After buying another anime DVD from Amazon, I kept getting emails recommending Mnemosyne to me, but after reading some reviews I decided it was best to watch on Netflix instead. At six episodes, decided it wouldn't take up too much of my life - plus, if I didn't like it, I could just turn it off and not worry about what to do with a DVD I didn't want to watch. Unlike most anime, instead of being comprised of 25 minute episodes, Mnemosyne has an expansive 45 minutes per episode, meaning there is enough time to create an entire fully fleshed-out world and establish various characters despite the short series length.
Rin, the titular character (in more ways than one), runs a private detective business in the Tokyo district of Shinjuku. She deals with various cases with the help of her assistant Mimi. Thing is, being Magnum P.I. aside - Rin's immortal, and when she's not tracking down lost cats, she's getting involved in more supernatural mysteries that seem to find her whether she's on or off the map. What is the darkness haunting Rin - and is it the same force behind her inability to die?
From backgrounds to finishing touches, Mnemosyne's art isn't really anything to write home about. The character designs along the same lines with generic crazy hair colours, big eyes and, yes, large breasts - I get second-hand backache just looking at this series. Similarly adequate is the music, apart from the opening song, which I skipped every time because I just couldn't stand it, but that is my bias.
It's clear that Mnemosyne's best quality is the use of time throughout the series. Recurring characters dare to do what many cartoon characters never do - age. And do they age! There is no better illustration of Rin's immortality than to have generations sweep past her as she stays the same, and the implied loneliness this creates. And it isn't just people who age - society and technology sprints along at every new episode. From totally immersive MMORPGs to intuitive virtual-reality shopping at a fingertip, this is one of the most intriguing aspects of the show, especially how it relates to Rin's investigations. Though I have to say - Rin, if you only get one case every twenty years, maybe it's time to consider a career change?
From the best to the worst: the explicit porn and gore scenes. I felt that, like a VN, Mnemosyne should have had an option to turn these scenes off altogether as they added nothing to the plot, feeling nothing more than embellishment to attract freaks and their wallets than any kind of artistic or political endevour. There were many times I considered like closing the browser window when these scenes happened, and they do colour my ultimate perception of the show negatively.
As for the dub, I thought the voice actors did very well with the material they were given. Whereas the majority of the cast didn't last more than a few episodes, they fit their roles well enough. Colleen Clinkenbeard deserves a special mention for her consistently natural delivery as Rin, even during more... challenging scenes.
Overall, the series presents some compelling mysteries and the setting and time-span are utelised effectively to create a unique perception of human impermanence from the eyes of one who cannot age. The evolution of technology throughout was also fascinating to watch. The ending's reveal on the nature of Rin's mysterious condition also drew from several mythical sources, suggesting that the creators had done a lot of research on ancient civilizations and their beliefs. Without giving too much away, I also appreciated the subversive attitude towards what we consider angelic beings - it felt like the first time Mnemosyne had dared to make a statement that wasn't explicitly sexual in nature. However, I felt that as much as the erratic, brave plot was a cartographer's delight, the pornography and gore are enough to take this series off the map for me. While Mnemosyne has potential, it is preoccupied with selling itself, and selling itself too cheap at that.
Amazon.co.uk price: £6.75
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
Number of discs: 2
Classification: 18
Studio: Manga Home Entertainment (UK) Ltd
DVD Release Date: 13 Sep 2010
Originally posted on marusamarento.wordpress.com
