Alternative TitlesEnglish: Xam'd: Lost Memories Synonyms: Bonen no Xamdou, Bounen no Xamdou, Bōnen no Xamdou, Bonen no Zamudo, Bounen no Zamudo, Bounen no Zamned Japanese: 亡念のザムド
Information
Type: ONA
Episodes: 26
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jul 15, 2008 to Feb 4, 2009
Duration:
24 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.161 (scored by 7276 users)
Ranked: #2302
Popularity: #274
Members: 14,037
Favorites: 210 1 indicates a weighted score
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SynopsisSentan Island is a small island surrounded by the Yuden Sea. It exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Our hero, Akiyuki Takehara, lives on Sentain Island along with his mother Fusa. He is currently separated from his father, the town doctor Ryuzo, but the bond between father and son remains. One day, after taking Ryuzo the lunch that Fusa has made for him as usual, Akiyuki arrives at school, where he is caught up in an explosion along with his friends, Haru and Furuichi. The explosion produces a mysterious light, which enters Akiyuki's arm, causing him excruciating pain. He's given no time to understand it, however, as the white-haired girl who rode on the bus with him guides him to a power unlike anything he's ever known. |
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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tehnominator
87 of 125 people found this review helpful
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26 of 26 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Xam'd: Lost Memories is an absorbing, multi-faceted science fiction anime that manages to throw in elements of war, romance and drama into the mix.
The anime follow the lives of the people on Sentan Island, a zone that has remained peaceful in the outside warring world of the North and South. In a split second, in time hyphenated as shortly as the seconds ticking on a figurative and literal bomb, the islanders' war neutrality is compromised and they are thrown into the fray of impending violence. The North uses a weapon called the Humanform, while the South has their version of it; war has taken on a different face by using advanced (and monstrous) weaponry.
Caught in the middle of this is Akiyuki, a boy whose life is irrevocably changed when a blast from a suicide bomber tears through him, his friends and the people of Sentan Island. He is implanted with a Hiruko, and soon, he is forced to share his body with an alien force that can swallow up his humanity and turn him into a monstrous weapon. As war starts to spread to all over the land, Akiyuki is taken into the care of the mysterious Nakiami, a young woman with a greater understanding of the problems that Akiyuki now faces as a Xam'd.
Xam'd: Lost Memories manages to compact a terrific action anime into a deep character drama, making it a lot heavier than other war-based anime or even monster-based anime. The anime follows the stories of its ensemble cast, from Akiyuki himself, to the crew members of the postal ship he later is employed by, a General of the Southern army, his parents, an enigmatic group of people with strange powers who create Xam'd creatures and rescue Hiruko seeds, and an ostracised race of people known as the Tessik.
The problems with this story is that too much seems to be taking place at the same time, so much so that if you stop paying attention for a moment, you're going to left wondering what is happening, where are the characters now, who are the characters now and what exactly is everyone doing because they all seem driven with some sort of purpose that isn't exactly clear. Not only that, there are about three different names to refer to the same thing, and discerning what's the difference between a Hiruko, a Xam'd and a Humanform is a little tough especially if, as mentioned earlier, you stop paying attention for half a minute. Not to be excluded, the stance of certain factions in the war is a little convoluted. Are the Northerners the ones at fault? Is Lady Sannova and her creepy white-haired children affiliated with the North or the Tessikans? Are they an independent group? Whose side are the Tessikans on, anyway? What's the Quickening Chamber and its purpose? If the Emperor of the North is so all-powerful, why didn't he just take a little trip to the South himself and destroy all his enemies instead of dispatching faulty Humanforms who can't finish the job properly?
All these questions and it only really makes sense had your eyes and ears been glued to each episode and every word uttered. The finale clears things up just a little bit, though be keen on the words 'just a little bit'. So, the story is a little difficult to get into in terms of presentation, but if you're watching this for great action scenes (which there are many) or cool humanoid monsters (which there is a decent amount of) and perhaps the ensemble cast (there are a lot of characters) then the storyline might not be that much of a bother.
Technicalities of the plot aside, Xam'd still bears a very good story. Akiyuki's life aboard the postal ship provides the anime with some excellent scenes, geared towards the slice of life appeal, in which we see him working with and living amongst a quirky cast of characters as they try to combat air attacks and deliver the mail on time. The dynamics of human relationships are also explored very well, and handled quite maturely. Friendships, a married couple, sisters (biological and otherwise), lovers, comrades, and possibly most importantly, parent and child; all these different types of relationships are explored throughout the anime. The series is also thematic with great significance placed on the importance of your identity, the weight of a name, and moral obligations combating with personal desires.
