Tasogare Otome x Amnesia - Episode 7

That is one creepy shadow...

And just when I thought Tasogare Otome x Amnesia was going to be a comedy anime with a spooky setting, this episode comes along. No longer are the episodes all laughs and giggles. Instead, the truth behind Yūko's past begins to materialize, literally. The "Amnesia" part of the title now appears to be slightly misleading, given the surprising turn of events. For those who studied or are studying psychology, this episode will almost surely be interesting in that aspect. Finally, the plot twists were used very effectively, making this the best Tasogare Otome x Amnesia episode thus far.

As it turns out, Yūko isn't "suffering" from amnesia per se; she's forcing it upon herself. This voluntary memory loss serves the purpose of getting rid of all the negative aspects of her life, which is why she always seems happy and cheerful. However, when jealousy (she dislikes the idea of Teiichi x Momoe) starts creeping into her life, she is faced once again with the dilemma of keeping both this negative emotion and her current relationships, or abandoning them all and starting afresh. The decision she makes ends up affecting everyone around her, especially the one she loved the most. I cannot begin to explain how sorry I felt for Teiichi. Despite trusting Yūko fully, his reward was getting pushed down the stairs. And even so, he didn't harbour a grudge against Yūko the next time he saw her in the club room. It's really unfortunate that Yūko chose the latter of the aforementioned options. In a way, you can call her a coward for her decision, but I guess the horrors of having to deal with her "shadow" were just too much for her to handle.

Speaking of Shadow Yūko, I was actually right when I guessed in Episode 4 that the shadow is Yūko's "other self". Shadow Yūko's "ugliness" represents all the negative aspects of Yūko's life, which is why Yūko herself is free of any blemishes or faults, both physically and emotionally. In a sense, it could be classified as dissociative identity disorder, but the fact that it's two personalities in two separate beings makes me wonder if it's more than that.

With Yūko's memories now a clean slate again, I'm very curious to see how Teiichi will deal with "meeting" Yūko for the second time. Deep down, I'm quite sure he'll be suffering a bit since he remembers the good times they spent together while she does not. However, now that he knows about Shadow Yūko, the approach he takes in interacting with Yūko may be different. Personally, I dislike Momoe since she's essentially the reason why all this happened and I'm a Teiichi x Yūko supporter. However, it's not like I can blame her for acting upon her feelings. Right now, all there is to do is hope that the next episode is at least on par with this one.