In the not-too-distant future, Dr. Amami, a scientist working on alternative energy sources, brings his daughter to his laboratory to observe some experiments as a special treat on her birthday. A single parent who works hard on his research, Dr. Amami doesn't spend as much time with her as he'd like. Unfortunately, the treat turns out to be a disaster when the experiment goes wrong, and things start exploding. The young daughter, Kurau, is struck by a mysterious ball of energy and disappears, only to shortly reappear in another form.
Dr. Amami is shocked to discover that Kurau's consciousness has been replaced by two alien personalities. Only one of them is awake, and she inhabits Kurau's body while her partner sleeps within. They are a different form of life called "Rynax," who exist as bonded pairs. The Rynax creature is sympathetic to Dr. Amami's sorrow over losing his daughter, but is unable to vacate Kurau's body. Distraught by his daughter's transformation, Dr. Amami begs the new Kurau to safeguard his daughter's body while he works on a way to get them out of it.
The new Kurau is a strange creature- innocent and ignorant of human ways, but willing to learn, and eager to please her father. As the years pass, they come to realize that new Kurau shares some of the original Kurau's memories, and their father-daughter bond becomes almost as strong as before the accident. Nevertheless, Dr. Amami still wishes to get his real daughter back. Experiments on Kurau reveal that she now has extraordinary abilities that no human should have.
These extraordinary abilities make her later work as an "Agent" – a sort of jack-of-all-trades – much easier. Agents take on jobs that the police can't do through official channels. The work is often dangerous, but the pay is high. Hiding her unusual skills from others, Kurau's daily life consists of stealing, bounty hunting, body guarding, and all manner of other contracted tasks. Even though the money is good, Kurau can't quite enjoy it. All alone on Earth, Kurau waits for her partner, the other half of her Rynax Pair, to awaken. She is separated from her father and struggles to live on her own. Kurau is strong and confident performing dangerous jobs at work, only to come home to a lonely, sad apartment.
Kurau's abilities also make her very valuable to the government, and it isn't too long before organized military forces try to capture her. A suspenseful chase breaks out as Kurau struggles to protect those she loves, hide her abilities, and find a way to return her body to the original Kurau who owned it. There are hints of government conspiracies and secret organizations.
"Kurau – Phantom Memory: Between Two Worlds" is the first of six volumes, and covers the first 4 episodes of this 24 episode series. Each episode ends in a nice cliffhanger that builds the suspense for the next. I anxiously await DVD volume 2. Seriously, I need to see what happens next. This is an entertaining show. The pace is fast, the animation smooth and detailed – especially during Kurau's fight sequences and when she is using her powers – and there is a nice balance between character development and action scenes. This volume sets up plenty of mysteries to be unraveled.
Kurau – Phantom Memory" appeals to me because it has a female lead who is confident but vulnerable, strong, yet girlish. On the job, she is cool, collected, and dangerous. At home, she can be cute and normal. She is filled with contradictions. I also appreciate the modern, realistic, character design for Kurau, and the lack of gratuitous fan service in the show in general. Kurau can kick butt without showing off her own. It's a refreshing change. So often these days, anime producers feel the need to resort to nonstop jiggling cleavage and cutesy brainless characters to try and attract viewers. "Kurau" has a more subtle and mature style.
The background music is also fairly nice, with some lovely moody cello and violin pieces mixed in with the more generic techno. "Macross Plus" fans may recognize the singer of Kurau's opening theme, "Natsukashii Umi," as the same Akino Arai who performs the well-known Macross Plus theme, "Voices."
"Kurau – Phantom Memory" is an engaging and serious futuristic adventure with strong characters, appealing designs, and excellent animation.
Dr. Amami is shocked to discover that Kurau's consciousness has been replaced by two alien personalities. Only one of them is awake, and she inhabits Kurau's body while her partner sleeps within. They are a different form of life called "Rynax," who exist as bonded pairs. The Rynax creature is sympathetic to Dr. Amami's sorrow over losing his daughter, but is unable to vacate Kurau's body. Distraught by his daughter's transformation, Dr. Amami begs the new Kurau to safeguard his daughter's body while he works on a way to get them out of it.
The new Kurau is a strange creature- innocent and ignorant of human ways, but willing to learn, and eager to please her father. As the years pass, they come to realize that new Kurau shares some of the original Kurau's memories, and their father-daughter bond becomes almost as strong as before the accident. Nevertheless, Dr. Amami still wishes to get his real daughter back. Experiments on Kurau reveal that she now has extraordinary abilities that no human should have.
