Xam’d Episode 25 - Everyone Cries
Okay. If you can’t handle cliffhangers and you’re hooked onto this show as I am, you ought to stop watching and wait until the last episode comes out next week. In fact you should’ve stopped a while ago.
Even if you could stomach the weekly torture since the past month or so, I still recommend that you wait. It’s that … bad. Now if you’re not as caught up with the emotional drama and the QQ, then do what I do and take the cliff hanging like a man.
Needless to say, and I’m going to be clear, reading the rest of this post without seeing the episode first will impact your enjoyment level when you do see it.
Speaking of Mr. Emperor, as this episode is primarily about him and Sannova, check out SDS’s entry on this guy. It’s a good read and I wish I had more time on these sleepless Tuesday nights to spin it out like that.
You know, that totally reminds me of this Saint Seiya guy. The resemblance is slight, but I dunno.
We saw the left-behind Zanbani crew in action, as a part of a voice over montage. Not sure what’s going on there.
And while this episode we had mostly just curtain-fire, there were some homing laser beams, so I’m satisfied.
Akiyuki spouts pew pews for the first time!
The business end of a Main-Soul. This week’s Gadget Check! It’s a simple tool but it inspires horror along the lines of red LCL oozing out of an Eva plug.
Mary Poppins? Not quite. But her umbrella is runner up for gadget check.
So is this book, some kind of genealogy for Sannova’s tribe.
… and this is my biggest complaint for episode 25. So wait, let me get this straight, the main bad guy in Xam’d is just a shikabane? LOL? Okay, so yes, Buddhism-inspired stuff. Unavoidably there are going to be some shared themes. But seriously, Hiruken Emperor is just stillborn-fetus-turns-man-made-shikabane that is 1000 years old? And Sannova is his mom? I think I’m going to blow a gasket. Yea, it’s imaginative, I’ll give you that.
Is that Tenchi’s mom?
…guess not.
As expected, Kujireika makes an appearance. What’s left of her tribe made it to the town outside of the quickening chamber; there are a small but healthy contingent left. Naturally she braves into the storm and wants to kick Hiruken’s ass.
Upskirt? LOL.
Akiyuki here is totally the mediator or whatever they call him, so he stops Kujireika when it’s clearly not necessary.
Because it would be so anticlimactic if Kujireika beats the Hiruken Emperor.
Not even close.
And Akiyuki uses his healing powers as learned from Nakiami.
Makes you wonder why and how is Kujireika all bandaged up?
Meanwhile we had a scene with Sannova explaining everything to Nakiami, and uh, her ship lands inside the quickening chamber later. I am kind of impressed how suddenly the importance of that event gets conveyed. There is at least one reason why all those pilgrims made it and there’s a whole book dedicated to the reasons behind it.
I’m not sure what to think of having the POKEMON do the bridge thing. Seems like a cute touch and attention to detail, but also excessive.
Well. That’s more or less ep 25 in a nutshell. Things are set towards the destination and I don’t think there are any twists and turns left in the plot besides one small one. The problem, however, is that we don’t really care about the plot so much as how will the relationships resolve. It just ends on a very bad place in terms of that :(
Well, at least I know that ongoro is not sitting on pancake batter.
Somehow, this show is just such the visual treat that it is easy to post fewer caps. You just have to see how Akiyuki does his dance, how Sannova works her magic, and how the rest of this messed up world work in their messed up ways. It’s surprising and pleasing and scary all at the same time.
One last note–this episode is the second(?) time that the PSN DL for the HD version comes in native 1080. Not sure what’s up with that. File size is similar to previous times, clicking in dozen or two over 1500MB. Anyways.
Sannova is the boss’s mother?!
GOD!
Yeah, it is freaky. So basically Sannova gave birth to the Hiruken Emperor, but he was a stillborn. So the monks then exiled Sannova and stuck a bunch of Hiruko into the Hiruken Emperor, turning him into a Xam’d but also making him alive. Because Sannova was exiled, she vow to stop her dead son as she couldn’t put him to rest, nor could she be at his side.
The translation during the explaination is weird, so I might have gotten it wrong somewhere.
“In fact you should’ve stopped a while ago.”
You rang? Probably not but here I am.
An episode away and I have no idea what the end will be, but that’s a good thing.
Well, the Hiruken Emperor is definitely not something I ever imagined. Good job for not making it obvious. That is quite freaky, actually.
It’s super freaky. Having had time to think about it, I think I might’ve jumped the gun and spoke too quickly about Sannova being Hiruken Emperor’s mom. She’s may be just the midwife and they put his dead state on her head, and exiled her. That would make more sense.
But seriously, stillborn baby super Xam’d all grown up? It’s creepy as all hell.
I think she was just the midwife. I never got any feeling that she was the mother.
My download has expired, but I think Sannova says that the Sannova *family* are midwives for the Imperial line. The translation is a little odd, but I do recall reading Sannova said that she gave birth to the “reigning emperor”.
Could her saying that she ‘gave birth’ to him mean that she did her midwifely duty, or that she was the actual mother?
I suppose if it is the ‘midwifing’, she and her crew were cast out *because* the emperor was stillborn, meaning they failed their job and were thus ‘unclean’. That does make some sense now that I’ve typed it out.
But then, Emperor says that he is ‘part of akiyuki’. I’m assuming this means the Hiruko, which is the creation of the Sannovas. If the Emperor came from Sannova’s body (her son) but hiruko are also created by Sannova, that could be what he’s referring to. The ‘hiruko to hiruko’ link wouldn’t work in that sense, because the hiruko in the emperor are not from Sannova (she says they are artificial).
Anyway, I was getting RahXephon vibes all over the place here. The battle above the clouds, the dark self vs the light self, with one of them wanting the other to defeat them…even the bit with Haru flying the kayak and nearly getting toasted by that Beam Tower seemed like a nod to Haruka’s supposed demise in RahX’s last episode.
Abrupt ending.
I just hope akiyuki doesn’t pull some “christ like tragic hero” crap. I want my Eureka Seven happy ending.
I think a tragic hero end would be pretty lame too, but I’m not expecting anything.
JKTrix: the Rahx comparisons are good. That show is also influenced by some of this stuff. When I was rewatching the episode for caps, the dialog between the Emperor and Akiyuki reminded me of Noein especially regards to the darkness within and the “i am you” nonsense.
But considering the large black clouds we saw last episode, I think a Rahx’s style of reworking the world (also see Gilgamesh) may be what will happen next.
I will give you my name… George Foreman.
I was kinda expecting for Akiyuki to totally beat up some baby in diapers. I noticed Akiyuki made Haru leave before she got eaten again.
OH CRAP I just figured out what Akiyuki’s plan was…
1) Hear Haru confess
2) Send Haru away
3) Grope Kujireika
4) Give Emperor the name Akiyuki so when people say “I saw Akiyuki getting to second base with Kujireika,” Akiyuki Original will have an excuse
5) Get amnesia
6) Gather harem
All this is because of Akiyuki’s fear of commitment!!!