Review for XAM'D Lost Memories Collection 1

Introduction

I shouldn't ought to have done it. I shouldn't have other means-ed Xam'd Lost Memories when it was initially released a couple of years ago. Those horrible streams, dodgy audio, low resolution… that was no way to watch a show of Xam'd's calibre. But then again, you can't really blame me for it. After all, Xam'd was one of those early streamed shows, an experiment in digital distribution without the benefit of solid media. It made its debut on the Playstation Network, and as such it wasn't all that successful an experiment. Certainly, not too many anime shows make use of the Playstation Network now for their world premieres. Also, the association with Sony put the fear of God into me. The last television anime that Sony got their hands on was Blood+, a show that was released in the US on a painfully slow release schedule, on dismally authored discs (dubtitles), and hideously expensive. There are companies in the UK that have expressed an interest in Blood+, but the licensing costs are so expensive that releasing it here just isn't an option. If Sony had Xam'd Lost Memories, then I thought the chances of it getting a physical release were negligible. So I sat through the pixellated streams, and enjoyed the show, and thought that was that.

Of course it turns out that the PSN doesn't automatically mean Sony, it's just another broadcast medium. A few months afterwards, Xam'd got its Japanese TV broadcast, and subsequently Sentai Filmworks (ADV redux) licensed the Studio Bones animation for US home video release. Sentai isn't Sony, which means that Manga Entertainment are now releasing it here in the UK, and they're releasing it on Blu-ray as well as DVD. That's a good thing, as Sentai's Blu-rays have been locked to Region A, making them unlikely options for import. I'm now watching Xam'd Lost Memories in 1080p HD resolution, instead of the postage stamp window I watched previously, and all of a sudden, an impressive show has become utterly breathtaking.

Sentan Island ought to be a tranquil idyll, the perfect place to grow up, but alas it's caught right in the middle of the war between the North and the South. But for Akiyuki Takehara and his friends Furuichi and Haru, that war doesn't affect them until the day that he's late for school, and has to run to catch the bus. It's the day that there is a white haired kid waiting to get on the bus, a transfer student without the armband to identify her to the security guard. It's the day that Akiyuki does her a favour, and sneaks her aboard, only for her to be revealed as a terrorist who detonates a bomb on the bus. A strange light hits his arm and a blue gem appears there, and then Akiyuki transforms into a monster. At the same time, the Northern forces attack Sentan Island, dropping ambulatory 'humanform' weapons that wreak havoc on the island and target the monster that Akiyuki has become.


Meanwhile, the postal airship Zanbani has been approaching Sentan, and one of its crew, a Tessikan girl named Nakiami realises what is happening down below. She arrives in time to stop Akiyuki in his tracks, is able to control the gem in his arm and get him to revert, and she effectively shanghais him and drags him aboard the airship, as she knows that she is the only one that can help him, for Akiyuki has been fused with a Hiruko, and he is now a Xam'd. Unless he learns to live with the change that has been thrust upon him, come to terms with being Xam'd, he will turn to stone. Now a part of the crew of the Zanbani, Akiyuki with the help of Nakiami begins to adjust to his new life, in the hope of one day returning home to his family and friends on Sentan Island. But since the day of the attack, Sentan Island has changed irrevocably.

The first half of Xam'd Lost Memories, thirteen episodes, is presented on two Blu-ray discs courtesy of Manga Entertainment. These are the Sentai discs adapted for Region B, and follow the same format of 9 episodes on a dual layer disc 1, and four episodes on a single layer disc 2.

Disc 1

1. Xam'd at the Dawn of War
2. Blackout on Sentan Island
3. The Way to Freedom
4. Enlightenment
5. Shattered Bonds
6. Live Fire
7. Guardians of Stone
8. Showdown at Tsumebara Pass
9. The Astonishing Raigyo

Disc 2

10. Moving On
11. Assault: The Zanbani
12. Flowers Blooming in the Dark
13. Running Barefoot

Picture

Xam'd Lost Memories gets a 1080p 1.78:1 widescreen transfer on these Blu-ray discs, using the VC-1 codec. Xam'd is a Studio Bones production, and they threw everything including the kitchen sink into making this show, and it certainly is apparent on screen. Xam'd is a beautiful animation, of theatrical quality throughout, with great character designs, a rich and vivid world design, and vibrant and dynamic animation that makes the action sequences among the best I have seen in this medium, while the quieter, character moments also feel alive and breathing. Xam'd is also one of those creations, like The Wings of Honneamise, where the world is one parallel to our own. It means that the creators have gone to town when it comes to imagining alternate versions of everyday things like vehicles and machinery. It's one of the shows that you watch twice, once for the story, and once just to look at.

