Xam'd: Lost Memories

Xam'd: Lost Memories, known in Japan as Xam'd of the Forgotten Memories (亡念のザムド), is an anime series, conceptualized by Bones and co-developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Aniplex and Bones, which made its debut on Sony's inaugural launch of the PlayStation Network (PSN) video download service at E3 in the United States on July 16, 2008, in Japan on September 24, 2008.[1] Unlike SCE's previous anime series Mars Daybreak, no video game adaptation of the series were ever released.

Plot

Sentan Island exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, surrounded by the Yuden Sea, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Akiyuki Takehara lives on Sentan Island along with his mother Fusa. Despite his mother's strained relationship with his father, Ryuzo, the town doctor, the bond between father and son remains strong.

One day the island's tranquility is shattered, when Akiyuki, along with his best friends Haru and Furuichi, are caught up in an explosion on a school bus by a mysterious pale, white haired girl named Nazuna.

Main characters

Takehara Akiyuki (竹原アキユキ)

A high school student with a charismatic and helpful nature, he lives with his mother, who has separated from his father due to marriage problems. He has two close friends, Haru and Furuichi. After a suicide bomber from the religious cult of Ruikonism (ルイコン教) detonates herself on his school bus, releasing the seven beings in a green egg inside her, they fly off as bright pulsing lights one of which lands on Akiyuki's arm, absorbs itself under his skin, and materializes as a blue gem-like object on his right biceps. As the bomber is dying, she touches his forehead, making first a small red gem appear, then a white and green mask. Within moments, Akiyuki's entire body transforms into an exotic white creature and engages in battle with a humanform weapon (ヒトガタ兵器) which attacked the area around the bus shortly after the bombing. Following his successful defeat of the humanform weapon, Akiyuki is subdued by a mysterious woman named Nakiami, who threatens to let him turn to stone if he does not go with her to the airship Zanbani where he must learn to coexist with the being within him. The blue gem-like object on Akiyuki's body, which has now moved to his forearm, is later revealed to be manifested appendage of an endosymbiotic organism referred to within the show as a "hiruko" (ヒルコ). When a hiruko endosymbiont merges with a human, the resulting combined life form is referred to as a "Xam'd" (ザムド（墜夢人）).

(ナキアミ)

A mysterious and fairly unemotional woman, Nakiami makes her first entrance when she jumps in and subdues the enraged Xam'd, turning him to stone and demanding that he come with her and live, or die. Akiyuki accepts, and she knocks him and Haru unconscious with a few small movements. She then takes Akiyuki back to the ship with her, and starts operating on Akiyuki and working with his condition. At first, she needs to continually remind Akiyuki to "keep thinking", as this is the way for him to both improve his symbiotic relationship with his hiruko and to help prevent him from turning to stone. Nakiami is a fairly serious and skilled person, who bears similar face marks to other mysterious characters related to the Xam'd, and seems to have a lot of knowledge and expertise about it. She is a crew member of the airship Zanbani and flies a small jet-like vehicle called a Beat Kayak. It has been noted that her character design and vehicle both share large resemblances to Nausicaä, and it may have been an inspiration for her character. Madam Tenshin has given her the nickname "Cloud Rider". It is mentioned some time in Episode 5 by Ishu Benikawa that Nakiami is not her real name, rather it was just made up by the crew of the Zanbani after hearing her yell to "stop crying" (泣き止め).

Nishimura Haru (西村ハル)

Haru is a fellow high school student and a friend of Akiyuki's, and fairly skilled in martial arts. She is the first to encounter Xam'd on the destroyed bus, and later realises the connection between Xam'd and Akiyuki. After Akiyuki is taken to the Zanbani, Haru corresponds with him via written letters. She later joins the Mainsoul military section in the hopes that it will grant her an opportunity to rendezvous with Akiyuki. Her strong desire to be with Akiyuki places a strain on her friendship with Furuichi. She later reveals to Furuichi that she loves Akiyuki.

Sentan Island

Teraoka Furuichi (寺岡フルイチ)

Furuichi is a friend of Akiyuki, and like Haru, practices martial arts, although it seems that she is much better than he is. Unlike Akiyuki, Furuichi is slightly more cynical and serious, although he is playful enough to bet with Haru on whether Akiyuki will be late or not. Furuichi joins the Mainsoul military, and demonstrates great skill in fighting Xam'd, whilst his relationship with Haru drifts apart. As a result, the reunion of Akiyuki and Haru is interrupted by him and he declares his intentions of killing Akiyuki, due to his cold indifference over the identities of Xam'd. Furuichi later volunteers to undergo an 'enhancement' program to make himself a better Mainsoul pilot, the result of which, ironically, causes Furuichi to turn into one of the opponents he was training to fight, a Xam'd. Furuichi's hiruko resides within his right thigh. Fueled by his anger and jealousy towards Akiyuki, Furuichi's hiruko causes him to continue to become more grotesque until he is subdued by Akiyuki and turned back to normal by Nakiami. He is captured by the Mainsoul military, but escapes while being transported to the base. Soldiers confront him while he is buying drinks for himself, his "beloved" Haru, and his best friend, perhaps finally accepting and coming to terms with Akiyuki. He then decapitates himself with his Xam'd arm before the soldiers are able to recapture him, saying that he wasn't meant to be.

Nishimura Midori (西村ミドリ)

Haru's younger sister who, as a result of being struck in an automobile accident two years before, requires a crutch to walk. The car accident also took her mother's life. She is later turned into a humanform.

Takehara Fusa (竹原フサ)

Zanbani Postal Airship

Benikawa Ishū (紅皮伊舟)

The captain of the International Postal Airship Zanbani, she always wears a crop top with diaphanous sleeves and usually ties her hair in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon. She also wears glasses, which she at one point blames on age, and is tall. She is described as being the "sweet, raven haired beauty with glasses" by Ahm despite the fact that she usually makes the off-hand comment that he is ugly, fat, or both. She is strong-willed, independent and usually ends up spending her spare money on weapons and ammo. Half of the time she seems to be drinking and smoking. In disciplining her crew, she has been known to slap them depending on how stupid she thinks their actions were. Although she may have a tough exterior, she does occasionally have a soft spot for her crew.

Tsunomata Raigyo (角股雷魚)

Raigyo recently returned to the ship Zanbani after a two-year journey wandering the world as a photographer and a vagrant. During his two-year journey, he had carried his possessions upon his back covered with a sheet, giving him an almost turtle-like appearance. Like Akiyuki, Raigyo is also a Xam'd, except Raigyo's hiruko resides within his left shoulder. Unlike Akiyuki, Raigyo appears to have greater control over his ability to change between human and Xam'd form and thus, seems to have a better relationship with his own hiruko. He also seems to have enough control that he can prevent himself from turning to stone, a common side effect that occurs in people imbued with hiruko. His Xam'd powers seem to be related with water, as water covers his body during his transformation, giving him the ability to swim fast and create water blades sharp enough to easily cut a humanform in two. His Xam'd form also has amphibian characteristics, like webbed hands. Tenshin-sama has given him the nickname "Wind That Stirs the Water".

type	ona
director	Masayuki Miyaji
producer	Makoto Watanabe Miho Kawagoe Ryo Ōyama
writer	Megumi Shimazu Yūichi Nomura
music	Michiru Oshima
studio	Bones
first	July 16, 2008
last	February 3, 2009
runtime	25 minutes (each)
episodes	26
episode list	List of Xam'd: Lost Memories episodes

Xam'd: Lost Memories

Plot

Main characters

Sentan Island

Zanbani Postal Airship

Media

Anime

Manga

Music

External links

References