A common fictional device found in certain novels and telenovelas, amnesia can sometimes garner eye-rolls from audiences when overdramatized. Yet when properly used, it can add the right balance of comedy and drama, sometimes to great effect.
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It’s no surprise then, that amnesia is a dramatic tool that is used in anime. Whether due to past trauma or injuries, the resulting amnesia plays a crucial role in defining the narrative and character as they piece back their respective pasts (though some sadly can’t). Although not fully defined by their amnesia, these characters just wouldn’t be the same without having it.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
6Tada Banri – Golden Time
Golden Timefollows the journey of Tada Banri and his friends as he starts a new chapter in his life at a Tokyo law school. Despite this exciting new chapter, he cannot remember his previous life at all due to an accident in his past where he lost many of his memories. After making new friends and falling in love with a girl, the amnesia begins to wear off as the ghosts of his past begin to surface.
Things take a turn for the worse when Banri encounters an old flame who begins to reignite his memories and passions. His life gets split in two as Banri has an identity crisis with one foot in the present and the other in the past, jeopardizing his current relationships.
5Sakura Minamoto – Zombieland Saga
Though it’s nearly impossible to forgetZombieland Saga’sother undead idols,Sakura stands out not only just for being nicknamed “Number 1” and being the main singer, but also for the fact that she’s the only member of her idol group that has a severe case of amnesia.
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Remembering bits of her life when she performs, Sakura eventually regains her memories as the story progresses. Remembering the misfortunes that plagued her previous life, she subsequently fell into a depression. However, with the help of her idol mates, Sakura pulls through and defines her new self whilst letting her old sense of self go.
4Kaiman – Dorohedoro
One of themore underrated titles,Dorohedorotakes place in a strange world populated by weird denizens and sorcerors, with the protagonist Kaiman himself, a mystery. With no real recollection of who he is, Kaiman’s only memory is that he was assaulted and had his head replaced with that of a reptile’s. To regain his sense of self, Kaiman engulfs potential suspects in his maw, whilst a secondary head within him judges whether the person had anything to do with his past. Not strange at all…
On the surface, Kaiman presents a carefree attitude and spends much of his time with his best friend, Nikaido, hunting sorcerers and eating gyoza. However, he is always on the lookout for the person that made him into what he is, in the hopes of uncovering his past.
3Lucy – Elfen Lied
Back in its day,Elfen Liedwas one of the most controversial anime ever released. The anime featured so much gore and violence that the show is now rememberedmore for its explicit materialthan for its storyline.
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The anime pilot opened with a young girl, Lucy, wreaking havoc on the people standing in her way as she attempts to escape, only to be stopped by a bullet to the head. Instead of death, she developed a split personality where she was both Lucy, the vengeful and near-genocidal murderer, and Nyu, a harmless and child-like girl.
2Lelouch Lamperouge – Code Geass
As a brilliant strategist who conspired against the Britannian royal family and his father, Lelouch had the unfortunate circumstance of not only losing his memory once but twice. After the first season, instead of being executed for his traitorous actions, Lelouch was mind-wiped by his father as punishment for rebelling.
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After regaining his memories and triumphing over his father’s tyranny by becoming a tyrant himself, Lelouch had his memories erased again in the movieLelouch Of The Re;Surrectionwhen his corpse was abducted andreconstructed by Shirley Fenette. However, his memories were trapped within the collective conscious as a consequence of being resurrected.
1Casca – Berserk
As one of themost popular mangasever conceived,Berserkfeatured one of the most insane and horrifying twists in manga and anime history, the eclipse. At theGolden Age Arc’s climax, viewers witness Griffith’s transformation into Femto, the 5th member of the Godhand as he sacrifices the Band of the Hawk to a fate worse than death.
Although Guts and Casca survive thanks to the Skull Knight, Casca’s mind was shatteredat the hands of Femto,losing her sense of self and personality. Guts spends a great deal of effort and time to restore her mind to no avail. However, things finally turned around in Chapter 354 when Casca’s sense is restored thanks to the combined efforts of Shierke and Lady Farnese.
