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Summary:
In the aftermath of the attack, Commander Kakisu – a famous survivor of the Battle of Barador – is put in charge of Sentan Island. Meanwhile, aboard the international postal ship Zanbani, Nakiami offers Akiyuki a drink to calm down what she refers to as the Hiruko, but it smells too horrible for him to stomach. He claims that he’s okay and tries to remove the wrap around his arm, however Nakiami instructs him not to touch it because the Exsanguination Needle is keeping him alive by inhibiting his Xam’d awareness. Akiyuki tries to insist that he’s not a Xam’d, but their conversation is interrupted by crew member Akushiba who tells Nakiami that the captain wants to see her. In the meantime, Akushiba takes Akiyuki to the mess hall where he and the others demonstrate their Ruikonist etiquette by saying grace before eating. What alarms Akiyuki is how Akushiba tells him that there’s work to do and that he’ll get used to being a postal worker in half a year. Akiyuki wants to return to Sentan Island, and since it’s their captain Ishu who has the right to decide that, Akiyuki heads to see her.
At that moment, Ishu is questioning Nakiami about what she intends to do because this isn’t the first time Nakiami has brought a Xam’d onboard. Ishu doesn’t want the ship to be targeted for it and thinks that Akiyuki will turn to stone regardless. When Nakiami leaves Ishu’s room, she finds Akiyuki standing on the deck with Akushiba, and Akiyuki still wants to see the captain. Nakiami advises that he greet the captain and bow his head, but when Akiyuki meets Ishu, he goes straight to saying that he’s returning to Sentan Island. Ishu responds by punching him in the face since he didn’t even introduce himself, and she also questions if he’s thanked Nakiami since he’d be dead without her. This angers Akiyuki and causes him to say that he didn’t ask to for help, and – much to Nakiami’s dismay – he removes wrappings around his arm. Nakiami knows that the Xam’d will attract Humanform weapons, and as if right on cue, the Zanbani’s alarms start blaring. In the clouds above them, another ship releases a flying Humanform weapon, and it lands on the Zanbani and grabs Akiyuki, The creature stores Akiyuki in its own body before flying off, and that leaves Nakiami no choice but to get on her Beat Kayak aircraft to chase after it.
Flying in front of the Humanform weapon, Nakiami fires her gun back at it and causes part of its front to turn to stone, however the creature is otherwise unfazed and tries to fire back at her. Because of this, Nakiami chooses to get on the creature’s back instead and digs Akiyuki out from under its skin. Seeing that Akiyuki’s eyes are closed, Nakiami tries to wake him and reminds him that he had said that he wanted to live. This causes him to awaken, and Nakiami is able to pull him out once he grabs her arm. Since the creature is no longer responding to Akiyuki because the Hiruko isn’t active, he and Nakiami are able to get off unharmed, and Ishu subsequently blows up the creature with one of her heavy guns. Once he’s back on the Zanbani, Akiyuki recounts how the white-haired girl had told him that he’d be fine, and though Nakiami doesn’t understand this, she advises that he nevertheless think about it because thinking is the only way to live in a symbiotic relationship with the Hiruko. Akiyuki then takes the chance to thank Nakiami for saving him again, and he finally drinks the special tea she prepared him.
Over on Sentan Island, Haru meets with Akiyuki’s mother to tell her that she still believes Akiyuki is alive. Akiyuki’s mother thinks so as well, and she starts crying when Haru asks for the responsibility of returning Akiyuki’s armband to him. When Akiyuki’s mother say that it’s a hundred years too early for Akiyuki to be making a girl worry, Haru reveals that Akiyuki’s father had said the same thing when she ran into him earlier as he had been searching for his son. Akiyuki’s father had of course never found Akiyuki, and he returns home and digs up some old materials in his cabinet that remind him of the Battle of Barador. Meanwhile, Commander Kakisu receives a report on the bus explosion and discovers that the one missing passenger is the son of the doctor who served at Barador. Back onboard the Zanbani, Akiyuki sleeps in the ship’s hanger and notices that there are large scratch marks on the walls. After Akushiba reveals that it was the doing of someone named Tsunomata Raigyo – a Xam’d – who had gone berserk, Akiyuki inquires about where this person is now, however Akushiba doesn’t answer because he’s already asleep.
