Haru and Nakiami Going at It
I think I’ve had enough time spent stewing on the idea of a Xam’d post that it’s time to get down to it.
The first draft of this post had a motif that combined the lyrics of “Vacancy” with “LISTEN TO MY SONG!” It is likely a good thing that I’ve dropped that a couple iterations ago. Still somehow I still retained the strangely irrelevant post title….
I HAVE THIS…DESIGN FETISH IN MY HEART
Anyways, coming back to earth. One of the biggest gateway and influence as an anime-related franchise in my life is CLAMP’s Magic Knight Rayearth. I mention this because one very central but subtle thing from that series carried itself in Xam’d as well, and that is in building its fantasy world through good visual, mechanical, industrial and communication designs.
If we take a random sampling of anime and look at which are the top credited production roles, character designer is going to be one of them for virtually all the shows we look at. In some shows, we’ll see credited mechanical designers. But how about the guys who designed that Escher-esqe landscaping in that picture I keep on pimping? Or the snow-crested mountain paths Yango walked with Nakiami? Or how about the desolate beachhead underneath the Zanbani for half of the series? Or the giant water tower that taught us the value of love that never fails?
How about that last car ride that changed Midori’s life? The cluttered interior of Dr. Ryuzo’s office as we first laid eyes on it? Finding Nazuna with her intravenous therapy apparatus? The foil-like oblesk that marked Akiyuki’s stone-like dream, both past and present? The madness of the Hiruken Emperor as reflected by his exterior? The motions of the invading fetal humanforms? The entwined lives of a Xam’d mother-child? The Tessik flowers? Kujireika’s final scene with a piece of paper?
For me those are just some of the moments that carried the show. I don’t know who deserves those credits, but for every epic scene in the show there are some unsung heroes who put the designs there. Those designs made the scenes that much more special than your average animated epic scene. From the moment the OP kicks in till the ending shot with the photograph and glasses, it is both stylish and meaningful.
What are you doing? I thought you dropped that in a draft…
Yes, I did. Mainly because I still have to talk about the strange mismatched of satisfaction with the product we got in the end. It doesn’t matter if you are one of those who thought there needed be a tight spiral of plot (think Kaiba, perhaps) or if you are those who could enjoy just a grand game plan. No matter if you see that American Football analogy there or not, it would be hard pressed to call Xam’d a best-of-the-best kind of affair. It lacks something.
I mean, Xam’d is still likely one of the best shows you’ve never watched. It comes as a form of recommendation, fully fraught with the dangers of giving advice in general. It’s not really an evaluation; it’s like saying eating vegetables is good for your health, even if it doesn’t always taste great. And you really ought to eat vegetables! And see Xam’d for yourself! And yet, it’s not so great. So my recommendation is also a veiled insult. Of sorts. It doesn’t go fully to the whole DRM-riddled and (more importantly) expensive VOD platform, even if it’s a tool of Sony to do just that.
And frankly I’m tired of trying to describe how Xam’d disappoints. Disappointment is probably the best word to describe the damned thing. After all the word implies a function with expectation, so it’s both the show and you and I that failed.
Expectation is a subjective notion of what we think should happen. And somehow, as some said better, Xam’d positions us to shoot for the stars. Or think it ought to. And why shouldn’t it? Why shouldn’t we expect an anime with almost no holds barred? It channels from some of the greatest productions in our memories, it dazzles us with good sense of style, keen animation and appealing characters. But those expectations we have about a show that didn’t really lead us on is still our own responsibility. It didn’t pull any punches. The ending was something that wasn’t a surprise at all, it is internally consistent and thematically consistent. Perhaps the only thing they could have done more is explain more.
But it’s still the best anime you’ve never seen. And remember this, it shall serve you well.
And serving is why I’m here.
Myself and yourselves. Fans. Fanservice. For us.
On a wholly basic level, I’m just a guy. I work, I waste my free time. I have games. I have no game. I have no plan. Anime? Pure entertainment. So to the extent that Xam’d is merely to entertain, it does so with spades. It does so not only because it comes in high definition and 5.1 surround sound (I can’t stress this enough), but it simulates that episode-by-episode chase. Even if the show, on the whole, is better watched in large chunks. It provided a framework to enjoy the stuff beyond the ordinary.
I think I mentioned this about half a year ago, roughly when Satoshi Kon last visited NYC and I went to see him talk about random cultural stuff, about something special about treasuring what is scarce. Back when our parents walked to school, in the snow, barefoot, up and down the hill, for miles back and forth, people like Satoshi Kon were getting his fix Off-The-Air on a spanking new color television. For 30 minutes once a week. There was anticipation, there was analysis, there was all the fan stuff; and all of this was heightened because he loved the crap and he gave it undivided attention. He had also the time because there were just a few shows on the air. There were fewer distractions back then. It wasn’t overwhelming. But it gave his life as a fan a different texture, a different style. And the experience ultimately differed, obviously.