The best aspects of Xam'd:Lost Memories are the art and sound. The artwork consists of intricate details and elaborate colouring. Elements such as the wrinkle in the skin where it creases at the joints, smoke sputtering out of a engine, or bricks in a wall being smashed, and the absolutely gorgeous scenery (magnificent skies and seas, cities and countrysides, Sentan Island itself) are painstakingly and prettily drawn. The animation is simply superb; the moments when Nakiyami soars through the skies on her airborne, mechanised kayak are breathtaking, some of the intense fight scenes are stunningly beautiful. The character design is very good, though the characters have simplistic features, they are well-conceptualised and given distinct appearances that actually complement their personalities.
The score for this anime is mostly traditional, utilising orchestrated music rather than electronically enhanced or composed music. A sweeping score of epic quality with haunting choir vocals, exotic acoustic sounds, stirring violin, pounding drums that build up and resound throughout the scenes, and poignant piano pieces. Sound effects are tight, exact. The modern element of Xam'd's soundtrack comes from the OP and ED theme songs. The OP theme is BOOM BOOM SATELLITES' extremely cool, rock-driven Shut up and Explode that is actually well-timed with the opening credits. From drums and crashing cymbals to the repetitive swells of the sung lyrics of 'run away', it grabs you and prepares to throw you into an exciting run of an anime. And then there's the heavy pop song that is the ED theme. Kylee's Vacancy is adds extra 'emotionally epic pop-rock song' appeal to the closing sequence, closing each episode of the anime with a punch.
Xam'd has a pretty large cast, as aforementioned, but its protagonist is Akiyuki. As the series begins, it can be understood from his actions and attitude that he has lived a generally carefree, spirited life. So as the anime kicks off and he's thrown into an alien environment and forced to deal with the creature that now lives inside him, Akiyuki eventually changes, though not without the expected "kicking and fussing" about it. He learns, through his life aboard the airmail ship, how to live symbiotically not only with the Hiruko, but with other people. His most important relationship is probably with his long-time friend Haru, who helps him to grow, and who aids in him truly understanding who he is and what he is, both to her and to himself.
Haru herself is an extremely persevering girl. Her role in the anime is a little difficult to define, as she is an extremely important figure with a significant portion of the anime dedicated to her. However she can be regarded mostly a supporting character, since she is only motivated by what she can do for Akiyuki, rarely for herself (so it appears on a surface level, anyway). She has her points of interest, and she's a self-reliant person who proves her strength several times, physically and emotionally, she is perhaps the protagonist most "held back" by her seeming position in the anime as simply 'the girl who likes Akiyuki'. Which is an unfortunate and unfair assessment. Don't mistake her for only that--there's more to Haru than how she might come across initially, and she holds her own as one of the main characters.
Nakiami is also one of the anime's protagonists, and possibly the most intriguing one out of all. She is a girl of simplicity who knows what she wants and what she needs to do even if it does not coincide with what others expect from her. Her philanthropic nature is spread to all things alive, good or evil, her enemy or friend, from her loved ones to complete strangers. Her agape love for every living creature shows the vulnerable side to her. Like a martyr, she is willing to sacrifice herself and live selflessly, though in doing that, ironically, makes her selfish, as her own desires come into conflict with other people's wishes for her. Her simplistic complexity (contradictory, but it she is that way--it's easy to understand that she does things because she can, but it's not easy to understand why she would ever want to do these things), enigmatic personality, strength, and general coolness as a character makes her one of the characters for whom you would watch another episode.
Then there are the actual supporting cast members. It is hard to decipher who is more important than who, since this anime pays attention to each one of them. Haru and Akiyuki's best friend Furuichi, for example, has a major role in the anime. As the story plays out, we see his subtle envy turn into full-blown jealousy and rivalry. Then there is his descent, as his blind dedication to prove himself and to assess his self-worth starts to envelop him to the point that he has truly forgotten himself. Plus, there's Haru's younger sister, a little girl with a growing bitterness caused by her disabilities and her ignored abilities, whose significance to the plot also grows as each episode passes. One of the villains of the anime is the commander of the Southern army; a sly, cunning, conflictingly composed man pressured by a string of successive failures. He eventually shows his true nature as a real soldier, a real beast of a human being and of war (self-loathing Oedipus complex aside; THAT actually expresses that there's still an ounce of humanity in him, curiously enough). Commander Kakisu bears the dead expression of someone who has expertly done their job for a long time, and who is passively bored with it.