Preview
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Okay, so I’m a bit less keen on this episode than I’ve been with the first two. Akiyuki gets introduced to the various crew members this week, and they’re the usual motley assortment (and of course the bratty kid hates him). Their job is delivering mail, so they appear to be a bit less rogue than Gekkostate from Eureka Seven, and so far only the captain Ishu and Nakiami have been shown to be particularly interesting. Certainly there are still a lot of interesting elements being developed in other parts of the story – Akiyuki’s father’s past; how the other Xam’ds went berserk – but the central focus this week of Akiyuki getting to know everyone and subsequently needing to be rescued wasn’t as compelling. It was all a way of getting Akiyuki to come to terms with and accept his new surroundings, and while that’s probably necessary for the story in the long run, I hope they don’t dwell on it for too long.
The question I have from all this is how the events in Sentan Island will go along with what’s happening on the Zanbani since those appear to be on two diverging paths at the moment. More specifically, I’m curious to see what role Haru will play and how she will be reunited with Akiyuki (assuming she eventually will be). And of course, there’s also a side of me wondering if Nakiami is a romantic possibility for Akiyuki instead of Haru. I doubt any of that is going to be answered anytime soon, but certainly those are things I’ll be watching for as the series continues.
I love this anime. The animation is amazing.
Looks great but it is still hard to find a good release ;|
I still enjoyed how Nakiami looked so shocked when Akiyuki thanked her for saving his life. Seemed like she has received little gratitude on the things she does.
hmm something to look for too … next couple of hours
I hate snotty kids…. wanna dunk them in boiling oil each time I see them.
Hmm, “Mail Delivery Service” just doesn’t have the same ring to it on paper as “Dispute Negotiator”, “Soul Reaper”, or “Gundam Meister”. Can’t judge a book by its title, eh?
@Omni
Whats this show about? It looks really great to watch. ^_^
https://randomc.net/image/Xam%27d%20Lost%20Memories/Xam%27d%20Lost%20Memories%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2002.jpg <– She’s still alive?
Hi:
What day come out every episode?
Monday? friday?
This series is the one I’m most excited about atm, though still too early to tell whether it’ll end up being a good series or not.
@Budy:
I believe it comes out every Tuesday on PSN. Pre-subbed, so available by nefarious means by Wednesday or Thursday each week, most likely.
The first screencap looks like Shirley from Code Geass.
You can find this on demonid on Tuesdays only a few hrs after it comes out
I kinda always thought of Nakiami as the romantic interest; it’s hard for me to explain, but it really feels like there’s more room/development to work with on the AkiyukixNakiami pairing. But then again, the trailer was the first thing I saw from Xam’d, not that picture with Xam’d carrying Haru. I think people tend to jump to conclusions based on which characters they see first; a lot of people actually thought Haru was the main Heroine due to that early pic of Xam’d with Haru, but from the Trailers and current episodes, Nakiami fits that role more, and Haru feels like just a supporting character.
Haru cant be a supporting character, she’ll play bigger part be it her joining the military side to get him back, or going solo is she has the spirit of a lone wolf and can handle her self which she can… but yeah right now it really does seem like Nakiami will get closer to him.. but will have to see…
I think Haru will still have a part to play in the plot, or else why show her so prominently throughout the first 3 episodes. Also, isn’t the girl throwing the letter in the intro Haru with short hair?
Even though it looks like Eureka Seven I still loe Akiyuki remiinds of Renton alot except that Akiyuki isn’t that big of a wimpy like Renton
@Pam
Ya that’s kinda what turned me off of E7. That and I didn’t like Eureka that much either.
Overall I’m really liking Xam’d’s (lol is that how it should be written) characters more. Akiyuki=Renton, Nakiami=Eureka, kinda draws parallels doesn’t it.
@Zede
I don’t doubt it one bit. It seems like they’re telling the story from 3 different povs(the ship’s perspective, sentan island perspective, and the military’s perspective). Will they all cross paths? Maybe, maybe not. But for the most part, the ship seems to be the main perspective.
haha! i love this anime 😀 it looks soo goood 😉
AkiyukixNakiami seems to have more potential for drama and development, and I can definitely see parallels between that pairing and RentonxEureka, only in this case the male is more the “alien” in the form of Xam’d rather than the other way around as it was with Eureka.
Still, I can’t help but be intrigued by Nakiami’s past and how this isn’t the first time she’s brought a Xam’d on board the ship (I’m guessing her last effort resulted in the Xam’d turning to stone and/or crystallizing). I also found it interesting that Nakiami said to the effect of, “Another male Xam’d?” in the second episode implying that the last Xam’d she attempted to help was also male, and that there might be female Xam’d’s out there too.
For the moment, Nakiami doesn’t come off nearly as distant (nor as alien or cold) as Eureka did initially (partly because Eureka WAS an alien trying to understand human emotions), but she definitely seems to hold back her emotions, for reasons I hope we find out soon. Though there’s something to be said for the strong, stoic female warrior types. 🙂 Maybe repeatedly seeing the Xam’d’s she’s tried to help in the past continuosuly end up turning to stone/crystal has made Nakiami more detached so as not to get her hopes up anymore.
