I was going to write a post about how episode 13 was temporarily pulled from the PSN and Xam’d won’t be back until Japan can catch up but then Omonomono did it for me.
In the meantime this gives me a chance to write about something I’ve been thinking about – the pacing. When reading other blogger’s entries on Xam’d I tend to see many of the episodes described as “build up” and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. If most of the narrative has been a steady build up, like climbing a mountain, then we’ve only reached a couple of peaks or pay off episodes. One such episode was episode 8, when after leading up to it so much Haru and Akiyuki finally met. Yet for the most part Xam’d has spent more time developing the characters or the world rather than having a contained build up, conflict and resolution in each episode.
So what does that mean? It’s not that the storytelling is unusual, it’s just that with Xam’d I have even less of an idea where it’s all heading than normal. With most series even if I can’t predict what will happen I still know the general direction it will take. For instance In Eureka Seven I knew that Renton’s story would be about him growing up or after the first arc of Kaiji I knew he’d go through hell in an attempt to gamble his way to the top. But where is Xam’d heading? I really don’t know. Akiyuki’s declaration to live alongside others is a pretty vague character motivation and could take him in nearly any direction.
I suppose if I view Xam’d as a character drama then this doesn’t really matter because it’s the character interactions that are driving the story. With that in mind I’m just going to sit back, relax, and let the story take me where it will. I’ve yet to be bored or underwhelmed by an episode of Xam’d so even if it’s unconventional whatever they’re doing is working just fine for me. Though I’m very curious to hear what the rest of you watching think so far.
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Xam’d is being a lot more coy than E7 definitely was, in terms of it’s overall purpose. Maybe we’re all expecting Xam’d to explode in some sort of epic clash for the world, or some such thing, when the series never aimed for anything like that at all?
But I think Xam’d is proving to be much more of a low key series (even moreso than Rahxephon, to stick to Bones series as examples) and remains what is essentially an ensemble drama (as the trailer advertised).
Sucks to hear about the hiatus of new episodes. A defining strength of Xam’d is the quality of its dialogue. Quiet, but meaty and nuanced. In the first episode Akiyuki’s mother just thought aloud “Children keep husbands and wives together” and I was hooked.
I think narratives can get away with dropping dialogue that says something when the other business of exposition and storytelling is handled competently. I can think of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, particularly Kill Bill vol. 2 and Pulp Fiction – rife with quotable gems, and Cowboy Bebop as the anime example.
Xam’d can easily mine its parental and mentor characters to produce winners. I can’t wait until it gets going again.
I’d like to know where Xam’d is headed as well, but I really have trouble understanding anime like this simply because the dialogue usually bores me despite how cool it may sound, especially when soldiers say: “Yes, sir!”
I love the artwork as well, and the animation is great.
I’m a big fan of this series, and I am perfectly willing to patiently wait it out and see where it goes. At least episode 12 felt like a chapter end, rather than a cliffhanger.
One of the things that always pops up in the background is the overarching presence of the Northern Government. As Nakiami is from the north and is returning there, I expect that will feature prominently into the second half. We also need to take into account that Nakiami, Haru, and Haru’s little sister can all presumably hear the thoughts of both Humanforms and Xam’d. How Nakiami’s tribe and this are connected will probably be a major plot point. But I’m not going to try to make too many predictions. The thing I love about this show is that, in the course of two episodes, the whole story can change.
As far as pacing goes, I think it’s excellent. That is, they keep everything moving along swiftly. Already, in 12 episodes, we’ve seen more plot than most anime have in a full season. (Two seasons if you count Naruto; let’s not forget that a full third of season one was taken up by ONE BATTLE.) I strongly feel that this will become one of my favorite anime.
A: Yeah, good point. I should stop trying to compare every show I watch to something else but I just can’t help it.
Ghostlightning & blissmo: A lot of the dialogue is definitely in the same style as Bebop or a Tarantino film. I think it works well here but it does get heavy-handed at times and you really have to buy into that to enjoy it.
Scot: I find it interesting that as much as there’s talk of the Northern Government we haven’t really seen them at all. My theory is that this is because we’re supposed to notice that the North and the South aren’t very different in terms of their wartime methods so we only need to physically see one side. Of course I could be wrong. Guess we’ll be finding out more soon enough.
I need more Xamd…:(