When we go through tough times in relationships, it’s natural to think back to when we were truly happy. Maybe it was the time you first met and fell in love, the wedding day, or the moment people first held their child. Those moments felt magical, and sometimes, we start to wonder, What if we could go back to that time when everything felt perfect? Yes, it’s natural to want to escape the present, but the truth is, going back isn’t simple and the challenges we face now are part of our reality and we have to deal with them. Well, the movie Previously Saved Version is set in the year 2200 AD, when life on Earth has become almost impossible due to constant natural disasters, and people have migrated to space as it is the only way to survive. Among them, we meet a Japanese couple: Mayumi, a potter, and her husband, Naoki, who is a brilliant robotic engineer. However, they still visit Earth occasionally using advanced teleportation technology as they believe it’s no longer fit for human life. At first glance, Mayumi and Naoki seem like a regular couple, but as the story goes on we realize Mayumi is not human. She is an android, a “previously saved version” of Naoki’s late wife, whom he accidentally killed in a tragic accident. As he is now struggling with guilt and unable to let go, Naoki uses his expertise to recreate Mayumi over and over in the “perfect version” to bring her back in a form that feels real, but it never works. But the question is: can they truly be happy in this false reality? Let’s find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Naoki makes an android version of Mayumi?
Naoki and Mayumi’s first meeting happend on a rainy day on Earth when Naoki, along with his robot Kyuu, wandered into Mayumi’s pottery shop to look for shelter. Their shared Japanese heritage was a true icebreaker and Naoki ended up buying one of her failed pottery attempts, and from that simple moment, they fell in love, and soon after, they got married. But as time went on, things began to change, as Mayumi started to see a different side of Naok,i who was very violent and unpredictable. He became abusive and started to hit her during his outbursts, only to apologize afterward and make fake promises that it would never happen again. But we all know the pattern and yes, it did, over and over. Maybe Naoki’s abusive behavior came from his own childhood trauma, as his father was really cruel to him and even burned him with cigars. Mayumi tried to hold on to the hope that he would change, but after six long years, she had had enough, as she realized she couldn’t trust his apologies anymore and she needed peace and decided to leave him. When she tried to walk away, Naoki couldn’t accept it, and being desperate and angry, he chased after her with a knife and promised that if she came back, he would change. But Mayumi was naturally terrified and kept backing away and ended up on a cliff of a bridge. As Naoki reached her he was really angry and he pushed her. Mayumi fell from the bridge and died instantly. Naoki was devastated by the shock, as he couldn’t believe what he had done and wanted nothing more than to bring her back. But no amount of advanced technology could undo what had happened. After moving to outer space, Naoki became obsessed with recreating her with the help of another scientist and started to make android versions of Mayumi which were identical to his late wife in every way. He believed that this time, he could be a better husband, that he could finally love her the way she deserved.
Did Mayumi go back to earth?
But deep down, Naoki knew the truth, he wasn’t in love with his wife anymore but maybe in love with a memory that a robot version could never truly replace. But still, Naoki never stopped trying to create new versions of Mayumi, and each time, he filled the android with only good memories like their honeymoon, the times they laughed while cooking together, and other moments of happiness, because he wanted to make sure this new Mayumi would never remember how he had hurt her. But the android Mayumi always felt like something was missing, as she had gaps in her memories and couldn’t understand why. The “doctor,” a scientist who helped Naoki build these androids, kept telling her that she had amnesia from the trauma of the tsunami and that’s why she couldn’t remember everything. Even though this new Mayumi tried her best to be the perfect wife, little things started to bother Naoki, and every small imperfection in his “robot wife” frustrated him. Eventually, his anger would get the best of him, and he’d “kill” her by stabbing the android in the neck to shut down her system. After that, he’d move on to make another version, to repeat the cycle over and over again. Then came the last time when Naoki thought he’d figured out how to make a version with the previously saved version as he decided to create a version of Mayumi from when they first met in the hope she wouldn’t notice any memory gaps or question their relationship.
But things didn’t go as planned as this version of Mayumi who had just “met” Naoki, was confused as she didn’t recognize him as her husband and couldn’t understand why she was living in outer space with a strange man, and to her, it felt like she had been kidnapped. No matter how hard Naoki tried to convince her that they were meant to be together, Mayumi felt something was terribly wrong. Then one day, Naoki’s robot Kyuu, led Mayumi to a hidden room where she saw all the “dead” versions of herself, the androids Naoki had destroyed. It was in that moment she realized the truth, as Kyuu helped her understand the terrible cycle she was trapped in, and all the android versions urged her to escape before Naoki killed her too. Mayumi knew she had to act quickly so she came up with a plan to call for a space shuttle, the same ones they used to get deliveries from Earth, and use it to escape back to Earth. To buy time and confuse Naoki, one of the older android versions of Mayumi made his favorite dish to distract him. But Naoki soon realized something was off, as this new version of Mayumi, who was supposed to have just met him, could not have known about his favorite food. And that’s when he figured out that he had been tricked, and Kyuu had helped her all along. So Naoki chased after her, but it was too late as Mayumi had already hopped onto the shuttle and was heading back to Earth, away from him and the nightmare he had created. As the shuttle took off, it looked like maybe Naoki might have let her go, because maybe he realized he couldn’t force her to stay, and he couldn’t make her love him by trapping her. Any real change would have to come from him, but deep down, he knew it might be too late for that.
At the end of the movie, Mayumi finally makes her way back to Earth. Once she arrived, she recalled a woman named Jeab through her “previously saved version,” which reminded her of this lost love. When she returned to Earth, she found Jeab among the few humans still living there. We can only hope that maybe this time, Mayumi will find the love she truly deserves.