On a side note, the Commander really reminds me of Lt. Dominic from E7. I’m sure he’ll wind up as an antagonist at first but eventually turn around and help the heroes against the real bad guys like Dominic did, heh.
@ Lillie: (Warning, spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen Code Geass: R2 epi 13 yet)
Maybe Shirley reincarnated into this anime after passing away in CG? 😉
No one of the crew has not even bothered to tell Akiyuki a coherent story of what happened (like in a lot of fiction with a “special hero”). Calling him a idiot because he basically doesn’t know what is going on and because of that, just gives natural response is kind of uncalled for.
But I am glad Akiyuki is a decent normal kid and that the crew so far isn’t that much like E7 (which was what made me drop E7). I am sure Haru will get a fair amount of screen time. Maybe she will be the one to write with Akiyuki or to keep him up to date with what happens at home, etc.
Please… Be it AkiyukixNakiami, not AkiyukixHaru. I hate characters like Haru, they’re really annoying, imo.
Haru and Akiyuki will no doubt meet again, as there seems to be some deeper connection between them through Xam’d. When Nakiami confirmed that Haru had also heard Akiyuki’s affirmation that he wanted to live, Nakiami said that she was giving Akiyuki’s spirit to her, as Haru had ‘saved’ him. Then, when Haru saw Nazuna in the hospital, Nazuna told Haru that ‘her’ Xam’d was still alive. Also, though this is getting into the territory of speculation, it might be notable that Haru and Nakiami’s eyes are the same shade of blue, and we still haven’t seen anything of Haru’s mother, so there might be some sort of connection there as well…
The Commander certainly doesn’t seem like a bad guy at first glance and even appeared humble when it was mentioned that he was a great war hero from 17 years ago by saying he didn’t do anything special except for surviving said war.
I’m kinda glad to see they gave the Commander a proper military style hair-cut for once. Too many times in anime people that are supposed to be in the military still have long or outrageous out-of-regs hair that just wouldn’t fly in any of today’s professional military (speaking as a military guy myself). Don’t anime military have any standards at all? 😛
And the Commander here seems to be the appropriate age for his rank (O-5) too; another anime trope is having characters being way too young for their supposed rank (Full Metal Alchemist is guilty of this; Edward was the equivalent of a major, an O-4, and he was what, 15 years old? and Roy Mustang was a LtCol, also an O-5, and looked way too young too).
As for Haru, I never noticed before that the short-hair female at the very start of the OP (the one with the letter and licking it before flipping it away) looks a bit like Haru, only with her hair cut. My guess is Haru does in fact go in search of Akiyuki after receiving his letter, maybe by joining the military/air force so she can look for him much easier (the uniform seems indicative of that)?
The afore mentioned Xam’d who arrived before Akiyuki did will most likely end up as the main villain. I’m thinking that Nakiami may have had feelings for this Xam’d before he went berserk, or at least some sort of guilt or emotional attachment. The unknown male with the backpack in the ED is probably this evil Xam’d, and maybe also the one trapped in crystal in the Commander’s possession and being hauled up the chains. Just my theories.
I’m not sure Nakiami and Haru share much more of a connection outside of Akiyuki/Xam’d. We know Haru has her father and kid sister (the girl with the braced leg and crutch). Anything else at this moment is speculation (maybe the woman at the start of the OP is in fact the mother instead of Haru herself? that’d be a twist where the mom is the military person and the father is the stay-at-home dad).
@Alhazred23
I thought that had to do more with Nakiami’s religion, Ruikonism(?). Since she was also talking about the Humanform’s soul and Xam’d and all that.
haru could be like shirley but akiyuki will possibly actually like her and she wont die…so it doesn’t matter if nakiami is the main heroine
@Reiter
About Haru being the short-hair female at the very start of the OP (the one with the letter and licking it before flipping it away). That’s a good speculation. I do think that too. But we’re not sure of that yet, if they don’t meet for the next 3-4 episodes or if we don’t see that female character licking that letter, we can assume that theory. But the Xam’d who arrived before Akiyuki, I don’t think so. That guy probably turned into stone or something. Who knows.. Probably Nakiami had feelings for that guy or something.. lol
@GhOsTeDgE
Given that Ruikonism is apparently dying out and has some connection to the Xam’d and Humaniform weapons, i’m willing to bet that they’re onto something; that’s usually how it works in these settings.
