Xam’d Lost Memories 11 and 12

This post is really, really late. I was going to make up a legitimate excuse as to why I didn’t have time to post about 11 last week but truth be told I was too lazy too busy watching Eureka Seven and getting into internet fist fights over the ending of a certain other show. Just for the record, I’ve concluded that if he is alive he’s not the cart driver nor is he hiding in the hay or the bag. He’s in the horse (disclaimer: I didn’t draw this page so don’t report me to PETA or complain because your boss or mom doesn’t understand how awesome Jojo’s is). 

Okay, enough about that. This post is about Xam’d. Really.

Episode 11 – Assault: The Zanbani

Episode 11 is the action episode which sets up for the decision Nakiami and Akiyuki make in 12. The fun part about this episode was watching the crew work together to fight off the attacking Humanforms. Each character got involved in the fight somehow, even the kids.

What with Ahm manning a gun turret and Ishu all but wearing war paint it’s pretty clear that the Zanbani is not just a mere postal ship. Although not all the characters are so keen on battle as their gun-toting captain.

Yunbo and Ishu’s argument was pretty funny and illustrated their opposing personalities. Yunbo is motherly, kind, and religious wheras Ishu is gruff and more of a pragmatist. Of course as much as they fight I suspect that they actually understand each other the most and rely on the other’s judgement more than they’d ever let on. It’d be pretty interesting to learn the backstory about how the two met. Wait, what am I saying. They already covered it in the drama CD…

Tenshin, Yunbo and Ishu.

Why do I keep trying to hijack this post with Sunrise shows? I do not know.

I still haven’t quite figured out how the ship’s attackers, the followers of Lord Hiruken, fit into everything so far. If anything they’re some kind of extremist faction but are they the same as the albinos who are going around blowing themselves up and turning people into Xam’d?

It’s never been clearly stated but there’s obviously some kind of strong environmental message in Xam’d. I don’t feel like the show is telling me to go out and hug a tree but there’s definitely a “respect all living things” mantra as demonstrated by Nakiami. Of course it’s not always so clear cut as that and I can hardly blame somebody like Ishu for caring more for the safety of her crew than for some attacking monsters.

Episode 12 – Blooming Flower in the Dark

I liked this episode a lot, in fact it’s probably one of my favorites so far. I think the show’s strength really lies in its character interactions and human drama and this one definitely packed an emotional punch.

As revenge for keeping all those blobby things locked up in jars, Nakiami gets eaten by their mother. No, not really. I actually have no idea what the hell this was about except that it made me laugh and then feel ashamed for laughing at Nakiami getting violated. I’m pretty sure the monster design is yet another homage to Ghibli, perhaps to both No Face in Spirited Away and the Dorok emperor in the Nausicaa manga who also has a gelatineous spirit form with a cyclops eye. This reminds me that I still have the last two volumes sitting on my shelf unread which is a travesty because the manga is incredibly good.

Yet another hint about Ishu’s past and true intentions. What, is she an anti-government revolutionary who wrote some kind of manifesto before getting a giant gun and going into hiding? Yeah, yeah I can see that.

Not surprisingly, Nakiami decides to go back to Tessik village and Akiyuki joins her. Their parting with the rest of the crew, especially Nakiami’s goodbye to Ishu, really tugged on my heart strings.

I’m not going to say I told you so, but I did guess back in episode 3 that Furuichi was probably infected. This was really a great scene because although Furuichi’s been such an ass I couldn’t help pitying him and feeling glad that he made up with Haru. However I don’t think that becoming a Xam’d is necessarily going to change his opinion of Akiyuki. This could just be a case of knowing your enemy, as Furuichi himself implies.

Next episode it looks like Akiyuki makes a quick pit stop at Sentan Island and his mother tries to find him. Every time there’s running in this show I think of the OP and it makes me happy. Akiyuki’s parents showing up again also makes me happy, I like their story a lot.