Kurau Phantom Memory

"I am free, but I do not wish to be alone."



The premise: In the far future when mankind has advanced technologically to colonize the moon, two girls are hunted by the authorities for their mysterious supernatural powers.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons why this series doesn't get enough attention; it's so easy to dismiss KURAU Phantom Memory as just another generic sci-fi/action title. Of course, there are several familiar elements such as mecha, power plant disasters, conspiracy theories, beings from another world, and rogue subjects from questionable scientific experiments, but the lack of any elaborate explanations only goes to show that most of these technical ... details are mere plot devices. At its core, KURAU Phantom Memory is a drama about personal relationships.

Although many other anime titles have had similar themes in the past, KURAU makes no grand proclamations about ideals (ex. Love! Friendship! Hope! Etc.) and neither does it delve into any of these topics through abstract and verbose mono/dialogues. Instead, the viewers are simply shown the various relationships between the characters: those of colleagues, friends, couples, siblings, as well as parent and child. As if to stress the point that no man is an island, the story even introduces a new kind of bond: that of a Rynax and its pair. The connection between the two beings can be described as a binary existence characterized by intense (yet apparently asexual) longing and inability to live (literally and figuratively) without its pair. As the characters are separated by distance and, for some, by death, the series reveals the emptiness of solitary life and the joy of being with loved ones.

Just as important as the content itself is how the story is executed and in this, the creators of KURAU did a splendid job. Despite all the drama, none of the emotions seem exaggerated; quite a feat considering the number of characters (full-grown men included) who shed their tears throughout the series. Even if you’re sick of watching sad girls in the snow, this show gives you nothing to worry about since everything flows naturally. The pacing is also pretty even since there’s hardly any filler material and it doesn’t slow down to give long lectures about technical details or the philosophies of the characters. As the words “Phantom Memory” suggest, quite a number of flashbacks are shown but none of these drag on for too long and they’re always relevant to the development of the story.

The show isn’t lacking either in terms of audio and visuals. The character designs are unusually realistic and down-to-earth by anime standards, the animation of the battle scenes is pretty slick, the mecha are somewhat reminiscent of those in GitS, the landscapes of the terraformed moon and the scenic Swiss Alps are beautifully illustrated, and uncontrolled Rynax wreaking havoc are always a sight to behold. However, the impressive art is simply icing on the cake when compared to the integral role of the music in conveying the emotions of the story. Moonlight (ED and main theme) evokes feelings of loneliness, sadness, and at the same time, hope, while the cheerful and upbeat Natsukashi Umi (OP) serves as a counterbalance. The insert song Lonely Freedom also does well in highlighting several dramatic scenes with its mysterious and calming aura.

For all of its strengths, it's a pity that KURAU Phantom Memory does not get the attention that a show of this calibre deserves. This may be one of those cases which demonstrate that a show need not be abysmally boring despite the number of tropes used.

Forget LoTR... because this here is the ultimate drinking game challenge! You see - the humble game, in spite of its ultimate purport, must not lay the player to ruin (read: on the floor) in the space of a few hours, for that would constitute a plain old piss-up - but neither can it overly entertain, at which point the undertaking is jeopardised through detraction. Kurau Phantom Memory is, as an unsuspecting anime fan might find out, the perfect tool for the job, with enough writing mishaps to fill an abandoned diamond mine and spanning what seems like four times the amount of airtime over ... what one would expect. From the very first episode the key "pint action" moments establish themselves and then continue to amplify in both magnitude and frequency as the episodes roll on. Something important but of trivial impact happens? Sip. A main character's name is uttered? Sip. Said character looks sad, pensive, cries or perhaps ventures to stare into the distance? Sip. Classy music sounds totally misplaced? Sip. Ending credits song starts playing an hour too early? Another sip. You get the point, so read on if you dare. Gulp.

Think Prison Break's arduous non-prison part with a sprinkling of Chrno Crusade devoid of any romance, with the entire affair dialled down to 0.11 (that's 0,11 if you are of European persuasion), and the picture is bleak. Granted, on the face of it Kurau stands as very much the opposite of a run-of-the-mill garbage title, yet at the same time in certain key aspects it manages to exhibit typical traits of said "genre", including long stretches of scenes devoid of any meaning or value, dirt poor animation where the opposite is expected, and general non-writing. Corners were sacrilegiously cut in places and the on-screen circus just won't leave town. Albeit it did bring flying people, I like that.

