Review for Kurau: Phantom Memory - Volume 4: Mirror Image

Introduction

After the previous two volumes, I come to this 4th instalment of Kurau Phantom Memory with expectations duly lowered. It's been a very attractive and appealing show to this point, but underneath the elegant styling and go faster stripes, there ticks over a rather mundane saloon car engine. So far this is a series that excels in getting us from A to B, but is light on the edge of the seat thrills, and doesn't have too many individual quirks either. But when it comes to anime, surely solidly constructed and reliable are desirable qualities too? Before my motorcar metaphor devolves into an episode of Top Gear, on with the review.

In the year 2100, Kurau Amami is a young girl living alone with her father on the moon, where he is an energy researcher. The day of her 12th birthday elicits plenty of sulks and airs as her father has a test scheduled when he should be spending time with her. That's a problem solved when he invites her along on the test, but it's a terrible mistake. For the test goes strangely awry, a bolt of energy is emitted from the apparatus, and it hits Kurau, who is promptly disintegrated… And then she reintegrates in a flash of golden light, only she doesn't come back exactly the same. She's fused with a binary alien life form known as a Rynax, and the joining has gifted her with amazing abilities. But the Rynax is a binary life form, and while half of it lies dormant, Kurau is left to wait. Ten years later, Kurau has put her powers to work as an Agent, working as a mercenary to accomplish the most difficult, challenging and dangerous jobs her clients can offer. But those in power have learned her secret, and soon the ultimate agent becomes the ultimate target, especially when her pair, Christmas finally arrives.


The next four episodes of Kurau Phantom Memory are presented on this ADV disc. Previously, the GPO had captured Christmas, and Kurau had to make her way to the moon to rescue her. That also led to a reunion with her father, and the revelation of why he has apparently been working against his own daughter. It becomes clear just how prevalent the problem with Rynax energy is.

13. Something That Must be Protected
Christmas and Kurau have to get off the moon, and back to the relative safety of Earth. But getting off the moon when the GPO has all exits locked down may be impossible. That's until Kurau meets a familiar face. Stowing away aboard a freighter only buys so much time though, and the GPO are rapidly in pursuit. The trouble is that pirates catch up to them first. Meanwhile Ayaka confronts Wong over Kurau's relationship to Dr Amami. But it appears that the GPO leadership's plans for Kurau are strictly need to know, and Ayaka receives further unpalatable and inscrutable orders.


14. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Christmas and Kurau have found sanctuary with her uncle and aunt. It's a mountain retreat where Kurau initially hid when her father sent her away as a child, to protect her from the lunar researchers following the accident. It's a moment of peace and tranquillity, made all the more restful as the GPO think that Kurau and Christmas are dead. Even Doug has been released from custody. Speaking of Doug, Uncle Frank was an agent before an accident crippled him, and it was he who inspired Kurau's career choice. It isn't long before Kurau is antsy again and looking for something to do. Frank suggests that if he is the intermediary, she can handle a few jobs as an agent. Christmas walks her halfway to her first job and returns home. There is a flash of golden light and a young boy appears. And he recognises Christmas as his pair.

15. Anxiety of the Swallowtail Butterfly.
The boy is Yvon Tardieu, and he's a Ryna-sapien with abilities as strong as Kurau's. The difference is that he lacks a pair, and is desperate to find one, willing to take any other Ryna-sapien that he finds. The trouble is that Christmas already has a pair, and quite understandably flees, trying to find Kurau for help. Inspector Wong and Ayaka Steiger of the GPO think that their job is done, that the Ryna-sapien problem has been licked, when they get a call from their superior, ordering them to find and capture Yvon Tardieu. The difference is that he wasn't the result of the original accident, or the accident two years ago. This Ryna-sapien was deliberately created in an experiment. Back in Switzerland, Yvon has encountered Kurau, and realises that the only way that Christmas will be his pair is if Kurau isn't there. And Yvon may be more powerful than Kurau.


16. The Gravestones on Top of the Hill
A young girl, mourning her family at their gravestones, is about to join them when the shocking sight of a young boy falling from the sky makes the knife drop from her fingers. Two years previously, Jessica survived the Rynax accident that claimed her parents, although the doctors declared her miraculously free of Rynax infection. Not long after she came to Earth, the aunt and uncle who adopted her were killed in a car accident, and she considered herself cursed ever since. Nursing the young boy back to health, only to be confronted with him claiming that she is his pair is almost more than she can handle. At the same time, Kurau and Christmas are in hiding again, as the GPO have arrived in the Swiss village, seeking Yvon. Even after their duel and his actions, Kurau and Christmas want to help Yvon. The trouble is that the GPO get there first.

Picture

Kurau Phantom Memory gets a 4:3 transfer, which given that it's a region 1 disc, is an NTSC transfer at that. While the limited aspect ratio is disappointing given that grand scale of the story, you can't fault Studio Bones' animation, which is stupendous. The world design is gorgeous, a futuristic vision of humanity that is well-considered and effectively realised, with just the right amount of flying cars, holographic displays, and moving newspapers to make it feel like a lived in future reality. The character designs are very appealing, with a more realistic design ethic than anything too stylised. The animation too is vibrant, fluid and very lively.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese. I was perfectly happy as always with the original language track, and the action and excitement was conveyed adequately enough with the stereo. The dialogue is clear throughout, and the subtitles are free of errors and timed accurately. The theme tunes have grown on me more, but still aren't that remarkable. However, the incidental music is a cut above the average, driving the action and emotion well, while having a rather distinctive signature of its own. The surround track is preferable when it comes to audio placement and the action sequences, and what I sampled of the English dub was pleasant enough. As usual you get the translated English subtitles, and a signs only track.

