Xam’d Lost Memories 6

Augh! I hate cliffhangers. 

This was a good episode for no real reason I can put my finger on except that even when nothing mind blowing was happening I was still completely glued to the screen. I guess that’s good storytelling.

Haru and Furuichi try out for the military which means ASP Suit training. The suits are powered by mind control so they require a focused, level head to use. That could be important if/when something traumatizing happens during battle. If this were Code Geass I’d already be predicting Shirley Haru’s death but we all know that’s not going to happen. That’s not going to happen, right? Okay, good. Forget I even brought it up.

Speaking of deaths that aren’t going to happen, in a fit of jealous rage over Nakiami (maybe) Akushiba shoves Akiyuki out of a plane. He should’ve gone with the ol’ box cutter to the gut trick instead because Akiyuki has amazing luck.

Of course not. Why would I take this personally?

Once Akiyuki finally gets back on solid ground he transforms his arm into a pretty cool long-range-slicing knife in order to save Nakiami from a Humanform. Akiyuki may have thought for a moment that he’d just saved the day but Nakiami isn’t having any of that. We’re only six episodes in you fool, you’re not allowed any heroics until at least the halfway mark!

In all seriousness, the more we learn about Humanforms the more sympathetic they become. Nakiami would rather save one than kill it and for good reason since they were once human and she can hear their voices in her mind.

In fact the big reveal about Humanforms comes from Akiyuki’s dad who explains that during the Battle of Barador he was a military doctor for the Northern Government. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the soldiers who couldn’t be treated were turned into Humanform weapons. Yet as we well know from Dr. Kanba’s experiments, the Southern Government is doing the exact same thing. I wonder if we’re ever even going to meet the Northern Government or if we don’t need to because the South is their mirror image.

Haru continues to be incredibly sweet, charming and useful. She receives Akiyuki’s letter and, in a moment reminiscent of Voices of a Distant Star, responds with a dozen more. Although it was easy to guess this beforehand she also explains to Furuichi that she joined the military in order to get off Sentan Island and find Akiyuki. That’s what I call devotion. 

The whole scene was lit with a beautiful warm glow that really matched the mood. In fact all the visuals so far have looked great. It’s obvious that Bones has put some real talent and money into Xam’d… Macross Frontier animators please take note!

Even though it’s entirely superficial it’s hard not to make an Evangelion comparison when you’ve got a pained humanoid mecha-ish creature going berserk. Though I think Gendo could teach the doctor and Kakisu a thing or two about investing in unbreakable glass.

Just what the hell is this thing anyway? I know it’s a prototype Xam’d but why does it have that bizarre baby thing with it? Which can for some reason create exploding soap bubbles. Weird.

The upcoming battle between Haru, Furuichi and the Xam’d wasn’t in the episode preview either because it’s over in a few seconds or it’s too awesome to spoil. I hope it’s the latter and that Haru is the one who saves the day, not Furuichi. Prois taking it out with only her clipboard would be acceptable as well.