Thanks for the recommendation!--I'm enjoying the show so far. I will add that I don't think the pair relationship is supposed to symbolize romantic love or familial love. There's a concept in psychology that relates to childhood trauma, called 'Healing your inner child' I believe Christmas is Kurau, both psychologically and physically because of the plot point of her being dormant for a decade. 'older' Kurau is trauma and memory. This is likely due to the trauma of losing her mother and her father's emotional neglect--doesn't remember her birthday, becomes estranged, can't protect her from danger, etc. You see older Kurau lose her powers when she is away from her inner child (Christmas), because abandonment is one of the primary triggers of this type of painful emotional flashback You also see sub-plots that revolve around similar themes, the guy that chose to stay in the shuttle rather than be there for his family, and, in particular, the former cop. His relationship with his son, feels distant, even though he cares, his work-life balance negates their quality time, and is further unreliable caretaker, due to his divorce Anyways, that's my interpretation, through episode 5. Keep up the great work!! :)
You can read that into it if you want but its still ultimately a Science Fiction story where the Rynax are intended to explore an alien form of existance. They have human traits due to being inhabiting bodies copied from the same human but there's no single subtype of split-self being explored in the metaphor.
Glad someone remembers this anime. I was just trying to find anything on youtube that wasn't the opening song and lo and behold someone who recognizes how great it was lol
Haven't seen this in ages. One of the earliest anime experiences. Had a great soundtrack especially the ending credits and some interesting sci-fi fight scenes.
Excellent review. This is my flat-out favorite anime. The story is deep, multi-dimensional (both figuratively and literally), and benefits from repeated viewing. The characters all have great depth to them, and the series avoids cartoonish good-vs-bad clichés. One thing of note is just how the Rynax are portrayed. While they're the victims of humanity they're also exceedingly dangerous, with Rynax (Kurau and Christmas aside) having no understanding of the damage they cause. They are innocent, but it's often the innocence of a child pulling the wings off an insect. Ayaka is not wrong for hunting them down, it's just that Kurau and Christmas are the only two who *aren't* dangerous. As a side note, I truly believe that the Rynax and Kurau are truly one being. Her personality is a mix of both, with neither being dominant, and even after separation there's still a bond between them, even to the point that human-Kurau knows when the Rynax reemerges. Some people might see it as possession, but it's actually a merger. This is likely the reason Kurau avoids the whole "psychotic child" thing, because her merger was voluntary and mutual. The other Rynax are firmly in control of their bodies.
It was a cool looking trailer, but sadly mismarketed the series as just another sci-fi action series. They really needed to focus more on the drama and relationships.
Sorry, that was rude of me. Actually, an excellent review. I have to ask though: I always got the idea that Kurau and the Rynax had "merged" somehow, mentally, but if that is the case, how could the Rynax hope to give "Kurau" back? It's really confusing to me.
If it had been marketed as an lgbt story it might have got a larger audience. To me it seemed more like a womens show like Charmed or Buffy. Though I don't normally like those shows, I do like bitter teenage angst movies. I think the market for emotional and yuri etc anime shows is bigger now thanks to crunchy roll so funimation should try pushing it some more.
Thanks for the recommendation!--I'm enjoying the show so far. I will add that I don't think the pair relationship is supposed to symbolize romantic love or familial love. There's a concept in psychology that relates to childhood trauma, called 'Healing your inner child'
I believe Christmas is Kurau, both psychologically and physically because of the plot point of her being dormant for a decade. 'older' Kurau is trauma and memory. This is likely due to the trauma of losing her mother and her father's emotional neglect--doesn't remember her birthday, becomes estranged, can't protect her from danger, etc. You see older Kurau lose her powers when she is away from her inner child (Christmas), because abandonment is one of the primary triggers of this type of painful emotional flashback
You also see sub-plots that revolve around similar themes, the guy that chose to stay in the shuttle rather than be there for his family, and, in particular, the former cop. His relationship with his son, feels distant, even though he cares, his work-life balance negates their quality time, and is further unreliable caretaker, due to his divorce
Anyways, that's my interpretation, through episode 5. Keep up the great work!! :)
That's a very good interpretation! I never even considered something like that before now.
@@LostImpactProd 😊
You can read that into it if you want but its still ultimately a Science Fiction story where the Rynax are intended to explore an alien form of existance.
They have human traits due to being inhabiting bodies copied from the same human but there's no single subtype of split-self being explored in the metaphor.
Glad someone remembers this anime. I was just trying to find anything on youtube that wasn't the opening song and lo and behold someone who recognizes how great it was lol
theres some parallels with that beyond two souls game in this here animu
Haven't seen this in ages. One of the earliest anime experiences. Had a great soundtrack especially the ending credits and some interesting sci-fi fight scenes.
Excellent review. This is my flat-out favorite anime. The story is deep, multi-dimensional (both figuratively and literally), and benefits from repeated viewing. The characters all have great depth to them, and the series avoids cartoonish good-vs-bad clichés.
One thing of note is just how the Rynax are portrayed. While they're the victims of humanity they're also exceedingly dangerous, with Rynax (Kurau and Christmas aside) having no understanding of the damage they cause. They are innocent, but it's often the innocence of a child pulling the wings off an insect. Ayaka is not wrong for hunting them down, it's just that Kurau and Christmas are the only two who *aren't* dangerous.
As a side note, I truly believe that the Rynax and Kurau are truly one being. Her personality is a mix of both, with neither being dominant, and even after separation there's still a bond between them, even to the point that human-Kurau knows when the Rynax reemerges. Some people might see it as possession, but it's actually a merger. This is likely the reason Kurau avoids the whole "psychotic child" thing, because her merger was voluntary and mutual. The other Rynax are firmly in control of their bodies.
I loved this show so much and so glad someone even last year talked about it and remembers it. Great show, gave me all the feels years ago
This video made me sub. Tysm!
It was a beautiful story. I hope it won't be forget. Many qualities but it seems not to be very known.
Happy to see someone doing a review of it still today. Thanks
Damn dude you deserve more subs
I have plenty of subs I feel. Each video getting views which match that sub count is what I'd really like. But alas, YT algorithm...
Can you imagine, they change clothes alot!
Gotta throw the GPO off somehow!
I remember seeing the trailer for this from NewType magazine
It was a cool looking trailer, but sadly mismarketed the series as just another sci-fi action series. They really needed to focus more on the drama and relationships.
Glad some people remember this one. A great show that I think was let down by a a somewhat weak ending.
Is there a manga that it was sourced from? Not sure if that was covered.
From what I know, Kurau was a completely original project as a show, but it did get a one-off manga volume in Magazine Z a year after broadcast.
The top of your head is shaped like a triangle.
Sorry, that was rude of me. Actually, an excellent review. I have to ask though: I always got the idea that Kurau and the Rynax had "merged" somehow, mentally, but if that is the case, how could the Rynax hope to give "Kurau" back? It's really confusing to me.
If it had been marketed as an lgbt story it might have got a larger audience. To me it seemed more like a womens show like Charmed or Buffy. Though I don't normally like those shows, I do like bitter teenage angst movies. I think the market for emotional and yuri etc anime shows is bigger now thanks to crunchy roll so funimation should try pushing it some more.