Xam'd Lost Memories ep.05

August 17, 2008 | 8 Comments

It looks like the plot is finally going to move somewhere. I always feel that both Haru and Furuichi don't have much of a role beyond that of Akiyuki's classmates. From here on forward, however, it looks like they both are going to join the army to fight the humanform weapon. However, considering the fact that this will be the same army that is spearheaded by Kakisu and his crazy professor, I'm not sure if this is such a good idea. Kakisu seems to be working to fight the northern invader at the moment but given the right situation, I can see him turning around and want to become a dictator. There is a chance that Kakisu will become the main villain that Akiyuki and his postal ship crews have to fight later on in the story. Speaking of batshit insane villains, it's good to know that Nakiami's own little tribe is equally dysfunctional in this regard. This episode confirms that the one who's been sending humanform weapons is a Tessik-origin character who thinks that causing world chaos is a spiritual mandate. I suppose the writers want to draw comparison to real-life batshit insane terrorists.

The army starts to transfer AS (Anti-Soul) Exoskeleton to Sentan Island HQ. Kakisu also wants to rename the Free Zone to Far East Autonomy to give the area a more self-reliance feel to it. Meanwhile, Akushiba is busy telling Akiyuki about his lightning-speed running ability but the later doesn't give a hoot because he's busy doing secretarial work. Akiyuki is also surprised that they do letters to Northern government considering the fact that the government is their enemy. Akushiba points out that so are the refugees from North. Meanwhile, the other crews are expressing their concern over the possibility that Nakiami might leave the postal ship to go back to Tessik. Ishu, however, doesn't seem to care if she chooses to do this. Later on, Nakiami decides to go to the refugee's ship and along the way finds its crew chasing a transparent-looking creature called Ongoro. Upon seeing Nakiami, the creature immediately comes to her. Zeygend then appears, explaining that they've been raising the creature for 6 years and only now that it grows.

Back in the postal ship, everyone is unhappy because they have no idea if Nakiami will be back or not. As for Nakiami, she's now dining with Zeygend after being assured that her meal does not contain human meat. Eww. Anyway, as it turns out Zeygend knows that Nakiami picked up Akiyuki just as written in the Ruikon scripture. Zeygend also tells Nakiami that Sannova is still alive and some have even seen Jibashiri. However, the one who controls Tessik right now is a young woman called Sun-Manned Kujireika. This woman plans on taking back the holy land and believes that causing world chaos is spiritual mandate from Sannova. Because of this Zeygend thinks Nakiami should go back to Tessik since her homeland is almost gone and she's the one who should be the chief. He then proceeds to produce an Ututu seed which is 30 years old, knowing that Nakiami would want it. At the same time, the post delivery truck has left before Akiyuki can finish his letter for Haru. Because of this he begs Akushiba to run after the truck and deliver his letter.

Although at first he's reluctant, Akushiba eventually agrees after Akiyuki threatens to reveal his Nakiami picture collection. Also, it seems Akushiba wants to prove himself as fast runner to Akiyuki. Meanwhile, the crazy professor reveals to Kakisu that Shidara, the girl who lost her family, decides to volunteer to his experiement. Because of this he injects the re-sampled Hiruko that was found within the giant Xam'd. Kakisu is shocked and appalled upon seeing this but the professor reminds Kakisu that he's not exactly an innocent either. The professor tells him that this is an order from inside and besides they are already disgraced as war criminals. Inside the postal ship, Akiyuki has conversation with Ishu about Nakiami and finds out that "Nakiami" is actually a name given to the girl by Ishu. It all started because Ishu wanted the then small Nakiami to stop crying so she told her to "Naki yame" (stop crying) but others misheard it as "Nakiami" and believed that Ishu was giving the girl a name. Later on, Nakiami returns to the ship after Zeygend gives him the Ututu seed.

Inside the ship, Akiyuki sits in front of Nakiami's room, reminding her that she hasn't make amends with Ishu. He points out that as time goes on, it becomes harder to make amends. Meanwhile, Furuichi expresses his interest to join the army to Haru. He figures he can pilot the ASP suit to fight the humanoid weapons. While going around to find a way to pass an area, they find Shidara alone. When Haru tries to approach her, Shidara tells her that she always has it easy and transforms into a humanform weapon. In order to distract Shidara from Haru, Furuichi decides to run away from it. Shidara ends up chasing after the guy, causing him to realize that it's only targeting him. Thankfully for him, a bunch of ASP suits are nearby and starts to shoot at Shidara's humanform. Shidara eventually falls into a trash area and Kakisu, who's just arrived on the area, decides to put her life to an end. Back in the ship, Ishu getting a letter of apology from Nakiami since Akiyuki tells her that sometimes it's best to do that. Since Nakiami can't write, however, it only contains a sunflower.

Impression

It's interesting how even though Shidara has Hiruko inside her body, she can't seem to control it as well as Akiyuki. I believe this has a lot to do with the mental stability of the character. While Akiyuki was surprised, he wasn't exactly distraught with grief and as a result can process the transformation better than Shidara. Also, the fact that he gets the Hiruko through indirect means (by getting shot with its laser) may also have something to do with it. Last but not least, whatever was planted on him by the girl with the white-haired and Nakiami getting to him before it's too late may also contribute to him being able to control it quite well. At any rate, this episode confirms that Kakisu while not exactly a bad guy, seems to be the kind of guy who's willing to be one in order to achieve his aim. While he was reluctant about making Shidara a test subject, he didn't exactly put a stop to it. As for Nakiami, it seems she's a lot more related to Ruikon and Tessik than I originally thought. She's actually supposed to be a leader of a particular village.

© memento 2003