Then there are Akiyuki's parents; a doctor and a housewife, who have grown apart, their son being the only thing they both seem to openly love anymore. And quite important to the anime is the string of characters aboard the postal ship. The captain, Ishuu, is probably the best character aboard the ship other than Nakiami. She is bold, brisk, and brash. Her harsh nature is a facade, especially when it comes to Nakiami. As she claims, that feelings cannot be expressed with words, most of her relationships are revealed expressively, emotionally. To her crew, she is their boss, the undisputed voice, the leader, their gravity. To those who know her more intimately, she is fragile. And to Nakiami, she is a mother. The Zambani's crew consists of a snarky cook, two precocious brats, an excitable mailman, a tough pilot, a kooky mechanic, a mysterious mystic, and a nomad photographer who remembered to return home.
Having so many characters, each of whom is given their own quirks, history and personality, however does not pay off in the end. One of Xam'd's flaws is that it presented a great, large cast of characters, and yet we only get character development from very few of them, or in some cases, the development is practically forced down the characters' throats, having their changes seem rather conspicuous than subtle. Perhaps with a lot more episodes at hand, or maybe less characters to deal with, there would have been perfect balance in this anime in terms of the handling of its very interesting cast.
While this is an excellent anime, it had the potential to be even better than it was given a clearer objective and perhaps more time to get into the myriad of characters that were presented. Despite its flaws and regardless of the sometimes meandering plot, this series still manages to be a great title with a sound emotional punch, great action sequences, excellent production aspects in terms of art and sound, and some pretty good characters whose lives you get into even if you don't get into their minds and motives. And while a lot of questions are never answered, it still makes a damn good watch.
Xam'd: Lost Memories is a great series that depicts a war-ridden world with monstrous people and humanoid monsters and everything else in between them. Given boundless inhuman power, a person has to find it within themselves to be human, to have responsibilities and remorse for their actions, and most importantly, to remember who they are at the end of it all. Those are the things that matter to us, really: a name, a face, an identity and of course, the memories. read more
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agentsmith
54 of 82 people found this review helpful
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26 of 26 episodes seen
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
As many people have already said, this anime is produced by the same people who brought you Eureka 7. Keep that in mind if you plan on watching this anime.
First off, check out the OP. Holy jebus it's sweet. Catches you instantly, and gets you all excited for what looks (judging from the animation quality) an awesome show. In some respects, this is a let down. While the animation is superb, the soundtrack is hauntingly good, and the characters are generally quite fleshed out (just enough info for you to find them interesting)... the story is near random. This anime seems confused as to what it's trying to say. On the one hand, we are basically following Akiyuki on his journey becoming a Xam'd, which is done quite well in terms of painting a comprehensive picture of the trials he endures.
Then it falls apart. The world as it is presented is split into two warring hemispheres, with some kinda naturalist "Tessik" tribe caught in the middle. No justification is ever given for this war, and for some unknown reason the Tessik are ostracized by everybody. As the series progresses, I was torn. In some regards, it's amazing: The characters are brought to life fully. You understand their hopes and dreams, and why they may be sabotaging their own attempts to reach them. In other regards, it's confusing and disappointing: Things keep happening to Akiyuki with no background reason, and the whole concept of a Xam'd is some kind of forbidden topic. Also, side stories seem to be the order of the day. A LOT of episodes are devoted to Nakiami's side trips, where she always seems to be preventing some poor sap from being engulfed by the Xam'd in him. (They also never explain the nature of a Xam'd... that's for you to decide. And good luck figuring out what the deal is with Human-form weapons...)
Conclusions? Well, it was a fun series to watch, but you'll get MUCH more out of it if you focus on a character driven storyboard. Pay attention to character interactions over actual plot, and you'll be much more satisfied. Otherwise you'll end up like me, wishing the creators had decided to actually make the 50 odd episodes that would have barely been sufficient to explain the story they threw at you, instead of cramming way to many (admittedly interesting) ideas into a mere 26 eps. Bottom line: If you found Eureka 7 too slow, but liked the ideas... you'll have a good time with Xam'd: Lost Memories. But you'll still wind up with a couple wtf moments and an abrupt ending. read more
Recommendations
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Premise of plot is similar, as well as character roles and art.
Bonen no Xamdo has the same character designer as Eureka Seven, as well as sharing similar animation styles and mecha themes. Both anime are created by Studio Bones.
The same team that worked on Eureka Seven came back to work on Xamdou.
Same creators, same style of story line, same style of art. Basically if you liked Eureka Seven you'll like Bonen no Xamdou. However, I fell Bonen no Xamdou will be better then Eureka Seven...
Bones, the producers of Eureka seven (aired 2005-2006) made another great anime: Bonen no Xamdou (aired 2008-2009)
(if you liked eureka seven then you might even be more hyped about this anime.)
