Anime Review - Plastic Memories - Unusually Hearthbreaking

Plastic Memories is an engaging anime involving humanoids, who serve as a companion for humans. This anime highlights the future of companionship with humanoids, and how these humanoids affect our lives. The anime was surprisingly serious rather than having a light tone, which I would not have expected from the art and synopsis.

Story (8/10):
The story involves two main characters - an individual who recently started working in a company that ethically separates the humanoids from their owner, and a humanoid partner, who has worked in the company for a while. The anime goes through several situations regarding the process of humanoid separation from their owners. In order to "release" the humanoid, the owners are given a choice (get a new humanoid or retain the physical shell but wipe out all the memories of the humanoid) and furthermore they must give consent. It is heart-wrenching when we see some of the situations. The most emotional for me was the old woman, who treated her humanoid like her old grandchild, and she is persistent to not give consent. After a while, the old woman realises that she is selfish to continue wanting her humanoid, and later gives consent, and both parties - the humanoid and the old woman are crying joyful tears.

The process was pretty interesting to watch. However, I am confused why humanoids needs their memories wiped out when updating their systems - it seems like a very inefficient system. But then again, this is anime, so I shouldn't be too critical on this issue. The final few episodes involves the two main characters and how the humanoid partner must also shut down, with the consent of the partner. Very heart-wrenching scenes near the end, and it brought a tear to my eye. It is also implied that her system is wiped but her physical shell is retained when we see the main character being introduced his new partner.

Characters (8/10):
All the characters are lovable, because their division is different from other divisions that deal with the separation of humanoids from their human owners. Their division does this process ethically, so we can already see that these individuals are already kind hearted and understand the emotional struggle to separate from a companion that you have spent a long time with.

Isla, the humanoid was the most interesting. I didn't even think she was a humanoid in the first place, since she is working in the company. But as we go through the process, we realise that humanoids even have emotions, just like us humans. Those scenes were goddamn heart-wrenching.

Art (8/10):
The art is beautiful for a "typical anime" and the facial expressions are drawn in detail, which makes it extremely realistic. Background are drawn well and the drawings are not messy - there is attention to detail even.

Sound (8/10):
The OP was catchy, so that's a plus. The voice acting of the characters are not bad and suits the characters - the voice acting ain't cringy.

Enjoyment (8/10):
I enjoyed this anime more than I expected at the start. At first, I thought it was a basic, typical anime, but as we delve into the situations in the anime, I realise how serious the anime was, and this was surprising for me. It kept me engaged because of the heart-breaking processes regarding the separation of humanoids and human that have been together for many years.

Overall (8/10):
If you like some anime to bring a tear in your eye, this is for you. If you have experienced leaving someone you liked, or moving away from friends, you will understand the emotional heartbreaks that go along with it. Sure, nowadays we have social media and the internet to communicate, but physical interactions are just not the same as virtual interaction. Also, if you want a surprise to your "typical anime", this is a would recommend too, because I too was surprised by the serious tone of the anime.