Nakiami was kind of vague during that conversation about spirits, but she was clearly speaking to Haru at the end. Since all Haru had done was confirm that the Xam’d had originally been Akiyuki, protest that he couldn’t be dead, and then hear his plea for life (which caused Nakiami to spare him), it seems kind of implied that she’d ‘saved’ Akiyuki- but without knowing more about the Ruikonism, it is still pretty ambiguous.
I still dont know why I am paying for the HD rentals on the psn store, but this show is good. I agree though this episode was a bit boring.
Yup, this ep was kinda boring… or typical would be another word…. Here’s another similarity to Eureak, the crew doesn’t tell the protagonist anything, even if it’s something he should know. It’s like when a talented individual joins a company, but all the colleagues are spoilsports and give him a hard time….
I’ll probably keep watching for a while, but the similarities to Eureka7 are annoying. Despite what the general anime population say, I personally think Eureka7 failed on many levels (Renton should have left the ship and permanently joined Charos and Rey, and they should’ve just annihilated Holland and gang.)
Back to Xam’d…. my favourite character is without question Akiyuki’s mum… I’m not one of those otaku who follows different voice actors careers, but I really enjoy her performance. The relationship between Akiyuki’s parents are probably the most engaging aspect of Xam’d at the moment.
As far as the Haru vs Nakiami debate….. I don’t really care…. Haru’s a bit annoying and Nakiami is a MC Hammer fan, so they basically cross each other out at the moment. The Captain reminds me of my ex-boss, whom I sent to the hospital (true story) and the bratty kid reminds me of… well…. a roach (annoying and you wanna squash him).
In my opinion, Xam’d ain’t the best show there is this season…. it’s up there, but based on the first few weeks of airing, I rank Natsume Yuujin-Chou and Mugen no Juunin higher… for now at least. The first 2 eps were great, but I got a strange feeling Xam’d will start grating at me.
Thanx Omni.
Anime A+ star Qty
Very much like Eureka7 / last exile .
Only diffenet like the main char better than I did in eureka7(that 14year brat renton) , in last exile there also a postal service dueing wars mission.
The Captain Women reminds me of Alex Row in last exlie . who also carry a long gun take out starfish ship in 1 shot . in this case she a carry BFG! 🙂 (fan service FTW )
Agree Lithium , agree not the best anime of season this year , possive winner this year Code Geass R2 , Macross Frontier , gundam00 and Suzumiya Haruhi season 2 ( not even out yet )
@Lithium
Haha, glad I’m not the only one who noticed Nakiami’s bad taste in parachute pants. Other than that, I really like her character design. Tasteful and practical, with a slightly retro and traditional style (though again, the parachute pants throws that off a bit). I’m hoping they explore Nakiami’s spirituality/religion a bit more since the stuff they showcased in Eureka Seven was pretty interesting too (a bit of parallel between Tibetan monks and the Chinese military oppression there). I wonder what they’ll do with the religious/spiritual stuff this time.
I also agree that the estrangement and emotion between Akiyuki’s parents is pretty interesting too. One thing I like about anime is its recognition that traditional marriages and families these days are becoming less and less common, giving way to divorces, separation, single parents, and non-traditional (as in non-nuclear) families.
I always thought it would have been cool too if Renton stayed with Charles and Ray as well, and if Eureka and the kids moved in with them too (yea, Eureka was indirectly responsible for Ray being unable to have children, so that oughta have balanced things out). The thing with Renton constantly being razzed and abused by the others of the crew got old after a while, though I guess to be fair the series was 50+ episodes long and so the pacing reflected that. Since Xam’d is only slated for 26, Akiyuki shouldn’t have it quite so bad here.
But yea, it annoys me that the protagonist (as well as the viewer) is left in the dark on purpose and that fact is used to beat the character over the head with. In Renton’s case, he was a few years younger and less experienced/mature than Akiyuki, and so had a lot more growing up to do. Akiyuki at least seems to be a quick learner and not quite as dense nor as annoying as Renton was. He’s already apologized and thanked Nakiami for all she’s done so far. Hopefully more answers will come forth from here on in.
Xam’d design really remind me to Coralian. I don’t surprise is there is major religion involved with Xam’d in this anime and supressed by government.
@Lillie:
I agree with you that in the first screen shot, Haru looks like Shirley. That’s a good thing for me though, because I still can’t get over her death in CG. 🙂
Anyway, I like that whole idea about Haru joining the army, cutting her hair, being Akiyuki’s penpal.. but that would just take too much time. Their reunion would happen near the end. But I still think that that is possible. I would just like the anime more if they reunited earlier, so to get in more development, plot, etc.
I like this animation too. The color usage is great which is a bit different from other animations.