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Anime: Xam'd: Lost Memories
aka: Bounen No Xamdou

Akiyuki in his Xam'd form and Haru.

Akiyuki is an ordinary high school student who lives with his two best friends Haru and Furuichi on Sentan Island, a neutral zone while the North and South governments wage war. That is, until he gets caught in a terrorist bomb attack. The bomb itself comes in the form of a white haired girl, and the explosion implants a gem into Akiyuki's arm, which forcibly transforms him into a Xam'd, a humanoid creature. Nakiami, a mysterious and emotionless, young woman, takes Akiyuki into her care in order to help him control his newfound power, forcing Akiyuki to leave his home and friends behind.

Meanwhile, every day life is torn asunder in Sentan Island as the Mainsoul Military takes over to stop the Humanform Weapons from wreaking havoc, but unknown to most they are doing secret experiments involving the very monsters they're trying to stop. Haru and Furuichi have both joined the military, albeit for different reasons. While Furuichi wants to protect their island, Haru is hoping to reunite with Akiyuki.

Xam'd: Lost Memories (Bounen no Zamned) is produced by Studio BONES and shares some similarities to Eureka Seven, BONES's previous creation. It offers a deep and involved plot with detailed art and a rich setting.

Notably, it first came available for download on the PS3 in North America, months before it became available in Japan- unfortunately, the translation was very sloppy as noted below. It is now also being broadcast by the Anime Network and distributed by Section 23 Films' Sentai Filmworks imprint in America.

Has a character sheet that needs more love.

Also has a WMG page now.

Xam'd: Lost Memories examples of:

