Jiyi Guanli Ju

I believe it was during the Bilibili donghua 2021 (not really sure) lineup was how I found this hidden title. It didn't have the most astounding presentation for a thumbnail back when I saw the PV of it, but I came across a short with quality that doesn't come every so often, and I have to admit, even today, I am invested in seeing the future for this series and where it will go to in the future.

False Memory is a short about a boy whose memories are obscured due to creating a BUG man, named Shi Yan, who is basically messing around with ... his memory. Fang Tang here is basically the boss of the recycling place and Bai Zhong is the intern learning how to do this job.

Everything narrative-wise only exists to say a message, since most of the anime revolves around cool fight scenes. That message is something along the lines of fighting for yourself instead of obscuring your reality by removing the unwanted with something more comfortable for you. You see, the kid here lives a terrible life with people bullying him and what have you, but instead of standing up for himself, creating a BUG man was the alt route he took. He ran away from the harsh reality or more fittingly used fake memories to create a false utopia. I suppose the understanding here is that fighting for yourself is the better route to take rather than having everything done for you, considering how his life would have gone well off the rails having stuck to his false hopes. This isn't explicitly stated, however, more of an interpretation I had. I would say that this kid makes for a pretty good character, even in the small amount of time he was present. He had simple distastes, his false memories got the best of him, and he wasn't exactly this overdramatic guy. Whenever he'd get beat, it would just be a case of "Shi Yan is here to back it". His reactions to situations are pleasant too and come across as very honest. At the end of things, instead of breaking down, he actually takes a stand against his enemies. I say this is honest because BUG man and BUG source have this connection with one other—said to be through strong emotion, although not something known to be eternally linked. Shi Yan doesn't come across as a rabid beast of a BUG man, but rather someone there for his friend. This kid took Shi Yan's implicit advice once the ending happens (you should just watch it for yourself to understand instead of me saying everything), and it just comes across as something that would make a ton of sense. The kid accepted reality and went out to improve himself, going back on the right lines. It's pretty good stuff honestly for a character like himself.

Fang Tang and Bai Zhong don't really have too much meaning to them other than their jobs in this world. As they say "For us, good or bad, true or false, it is meaningless." which I am not gonna lie, sounds like pseudo-philosophy considering how their job is literally about recycling memories and BUG man (who cause trouble). Maybe they just don't care about what they do in particular? I honestly don't know.

As for the visuals, it is so very good here. The animation was one of the reasons I ended up watching this, but in itself, it is so fluid and the techniques used to emphasise each fight genuinely had an effect on the scenes present. It comes across as an actual intense masterful fight between two combat warriors. Studio Flint Sugar really pulled a crazy one here. Great fight choreography, camera motion, everything, I don't think there was anything flawed about this. The character design is something to speak of too, it is like a sketch with its basic detail but still has all the features required to be able to praise. I am not sure what the technique/style/word for it is, but you should see what I mean upon looking at it yourself. It is simple, but it comes with a lot to offer. There wasn't too much OST here, but all was pretty good from what I remember; it doesn't impact, however, at least, most don't. The only notable thing is the voice acting assuming you aren't too familiar with Chinese donghua. In this short at least, it is pretty good stuff and suffices well enough for everyone. A good job in the audio category.

When all is said and done, False Memory is this good idea that potentially has a lot going for itself. Considering how it is going to get a sequel featuring god knows what, I am willing to stay the whole journey to see what more is to come. For the time being it is very good and seems like it may continue in quality as it goes on.

This was part of the Bilibili 2021 Lineup,
This original 18-minute short film, released over four years ago, garnered attention for its compelling visuals and storytelling, and it has an English dubbed version on YouTube (like most Bilibili Productions, though they really ought to get better subs too).

A full-length series adaptation is scheduled for release in the second half of 2025, and to prepare myself for it, I decided to rewatch the original material.

What a refreshing animation-style and depth of storytelling, these 18min would've been a convoluted 3x26min Donghua otherwise, as such I believe this truly serves as a Pilot to what False Memory (2025) could ... be like.

Inspiration-wise, it reminds be a bit of Natsume Ono's Not Simple, with some suprising non-linearity in the narrative structure.
Per the short nature of the film, I don't wanna spoil any further, it's really great and easily accessible, go give it a try !