- Both animes got some wonderful characters with some great depth
- The fantastic sound and music in both shows makes the experience watching these shows wonderful
- The story in both animes is probably what will catch your interest the most though! Sci-fi Action Adventures can't go wrong honestly ... hah
- Oh and ofc ... The animation is amazing, nuf said!
You'll find some big similarities between the shows, but i wont tell you what, since you'll notice them yourself when you will start watching. However.. They are very much alike ! ;)
I believe that both animes are based on awsomness!
By Bones, Similar universe to Eureka 7 but main character is a bit more manly.
The art styles are similar... done by the same team. Also, both have science fiction/fantasy type themes. Both also have airships xD
Airspace, adventure, action and a great base story. Characters show similarity, being on a 'neutral' airship doing 'odd-'job(s) to make a living. Sound, visual and the scenery are in both anime's stunning. While Eureka Seven has more episodes, sidestories, Xam'd seems to be sticking to the storyline. But both are awesome to watch, taking you on a great adventure.
They both have similar story lines and progression. They also reside in about the same universe.
The design of the characters and art is identical to Eureka, which I love! The genre is the same.
The main similarity is that they are both production BONES shows. Then the main female char looks like and has the same personality as the main female char in E7. The shows have a similar animati0on and feel.The main chars are average guys and end up working and doing chores in a ship out of nowhere. Then their are similarities in the personalitys in the crew of the ship including the captains. Some voice actors used in E7 was also used in Xamdou.
Xam'd feels like a re-envisioning of Eureka Seven. Just like Eureka Seven, it has a motley crew aboard aircraft/airship zipping around here and there with some awesome mecha action thrown in. So if your ever looking for something similar, give Xam'd a shot.
Common themes. Similar characters.
Same studio and similar world.
"Xam'd" is pretty much a reused version of "Eureka 7."
Ideas, characters, plot elements are all recycled.
But hey, isn't recycling good?
Both are done by the same studios and have very similar animation, and the 'family' feeling amongst crew members in both series is very strong, particularly at the beginning.
Xam'd is made by the same company as Eureka SeveN and as quite a few similarities with Eureka but has it's own Unique style to itself... if you liked Eureka SeveN You would most definitely like Xam'd!
Both of the main male roles are supported by a group of interesting characters who've got their own flying ship. Both have strong mecha themes, and both Renton and Akiyuki have to mature in order to survive. Both animes start focusing around the every day guy's life and develop from there. Xam'd and Eureka 7 both have protagonists resisting the military.
Both of them have few favourite Bones features, which they applied to almost all of their original works:
- a mysterious girl with unique abilities, which is somewhat apathetic towards her life;
- a special crew of few members which accept our main (or not so main) hero and he starts to learn about their past and ways of living;
- a Green Peace scent - let's save the nature and all the people, though in Xam'd it's not as strong as in Eureka;
- a teh genki brown-hair shounen, destined to save the Earth from some great disaster;
- lots of support characters which don't hesitate to make appearance even more often than main ones etc.
and loads of minor similarities as character designs, plot twists, seiyu etc.
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Xam'd gives of a very strong Nausicaa feel. If you've seen the movie, then i'm almost certain you'll know what i'm on about when watching the first episode of Xam'd. Check it out.
The first five minutes of the very first episode of Xam'd gave me an overwhelming Nausicaa vibe, and the feeling really hasn't diminished with successive episodes. I guess the most obvious similarity is that both feature a heroine who flies a single-person light aircraft and grows things in jars and is tough yet deeply compassionate, to the point of defending or weeping over creatures others would think of as monsters. Also, there's lots of airships and goopy stuff and morally complex war stuff and a cute animal. Basically, if you like Nausicaa, be sure to check out Xam'd. If you like Xam'd and you've never seen Nausicaa... have you been living under a rock? It's a classic!
The art & type of story...very simililar...i'm impressed that an anime series can achieve..the studio's detailed art work..story is captivating...whimsical
flying vehicles; adventures; strange worlds;
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Opening Theme"Back on my Feet" by Boom Boom Satellites (TV Broadcast Opening)
"Shut Up And Explode" by Boom Boom Satellites
Ending Theme "Over U" by Kylee (TV broadcast ED2)
"Vacancy" by Kylee
"Just Breathe" by Kylee (TV broadcast ED)
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Related ClubsStudio BONES Fan Club, Rain Down Paradise, Secret Paku Romi Fan ClubXD, Mecha/BioMecha-Super club, We Luv Anime Guys, Aniplex Studios Fan club, Anime in Blu-ray, MDAN, Sci-Fi Anime Club, Watch Anime Together Club Headquarters, Super-Powers Anime Club, Goggles!, Xam'd: Lost Memories / Bonen no Xamdou Fanclub, Fumiko Orikasa FC
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