another good manga, it is not a 10/10. Characters 10/10 This is probably the best thing this series has going for it. Like I said in the story section, all the characters have a purpose of being there, not just to move the plot. The unique reactions after different characters interact with each other are the gold. They feel so real like in real life. There are no stereotypes that seem to exist in the actual world but do not occur in our daily lives. The main character Michiru Kinushima is a very serious person that tries to be honest with herself but often fails. All of her actions act based on her personalities, but sometimes she will break out of it because of some events that happened. Like when picturing her work partner Zack's death. Zack, the working partner and a Giftia. He is a character that follows rules, quite caring, and a bit naughty at times. He uses different personalities in different situations. When he becomes annoyed he uses the 'Evil' side of his, but when he interacts with others he builds another personality 'Nice' side. When he is not facing any work he becomes the 'I don't care' side. The character growth is amazing in this story, it shows how the character has become after certain events. For instance, in the beginning, Zack showed no real sympathy toward the retrieval targets, but at the end, he came to acknowledge that information. Michiru also grew to be honest to herself, as she can congratulate others and acknowledging others' effort like Tsukasa trying his best. Enjoyment 10/10 I enjoyed this story very much because it is amazing. My emotions went on a rollercoaster when reading this manga, I became fully immersed in the story so I can feel how the characters felt like at that moment. The joke and the punchlines are also great since it picks me up after the negative emotions that the characters have just felt. Even though this is based on a sad story, it is surprisingly uplifting. (Except the sad scenes) At the end of the manga, Michiru said: This job is not only about ripping apart memories. It is also the memory fragments they left behind. I showed a connection to this story so it felt like I was Michiru and experiencing all the things she has. Overall 10/10 Overall, this is a side story that was way too underrated. The story was nicely thought out with a lot of easter eggs from the anime, the art was great but lacking a bit of uniqueness, the characters are absolutely the best going for it (especially the character development), I would personally read again. And for the people that tend to cry easily, bring a lot of tissue paper with you because there are a lot of moments that make the reader cry. So go enjoy this masterpiece and gave it more love because it definately deserves it.