Atri: My Dear Moments – Season 1 Episode 9 Recap & Review

A Leg Falling Into the Abyss

Episode 9 of Atri: My Dear Moments begins with Natsuki yelling at Atri for deceiving him. Atri confirms Natsuki’s suspicions and Natsuki orders her not to act in a way that’d make him believe she has a heart. Atri starts acting more like a Humanoid and admits she dislikes Natsuki. Natsuki leaves his home and tells Atri not to follow him. 

While Natsuki goes for a walk and reflects on his time with Atri, Natsuki falls to the ground and cries. Ryuuji, Ririka, and Minamo carry Natsuki to Minamo’s home. Natsuki shares his disappointment over his recent Atri-related discovery. Minamo shares her opinion on the matter and argues Atri has a heart but doesn’t know what to do. Natsuki heads to sleep.

In the morning, Minamo tells Natsuki Atri is acting like her usual self and went to school. Natsuki and Minamo arrive at the school and realize Atri isn’t there. Hanako hands Natsuki an envelope from an unknown sender. It contains data on the recalled Yamasaki Factory’s 4th-generation models. 

Natsuki opens the envelope and learns one of the models went berserk. Hanako says this unit harmed kids at a school and disobeyed its master’s orders. Natsuki wonders if it’s Atri but Hanako tells Natsuki that it may not be her. However, Hanako argues that one out of 58 models like Atri were made and gathered. Yet, one of the models fled and went missing. 

She argues the factory concealed that information from the public and the company eventually dissolved. Hanako confirms Atri arrived at the school but Hanako told Atri she couldn’t let her in the school. Natsuki leaves, pondering the intel Hanako shared with him. Then, a man named Yasuda and another gentleman approach Natsuki.

Yasuda says he worked for the factory’s development department. Natsuki enters Yasuda’s vehicle and the three drive somewhere. Yasuda gives Natsuki an old log a Humanoid used. He confirms he had units like Atri learn to read and write because he wanted them to have memorization and learning skills that were on par with humans. 

Natsuki learns Atri had a master who told her to befriend a girl named Shiina. Yasuda shares details about the professor who made the unit, his ties to the professor, and what led to this professor’s demise. Yasuda says he wants to recover and dispose of the unit that wrote this log. He argues this will help him set things right with society and the professor. 

Yasuda shows Natsuki a recovery consent form. He knows Atri is the only unit that remains. Yasuda wants Natsuki to hand Atri over to him so he can dispose of Atri. He understands how Natsuki feels but argues it’d be in Natsuki’s best interest to comply. Natsuki returns home and asks Atri to talk to him like she used to.  

Atri returns to normal and promises to whip up a dish for Natsuki. Natsuki tells Atri not to act like she has a heart. Atri complies and hands Natsuki his dish. Natsuki asks her if this makes her happy and Atri says it does. Natsuki tells Atri not to lie to him and yells at her.

Natsuki heads to his submarine to clear his mind. He realizes he got washed ashore somewhere. Natsuki finds a way to return to his home but notices Atri isn’t inside. Natsuki notices a note next to the unnamed unit’s log. The note is from Atri. Atri tells Natsuki that she left to accompany Ririka to the school. Natsuki looks at the unit’s log and spots the phrase “Shiina, I Love You” written inside. 

Natsuki connects this data to Atri and heads to the school. Meanwhile, Yasuda and his comrade are holding several kids hostage at the school. Hanako, Minamo, and the others confront Yasuda and his comrade. Yasuda promises to let the kids go when they bring Atri to him. Ririka arrives with Atri and Yasuda’s comrade lets the kids go. 

Atri wanders toward Yasuda and Yasuda abuses Atri in front of the others. Yasuda blames Atri for being the unit that led to the professor’s demise. The professor was Yasuda’s mentor. Meanwhile, Natsuki’s worried he won’t make it to school on time because of his leg. However, Natsuki wants to see Atri again, arguing that she has a big heart. 

Hanako tells Yasuda to stop but Yasuda refuses. Natsuki arrives. The episode ends with Atri calling out to Natsuki.

The Episode Review

This episode of Atri: My Dear Moments was far from cheerful like previous chapters. From Natsuki coming to terms with Atri’s design to Yasuda’s Humanoid abuse, this chapter will leave audiences glued to their screens. Additionally, Atri’s subtle shifts from her standard persona to her robotic one were bone-chilling. 

This again shows that it’d be best to view AI as AI and not humans. At the same time, this episode shows audiences that one can grow a decent connection with robotic life too. Despite Atri’s design, it’s nice to see Natsuki go out of his way to save Atri. It shows that he still wants her to be a part of his life despite Atri fooling him all this time. 

The tidbit about Yasuda doesn’t feel too forced in here. While it could’ve been alluded to better in prior chapters, the previous episodes had some sketchy scenarios that foreshadowed his entry into this tale. Additionally, the lore surrounding the 4th gen model being Atri is still sketchy for many reasons. 

The anime hasn’t directly stated what provoked this model (potentially Atri) to attack the child at the school. Hopefully, that’ll be explained more in the next batch of episodes. But all in all, this intense chapter of Atri: My Dear Moments will leave fans hungry for the next one.