Atri: My Dear Moments – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Smiling Under The Night Light

Episode 5 of Atri: My Dear Moments begins with Natsuki waking up from a nightmare. Natsuki heads outside and reflects on everything that’s happened with Atri (so far). Then, Hanako (formally Catherine) pops out of the ocean, much to Natsuki’s confusion. Natsuki helps Hanako out and lets her inside his home. He interrogates Hanako, asking her what happened. 

Hanako tells Natsuki nothing bad happened to her. Atri tells Natsuki that Hanako smells like alcohol so Natsuki speculates Hanako fell in the ocean while drunk. Hanako rants about her issues briefly. After that, Natsuki tells Hanako he doesn’t plan to sell Atri. Hanako argues the people after her will kill her if she doesn’t provide them with cash. 

Natsuki tells Hanako he knows about her past life as a teacher. As the two bicker over Hanako’s situation, someone shoots one of Natsuki’s windows. Atri protects Natsuki and Natsuki asks Hanako if these are the debt collectors. Hanako’s unsure. Natsuki orders Atri to help Hanako defeat their enemies. Atri leads one of the crooks somewhere. Hanako defeats one of the men and hops on her motorcycle.

Atri rushes to an undisclosed area and Hanako regroups with her there. Hanako asks Atri to hop on the motorcycle. While driving, Hanako tells Atri the men are after her and plans to take Atri to a safe location. Atri wants to fulfill Natsuki’s request. Natsuki spooks the crooks with his submarine. Hanako and Atri return to Natsuki’s home.

Atri leaps from Hanako’s motorcycle and lands on one of the crooks. During this landing, Atri recalls a memory. This memory features an injured woman. Natsuki regroups with Atri. He learns the junk shop owner from episode 5 is working with the collectors. Hanako regroups with Natsuki, Atri, and the junk shop owner.

The junk shop owner pleads with Hanako and Hanako makes a deal with the junk shop owner. The junk shop owner and his allies flee the scene in the morning. We learn he gave Hanako the money she needed to pay off the collectors. As for Natsuki, he got the junk shop owner to hand him the supplies he needed to help Minamo and their friends out. Hanako hands Natsuki some cash.

Before Hanako departs, Natsuki suggests she visit the school she abandoned. Hanako, Atri, and Natsuki arrive at the school and notice Ririka reading an excerpt. Ririka and her friends notice our trio and interrogate Hanako about what she’s been up to. Minamo confronts Hanako, asking her to become a teacher here again.

Moved by Minamo’s words, Hanako heads to a nearby wall and cries. We can assume she accepted Minamo’s offer. At the same time, Natsuki tells everyone that he gathered the needed materials for their project. Later, we see Natsuki, Atri, and the others working on their tidal power generator project. Natsuki gives Hanako the rundown on their project.

Then, Minamo informs everyone that she finished cooking their food. Natsuki tells Atri to continue performing her current duties. Atri refuses and explains why she wants to stay by Natsuki’s side at all times. Natsuki understands and allows Atri to accompany him and the others to the eating area. While heading to this area, Natsuki contemplates Atri’s Humanoid build.

Natsuki wonders if she can experience loneliness and anxiety like humans do. He speculates Atri wasn’t always a Humanoid. After eating with their friends, Natsuki and Atri return home. Natsuki helps Atri prepare for bed. Then, we receive a montage of everyone working on the project in the morning. They eventually completed the project.

At night, Natsuki tests the device with a lamp. Natsuki wants to see if it’ll help the lamp generate light. Fortunately, the lamp produces light. Ryuuji flicks the classroom’s light switch and the room’s lights turn on. Everyone cheers and Natsuki reflects on their achievements. Natsuki thanks Atri for her help. Atri doesn’t know how to feel about the situation and lets Natsuki know she’s incapable of crying like them. 

However, Atri is happy. Natsuki tells Atri to smile and shows her how to smile. The episode closes with Atri smiling.

The Episode Review

It’s safe to assume many fans didn’t anticipate this episode would be mildly action-packed. Despite their quarrels with Hanako, it was interesting to see Atri, Natsuki, and Hanako combat the debt collectors and junk shop owners. The scenes were well-animated. Many fans may question if this series will have future scenarios like that. 

Moreover, this episode will leave fans speculating about Atri’s origins. Many may ponder if the promotional material featuring Atri’s Atri and Astro Boy’s Atom hints at the possibility that Atri is based on a real figure who passed away. The series did a decent job of alluding to this possibility through character reactions, flashbacks, and other instances. 

Additionally, it’s great that our heroes worked together to fix the school’s electricity and teacher issues. Although the latter’s resolution felt more forced and rushed than the former, it’s great that everything worked out in the end.

All in all, this was an enjoyable chapter of Atri: My Dear Moments. I’m interested to see what the future holds for Natsuki, Atri, and their friends