Kurau Phantom Memory

• 1. Introduction

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  Kurau Phantom Memory begins with a birthday gone wrong. A twelve-year-old girl named Kurau follows her father, Dr. Amami, into his lab. He is close to a breakthrough in something he calls Rynax energy. The experiment misfires. A bolt of that energy strikes her and scatters her body into pure light. When she reforms, someone else has come back with her. The rest of this documentary follows two questions that never quite let go of each other. What exactly took hold of Kurau in that lab? And why does an entire police organization eventually decide that she, and the girl who shares her body, are too dangerous to leave alone? Along the way it also follows her father, whose invention set all of this in motion. And it follows the strange household that grows around her, as she tries to live something close to a normal life while keeping her secret.

• 2. The Second Awakening

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  In the year 2100, an accident in Dr. Amami's lab does not simply injure Kurau. It rewrites her. When her light-scattered body reforms, it turns out to be carrying two Rynax, beings that are actually sentient life, not simply a form of energy. One of the two is too weak to awaken. The other rises and takes over Kurau's name and identity. She settles into something close to an ordinary life, even though her new abilities make her a subject of scientific fascination. Ten years pass before the second Rynax stirs, emerging as a twelve-year-old girl whom Kurau names Christmas. The two come to look and act like sisters. Most of the story unfolds in the year 2110, a decade after the lab accident. Christmas's arrival forces Kurau to answer for a secret she has kept for ten years.

• 3. Beings From Elsewhere

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  Rynax do not occur alone. They exist in Pairs, channeled from an alternate dimension rather than generated in a lab, as Dr. Amami originally believed. The channeling itself is violent enough that it often kills the Rynax almost immediately. When a Rynax does fuse with a human, the result is called a Ryna sapien. But fusing itself is a dangerous gamble. The usual outcome is a slow, agonizing death for both the human and the Rynax. Kurau is the exception. Inside her, the human and the Rynax settle into a working, symbiotic partnership instead of the fatal one most Pairs face. That partnership gives her real superhuman gifts. She has extraordinary strength and agility, the ability to fly, to pass through solid matter, and to generate enough radiation to disintegrate an object instantly. Other people who merge with a Rynax are not so fortunate. They tend to become dangerous and destructive. That draws the attention of the GPO, the police force assigned to hunt down and terminate both halves of a Pair. Kurau and her own Pair are hunted under that same assumption, that the two of them are a threat to the world. Even so, Kurau vows to protect Christmas while staying one step ahead of detection.

• 4. The Freelance Agent

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  As an Agent, Kurau takes on jobs too dangerous or too illegal for an ordinary private eye, or even for the GPO itself. Barely into her twenties, she is already regarded as one of the best in the business. The reputation around her is that there is no job she will not take and nothing she cannot do. Few people know her well, and her past is a complete mystery. She is somewhat of a loner, uneasy in human society, and she avoids close relationships so no one discovers her secret. At the same time, she longs to be reunited with the Rynax Pair whose essence sleeps inside her. Christmas, once she emerges, resembles a young Kurau, though decidedly less tomboyish. Unlike Kurau, she initially has no superhuman abilities of her own. She is seemingly innocent and naive, yet she grasps other people intuitively and learns at remarkable speed. On her first day out in the world, she reads a cookbook and produces a full dinner from it.

• 5. Loyalties Inside The GPO

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  Doug is a down and out Agent and a former officer in the GPO. It falls to him to find out the truth about Kurau. Trusting neither the police nor his own shady employers, Doug soon finds himself empathizing with Kurau as she goes on the run. Wong commands the GPO unit assigned to investigate and control Ryna sapiens, and he is soft-spoken, a man of few but carefully chosen words. He seems to know more about what is really happening than his own superiors do. He also suspects that he is not being told the whole truth about the Rynax situation. Ayaka, once Doug's partner in the GPO, is now a captain in Wong's unit and is placed directly in charge of capturing Kurau. She appears focused on climbing the ranks by any means necessary, but her own father led the GPO until he was assassinated. For that reason, she insists on being called only by her first name. One of her real goals is uncovering the reasons behind her father's death. She trusts no one with that secret, though she still keeps track of her former partner Doug. She and Wong, meanwhile, develop a relationship built on mutual respect. Ichise, an older scientist than Amami, began as a subordinate in Amami's lab. He worked his way into a position of authority by currying favor with the GPO and betraying his former colleagues. He is a ruthless man who cares about nothing except advancing his own agenda, whatever the cost to others. Saito, the commissioner of the GPO, is the series' main antagonist, intent on building a military unit out of Rynax soldiers. Dr. Amami himself is a kind, intelligent man, wracked by guilt over the accident that changed his daughter. He is also physically damaged from his own encounter with the Rynax force. The GPO now forces him to work on a project that could destroy his own child.

