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Xam'd Lost Memories Review
February 7, 2009 by omisyth
Xam'd, you shall leave a vacancy in my heart.
There's no doubt in my mind that Xam'd is an excellent show, well-deserving of the small praise it got from it's all too few fans (once again, I'll say that limiting this to PSN is almost as criminal as the way I watched the show). For me, though, the mark of a truly great series is the urge I have to rewatch it, for any reason, and I doubt that this will be the case for Xam'd. However, that's not to say that Xam'd doesn't have it's own fantastic appeal.
Spoiler-free review.
Short Summary (stolen from Wikipedia)
Sentan Island exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility; a small island, surrounded by the Yuden Sea, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Akiyuki Takehara lives on Sentan Island along with his mother Fusa. Despite his mother's strained relationship with his father, Ryuzo, the town doctor, the bond between father and son remains strong. One day the island's tranquility is shattered, when Akiyuki, along with his best friends Haru and Furuichi, are caught up in an explosion on a school bus. The explosion produces a mysterious light which enters Akiyuki's arm. With no time to understand what has happened, Akiyuki is transformed into a creature called "Xam'd".
Story and Setting
The storyline of Xam'd is definitely not the show's strongpoint. It seems that the the events of the world in which the show is set (the war between the nations and the other more mystical side of the show) is never really explained or pushed into the foreground. There's no real reason why the war is being waged (multiple hints, but nothing clear cut). The show also throws you into the story fairly quickly, using terms and explanations that can get quite confusing at times. It doesn't help that there's a slight aimlessness in terms of stroyline either. It kind of meanders at times, not really knowing where it wants to go until the 3rd quarter of the series. The pacing is also quite slow to the point where it may seem like nothing's actually happening until the last few minutes of any given episode, although that's most likely just the show's style as that time is used to further develop characters.
The settings of the show are excellent (by which I mean the various locales, including the ever-changing look of Sentan Island). Each location has a distinctive feel that always evoke certain emotions and convey messages in the viewer. It's a vivid, interesting and expansive world, that wasn't as well-defined as it could've been due to the focus on small groups of characters throughout.
The characters of Xam'd are easily the driving force behind the entire show. Each character (besides one or two obvious and personal exceptions) is fleshed-out and interesting; there are none of the stereotypes or standard tropes you normally get with anime. They all grow and mature overtime and their relationships are meaningful and believable. Each character has their own natural quirks and distinctive peronsalities that'll have you supporting (or disliking) them in your own way. Safe to say, the actions and interactions of the characters will be what keeps you watching Xam'd.
Art and Animation
Though similar in tone and design to Eureka 7, the animation of Xam'd has it's own distinctive and interesting style, as well as being the high quality that's become expected of BONES. The colour pallette of the show is always soft and subtle and there's a real sense of cohesiveness and fluidity with the animation. Each of the aforementioned locals are done beautifully, be it epic background shots or excellent lighting. In short, Xam'd's a consistently great show to look at with some astounding set-pieces.
Despite the opening and ending, though not particularly stand-out, the music in Xam'd fits the show perfectly. The grand orchestral soundtrack ebbs and flows along with the events of the show, simple at those calm and soothing times and powerful and moving during the climaxes. It's never brazen or insignificant in its presence and serves only to further develop the emotions the viewer has while watching the show.
Recently, I've come to dislike symbolism in any sort of show because it's either so obvious it's ridiculous or so cryptic it's useless. Xam'd manages to balance those two aspects so that the paralells between certain events and conversations in the show don't come of as forced or irritating. It knows how to use its refrains sparingly, so as to remind the viewer of key aspects of the show without being ham-fisted. There are some fantastic lines of dialogue in the show which resonate strongly with the characters and their experiences.
As I said before, I doubt I'll be rewatching Xam'd but that's not because of the show's quality. It's simply a show that's an ongoing experience and by the end of that journey there isn't a reason to re-tread ground you've already covered. However, I'm acutely aware that others may not feel this way so I will advocate Xam'd for all that it does well. Most of the aspects of the show are top-notch and I see no reason why anyone should miss out on this series.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Posted in Reviews | Tagged Series Review, Thoughts, Xam'd Lost Memories | 8 Comments
on February 7, 2009 at 7:55 pm | Reply nazarielle
It was a fun watch, and Haru is awesome. But as I said on twitter, I have no fucking clue what the hell happened. Still, it was pretty fun to watch anyway.
on February 7, 2009 at 9:22 pm | Reply omisyth
@nazarielle
The only reason I'd rewatch it is to get a better sense of what's going on, but eh, seems like too much work.
on February 10, 2009 at 1:29 am | Reply avisch
I'll finish it one of these days. I stopped watching for alot of reasons. Though particularly I got really annoyed at the dialogue for being way too predictable (and the cryptic nature you mentioned).
But bah I'm complaining. In general it's possible don't like the way Bones does anime (as evidenced by the fact that everything by them I've watched…..I haven't liked)
on February 10, 2009 at 6:36 pm | Reply Weekly Highlights (10-02-09) « Anime Chatter
[…] say something a bit less objective about Xam'd here. One of the worst facets of the show was the fact that it didn't […]
on February 10, 2009 at 10:00 pm | Reply omisyth
@Avisch
Not even FMA? Or Darker Than Black? I haven't seen a "bad" show from BONES yet.
on February 11, 2009 at 3:35 am | Reply Omonomono » Xam Xam'd: Bounen Xamdou the Lost Memories Round-up, no?
[…] Omisyth tries to wrap it up, but I'm not sure if it got anywhere. […]
on February 12, 2009 at 5:14 pm | Reply ghostlightning
@ avisch
The dialogue, bad? Cryptic, perhaps. But predictable? C'mon!
The dialogue in this show restores a lot of faith in anime writing. Very few shows can boast of such sustained emotional gravity using restraint and sentimentality all at once.
The dialogue in this show makes a lot of other shows this year sound trite and obviously below its class.
on February 12, 2009 at 8:53 pm | Reply omisyth
@ghostlightning
Except Kaiba.
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