Kurau Phantom Memories
This being a Bones production, I went in with some expectations. I was expecting well-developed, if slightly off-kilter characters, which it delivered. I was also expecting a complex story told with as few cues as possible. For better or worse, it delivered on that front too. Music was excellent as well, with Akino Arai’s “Natsukashii Umi” being a highlight.
Pacing is on the slow side, yet the story stays clear of tedium. There’s hardly any filler, no recap episode midway through, now sideways diversions. The story progression stays logical and realistic throughout. Plot points you think are going to be filler — the introduction of Yvonne, for instance — serve as primers for new twists in the tale.
All of this is buoyed by the relationship between Kurau and Christmas. In trying to describe it, I find myself at a loss for words and so must defer to Faye Dunaway’s character from
Chinatown:
Minds out of the gutter boys, it’s not like
that. But given the context of Christmas’s origin it’s a close approximation. Regardless, the love and devotion these two show each other, their sheer selflessness through thick and thin, certainly places them in the top tier of anime couples. And it’s important that this was done right, because this is what sets off the events in the story. No Kurau/Christmas, no
Kurau Phantom Memories.
I have a few issues however. Kurau herself is a dullard, and a stubborn one at that. In the heat of battle, the frequently insists she is fine when those around her can all see she is out on her feet and moments away from a coma. This is bound to become grating, which it does. And then there’s the name “Christmas”? Really? First thing that came to mind for me was Denise Richards in
The World Is Not Enough — not a good connotation, not good at all. Finally, for all the closure presented at the end, the origin and nature of the Rynax remains vague and underdeveloped, which is peculiar given how central to the plot they are.
In the end we have an ambitious tale with themes of familial relationships and the ethics of scientific research, competently handled. That will be a
7/10 then.