Category — Autumn 2008

[For some reason, I didn't feel comfortable publishing this article on my main blog. I'm not sure if anyone is still subscribed to Afterimage, but regardless, I hope someone feels this article is worth reading.]

Raigyo’s camera only holds images of the past. Happy or sad images they may be, but they are no more than that, images; memories forever consigned to the past. Lives can be so profoundly changed in an instant, and yet, yearn for the past as we might, time waits for no one. Often, it’s enough to capture those most important of moments through the lens of a camera or, perhaps, the pen of a journal, and then to move on, to look forward and towards tomorrow, but sometimes, it isn’t that easy. This struggle against transition flows through Xam’d: Lost Memories, a series that, for all of its aesthetic beauty, is an affecting drama of old friends and lost loves, of trying (and often failing) to never look back.

Close friends Akiyuki and Haru are ripped apart by circumstance. Of course, they still yearn for each other’s company, but after what happens to Akiyuki, that old life has passed them by. Still, Haru waits for her dearest friend to return, yet, in waiting, her life becomes aimless. Eventually, she decides to move on. While, as Akiyuki embarks on his journey with Nakiami, Raigyo shouts “Don’t ever look back”. This is a story brimming with sky blue and lush green, cloudy grey and sunset purple, like a particularly evocative dream, it’s so full of life, happy, sad and nostalgic, yet, as beautiful as today may be, as tempting as it is to try to hold on that moment for as long as possible, tomorrow will always be different. It is the beginning of an exciting new adventure.

So, I dropped GaoGaiGar. Though I’d been warned that the first half of the series falls into mecha-of-the-week territory, I wanted to try to tough it out. Clearly, that didn’t work. Near the end, certain things were really irritating me, not least of all the same damn 2-minute transformation sequence that was being pasted into every singe episode. Eventually, I took to literally closing my eyes every time this scene appeared. It nearly broke my brain. Anyway, I know it’s supposed to get a lot better in its second half, and I really tried to persevere, but ultimately, I’d rather use my time to finish up with Legend of the Galactic Heroes instead.

I’ve been kicked back into action by the recent news of Tytania’s (or is it Titania? Sources are conflicting) impending debut. In short, it’s looking fantastic. My only worry is the animation budget, with this being the enigmatic studio Artland and all. Will we get the award-winning animation of Mushishi, or the visual catastrophe that was Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-? Then again, it’s a good sign that Artland founder and anime legend Noboru Ishiguro seems to be directing; considering he’ll be 70 years-old by the time Tytania premieres, it might well be the swan song of his illustrious career. We can only hope, as it looks promising, to say the least.