It all looks fantastic given the higher resolution of Blu-ray, and a proper progressive transfer. It's just that when I got a little too close to the screen, I saw some telltale indications of aliasing. My uninformed guess is that Xam'd was originally animated at a lower resolution, perhaps 720 and was subsequently upscaled for the Blu-ray. It isn't an issue at all at normal viewing distances, and a world away from what the DVD can offer.

The images in this review have been sourced courtesy of the PR, and aren't representative of the final Blu-ray release.

Sound

You have the choice between DTS-HD MA 5.1 English and Japanese, along with optional translated subtitles, and a signs only track. As soon as you hear the drums of the Boom Boom Satellites opening theme kick in, you know you're in for a treat. Xam'd is an action packed, vibrant and lively anime. It's a fantasy world with a whole lot of imagination to it, and the sound design reflects that. There is a great deal of directionality to the audio, and it really brings the show to life. The Japanese audio is definitely the way to go here, as the cast is top notch, and the performances live up to the standard of the animation. The same can't be said for the English dub. Although perhaps it's because I chose episode 10 to sample, which begins with a monologue from Akushiba, whose English voice actor is monotony embodied. It's a performance of someone who doesn't care. Skipping past that, I paid closer attention to the voice actors for Akiyuki, Haru and Nakiami, the main characters, and while their performances were closer to the mark, it felt very much like just another average anime dub. For me, Xam'd is like a Ghibli film in terms of production value and visual impact, it deserves a dub cast worthy of that, and this dub isn't it.

Other than that, there is no problem with the audio on this release, and the subtitles are legible and free of error. Incidentally, if the high-resolution visuals aren't enough to convince you to opt for the Blu-ray, the audio ought to be, as the Blu-ray offers 5.1 surround Japanese, while the Manga (and Madman) DVDs offer just DD 2.0 Stereo Japanese, which is a dismal letdown for this series. Curiously, the Region 1 Sentai DVDs have DD 5.1 Japanese audio, so I can't imagine what the Australian distributors were thinking opting for simple stereo.

Extras

Disc 1 autoplays with the trailer for the Anime Network, and it appears these discs are straightforward ports of the original Sentai Filmworks discs (There isn't even a Manga logo). The static menus offer the list of the episodes, and the language options, as well as an extra features option on disc 2. There's no Play All option, but if you watch an episode, the next one will begin playing automatically after that. The episode credit sequences are presented in the original language, and Sentai have created an English language credit scroll that plays in silence at the end of each episode.

Disc 2 offers the clean credits sequences, and there are also the broadcast textless credits sequences. We get the episodes as played on the PSN, but the series as broadcast on TV had different credit animations, and different songs from Boom Boom Satellites and Kylee (no, not that one), and different animation too. There are three here, the opening and two end sequences, and they are well worth watching.

Conclusion

This needs to be made clear straight off. Xam'd Lost Memories isn't the sort of episodic anime show that you can flit in and out of just sampling its delights. Xam'd Lost Memories is more akin to an epic, a deep and complex overarching story, regularly interrupted by really cool credit sequences. You're going to have to pay close attention to how this tale develops, really invest in it to get any worthwhile rewards. What's more, Xam'd goes out of its way to make things difficult, throwing the viewer straight into the middle of its alternate worldview, with nary an idea of how this world works, no inkling of who the protagonists and antagonists are, and a little overwhelmed by the story specific jargon and nomenclature. In fact, we're even more clueless than Akiyuki, who wakes up to a whole new world following the terrorist attack on his school bus, but at least he has the benefit of knowing the basic structure of his world. We on the other hand have to pick it up as the series progresses. It's an investment that the short of attention span and easily distracted may be unwilling to make. But Xam'd really does reward those who invest in the show, and if you take the time out to really watch these thirteen episodes, to just find the space in the day to devote yourselves fully to the show, then not only will the great visuals and bombastic audio thrill you, but the story will suck you in as well.


