Ranked #246

Xam'd: Lost Memories

It's been a long time since I was hooked on a shounen release - pure fighting, action and not much thinking. Sometimes I'm just looking to escape from reality and some of these anime do it. Have a good laugh, enjoy and that's it. Some of these anime also make you feel sad when you finish it.

And Xam'd is one of them. I felt stupid for being so hooked on a shounen, typically brainless, no thinking required anime. But it sure felt good.

Soundtrack-wise, the OP and ED were wonderful. Catchy and easily remembered, much like the opening sequence of tapping feet, the tracks make me want to tap my feet too.

Production-value for an anime series is high. Unfortunately we seldom see such values any more. I'm sick of this 2009/2010 season's anime and have retreated to a few older series that I missed out.

A few complaints though. The plot reads suspiciously like something reworked from Eureka 7. Instead of the shoujo being the alien as in Eureka 7, it is now the shounen who gets his exotic Xam'd powers. Similarly a relationship develops between the two - even while you're hoping the shounen will be paired with Nakiami, the tsunderere.

I cannot help but keep drawing comparisons between E7 and Xam'd because later in both series, both shoujos snipped off their hair too. The characters might have as well been made from the same mould, which explains the rating of 6 for characters and 7 for story. Originality was just not there.

However, you should not let this detract you from enjoying the show. If you're willing to suspend disbelief. then suspend comparison as well - sit back and enjoy it for the brainless, non-thinking show it is.

Albeit once in a while. read more

Story
The main problem with Xamd is the story. Story starts out like your typical Shonen, boy receives special ability sets out on a journey to discover more about his ability known as Xamd. An ability which allows the user to change into a bug like creature. Story is interesting initially the main character Akiyuki, and his two friends have an interesting plot where each friend takes a different path as they mature and grow. But the story never matures into anything special from there. After a few episodes you realize the story is just missing something like intelligence or enjoyment. Still it’s a good watch if you fancy a fantasy setting, airships and the occasional flashy battle. With that said fighting scenes are very rare but dialogue is abundant. Xamd eventually transforms into this bizarre drama that confuses the hell out of viewers in my opinion.

Characters
I liked the characters but a fatal flaw is that the show focuses far to much on characters no one gives a shit about, about half the episodes focus on side characters for a period of time which kills viewers interest.

Animation and Sound
Superb, makes up somewhat for the lack luster story.

Overall
Both Xamd lost memories and Eureka 7 were done by the same team. If you enjoyed one you may enjoy the other. Both Animes have this slow pacing and a level of drama which just kills the anime for me. read more

I'm a big fan of the Eureka 7 series so when I came across Xam'd, I was excited about being able to watch a series w/ the same visual stylings. Not only is the art similar, but the characters and storyline have strong similarities. Heck, they even have a flying base ship in this series too! Although I enjoyed Xam'd, I felt that the main characters weren't as compelling as the support characters and that grew frustrating as the series wore on. Xam'd is an entertaining journey, but gets a little convoluted in it's storytelling towards the later stages of this series and perhaps gets a little too ambitious in attempting to tie together it's various storylines. Visually, I have no complaints, it's a joy to behold. And, it's nice to have some catchy music by Boom Boom Satellites to open the show. That was a pleasant surpirse. I'm also hooked on the closing sequence's music by Kylee! Enjoy! read more

xam'd is a mecha,romance,fantasy, sci fiction,slice of life, shojo/shoenen esque anime.

story: kinda a boring plot and i dont think much really happened atleast anything important.dont wan spoil anything watever. a bit filierish. still entertaining thouh.


art: The mech designs look kinda dull and a little , but look pretty cool once they start going and attack other things. Animation is pretty standard some good, some bad. Sometimes the animation looks real stiff at times or very unnatural.pretty similiar to e7 quality animation. overall decent.

sound: RUN AWAY RUN AWAY RUN AWAY
sums up my opinion of the opening (no offense). and the ending is generic mainstream j-rock music. so nothing really special. thought everyone's voices ok cept the main character sounds very monotone and somewhat annoying.

character: as of right now most of the characters are forgettable cept that one guy whose name i cant remember . well he's a cool guy , walks around being all stinky and aint afraid of anything. Then it got better when he got naked in the tub but they ruined by having him shave off his sexy facial hair.

enjoyment: a decent watch to pass the time of my boring life til death.


7/10

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Like Eureka Seven and Nausicaa put into one! All in all the show had a different type of storyline with diverse characters - though they all have moments where you want to smack them around. The series had a good start, then got little a slow middle, and then had a moderate wrap up - but I would still recommend it. The animation was clean and pretty (because it's Bones of course!). It was interesting that this series came out on the US Playstation network before it was released to Japan.

This show had great potential, but half way through the series the story got lost. They had so much they needed to explain and ignored it all. They tried to focus on character development, but somewhere along the way decided they didn't know what to do with the characters as well. So, despite an enthralling beginning to an anime making me want to keep watching I lost steam half way and just finished it to finish it. The ending made no logical sense and I was a little frustrated by some of the story elements not being properly explained.

