Atri – My Dear Moments Ep 2

Not too much went on this episode, but at the very least they were able to establish bits of the island’s lore, and explain some of the characters motivations and personalities.

Starting with Natsuki, before he lost his leg, Natsuki had previously attended the Academy on the mainland. He had once dreamed of saving the world, and was even nominated as was even one of the candidates to be one of the crew members to go to space in order to pursue research weather modifications. But with the prophetic leg, he was told he couldn’t do it. And to make matters worse, even if he did find a solution to make him a viable candidate again, the rocket launch has been delayed indefinitely because of the rise of sea levels. And so his heart and dreams have been crushed ever since.

For that reason, Atri’s suggestion of becoming his legs won’t be able to help him with his dream, but she can certainly help him in other ways… should she pull herself together to do so. Atri loves to boast about being high performance, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say, she‘s high maintenance when it comes to taking care of her. She for one cannot cook, and then proceeded to almost set the boat on fire while doing so. She also recklessly jumped into the water with Natsuki on her shoulders– though I think she had intended to land on the boat– which, even if she did manage to land on it, certainly wasn’t going to catch either of them.

That said, with her memories are completely out of whack, her performance may be hindered as result of that. In many respects, Atri behaves like a child. From the moment she heard about the rising sea levels and Moze being an oceanographer”, she assumes she has the power to control the ocean and save the world! So yeah, at the moment she has yet to figure out how to make herself useful to Natsuki apart from being able to carry him and other heavy goods like the water container. Though I think we can all agree she needs to learn how to do it safely.

But as mentioned last week, she did tap into a loophole of Natsuki’s order to go with Catherine. She went with Catherine, and then Catherine told her to hide somewhere while she dealt with the debt collectors (the people in the black car that were chasing her last week, perhaps that explains the dagger she carries around). And thus she returned to Natsuki.

Apart from that, at the very least Atri did seem to connect with Minamo’s school. We don’t know what it was though, we only got an indication that something had clicked.

As for the state of the island, we now know that despite the fact there are still many people are still living on the island, there’s actually no reliable running infrastructure for things like fresh water and supplies. In fact apart from the small shops we last week, many of the stores have been left abandoned,  and whatever of the non-perishables that were left on the shelves are all that remains. Once they are gone, they are gone. We saw how Natsuki was considerate of the younger children, making sure he didn’t pick up anything that was considered non-essentials, making sure the treats for saved for the children.

We also learned many of those who remain on the island aren’t necessarily still there because they want to be like Minamo. Many simply cannot afford to move to the mainland. And so unless they receive some kind of financial support– perhaps only when the island is no longer considered “survivable” by any means, they are left to figure things out on their own.

That said, considering there’s still food on the shelves (albeit not much of it left), it doesn’t look like it’s been too long since most people have left the island. Minamo’s father is the mayor of the town, and yet despite that, he is said to be living on the mainland. Meanwhile, Minamo decided to stick around not just because Natsuki came back, but to engrave what’s left of her hometown to her memory before it disappears for good. And we saw just how real that is with the way the school in particular is already half submerged. And yet despite that, we can see there are still students like Minamo who have committed themselves to keep attending. It’s unclear whether there are actually any teachers still working, or if Minako is undergoing self-studies there.

Speaking of Minamo, I really like her character a lot. She’s a sweetheart, and she knows Natsuki well enough to know when he needs a break and such. She helped out by taking Atri off his hands after she had almost burned his boat down, and also explained to Atri about his motivation for money, and how to better help him out. But most of all, she loves the island, and it’s important to her to make the most of what’s left of it.

In all, this was a good episode. The playful banter between Natsuki and Atri is something akin to bickering siblings. As Minamo said, Natsuki likes Atri enough that despite her short-comings, he doesn’t mind having the company. We saw how he longed for. comfort and not to be left alone when he had woken up from his nightmares again. Atri being by his side gives him a peace of mind, though it’s something he’s not willing to readily admit. He was embarrassed enough just by hugging her and falling back to sleep with  his head on her lap, that he desperately wanted to delete the memory somehow. Unfortunately for him, she cannot do that. I suppose that’s a win for her, as he claims he cannot sell her so as long as she remembers that, haha!