Warning: Spoilers for Unnamed Memory episode 1Crunchyroll‘s new fantasy series Unnamed Memory initially set itself up to follow in the problematic footsteps of many new anime but switched gears in time to tread into safer, uncontroversial territory. This subversion is especially relevant now, since another new series from Crunchyroll’s spring season clearly went the more provocative route in the first two episodes that debuted simultaneously.
The topic in question is a form of slavery between a male master and a female slave that eventually begets marriage. In Unnamed Memory, the protagonist and crowned prince Oscar was initially in a position of power that could have forced a witch named Tinasha to become his wife.
However, instead of Oscar exercising that sway over Tinasha, the episode ends with Tinasha agreeing of her own free will to spend one year with Oscar in an unwed capacity to see if she would like to marry him. This proves that the controversial subjects so popular in modern anime can easily be avoided without harm to the story.
Unnamed Memory Successfully Deviates From The Forced Marriage Trope It Clearly Alluded To
Based on the light novel series by Kuji Furumiya; produced by ENGI
What led to Oscar assuming enough power that could have forced Tinasha into marrying him like a slave was her own word that she would do anything to help alleviate a blessing that had been cast on him like a curse. After all, he had just accomplished a major feat that usually results in the victor getting any wish granted by her. Since she couldn’t break the blessing, Tinasha was essentially still under a contract that would require her to fulfill her duty, and since Oscar requested that she marry him to help offset the effects of the blessing, she would naturally have to oblige.
Moreover, Oscar does exhibit a begrudging willingness to exercise violence against Tinasha when she threatens to erase his memories, and since he was armed with a sword that could overcome her magic, Oscar could easily have dominated her and thus forced her into submission. And yet, Oscar is clearly a more morally inclined individual than modern protagonists who find themselves in a similar position. He not only offers to devise a more palatable option, but comes up with the one-year solution that gives Tinasha the ability to decide for herself. It’s even more noteworthy that Tinasha is willing to fight against such a fate.
Unnamed Memory Is The More Palatable Response To An Archdemon’s Dilemma
This highly nuanced situation in Unnamed Memory clearly breaks from the current trend in anime, where a male protagonist enters into a contract where a female becomes his slave. Of course, many of these series add more nuances to make each master’s decisions more morally gray as opposed to blatantly evil, but slavery is still involved, which is understandably upsetting to many viewers.
Although the most well-known perpetrator is The Rising of the Shield Hero, the most recent example, which just so happens to include the prospect of marriage, is An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride. The eponymous archdemon might have only entered such a contract with his enslaved potential elven bride because he made the decision during a moment of extreme mental duress caused by feelings of love he wasn’t familiar with, but she’s still enslaved.
An Archdemon’s Dilemma might give a satisfactory twist to the whole slavery trope for some viewers, but Unnamed Memory on Crunchyroll has definitively proven how the conventional formulas that naturally lead to such a problematic relationship can be subverted to create a similar situation but without enforcing controversial tropes.
Unnamed Memory is available on Crunchyroll
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