Xam'd of the Lost Memories
I'm not making things up for entry titles. This is going to be a mini review/rant of an anime I marathoned all yesterday.
Xam'd: Lost Memories Final Thoughts
I think it goes to say that I've been away from anime for quite a while. There just isn't the time for it like I used to. That and the genre felt a bit stale for the last few seasons. This isn't a new anime either. I think that goes to say something for the recent stuff.
I originally knew about Xam'd because it was free for a little while on the Playstation Network and people were talking about how good it was.
SO yesterday afternoon, I started watching and continued to marathon the show and finished up 13 hours later.
Xam'd is 26 episodes, which is relatively decent for an anime, personally. But for Xam'd it was nowhere near enough for the richness and possibilities the first half of the show presented.
Xam'd starts on Senten Island, a neutral zone sandwiched in between the warring Northern and Southern Continents/regimes/watever. As we have so learned from Switzerland, neutrality means nothing in war and we discover that there was a battle on the island quite a few years ago that was quite bitter. Immediately you get to see little hints of all the people important to this whole mess...in the first five minutes. It's confusing and a little creepy, though only enough to plant a little doubt that this happy-go-lucky trio of friends aren't going to stay together for ever. But the little bits and pieces matter in creating characters that I genuinely liked and in the intrigue that baited me till the very last episode. The characters are great and definitely grow on you (maybe except the kids, I never liked whiny children with bossy attitudes), so much so that I very nearly cried a few times throughout the course. Akiyuki is also a new one for a protagonist with superhuman abilities. He's a little bit insecure but not whiny. He is never naively kind, and reacts like a real boy in love does, not a superhero cliche.
The problem with the show is that it throws you in the middle of the picture without holding your hand much. There's wild terminology used repeatedly and you don't get explanations at the same pace. It's takes a bit of persevering to catch up to what the characters know and you never really get to know more than they do, which is pleasant in that you don't get to predict the next step for them.
I think that Xam'd really was teetering into Evangelion territory with all that religious mumbo-jumbo at the end and stuff starting to not make any sense. It was also very similar to Eureka 7, but with less time to pace the ending properly and develop answers for the gazillion questions brought up. For one thing, what the hell is a hiruken anyways?!?!? It kind of matters when it's the origin of all powers used. 13 hours later, I still don't know.
The final episode was very much a love-hate thing for me. In a way, it confirmed that the show focused on finalizing the relationships and its characters rather than completing the picture of the world. There are plenty of whys not answered and you're scratching your head going "What the...gimme back my 13 hours of life" while at the same time I'm beaming at the way the concluded for this group of lovely people.
All in all you must marathon the show or watch it in chunks. And don't expect to understand everything in one watch. It took me a little while, almost a year after I finished RahXephon, to for it finally click and get the genius of it all. So I'm hoping this is the same for Xam'd.
This is how I like my shows :D
Xam'd: Lost Memories Final Thoughts
I think it goes to say that I've been away from anime for quite a while. There just isn't the time for it like I used to. That and the genre felt a bit stale for the last few seasons. This isn't a new anime either. I think that goes to say something for the recent stuff.
I originally knew about Xam'd because it was free for a little while on the Playstation Network and people were talking about how good it was.
SO yesterday afternoon, I started watching and continued to marathon the show and finished up 13 hours later.
Xam'd is 26 episodes, which is relatively decent for an anime, personally. But for Xam'd it was nowhere near enough for the richness and possibilities the first half of the show presented.
Xam'd starts on Senten Island, a neutral zone sandwiched in between the warring Northern and Southern Continents/regimes/watever. As we have so learned from Switzerland, neutrality means nothing in war and we discover that there was a battle on the island quite a few years ago that was quite bitter. Immediately you get to see little hints of all the people important to this whole mess...in the first five minutes. It's confusing and a little creepy, though only enough to plant a little doubt that this happy-go-lucky trio of friends aren't going to stay together for ever. But the little bits and pieces matter in creating characters that I genuinely liked and in the intrigue that baited me till the very last episode. The characters are great and definitely grow on you (maybe except the kids, I never liked whiny children with bossy attitudes), so much so that I very nearly cried a few times throughout the course. Akiyuki is also a new one for a protagonist with superhuman abilities. He's a little bit insecure but not whiny. He is never naively kind, and reacts like a real boy in love does, not a superhero cliche.
The problem with the show is that it throws you in the middle of the picture without holding your hand much. There's wild terminology used repeatedly and you don't get explanations at the same pace. It's takes a bit of persevering to catch up to what the characters know and you never really get to know more than they do, which is pleasant in that you don't get to predict the next step for them.
I think that Xam'd really was teetering into Evangelion territory with all that religious mumbo-jumbo at the end and stuff starting to not make any sense. It was also very similar to Eureka 7, but with less time to pace the ending properly and develop answers for the gazillion questions brought up. For one thing, what the hell is a hiruken anyways?!?!? It kind of matters when it's the origin of all powers used. 13 hours later, I still don't know.
The final episode was very much a love-hate thing for me. In a way, it confirmed that the show focused on finalizing the relationships and its characters rather than completing the picture of the world. There are plenty of whys not answered and you're scratching your head going "What the...gimme back my 13 hours of life" while at the same time I'm beaming at the way the concluded for this group of lovely people.
All in all you must marathon the show or watch it in chunks. And don't expect to understand everything in one watch. It took me a little while, almost a year after I finished RahXephon, to for it finally click and get the genius of it all. So I'm hoping this is the same for Xam'd.
This is how I like my shows :D