These extraordinary abilities make her later work as an "Agent" – a sort of jack-of-all-trades – much easier. Agents take on jobs that the police can't do through official channels. The work is often dangerous, but the pay is high. Hiding her unusual skills from others, Kurau's daily life consists of stealing, bounty hunting, body guarding, and all manner of other contracted tasks. Even though the money is good, Kurau can't quite enjoy it. All alone on Earth, Kurau waits for her partner, the other half of her Rynax Pair, to awaken. She is separated from her father and struggles to live on her own. Kurau is strong and confident performing dangerous jobs at work, only to come home to a lonely, sad apartment.
Kurau's abilities also make her very valuable to the government, and it isn't too long before organized military forces try to capture her. A suspenseful chase breaks out as Kurau struggles to protect those she loves, hide her abilities, and find a way to return her body to the original Kurau who owned it. There are hints of government conspiracies and secret organizations.
"Kurau – Phantom Memory: Between Two Worlds" is the first of six volumes, and covers the first 4 episodes of this 24 episode series. Each episode ends in a nice cliffhanger that builds the suspense for the next. I anxiously await DVD volume 2. Seriously, I need to see what happens next. This is an entertaining show. The pace is fast, the animation smooth and detailed – especially during Kurau's fight sequences and when she is using her powers – and there is a nice balance between character development and action scenes. This volume sets up plenty of mysteries to be unraveled.
Kurau – Phantom Memory" appeals to me because it has a female lead who is confident but vulnerable, strong, yet girlish. On the job, she is cool, collected, and dangerous. At home, she can be cute and normal. She is filled with contradictions. I also appreciate the modern, realistic, character design for Kurau, and the lack of gratuitous fan service in the show in general. Kurau can kick butt without showing off her own. It's a refreshing change. So often these days, anime producers feel the need to resort to nonstop jiggling cleavage and cutesy brainless characters to try and attract viewers. "Kurau" has a more subtle and mature style.
The background music is also fairly nice, with some lovely moody cello and violin pieces mixed in with the more generic techno. "Macross Plus" fans may recognize the singer of Kurau's opening theme, "Natsukashii Umi," as the same Akino Arai who performs the well-known Macross Plus theme, "Voices."
"Kurau – Phantom Memory" is an engaging and serious futuristic adventure with strong characters, appealing designs, and excellent animation.
In the not-too-distant future, Dr. Amami, a scientist working on alternative energy sources, brings his daughter to his laboratory to observe some experiments as a special treat on her birthday. A single parent who works hard on his research, Dr. Amami doesn't spend as much time with her as he'd like. Unfortunately, the treat turns out to be a disaster when the experiment goes wrong, and things start exploding. The young daughter, Kurau, is struck by a mysterious ball of energy and disappears, only to shortly reappear in another form.
Dr. Amami is shocked to discover that Kurau's consciousness has been replaced by two alien personalities. Only one of them is awake, and she inhabits Kurau's body while her partner sleeps within. They are a different form of life called "Rynax," who exist as bonded pairs. The Rynax creature is sympathetic to Dr. Amami's sorrow over losing his daughter, but is unable to vacate Kurau's body. Distraught by his daughter's transformation, Dr. Amami begs the new Kurau to safeguard his daughter's body while he works on a way to get them out of it.
The new Kurau is a strange creature- innocent and ignorant of human ways, but willing to learn, and eager to please her father. As the years pass, they come to realize that new Kurau shares some of the original Kurau's memories, and their father-daughter bond becomes almost as strong as before the accident. Nevertheless, Dr. Amami still wishes to get his real daughter back. Experiments on Kurau reveal that she now has extraordinary abilities that no human should have.
These extraordinary abilities make her later work as an "Agent" – a sort of jack-of-all-trades – much easier. Agents take on jobs that the police can't do through official channels. The work is often dangerous, but the pay is high. Hiding her unusual skills from others, Kurau's daily life consists of stealing, bounty hunting, body guarding, and all manner of other contracted tasks. Even though the money is good, Kurau can't quite enjoy it. All alone on Earth, Kurau waits for her partner, the other half of her Rynax Pair, to awaken. She is separated from her father and struggles to live on her own. Kurau is strong and confident performing dangerous jobs at work, only to come home to a lonely, sad apartment.
Kurau's abilities also make her very valuable to the government, and it isn't too long before organized military forces try to capture her. A suspenseful chase breaks out as Kurau struggles to protect those she loves, hide her abilities, and find a way to return her body to the original Kurau who owned it. There are hints of government conspiracies and secret organizations.