Action Girl - Nakiami/Ishuu.
Adults Are Useless - Averted: They kick ASS in this series.
Alien Blood - Glowing, green blood.
Always Someone Better - Raigyo.
Anime First
Badass Normal - Nakiami. No questions.
- Not to mention Haru and Ishuu. Hell, even Akiyuki's parents qualify!
  - Hell, almost anyone who's not a Xam'd qualifies as this.
Beam Spam - As the most powerful Living Weapon in the series, the Hiruken Emperor takes the Humanforms' Frickin' Laser Beams Up to Eleven. By the end of the series, Akiyuki is also capable of pulling off a more limited version.
Beware the Nice Ones - Ahm: Usually a kind and good natured guy, acting as father figure to most of the crew. But don't ever attack his ship, lest you feel the wrath of his cannon.
BFG - Ishuu's Weapon of Choice.
Big Guy - Ahm.
Bittersweet Ending
Blessed with Suck: Congratulations, you're a Xam'd! You've got Super Strength, Voluntary Shapeshifting, inhuman agility, and enough biological weaponry to demolish a city. Damn shame that you can't use any of it for more than a few seconds without running the risk of suffering Loss of Identity / going Ax Crazy / getting Taken for Granite / all three in no particular order. Oh, and there's an ungodly powerful Eldritch Abomination who wants to pick a fight with you. Good luck with that.
"Blind Idiot" Translation - Sony has always used bad translations, but Xam'd is one of their worst. Complete with typos, the context is often off, and sometimes an important term (even one that's the episode title) gets translated differently with each use, severing story connections. Not surprisingly, a frequent complaint for the series is that the plot is nonsensical.
- "One more red mark (akaboshi) and I'll get disciplinary training." -> "Akaboshi's disciplinary committee's coming by again!"
- "Don't be stupid. We purged those a long time ago." -> "Don't even joke about that. I don't want to be purged..."
- "It's a 3 hour wait at the military hospital. You'd be long dead before the examination." -> "They always glare at you before examination."
Body Horror - Furuichi's Xam'd form, but most of the Organic Technology probably falls under this, especially anything to do with the Hiruko.
Body Motifs - Lots of emphasis on eyes.
Bratty Half-Pint - Yango comes off as this when he's first introduced.
The Captain - Ishuu.
Catch a Falling Star - Haru to the rescue!
Clothing Damage - Which oddly repairs itself when the Xam'd return to normal.
Combined Energy Attack - Something of this sort was used against the Northern Emperor. It worked... Possibly. Maybe it was the name-giving.
Cool Airship - The Zanbani and the Northern and Southern military ships. The Beat Kayaks, meanwhile, combine this with Cool Bike.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? - Subverted; the Captain's attempt at killing the Emperor with a regular bomb is a miserable failure that only leads to Raigyo dying... and the Eldritch Abomination in question waking up.
Distant Finale
Dress Hits Floor - Kujireika's reaction to being cornered by several ASP Suits, right before going One-Winged Angel on their collective backsides.
Dropped a Bridge on Him - Raigyo
Eldritch Abomination - The Hiruken Emperor
Emotionless Girl - Nakiami, appears such at first introduction but is shown to subvert it as the show goes on.
Empathy Doll Shot - Haru finds a mangled teddy-bear during the clean-up of the ruins in Episode 5.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas - Kakisu loves his Missing Mom, who we meet later on. She plays an important part in getting the plot back on the road after Akiyuki's Heroic BSOD, and ironically everyone (except her) thinks her son dies in the Battle of Barador]]
Evil Tower of Ominousness - The Diamond Tower.
Expy: Nakiami's resemblance to Nausicaa from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and San from Princess Mononoke.
- The Furuichi-Akiyuki-Haru trio resembles the main characters from Kingdom Hearts.
- The entire main cast appears to be primarily based on that of Eureka Seven. It's practically a 1:1 match-up.
- Haru bears a striking resemblance to Shion Arita, who was Birdy Cephon Altera's alter ego in Birdy the Mighty: Decode.
Eye Scream - Ryuuzou (Akiyuki's dad)gets his eye slashed by Kakisu (we see relatively little detail, but from the amount of blood, the eyeball itself may have been cut open, if not in half(!)) near the series' end. Suffice to say, next time we see him, he has only one.
Facial Markings - Nakiami along with most the Tessik people share similar purple tattoos on their faces.
Falling into the Cockpit - Though they received more prior instruction than most examples of this trope, facing off agains a huge and very intimidating (at first) Xam'd was not what Haru and Furuichi likely expected their first live training session in an ASP Suit to involve.
Fauxlosophic Narration - Actually, they pull it off pretty well in the series.
Fantastic Racism - The South considers Tessiks Acceptable Targets due to the war and the creepy Humanform technology.
Fashionable Asymmetry - Nakiami and her sleeves.
Finger Poke of Doom - The Hiruken Emperor's solution to being attacked by an enraged Kujireika. Given that said finger is about the size of an industrial girder, its effectiveness is quite understandable... though still not much less humiliating for its victim.
Foreign Language Theme - All of the opening and ending songs are entirely in English, though the openings feature pronunciation so bizarre it's virtually impossible to understand without subtitles.
Frickin' Laser Beams - The (devastating) primary armament of the Humanform Weapons and sufficiently powerful Xam'd.
Gainax Ending
Gambit Pileup - After Episode 19 and the Hiruken Emperor's return, every single faction in the story swings their plans into action at once. The results are predictably messy.
Giant Flyer - A type of Humanform Weapon classifies as this. The one that looks like an airborne manta ray, that is.
Grave Marking Scene
Groin Attack
