Xam’d Lost Memories (pronounced zam-d) AKA Bounen no Xam’d, is a unique 26 episode sci-fi war anime, that reminded me a lot of anime like FMA (same studio), Eureka Seven, Evangelion and even Valkyria Chronicles (the game, haven’t watched the anime).
Conceptualized by Bones, and co-developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Aniplex and Bones, Bounen no Xamdou debuted on Sony's inagural launch of the Playstation Network video download service at E3 in the United States on July 16th, 2008, and in Japan on September 24th, 2008.
There’s not much rock in there, the music was very similar to anime like FMA and Eureka Seven, suitable epic music for those moments, tense music and even the pleasant chilled out music where relevant. This anime is in both English and Japanese. I watched it in English, but a few niggles means you’d probably want to watch this in Japanese.
With the great pace and even the use of passage of time, especially at the end (dream come true!) for a bit of fan-service (not the ecchi kind), the story and the characters that propel it, is the best bit of this anime and really makes it shine.
Xam’d are made by the mysterious white-haired children when they release a Haruko and it embeds into a host. If the host loses control, they turn to red stone, which over a long time turns into normal mossy rock. The human can learn to coexist with the Haruko and make use of it’s power.
But his carefree days come abruptly to an end when his school bus suffers an explosion, the first attack to plunge Sentan back into war. Akiyuki lives to find himself turned into a Xam'd, a mysterious creature, by the suspected cause of the explosion. Engulfed by Xam'd, Akiyuki is eventually saved by a red-haired girl, Nakiami, ...
She lives with just her father and sister on Senten Island , since her mother died when she was younger. Nakiami AKA Cloud Rider Tenjho is a girl from Tessec village (where the inhabitants are easily recognised by their facial tattoos) and a crew member of the Zambani.
Akiyuki had the familiar voice of Blake Shepard, who was Otonashi in Angel Beats, Takabayashi in Another, Michio Hoshino in Ghost Hound, Kei Takashima in Special A and Yumeji Fujiwara in Yumekui (Dream Eater) Merry.
Furuichi Teraoka is a friend of Akiyuki and Haru, he is the one left to comfort Haru when Akiyuki is gone. He joins the army to protect his island and he’s generally a serious guy. He was also in the martial arts club with Haru. He lives with just his mother and ends up being a good soldier.
Finally Raigyo was voiced by Andrew Love of course, who’s voice Akio Furukawa in Clannad, Tadashi Karino in Special A and Yuuya Daigo in Tokyo Majin. Characters Akiyuki Takahara is the lead protagonist in this anime.
Engulfed by Xam'd, Akiyuki is eventually saved by a red-haired girl, Nakiami, only to find himself torn away from those he loves. Now he must work to control and understand the creature within him, all while searching for his family and friends in a world steeped in the secrets and chaos of war.
Sentan Island is a small island surrounded by the Yuden Sea. It exists in a state of dreamlike tranquility, cut off from the war between the Northern Government and the Southern Continent Free Zone. Our hero, Akiyuki Takehara, lives on Sentain Island along with his mother Fusa.
Conceptualized by Bones, and co-developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Aniplex and Bones, Bounen no Xamdou debuted on Sony's inagural launch of the Playstation Network video download service at E3 in the United States on July 16th, 2008, and in Japan on September 24th, 2008.