Following Xam’d like a silly boy for the past half year, I think I got to know what he means by that. No longer I was slave to pirates or remote licensees who distributed a second-hand experience, but I was able to connect with the source. And be at its mercy. Thinking and doing things related to the show was a consuming experience. It was tiring, but it felt somehow more meaningful and fulfilling, perhaps unjustifiably so. I was at the mercy of it. It was a very interesting power shift where I became subject to the show in a very overted way. I had no place to stand and preach down on the show; I just didn’t really care as long as it wasn’t unreasonable.
What’s more, it’s fun. Taking caps from the show was a tough exercise of trimming what great shots are worth taking and keeping and what great shots are worth taking and deleting. It’s beautiful to look at. I could just go through the pictures and enjoy the show that way. I guess that just shows you how much pleasure I derive from the visuals alone.
In relation to that, given how it’s VOD and all, it’s perfect for watching the thing in one (or a few) setting. You aren’t tied down to a weekly schedule; you can rewatch it. You can have a Xam’d party (and totally legally so) where you marathon the whole thing with a bunch of people over a weekend.
I think I’m going to call it here; there may or may not be a subsequent post about Xam’d which I try to piece together the mysteries of its world. Because it is mysterious, I am not sure I can make sense of it enough to show you. We will see.
Xam Xam’d: Bounen Xamdou the Lost Memories Round-up, no?
Note the title? Yeah, never use a ‘ in your anime title. Ever.
The background crap.
- The hiatus and release difference between PSN US and Japan. It affected few but it really pissed me off, even if I could use the break.
- The stuff you could read before you get into it. - Wiki, Bones + Sony, the E3 2008 PR from SCEA. Hit up ANN for also trailers.
- The DRM Beeswax.
The episodic bloggers.
- I did it.
- Star Crossed
- Kita Ze Inbou (still in progress? 2/9/2009)
- Kitsune does it like I do but without the theatrics.
The reactions, the final impressions, the reviews. Skipping first-impressions because lols. There were a lot of mid-series outbursts, I’ll skip them for now (except 1, lol).
- TJ Han’s - I’m always sympathetic to this guy’s views. It’s honest.
- East Anyhow.
- Yukan OBEYS EYETOY - a stop point by episode 17.
- Coburn - A bit too much for my taste but pretty close.
- Star Crossed - Probably even more honest, but eh.
- Omisyth tries to wrap it up, but I’m not sure if it got anywhere.
- Plot Shield. A shame he never finished RahXephon.
- concretebadger @ 物の哀れ is aware of details, but otherwise brimming. I can probably do a few posts just on the designs of the show :x
- Kita ze Inbou! - Good for contrast.
- Jeff drops a colony on it.
The features.
- What SDS pulled out from his trousers.
- A cover of this song.
- Japan Times. Interviews with creator types!
- AniPages Daily gives a blurp but runs us through the paces about the Xam’d HP omake animation stuffs. He also went into details in a couple earlier posts, which are also very good reads.
The wishlist. Random stuff that I know more than one of us would splurge on.
- A DVD release in the US
- A Blu-Ray release in the US
- Artbook. The OP image for this post is a 1:1 pixel crop of this. LOOK AT IT! IT IS GORGEOUS. It is also in the show proper. Not to mention the designs in the show would make wonderful reading material.
- Soundtrack
- A rental that’s more than 24 hours. Com’on, man. This is not a lot to ask!
- A radio with valves? A flying jetski? Prana power? An ASP?
Further research.
The Playstation blog for the English-language release, charts, and lols. For the record, the last episode ranked #3 out of all TV episode downloads last week. I think that’s a good showing that anime does have a place on Video-On-Demand platforms sitting on game consoles, even if the PS3 is a bit of an outlier in more ways than one. What’s amusing is that the very early fans of Xam’d beat the rush to PSN VOD store and the first few episodes consistently ranked in the top 20 until more people started to use the PSN VOD stuff. Related to that is the AoDVD forums.
If there’s anything else interesting please post a link and let me know!
Xam’d Episode 26 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place
So, if you’ve seen it, do you know why it took nine years?
Because understanding why they did it is key to understand the resolution of this big, big show. IMNSHO. And I don’t even know all the answers.
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.
Xam’d Episode 24 - Dr. Tenjo, Self-Help Specialist
That’s what I’d like to know.