It seems like your standard anime adventure serial first off, with the teen male protagonist apparently gifted miraculous powers when he survives a terrorist attack. A white haired child boards his school bus, and detonates a bomb, albeit one with odd properties. A ray of light hits Akiyuki, and a strange gemstone, a Hiruko becomes embedded in his arm, forcing his body to transform into something monstrous. This coincides with an enemy attack, and the arrival of a postal ship. While Akiyuki is fighting the humanform weapons launched by the Northern forces, a girl named Nakiami spots him from above, realises what has happened to him, and decides to help him, which seems remarkably altruistic of her.

For reasons that become apparent as the story unfolds, she know how to help him come to terms with being a Xam'd, what the Hiruko has turned him into, and so his adventure on the postal ship Zanbani begins, taking him away from his home, his family and his friends. The crew of the Zanbani is an eclectic bunch, and it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary postal ship. Under the command of the unconventional captain, Ishu Benikawa, it has a tendency to navigate towards trouble rather than away from it. Nakiami is a Tessik refugee that Ishu picked up as a child, and it's her Tessik heritage and spiritual connection that compels her to seek out Xam'd like Akiyuki, and find someway to deal with the humanform weapons, themselves perverted technological spin-offs of Xam'd. As the series progresses, Akiyuki gradually comes to terms with what he has become, with the aid of Nakiami and others among the Zanbani's crew, and he also fits in well, helping them with their day to day mission of delivering mail to all corners of this war torn land.

It becomes clear how divided this world is, as the story not only focuses on Akiyuki, but also those he left behind on Sentan Island. Of particular note are his friends Furuichi and Haru. Following the attack on the island, an attack that wrecks their school, they have to decide how to deal with it, and with the apparent loss of Akiyuki. With the arrival of a military contingent under the command of Tojiro Kagisu, they both decide to protect what remains to them by joining the army. For Haru, who is sweet on Akiyuki, there is the added benefit that perhaps by being in the army, she'll have a chance to look for him. The trouble is that Furuichi is attracted to Haru as well, and even with Akiyuki out of the picture, she won't think of him as anything other than a friend. Joining the military only strains their friendship the more, and it's made all the worse when they do finally meet Akiyuki again.


The military also has a part to play in the story, with Kagisu assigned to Sentan apparently to beef up the island's defences following the attack, but he and his command have a different, more insidious agenda. With him is a wheelchair-bound Tessik scientist named Kanba, and the research that he does on humanforms, Xam'd, and human 'volunteers' is chilling to say the least. It becomes clear that the military see little difference between the Xam'd and the humanforms, and Akiyuki becomes a target of interest for them, a fact that Kagisu uses against Haru and Furuichi, driving the wedge deeper between them. The military also has a worrying interest in Haru's sister Midori for some reason. Then there is Akiyuki's parents, who when we begin the show are separated, with his father Ryuza Takehara running a medical clinic. The mystery deepens here as well. We learn that Ryuza knows Kagisu, that they served together in a previous war, and that Ryuza once worked for the North, developing the very same humanform weapons that now attack the world.

At this halfway point in the series, it's just little pieces of the jigsaw, with not much idea of the overall picture. Snippets of information, little hints and allusions serve to enrich and vitalise this world, but also serve to keep the confusion high, and the veil lowered over most of the secrets. We hear a little about the Tessik people, and at the end of this half, Nakiami and Akiyuki are heading back to her homeland again, as it becomes clear that it lies at the heart of what is happening in this world. There is a strong arc of spirituality in the show, as it becomes clear that the terrorist who blew up the bus at the start of the series was motivated by religion. The Northern forces that attack in their humanform weapons are driven by religion, there's occasional talk of Ruikonism, and an absent prophet of sorts. The world that Xam'd presents is complex and detailed, carefully constructed and utterly vivid. It's also downright compelling and interesting, even if it tenaciously holds onto its secrets.


You have to work to get the most out of the show, but it makes up for that with a cast of diverse, rounded and interesting characters. Everyone has a story, an arc to follow, and it's not just the central trio of Akiyuki, Nakiami, and Haru that hold the attention. It's an epic adventure story, full of drama, emotion, and occasional hits of comedy as well. The animation is cinematic, the music is perfectly suited to the show, the action will keep you at the edge of your seat, and the story will get the wheels turning in your head. These first thirteen episodes of Xam'd Lost Memories exemplify the best in anime storytelling. What's more, they look and sound absolutely stunning on Blu-ray.