Xam'd Lost Memories ep.03

August 1, 2008 | 13 Comments

I haven't paid much attention to the BGM of this series prior to this episode but they're really nice and reminds me of some Ghibli BGM for some reason. The piece that plays as Akiyuki realizes that they're no longer above Sentan is a good example of this. It's a quiet yet melancholic piece that is perfect to describe Akiyuki's mood at that point. Speaking of mood, I noticed in this episode that the series go through a great detail to describe a person's emotion. For some reason, despite Kakisu's calm answer at the meeting shown at the start of this episode, his body language suggests something else. Throughout the meeting, he is shown tapping his feet to the ground like he's enjoying the situation or he's impatient with how the things proceed. I'm impressed how BONES put so much focus on what is actually a minor scene. At this point in the story, Kakisu's characterisation is kind of dubious. It's hard to see if he'll become one of the heroes or if he'll be the villain piece of the story. But at least now we know why there's a tapping feet in the opening scene.

Episode 3

Haru walks around in the emergency hall and is surprised when she finds Nazuna laying in a guest room, muttering about how someone's Xam'd is alive. Meanwhile, Sentan Island general is being grilled by the committee over the death of the white-haired girl since the only thing he could determine is that the girl was a follower of Ruikonism. The group mentions how the situation is dire and there have been 6 explosions involving white-haired children. They believe that Sentan Island can't deal with the situation without the support of their army. To achieve this, they place Kakisu in charge of Sentan Island. Inside her ship, Ishu orders Akushiba to take over the role of a captain for a day. Inside the room, Akiyuki wants to take out the Exsanguination needle from his hand but Nakiami stops him from doing this. She tells him that the needle keeps Akiyuki alive and inhibits his Xam'd awareness. Meanwhile, Haru gets to meet Akiyuki's father, who is now checking all hospitals to see if his son is around. As for Akiyuki, he now finds out that he'll work as postal worker for at least half a year. Akiyuki protests about this and wants to go home but the crew lets him know that decision must be made by the captain.

At the same time, Nakiami is having argument with Ishu about Akiyuki. Nakiami points out that because he's a Xam, they can't let him go. Ishu understands this but also reminds Nakiami that she puts the ship at risk. Besides, she thinks no matter what Nakiami does, Akiyuki will still turned into stone. After encountering more of the ship crew, Akiyuki eventually meet the captain, who introduces herself as Ishu Benihara. Akiyuki gets straight to the point, pointing out that he has to leave the ship. In response, Ishu punches him for not introducing himself even though he boards the ship. She also points out that he didn't even thank Nakiami for saving him. Akiyuki becomes angry and points out that he didn't ask anyone to save him. He then rips out the needle on his hand despite Nakiami's warning that Xam'd will attract the humanforms. Soon enough, Akiyuki's hand starts to bloat again and the ship suddenly launches a warning siren. It seems the same enemy ship seen before has now launched another humanforms in the shape of pterodactyl. Before long, the monster manages to capture Akiyuki and deposit the guy inside its body. Nakiami acts quickly and chases after the monster using her jet plane.

She manages to shoot the creature, causing a bunch of red rocks to appear in the creature's body. After evading its attack, Nakiami lowers herself down into the creature's body and shoot the area containing Akiyuki. After destroying the upper body of the creature, Nakiami pulls Akiyuki out of the creature's body, reminding him that he's the one who wanted to live. Akiyuki suddenly opens his eyes and pulls himself out of the creature's body with Namiaki's help. Once the two return to the jet plane, Ishu shoots the monster with some kind of bazooka. This destroys the creature's wing, effectively sending it spiralling down to its death. Back inside the ship, Akiyuki tells Namiaki how the white-haired girl was the one who gave him Xam'd. Nakiami doesn't know much about it but she suggests that Akiyuki continues to think because that's the best way to achieve symbiosis with Hiruko. Much to Nakiami's surprise, Akiyuki thanks her for saving him twice. After Akiyuki drinks his medicine, Nakiami suggests that he writes letter to Sentan Island and tomorrow they'll begin his training. At the same time, Haru assures Akiyuki's mother that she believes Akiyuki is still alive. Akiyuki's mother belives that's the case as well.

Haru also informs Akiyuki's mother that earlier, she met Akiyuki's father, who was busy looking for Akiyuki. Haru then leaves the house after asking if she can keep Akiyuki's hand badge, promising that she'll return it to him one day. At the same time, Akiyuki's father is in the middle of looking through his old belonging. Eventually, he comes across a nut-looking object similar to the one that Nakiami possessed. It seems Akiyuki's father is also knowledgeable about the humanform weapons. Meanwhile, Kakisu is in the middle of getting ready for his Sentan Island visit when he becomes reflective, saying how he now realizes why his life was spared that day in Barador. His assistant then lets him know that someone was missing during the bus attack. The missing person is the son of a doctor who served at Barador, the place where Kakisu served his term. Back on the ship, Akushiba tells Akiyuki that there used to be a man who stay here as well and his name was Raigyou Tsunomata. He, however, went crazy because Hiruko sent him over the edge. Akiyuki wants to know what happens to this man but Akushiba is already asleep.

Impression

With the exception of Nakiami, the ship crew turned out to be pretty annoying. Granted, Akiyuki was being un-cooperative but considering his situation, it's hard not to side with him. Having said that, the crew's cold attitude towards Akiyuki probably have something to do with their previous boarder, Raigyou Tsunomata. If I have to guess, the guy probably caused so much problem for the ship crew that they become wary whenever a new person come on board. Anyway, despite this already being the third episode, I still have no idea about where the plot is going. All we know so far is that Akiyuki somehow contracted Xam'd and this is the same kind of form that those weapons also possess. At the moment, it is implied that both Kakisu and Akiyuki's father has some kind of connection to these humanform weapons. Maybe both were involved in the creation of it but later withdrew their involvement. I also wonder why Nakiami has so many information about Xam'd even though she's not one of those white-haired children. Last but not least, how did she come to stay with Captain Ishu and the ship crew?

On the positive side, there seems to be a clear cut role for Nakiami and her background is mysterious enough that it'll provide enough storyline for the upcoming episode. Haru, on the other hand, seems a rather blank space. There seems to be a lot of focus given to her even though she basically does nothing but reassuring Akiyuki's mother and father. Is she merely going to be Akiyuki's love interest? In that case, that's a bad way of creating character. A character should never be a mere love interest for another character. Without a purpose for being in the story, a mere love interest character usually have poor characterization. I really like Haru's character design and I hope the writers have some kind of story in mind for her. It'd be unfortunate if her role turns out to be that of Shirley Fennette in Code Geass. As for the other characters, Kakisu remains nicely ambiguous in his characterization. There are times when I think he'll be the main enemy that Akiyuki must face but I can also see him being the leader of the resistance against the humanform weapons. In addition to this, while his speeches to others sound humble on the surface, I get the impression that it's just something that he uses to cover up his real intention.

© memento 2003