Main characters - Kurau and Kristmas, while well designed, are begging to be kicked into gear compelling them to, well, actually do something of interest to the viewer, whereas side characters tend to get treated rather atrociously in terms of writing (which on occasion also extends into their attire - gasp!) The in-world "agent" occupation which keeps our protagonists gainfully employed and moves some events along comes off as totally bogus. Similarly, a certain dramatic backstory coined for a supporting character just feels tacked on and unnecessary. On the rare occasion that an event occurs which seems to hint at character development (see page N: main characters assign fake names to each other), take a gulp of your favourite spirit because let me assure you such opportunities are few and far between, and to top it all off the culprit event fails to lead anywhere and dissipates as briefly as it materialised, never to be mentioned again. Like some kind of phantom memory, or something.

Speaking of action scenes, the spoiler here is that there is not much to spoil: said action starts off as mildly entertaining and then (uh-oh) follows the same path already trodden more times than there are episodes up to that point, with no lessons learned by the ensemble whatsoever eventually, and possibly even with some repeating cutscenes tossed in for good measure. A song called "Eternal Cycle Of Delusion", while not at all related to anime, very much encapsulates the events portrayed in this one, circling around the same point despite all the variation going on inside. I won't spoil the plot which is adequate, it admirably zips through an array of varied locations and covers plenty of ground as expected of 24 episodes. However, because the characters don't seem to be moving along with the events portrayed, an opposite effect is achieved and we end up questioning whether we too should be feeling moved in any direction whatsoever. At several points rather tragic happenings occur on a large scale, and had you been caught ogling your mucky pint glass at that precise moment, you'd be left more interested in the gravity of your beverage rather than that of the said event on screen. In order to resolve predicaments, plot armour condenses into thick layers of most handy protective sediment about as efficiently as the next squad of baddies gets deployed: one example being, a laser weapon goes from a long-cooldown cannon to a friggin' blaster in no time at all.

Ideas presented in Kurau are engaging and have plenty of potential still. I leave it to more capable reviewers to cover the symbolism of the series, whereas my personal outtake was that the duality and elusiveness of this mysterious (checks notes) Rynax hints at the principle of quantum entanglement between two particles, and the themes integrated become even more intriguing when one considers how some contemporary theories suggest that consciousness itself may in fact be a quantum process. Now, the good people of the Kurau universe are doing what they were born to do, including exploring the "forbidden" energy source, it's just that they do it in the usual, unregulated manner. Can't blame them for it though, because there really doesn't seem to be much else to chase, courtesy of the world-building no less. Not even a fishy red herring to keep us engaged.

Art is generally solid if a little plain, does the job without much pretence. The technology portrayed is admittedly interesting and well designed, of which certain elements unfortunately get shoved onto our screens time and time again in the same guise, with little tact or regard for the location of the proceedings or viewer engagement in general. On the upside, the show is uncharacteristically devoid of overdone facial expressions contorted with terror and anger, with only one example of such, and a totally random character at that. Which is unlike certain titles such as (points finger) AoT and Demon Slayer where every character looks terrified and terrifying at the same time, in any given frame without exception. The opening and ending songs attempt to establish this mellow, relaxed mood, yet everything that happens in between those two oft-repeated snippets finds itself on the intersection of the conflicted and the played down. There is a tournament scene which should've been action-packed and mighty spectacular, and surprise-surprise - it manages to fall flat. Overall tone is perplexing and fails to settle on anything definitive - which in fact prompted this review, thus I suppose it did what art is intended to do - namely to send the (re)viewer on a trail of ruinous ramblings and ruminations.

Overall I'd summarise Kurau as a diamond in the rough which, before all the cutting and polishing, still needs to be extracted from the surrounding rock - it's certainly there but requires some serious digging. It'd be worth the effort though - not just for the shiny sparkle, but because inside it holds a coveted NV centre that may someday help us to harness the power of that elusive quantum particle. But for now the only object* to see some polishing action will be the pint glass; remember to keep it half-full rather than half-empty, and you might just find some enjoyment in this series.

*Unless you click on that other "anime" bookmark of yours. Editor.

Oh boy, where to start?