Despite the lackluster ending, its worth watching. The characters are quite brilliant, they just need another season or a few more episodes to fill out and be complete. read more

I just finished watching this anime through the second time, and it has great replay value. The story is very intricate and interconnected so don't expect to grasp all of it the first time through, but the overall messages and themes are impressively powerful. It's got action, don't worry. Lots.

I suppose I'll start with the story first, STORY:
The beginning of the series is very focused on a few characters, and slowly branches out to include more and more characters in the plot until towards the end all of the characters are being covered but the focus is where it should be. Things start rather slow I think in the beginning, but the other elements really hold it together and make it worth sticking around for. I don't think many people will fully understand the resolution, so the tip I can give you without spoiling the show is to understand Akiyuki's connection to Xam'd. Pretty vague, huh? Well if you really string together various scenes and points of view of many of the characters the entire world really comes together rather complete and stunning. For anyone who likes depth in story I strongly reccomend Xam'd: Lost Memories. It might be a bit unknown in terms of popularity but that's because it's a very character driven story along with many, many scenes in a single episode so the faint of heart might not like the jumps between settings so quickly. Especially when the story crosses dialogue from one character with scenery from someplace completely different. The show has a very individual look on people and life in general, which made the plot intensely likable for me. Don't worry, the ending doesn't upset in my book.

Next up, PICTURES, lots of em!
This anime has really fluid and clean animation. The characters move cleanly around and interact with their world on such a personal level you get drawn in very easily. This just makes the fighting scenes much more intense because of the level of detail that's been drawn out in every picture. There's also alot of symbols and objects that have many meanings and connections to the characters making the picture that more meaningful. For example: whenever a character is giving advice or helping someone else they'll often throw something at them and they'll catch it. Pretty nifty bit I thought. Anyhow, the machines and the mechas (I call them bio-mechas) are really interesting and one of a kind looks. They really make the world very alien and yet believable in the context. (All flying machines are powered by stones that create a cool rainbow effect when ships take-off) Don't worry that didn't spoil any plot. The characters expressions are also spot on all the time like most animes, and there's so much interaction in these stunningly beautiful shots of landscapes and skylines that it's hard not to be a little passionate when you write a review on the art style.

Sorry, did you say SOUND?
I'll make this one short, since you can't describe sound with words as well.
Volume: Great!
Environment: Pretty good!
Weapons: Satisfying
The Fwoosh Rainbox Sky-Ship Sounds: FWOOSH!... Tink!
Voices: Really, really good.
Disturbing/Strange: Unexpectedly familiar yet different
Timing: Spot on!

Who's a CHARACTER?
All the characters are really dynamic and many of them end up changing towards the end of the show, or coming to some sort of realization. That's what makes this anime really special in my book. All of the characters are pretty dynamic and interactive. The world feels really alive and ever-changing. Sure, there's always characters with flaws, and there's characters that are supporting, and there's ones you see more often. But when you see a character, you'll think of them specifically because they're really well defined. All of them have differences and individual personalities. I could say the only exception is the standard soldier-type person in this show, but that's believable in the context of things. Everyone also gets a bit of the spotlight as the plot goes on, so if you don't see much of a character in the beginning or when you first see them, expect them to show up in the future because the anime pretty even-handed when it comes to show time. (Of course Akiyuki overwhelmingly has the most show time, being the protagonist and all) For those who don't like the vulnerable parts of characters especially, this show isn't for you. One of the main themes is showing the weaknesses in people and how they overcome their flaws. If that isn't a powerful enough message for you I advise moving on to a different review.

Enjoyment:
I watched the show twice, I liked the show more the second time I saw it. I probably wouldn't see it a third time because I understand pretty much the whole story now.
Highlights:
-Akiyuki growing as an individual through the whole story
-Akiyuki's parents
-Midori/Haru
-Every single fight scene
-Every single fight scene 2nd viewing
-Climaxes of secondary character plots
-Climaxes of secondary character plots (Especially)
-Revealing of the truth of Xam'd towards the end the 2nd viewing, because I grasped most of the point behind events

Loved the story
Loved the animation a bit less, still loved it
I never focused on the sound because it was so flawless in my book, totally believable
The characters WERE the story, and I loved the story


OVERALL First view: 8.5
OVERALL Second view: 9.5

Watch this anime! Maybe not twice, but more people should definitely check it out. It's beautiful storytelling on a fast paced and intense level.


Lil' Note:
I must warn viewers that if you don't understand what's going on and get lost or confused, you will probably get frustrated with the choices that characters are making, even under their respective personalities. But, if you follow the plot you will really understand why a character does or doesn't do something, or what the heck just happened and where they are you'll love the show by the end, guaranteed. I found this out in my second viewing that I liked the choices characters made the second time through because I fully understood the show and where it was going. read more