Product Details

• Format: Subtitled, Box set, NTSC, Color, Full Screen
• Language: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: February 24, 2009
• Run Time: 600 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001M6SHBU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,338 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Kurau Phantom Memory: Complete Box Set" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Her name is Kurau, and in a world of mercenary agents, she’s the cream of the elite; a master martial artist and thief so skilled that no secret or objective is beyond her grasp. The greatest secret of all, however, is the one Kurau conceals inside herself: The freak result of a disastrous experiment with a new kind of energy, Kurau’s body has been fused with a binary alien life form called the Rynax. Every second Kurau lives is lived twice, one alien sharing her consciousness, the other still waiting to be born… and now none of those lives may last very long! The truth about Kurau has begun to leak out, a worldwide manhunt has been launched and now the ultimate agent is the ultimate target. From the craters of the moon to the most dangerous corners of the Earth, the action explodes at every turn in the acclaimed masterpiece from the creators behind Rahxephon and Full Metal Alchemist: Kurau Phantom Memory.

Stills from Kurau Phantom Memory (Click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, April 7, 2009

By 

Just some old guy. (Wa State) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Kurau Phantom Memory: Complete Box Set (DVD)

Father has to work on daughters birthday so father takes daughter to lab with him while he works...accident happens... daughter is turned into something else. While Kurau is still human in apperance she is what they call Rynax. Rynax are a paired species but Kurau is alone. Fast forward ten years and even though her father insists she is dead some still believe Kurau is alive.
Kurau coulb be perceived a gender confused boy which adds to a mature theme. She is not the busty type of woman that alot series have. You will not find the fan service type of anime here.
I found this an interesting series and was glad I bought it but the replay value is not the greatest. I did like the fact that it is Thin-Pack but I do not care for Full Screen yet I bought it anyway.
All being said it is 3 and half stars..it moves alittle slow at first but at disc three it really picks up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do not expect typical Sci-Fi., February 9, 2011

By 

Lisa J. Wright - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kurau Phantom Memory: Complete Box Set (DVD)

The main sci-fi element of this show is the alien race "rynax", which are beings composed of energy that come in pairs. While they are abused as energy and soldiers and rogue rynax are considered threats, the series mainly focuses on the two main rynax characters; Kurau and Christmas. All the pairs of rynax have a loving bond somewhere between siblings and lovers, which is difficult to describe, but extremely moving. Other characters face their own problems dealing with different kinds of affection, most oftenbetween family, and how factors like death, rivalry, and duty affect them.
Compared to the nuanced relationships between the characters, the sci-fi elements can be a clunky; if you're the kind of person who treats Dune like soft-sore porn, this is not your show.
If you're looking for a show to affect you on an emotional level in an atypical way, buy this, although you'd probably be better off with the cheaper edition, since the slim DVD cases don't hold the DVD's well, and the plastic in the center is chipping, and while the covers and the discs look great and feel right, as far as the welfare of the discs are concerned, you'd be good either way.
Also, the dub is pretty high quality; this isn't an A-list dub, so there'll be a few awkward casting choices, (I didn't particularly like the father's voice), but the main cast is spot-on; the English Kurau is a much more sympathetic and emotionally nuanced character, but still tough as nails. (in the Japanese version, she sounds largely unaffected by most everything and a little over-calm, except when Christmas is involved, where she speaks normally; I understand where they were going with this, but the super-formal sentence structure of the sub translation doesn't quite match up with the English script for me)
This is very unorganized. Yeah. 5 stars, even though the packaging is pretty bad.
(also the music is freaking great and it's done by Bones, and the style just fits the show perfectly, and the pacing is really good, and the fight scenes are fun but not the center of the show, which is really how it should be, anyway, end review)

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique blend of powerful emotion and sci-fi action, January 2, 2012

By 

D. White (Mid-Atlantic USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kurau Phantom Memory: The Complete Box Set S.A.V.E. (DVD)

As an affecting sci-fi action-drama with a strong emphasis on the importance of family and friends, Kurau: Phantom Memory has slowly developed into a sleeper favorite over the years.

This latest "S.A.V.E." release contains all 24 episodes with a solid English dub in 5.1 surround (and Japanese stereo), spread across 4 discs with some extras such as clean openings. Importantly, the jarring lime-green S.A.V.E. banner can be dispensed with simply by reversing the cover art. The reverse features a complete title on the spine and looks just like the initial cover art minus the banner. The discs themselves feature nice printed art of individual characters. In order of discs: Kurau, Doug, Christmas, and Ayaka Steiger.

These characters represent the strongest elements of Kurau: Phantom Memory. Be it the deeply bonded sisterhood of Kurau and the entity she names "Christmas" that is at the center of the series (Kurau sharing an existence with an internal "Rynax" energy being, and Christmas a complex being that is part-clone/part-alien "Rynax" externally nurtured by Kurau); to the unassuming competence and support of agent-for-hire Doug; or how antagonist Ayaka Steiger deals with a famous last name and tragic past.

Also interesting is the mix of locations and settings as government forces seek out Kurau and Christmas due to their Rynax background and powers. Intriguingly, both Kurau and Ayaka come from what were pointedly happy mixed-race families that also both happened to be torn by tragedy. This becomes more than trivial when much of the series later shifts to the Swiss countryside, home to Kurau's family on her mother's side (her father Dr. Amami who oversaw the experiment which resulted in Kurau's accidental Rynax cohabitation tries to help from a necessary distance).

For her part, Ayaka is a lead government agent tasked with finding Kurau and Christmas--but also fixated on discovering what happened to her family in a tragic event, especially in light of her widely-respected father John Steiger, whose name carries great weight in government circles even a dozen years after his death. And in yet another point of commonality with Kurau, for her own reasons she also never has the word "Christmas" far from mind.

Another important part of the mix that acts as a supportive catalyst to other characters is Doug. Eventually helping Kurau and Christmas, he also happens to have been Ayaka's superior when in government service. Recently divorced but always very close to his son Ted, he initially starts off at a distance, hired by someone to keep an eye on Kurau.

All of this is presented with what appears to be a very clean transfer of 6 episodes per disc, and with the aforementioned 5.1 surround English audio featuring solid to excellent performances led by Monica Rial as Kurau. Kurau: Phantom Memory comes highly recommended to those who enjoy mature sci-fi anime.