Heroic Sacrifice - Nakiami seals herself within the Quickening Chamber, knowing well that she will never see her friends and loved ones again, to sleep for 1000 years in order to offset the darkness of the Hiruken Emperor.
High Speed Missile Dodge
Important Haircut - This show loves this trope: Haru and Raigyo.
- Inversely, Akiyuki gets an Expository Hairstyle Change.
Improbable Age - The southern military recruits and trains 16 year olds to be military pilots of highly advanced and deadly mecha suits, apparently as routine. No one seems to find that the least bit unusual. Then again, in the UK 16-year-olds can join the military (though they do generally get more training (several months) before going into a real battle, especially if they're operating complex and expensive equipment).
Instrumentality
Ironic Echo:
Nakiami: (to Yango) Your parents would want you to value your life.
[...]
Yango: (to Nakiami) You need to value yourself even more!
Karmic Transformation - At first, Furuichi hates and despises the Xam'd, blaming them for the destruction of Sentan Island. A few episodes later, guess what! He's becoming a Xam'd himself. Turns out he gained a hiruko during the same explosion that gave Akiyuki his.
Kid Sidekick - Yango to Nakiami.
Lady of War - Ishuu
Laser-Guided Amnesia
The Lancer - Nakiami
Libation for the Dead, until Ishuu realises the recipient is underage and consumes the remainder herself.
Living Weapon - The Humanforms, which serve as aircraft and tanks for the Northern Army. The Xam'd also have elements of this.
Loss of Identity - Akiyuki after episode 14 thanks to Laser-Guided Amnesia.
The Lifestream - The Ruikon flow.
Making a Splash - Raiygo's Xam'd form's power and primary attack.
Mercy Kill - The true goal of Lady Sannova's plan. Preventing the mass human sacrifices every milennium was just a nice little bonus.
Missing Mom - Kakisu, Haru, Nakiami, and that's just a few.
Mindlink Mates - Akiyuki shares this with Haru when he's in his Xam'd form.
Mini Mecha - The ASP Suits.
No Name Given - The northern emperor. It's apparently an important plot point.
Noodle Incident - the Battle of Barador.
The Obi-Wan - Raigyo, although he splits from the protagonist prior to dying.
- The same can be said for Nakiami.
One-Winged Angel - Being able to do this is a good chunk of what makes a Xam'd a Xam'd.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You - More accurately, 'The Only One Allowed To Defeat Me'. When Kujireika interrupts his duel with Akiyuki by trying to kill him, the Hiruken Emperor makes his feelings on the matter abundantly clear.
Ordinary High School Student
Organic Technology
Our Souls Are Different
Percussive Maintenance
Perma Stubble - Raigyo
Post Episode Trailer
Powered by a Forsaken Child - All of the north's technology. ALL OF IT.
Power Gives You Wings
Power Incontinence
The Power of Love
Redheaded Hero - Nakiami
Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Nekomata
- The Ongoro too.
The Right Hand of Doom - The sudden appearance of a grotesquely oversized forearm is a definite hint that you've got a Xam'd amongst you.
Sassy Secretary - Prois; may overlap with
Sexy Secretary
Scenery Porn - As expected for Eureka Seven's Spiritual Successor.
Schizo Tech - And how!
Sealed Evil in a Can - The Hiruken Emperor
Sibling Yin-Yang - Kaijureika and Nakiami
Spell My Name with an S - The name of the series has been variably spelled as "Xam'd" by the US PSN release and current official websites, "Xamdou" by the early official websites, "Zamned" by the Japanese eye catches and ending theme album cover, and "Zamudo" through direct romanization of the katakana used (as well as random kanji on the soundtrack's track listing).
Shout Out - Nakiami's flying kayak (somewhat a cross between the Mehve and the Swordfish), the Worm Handlers, the airships and the religious tribes from the Nausicaa manga.
Spiritual Successor - of Eureka Seven. Not surprising since they're made by the same studio.
- More like Eureka Seven... WITH STEAMPUNK!
Stuff Blowing Up - And lots of it.
Tag Along Kid - Yango once again.
Taken for Granite - An occupational hazard for Xam'd.
Team Dad - Ahm.
Team Mom - Yunbo.
Team Pet - Roppa.
Technopath - The Mainsouls, ordinary humans who are trained in this ability in order to pilot the ASP Suits. Also comes in handy for, say, repairing a busted Beat Kayak when surrounded by drowsy Humanforms.
Three Amigos - Akiyuki, Haru and Furuichi.
Transformation Trauma
Tribal Face Paint: Every member of a tribe of people who revere and use Organic Technology have purple Facial Markings.
Two Guys and a Girl - Akiyuki, Furuichi and Haru
Tykebomb - Literally, the Gibashiri.
- And later on, Midori.
Unexplained Recovery - Akiyuki: after being half transformed and turned to stone for nine years.
Unlucky Childhood Friend - Poor Furuichi. Haru too, twice, although she ultimately manages to subvert it.
- It wasn't so much that Haru was Akiyuki's Unlucky Childhood Friend, but more than while their feelings were mutual they were constantly getting separated from each other. Until they actually get to reunite without any obstacles in the way.
The Virus
Voluntary Shapeshifting - A common power for most Xam'ds, but especially used by Akiyuki.
Villainous Breakdown - Kakisu has a slight one towards the end of the series.
Wham Episode - Episode 14. Furuichi becomes a Xam'd, goes beserk, and subsequently beheads himself, Akiyuki loses his mind, and the Commander shows his true colours.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?
Wing Pull - Even the guy with the wings is surprised.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
Worthy Opponent - Akiyuki and the Hiruken Emperor consider each other this by the time of their final confrontation.
X Meets Y - RahXephon (or, for the cynically minded, Neon Genesis Evangelion) meets Studio Ghibli.
- Eureka Seven meets Guyver.
Xanatos Gambit - The entire point of seeding the Hiruko around the world was to: try to give birth to a Xam'd strong enough to kill the Hiruken Emperor.
"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue - Latter half of the final episode.