Characters: Boring and disappointing for the most part. Which is very sad when in the first few episodes there is much potential in Kurau, the heroine of the series. Literally the first image in the series is of Kurau standing alone on a building structure high above the busy flying cars of a future city, apathetic to what should be dangerous to any normal human. Very Ghost in the shell, Major Kusanagi visually......also there are doves flying in the backround. Which you understand later what that scene represents in the story, but this is the moments of the first episode, ... so I was thinking more along the lines of John Woo and Kurau was about to do a slow motion dive through a skylight. Taking out a room full of bad guys with dual pistols. (End Tangent)

Later on you find out when she was 12 years old, during one of her fathers experiments with a new energy type called Rynax there is an accident, causing two particles to break free from the test area and enter Kurau's body. The "Rynax" is a sentient life form that lives it's life in pairs and when entering our "world" need symbiosis with a human to survive (perceivability). Taking over the host's personality, and gaining memories from that persons past (usually), while giving the human special powers and abilities as well. We are then treated to a "6million Dollar Man" team of scientist testing of her physical abilities, dubbing her super human.

Fast forward back to the current time and Kurau is a bad ass freelance "agent", which are basically Bounty Hunters or Mercenaries that do any job that falls beyond the scope of the GPO(Government Police). Cold, brash and the best in the business, she is even called Krazy Reckless Kurau by her co-agent while on the job. Passing threw solid matter, the ability to break her body down into light and pretty much "scan" her immediate area. She can also obliterate or bend matter and effect electrical systems. You are even treated to a battle where Kuraru takes down a Mech in a mid air battle...... with nothing but a "Riot Sword". All in the first episode!!!

What happens next is Christmas appears, who was the second of the pair of Rynax Kurau took into her body, after 10 years of resting. And in one night, Kurau turns from the number one power babe mercenary to a crying, whiny, punching bag for the rest of the series, about 20 episodes in total. Spending much of the time beaten up, bruised and crying, her spiral down to an emowreck really turned me off to this show. There are some moments where she shows true power, like the first GPO ambush were their most effective weapon against Rynax doesn't put her down. But most of the time she is face down and bleeding after the GPO begins to try and track her down for being a rynax sapien.

"Where's my Christmas!!!!!!"- Get used to hearing that over, and over, and over again.

And other than Kurau, I had zero attachment to anyone else in the series, specially since she is the only character they develop in the series. Nobody else even matters for most of the show besides Christmas, whom follow from her "birth" into the series.


Plot:Keeping it short now. The rich look for greater riches and the powerful look for greater power. And I guess in the case of the Rynax, those who can move threw dimensions, search for new worlds to experience. The ethics of the Rynax exploiting people to stay in this state of being and people exploiting the Rynax for power, is on display in the series. And that the connections that people make are special, because nobody wants to be alone, being the over riding theme. That is the gist of the story.

Also don't mind that Christmas is literally a walking plot hole against the last half of the series and nothing really is completely explained in the show. Like why the Rynax need to be in pairs, because by the end of the series Kurau and Christmas have to spent a pretty large amount of time apart from one another, but neither one is effected negatively. When in contrast, threw out the show you're made to believe that being a part from your partner physically hurts the Rynax and causes a slow and painful death.

Also what happened on the pirate ship??? No spoiler, but it makes no sense and they never talk about it afterwards. Like a married coupe who just avoid bringing up an affair in the relationship. It just goes a way.

Sound: Nothing really to speak of, the intro and closing songs were nothing special. And if I'm am not mistaken they used sound effects from the Proton packs in Ghost Busters when Kurau first comes in contact with the Rynax. So bad....... I really didn't pay too much attention afterwards because of how hackney it was to use the Ghost Busters SFX.

Art: Dull and drab, nothing stands out. The doldrums would best describe the art and personalities on display. Which would work if this was a gritty, life is hard and everybody dies type of show. Instead of being a cry fest trying to make you relate to every characters life and understand the greater value of love and friendship. Much like if Monster was about a brother and a sister beating all the odds to open a cupcake shop, instead being as real as a heart attack, dark and twisted mind f@#$. Drab works when it fits the story.


I think only two recurring characters in the whole series don't cry at some point, the evil scientist and the evil GPO director. My confusion is, is this a compelling story I want to explore or some 14 year old Gothic girls diary I should stop reading or laugh at!!!!! I enjoyed the first episode and I continued to watch this series only because of the first episode. I would not recommend this show to anyone.