Extras

The DVD autoplays with skippable trailers for the Anime Network and Newtype Magazine, and loads up some menus with understated but effective animation.

On the disc you'll find the clean credits, there is a 4 minute Production Artwork slideshow, a preview for volume 5, and half a minute of Japanese CD Spots.

There is a Key Words glossary that provides a little insight into the world of 2110, and the jargon used in the show.

There are trailers on the disc for Pumpkin Scissors, Five Centimeters Per Second, Welcome to the NHK, Blue Seed, Paniponi Dash, and Yugo the Negotiator

Yet again the good stuff is in the six-page folded insert that comes in the Amaray case. The Investigation Report - Brief 4 contains interviews with voice actor Tohru Furusawa (Inspector Wong), the vocalist for the ending theme song, Yukari Katsuki, sound director Kazuhiro Wakabayashi, some more of the original cover art, more of the regular column from Aya Yoshinaga, and little doodles and thoughts from the director Yasuhiro Irie.

Conclusion

So I emitted a pulse of positivism at the end of volume 3, noting in my review that the preview for volume 4 promised a change from the humdrum routine that Kurau Phantom Memory had fallen into. Well, the thing about previews is that, the thing about trailers is that they pick out the positives about what they promote and omit the negatives. That's the whole point of advertising of course. What I'm trying to say is that despite my perception, this fourth volume where we pass the halfway mark in the story and set about gathering momentum towards the conclusion, actually does little more than the previous volumes did. In many ways it follows the same routine of Kurau and Christmas on the run and hiding from the GPO, with the authorities in pursuit. There are a few tweaks to the formula here, but it isn't the radical departure that the series needs. Still, that's looking at the overall picture. When taken in terms of the episodes, they are entertaining enough, nicely plotted with the correct dramatic crescendos in place, as well as a cast of interesting, if still underdeveloped characters.


The tweak from normality comes early on in proceedings, as Kurau and Christmas make yet another escape from the insidious clutches of the GPO. This time they get away from the moon against the odds, by hiding on a freighter crewed by a familiar face. Jose was the man Kurau rescued from an out of control ship early on in the series, and he's happy to return the favour. In the ensuing pursuit by the GPO, and the attack by the pirates, there is an explosion, and Kurau and Christmas are considered dead and lost. That Rynax energy is pretty nifty stuff though, as it allows them to survive. I did scratch my head at a little inconsistency though, as it remains unclear as to when Christmas actually developed and became aware of her powers, as early in the show, she claims she doesn't have any, then there are hints that she might have, and now she's using them with just as much confidence as Kurau. There just hasn't been any narrative leading up to this. Following that, getting from orbit to the planet's surface is conveniently glossed over, and we catch up with the pair in Switzerland, hiding out with Kurau's aunt and uncle.


It should all be plain sailing from here. The GPO think that they are dead and wind down all their anti-Ryna-sapiens activities. So all they have to do is keep their heads down and they could have a nice, quiet life together in a picturesque corner of the world. Except that another Ryna-sapiens appears, Yvon who is looking for his pair, or rather any pair. He latches onto Christmas, and won't take no for an answer, leading to the whole hunters and prey, running and hiding sequence again. Yvon is running to stay alive and free, while Kurau and Christmas have to hide lest anyone realise that they aren't in fact dead. It's an entertaining story development and kept me glued to the screen for the duration. But I can't help but think that Kurau Phantom Memory at this point is suffering from new character syndrome. It has a big enough back story, and a large enough cast of characters to sustain, so any new addition seems unnecessary. Notwithstanding the routine of Kurau and Christmas' flight and hide, we have her aunt and uncle added to the show, while for much of the volume we forget Dr Amami and the problem of the Ryna-sapiens back on the moon. We also get the new Ryna-sapien with similar powers to Kurau, Yvon Tardieu, although poor agent Doug just gets the one, wistful scene in this volume and is then conveniently forgotten. Better if the show could use and develop its existing cast of characters, rather than just adding new ones to the mix.


On the plus side, we do seem to get some expansion to the back story, especially with the revelation that Yvon was created deliberately in a GPO experiment that got out of hand when he escaped. Before the Ryna-sapiens we encountered were by-products of accidents, but now it becomes apparent that the GPO is deliberately experimenting on people, trying to harness these powers. It also is a fact of some importance that there is a rift developing between the directors of the GPO, and the security wing that is tasked with hunting the aliens down. Ayaka Steiger has already expressed misgivings at the lack of information that Inspector Wong gave her when she was hunting Kurau, expressing some degree of shock when she learned that Kurau was Dr Amami's daughter, only to be rebuffed with the usual 'need to know' expediency. Now it's Wong's turn to receive the same treatment when he learns of Yvon's escape, and is ordered to recapture him.


Kurau Phantom Memory still keeps on being entertaining without being spectacular. It's a show that is easy to watch, and will pass the time, but there's nothing to really make it stand out as individual or particularly original. It benefits from attractive animation, and appealing and likeable characters, but suffers from expedient writing and a disappointing lack of imagination. It very much ploughs a familiar furrow when it comes to futuristic sci-fi mystery action shows. All the pieces are there for it to create something interesting though. Hopefully the next volume is where that starts to happen.