• 6. Kurau's Wider Circle

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  A crusty, grizzled veteran runs the Agency that Kurau normally works for, and he is a tough-talking man who has a secret fondness for her. That fondness never stops him from sending her out on the most dangerous assignments available. Ella is the Amami family's housekeeper, a kindly older woman who took care of young Kurau after her mother's death. World-wise and a keen observer of human nature, Ella understands the relationship between Dr. Amami and his daughter better than either of them do. Frank is Kurau's uncle, and he lives in Switzerland with his wife Kleine, who is Kurau's aunt. Doug's son, meanwhile, is being raised by his mother and has grown rather spoiled and aloof. He is increasingly disenchanted with his father, who quit his "cool" job in the GPO to become a "boring", low-end private eye.

• 7. Licensed For America

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  Bones and Media Factory produced Kurau Phantom Memory for two Japanese networks, Animax and TV Asahi, which broadcast it from June to December 2004. Beyond its plot, the series is built around themes of family bonds and the ethics of scientific discovery. A.D. Vision licensed the series for North American release for $960,000, a deal signed as soon as the first episode aired in Japan. The first DVD reached American shelves on the 10th of April 2007. In 2008, A.D. Vision handed the license to Funimation Entertainment, along with more than thirty other titles. The opening theme, "Natsukashii Umi", comes from Akino Arai, while the ending theme, "Moonlight", is performed by Yukari Katsuki of S.E.N.S. Two insert songs, "Lilipri Layli" and "Lonely Freedom", also come from Yukari Katsuki.

• 8. A Mixed Verdict

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  Newtype USA's Kevin Gifford reviewed the first volume of Kurau Phantom Memory. He called it a "neat take on the Ghost in the Shell-ish 'super-powered ladies in a dystopian future' formula." He also said it delivered "one of the most memorable first episodes" of any recent anime. Brian Morton of Mania.com found the early episodes "something of a disappointment." He judged the later ones "engaging, entertaining, and in some ways thought-provoking." Morton gave the series a B+ rating and called it "well worth watching." Diane Tiu of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews went further, awarding the series five out of five stars. She wrote that "there is very little to dislike about this series." She also wrote that "there are no filler episodes and story moves at a crack pace." Tiu also compared Kurau's movement style to that of Juna Ariyoshi, a character from the anime series Arjuna. Reviewing the final DVD for Anime News Network, Theron Martin praised the show's characters and "emotional appeal." He criticized its marketing, though, for leaning too heavily on action. In the site's Best of 2007 feature, Anime News Network's reviewers ranked the series among the year's best. They described it as "a combination of understated but convincing world-building, action, and genuine emotion, along with a pair of memorable and adorable leads." Martin also named Kurau and Christmas "Best Couple." He wrote that although they are not "a couple in the traditional romantic sense," their connection runs deep. Their bond, he said, is close enough to "put even Keiichi and Belldandy to shame." Not every critic agreed. IGN's Jeffrey Harris gave the first DVD a 6 out of 10, or "Passable," rating. He wrote that "Kurau starts more on the slow side, but it looks like it could be picking up steam and getting more exciting." Harris added that "the show needs to be less vague about the Rynax and their origins." Norman Rafferty of The Escapist called the series unoriginal. He wrote that "after a promising opening, Kurau Phantom Memory quickly becomes melodrama." Otaku USA's C.M. Brendelson went furthest in his criticism. He wrote that its "story and character flaws, which are numerous and thoroughly aggravating, destroy what is otherwise a beautifully produced show."