Xam’d 01 – Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Xam’d 02 – Your typical confusion.

Summary (if I can summarize it) – Akiyuki is a typical earily 1900’s Japanese student inside the Free Zone. One day, he encounters a strange white haired girl; some time before, that girl is sent by a certain old female high priest for a certain mission; her mission succeeds and Akiyuki turns into a creature.

Some kind of postal service is going across the Free Zone and it encounters some sort of invasion force from the Northern Government. Nakiami, the scout from the postal ship, decides to investigate the invasion; she takes Akiyuki, in his creature form, back to the ship with a contact made.

Akiyuki, now as a Xam’d, fights off enemies but is forced to leave Haru and Furuishi, his classmates, as well as his mother, Fusa and Ryozo, behind…

Thoughts – Wow. More confusing than Rahxephon and the music is rather Middle Eastern like. the concept is probably not going to be as revolutionary as Rahxephon, but the cultural basis may just be interesting…

OK, let me back up a little bit.

The fundamental of the story is simple (but don’t be fooled by my poor attempt at summarizing eps 1 and 2): Boy gets into an event, he fights back enemy, but ultimately he’s taken somewhere and he’s forced to leave his familiar settings behind, and the adventure begins.

There is one big difference in the setting, but there’s also something familiar. I’ll compare with Rahxephon:

Difference:Rahxephon takes place in modern day Tokyo, Xam’d seems to take place in early 1900’s Japan.

Similar: In both, strange aircrafts totally out of place are flying above the skies.

The similarities in Rahxephon give a hint that something doesn’t add up. I wonder if the same effect is in Xam’d?

In any case, some ritual happened at the very beginning, and through some choices, Akiyuki is forced to take on the role of Xam’d. From everything that’s shown, being a Xam’d is not a happy thing at all.

The music and the poetry at the beginning sets up the mood, even though how the show worked itself wasn’t completely what I expected. Also, in this case, I’m reminded more of Brain PowerD, especially with the design of the Xam’d that the main character turns into.

I hate to say it, but a confusing beginning with jargons is REALLY OLD AND OVERUSED. It’s been so overdone that I simply just kind of ignored it and went for the basic story (as stated above). I’m not even going to bother ponder the myth behind it and just watch it. I AM disappointed with the stupid chick design of Xam’d.

Well, I guess now we know which comes first, at least in this case.

One thing to know is the emotional intensity of the show. As Mike explained, bus bombing is not something that just goes away. The confrontation of AKiyuki’s parents is also a good watch.

I suppose I’m waiting to see what happens next.

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.