The Silent Room

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Small Talk:
Hari Raya turned out to be strangely boring for me this year, and I don’t I’m the only one who thinks so. I wonder why. Hmm.

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Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen would have struck a perfect balance of a well-written plot, fleshed-out characters, and top-quality animation. It’s been seven years since I started watching anime regularly, and out of the thousands of titles that have been churned out from the Motherland, very few could fulfil my criterias for what defines a good show. Each year, there would be a few titles, one or two from each season.

One series in particular sits very high on my list for more than a few reasons, and that would be Xam’d: Lost Memories (also known in Japan as Bounen no Xam’d).

I’ll start off by saying that Xam’d is not for everyone. It does not involve a kid with super powers that keep growing stronger as he meets stronger enemies. It does not involves the hero being the object of affection of three or more girls. It does not involve gigantic robots that defy the laws of physics. It does not involve cheesy shounen passion, either. If you’re looking for any of the aforementioned traits, I suggest you go watch something else.

Anyway, on to a brief introduction to the story.

Xam’d starts on a peaceful island, and two nation are at the brink of war so the military are pretty much holding checkpoints everywhere, even inspecting schoolbuses. However, in a twisted turn of events, our hero Akiyuki got caught up in a suicide bomber attack on his schoolbus. The attack however, was not an ordinary bomb. It was an explosion that unleashed several Hiruko seeds, and one of them embeds itself in Akiyuki’s arm.

The parasitic egg quickly takes over his body, and in one of the most memorable transformation scenes, Akiyuki was reborn and transformed into a mysterious creature that quickly became the target of a monstrous enemy weapon. Unable to control himself, Akiyuki rampages with the monster through the city until Nakiami, a mysterious tribal girl, stops him in his tracks with a staff pierced through his hand. She offers guidance and survival, or be left to turn to stone and die.

The workings and details in the world of Xam’d are gradually and elegantly revealed as Akiyuki recovers, learns the truth about his transformation and as he goes out and adventures to seek out the meaning of his rebirth and connection between himself and his Hiruko. While that happens, the Northern Government and the Southern Continent are moving closer to war and all their fates ultimate tie together in the conflict that is to come.

No, this is no ordinary a super-hero show. Akiyuki doesn’t have a henshin sequence and defeats a different monster each week like certain masked warriors on bikers do. Xam’d's themes revolve around family love, friendship and understanding among people. It explores concepts like individuality and identity. It’s a story that reminds you that no matter where you go, there are people connected to you. People who think of you, and people who are affected by your decisions and actions.

Instead of jittery high-school romance, Xam’d explores the lost love between married couples living apart; they don’t want to see each other, but can’t stand the thought of divorce. Indeed, romance is nowhere as simple as saying ‘I love you’, and Akiyuki’s parents explores this side of love on a tone that is virtually unseen in most romance shows of late. They argue bitterly, they get sarcastic with each other and yet each one craves the warm loving embrace of the other. It’s painfully beautiful to watch.

Instead of showcasing adults as old husks that should make way for the young, veterans and commanders duke it out on tactical scales and sheer guts. Kids can go and learn about the world, but it’s the adults who push them along, lead the way and carve the path to victory. In Xam’d, adults do more than just give pep talks, they kick a truckload of ass. Ishu and Raigyo’s charge into the Emperor’s chambers is one of the best examples of this.

Xam’d is brilliant on a technical scale, too. Character designs were marvelous. Akiyuki’s hairstyle changes with the passing time, since in between running away and everything, he doesn’t really have the time to visit a barber. Unlike many shows that neglect the simple fact that your scalp grows if you leave it alone long enough. Action scenes were fabulously animated, too. No such thing as cheap panning scenes or shaking cels with speed lines in the background. Every movement is fluid and every hit carries a lot of impact. Of course, one should expect no less when it’s Studio BONES working on a big budget.

Music is made of pure awesome. The OP was is a headbanging track “Shut Up and Explode” by Boom Boom Satellites and the ED is “Vacancy“, an english track sung by the uber-talented Kylee. If you’ve never heard of her, she was 13 at the time the song was recorded and it was later revealed that she has been singing since from an early, early age.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, was probably brought over from another dimension. The score was done by Michiru Oshima and in case you’re not familiar with the name, perhaps you are familiar with epic musical scores from Fullmetal Alchemist and Le Chevalier Deon. The leitmotif track almost drove me to tears.

As mentioned earlier, Xam’d is unique in many ways. One should note that the series was never broadcast on Japanese television. Instead, it was made available on the Playstation Network. That means, in order to watch it, you’d have to log in to the PSN via a Playstation 3 and buy each episode. Each episode is valid to view for one week until it expires and you have to pay to watch it for another week.

While it sounds like a strange business model, Xam’d surprised everyone by become the most downloaded video content on the PSN when it was launched. Needless to say, it was a spectacular success. Another important thing to point out is that Xam’d was first made available on the American PSN, many months before it was made available to the Japanese PSN.

I could go on and explain to you why I think Xam’d: Lost Memories is one of the best shows ever, but this piece has gotten a bit too long and if you’re still reading at this point, you must be pretty damn bored – so go and watch it. If you have an attention span that lasts longer than five minutes, you’ll be enjoying yourself all the way to the end.