"Kurau – Phantom Memory: Between Two Worlds" is the first of six volumes, and covers the first 4 episodes of this 24 episode series. Each episode ends in a nice cliffhanger that builds the suspense for the next. I anxiously await DVD volume 2. Seriously, I need to see what happens next. This is an entertaining show. The pace is fast, the animation smooth and detailed – especially during Kurau's fight sequences and when she is using her powers – and there is a nice balance between character development and action scenes. This volume sets up plenty of mysteries to be unraveled.
Kurau – Phantom Memory" appeals to me because it has a female lead who is confident but vulnerable, strong, yet girlish. On the job, she is cool, collected, and dangerous. At home, she can be cute and normal. She is filled with contradictions. I also appreciate the modern, realistic, character design for Kurau, and the lack of gratuitous fan service in the show in general. Kurau can kick butt without showing off her own. It's a refreshing change. So often these days, anime producers feel the need to resort to nonstop jiggling cleavage and cutesy brainless characters to try and attract viewers. "Kurau" has a more subtle and mature style.
The background music is also fairly nice, with some lovely moody cello and violin pieces mixed in with the more generic techno. "Macross Plus" fans may recognize the singer of Kurau's opening theme, "Natsukashii Umi," as the same Akino Arai who performs the well-known Macross Plus theme, "Voices."
"Kurau – Phantom Memory" is an engaging and serious futuristic adventure with strong characters, appealing designs, and excellent animation.
Dr. Amami is shocked to discover that Kurau's consciousness has been replaced by two alien personalities. Only one of them is awake, and she inhabits Kurau's body while her partner sleeps within. They are a different form of life called "Rynax," who exist as bonded pairs. The Rynax creature is sympathetic to Dr. Amami's sorrow over losing his daughter, but is unable to vacate Kurau's body. Distraught by his daughter's transformation, Dr. Amami begs the new Kurau to safeguard his daughter's body while he works on a way to get them out of it.
The new Kurau is a strange creature- innocent and ignorant of human ways, but willing to learn, and eager to please her father. As the years pass, they come to realize that new Kurau shares some of the original Kurau's memories, and their father-daughter bond becomes almost as strong as before the accident. Nevertheless, Dr. Amami still wishes to get his real daughter back. Experiments on Kurau reveal that she now has extraordinary abilities that no human should have.
These extraordinary abilities make her later work as an "Agent" – a sort of jack-of-all-trades – much easier. Agents take on jobs that the police can't do through official channels. The work is often dangerous, but the pay is high. Hiding her unusual skills from others, Kurau's daily life consists of stealing, bounty hunting, body guarding, and all manner of other contracted tasks. Even though the money is good, Kurau can't quite enjoy it. All alone on Earth, Kurau waits for her partner, the other half of her Rynax Pair, to awaken. She is separated from her father and struggles to live on her own. Kurau is strong and confident performing dangerous jobs at work, only to come home to a lonely, sad apartment.
Kurau's abilities also make her very valuable to the government, and it isn't too long before organized military forces try to capture her. A suspenseful chase breaks out as Kurau struggles to protect those she loves, hide her abilities, and find a way to return her body to the original Kurau who owned it. There are hints of government conspiracies and secret organizations.
"Kurau – Phantom Memory: Between Two Worlds" is the first of six volumes, and covers the first 4 episodes of this 24 episode series. Each episode ends in a nice cliffhanger that builds the suspense for the next. I anxiously await DVD volume 2. Seriously, I need to see what happens next. This is an entertaining show. The pace is fast, the animation smooth and detailed – especially during Kurau's fight sequences and when she is using her powers – and there is a nice balance between character development and action scenes. This volume sets up plenty of mysteries to be unraveled.
Kurau – Phantom Memory" appeals to me because it has a female lead who is confident but vulnerable, strong, yet girlish. On the job, she is cool, collected, and dangerous. At home, she can be cute and normal. She is filled with contradictions. I also appreciate the modern, realistic, character design for Kurau, and the lack of gratuitous fan service in the show in general. Kurau can kick butt without showing off her own. It's a refreshing change. So often these days, anime producers feel the need to resort to nonstop jiggling cleavage and cutesy brainless characters to try and attract viewers. "Kurau" has a more subtle and mature style.
The background music is also fairly nice, with some lovely moody cello and violin pieces mixed in with the more generic techno. "Macross Plus" fans may recognize the singer of Kurau's opening theme, "Natsukashii Umi," as the same Akino Arai who performs the well-known Macross Plus theme, "Voices."
"Kurau – Phantom Memory" is an engaging and serious futuristic adventure with strong characters, appealing designs, and excellent animation.
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