Customer Reviews

Kurau Phantom Memory: Complete Box Set

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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)

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.

its wonderful loving exciting heart-warming forgiving understanding and above all the protection of the world and its people must be respected

together Kurau and her mate find that their world must seek elsewhere for a planet to dwell on

his father works hard to protect her but its difficult for him when her powers are wanted by so many scientists she gets really uptight during an excercise that is making her tired and puts out a power so strong her dad looses his arm but he doesn't blame her she doesn't understand what powers she holds i love it so much and there is excitement at every turn wow! do not miss it pam :)

If I had to place the animation, storyline, and overall plot of the series I feel it would be a mix of Ghost In The Shell and Eureka7 and while on whole the series turned out be enjoyable it will get confusing in some areas unless you listen and watch the scenes very closely. The amazon editorial will probably give the best basic information of the series because if you tried to really explain the series in detail it would probably take two to three pages at most. The animation of the series as well as the soundtrack also seems to be a mix of GITS and Eureka7 though with the animation I felt it fell more to the side of GITS design animation. The video is standard only I saw a few advertisements saying this was widescreen, sadly that's false but overall the clarity of the video is still very good, also the voice cast picked for both the Japanese subbed and English dubbed did their character roles well with little complaints on either end. While the series will have some fight/action scenes the series overall isn't an action/mecha series as more a journey of possibilities for our characters seemingly trapped in their situation trying to find the most hopeful solution to their problem. All I can say is check a few episodes online to be positive this is a series you want as it definitely won't be for everyone but I'm sure once you give it a try you might be shocked at how enjoyable you find the series...

I've rated this to be 4 star for specific reasons.
The story-line of this anime is based on more emotional sci-fi then it is to action/adventure.
It has a unique twist in events that'll happen to a girl while going to see her father at work trying to develop a new source of energy.
Again, this is more of an emotional anime, not action. It does look like it'll be action packed but it isn't.
The soundtracks of this one are great imo. The price is low for all the episodes(24).
It isn't too great once you've seen the first few episode where things really start to slow down.
But the ending turned out what you'd never thought would've happened. Although it does show some clue as of what might.

This is a an anime that was done by Bones who also did Fullmetal Alchemist and still failry recently Xam'd: Lost Memories. It is a story driven anime and moves to a pace similair to Ghost in the Shell. A little girl goes to work with her father who is studying an alien life form and that life form escapes from the lab, however part of that alien gets trapped inside the little girl. I don't want to give the story away, so I will stop there. Personally I think the story is quite interesting, but don't expect it to be an action packed experience.

The product description seems to portray "Phantom Memory Kurau" as a superpowered, sci-fi, action anime. But it really isn't. It's so much more than that.

The story follows Kurau, who is forever changed upon visiting the lab where her father works at a young age. Without revealing too much... After an accident at the lab, Kurau's body is inhabited by a strange being with amazing powers (like flying). Nobody is really sure as to how much of Kurau's self remains as this being inhabits her body. As the story jumps from Kurau's past to her present (around the year 2050 I believe) her younger self spawns from Kurau. The rest of the series surrounds Kurau as she is hunted by the GPO and tries to protect Christmas (her younger self) from them, while both Kurau and Christmas learn more about themselves and try to help others that are terrorized by the GPO.

This series, I believe, delves into and explores the human experience. Even though it is abstracted with science-fiction, superpowers, and beings from who-knows-where; ideas of family, love, alienation, and perhaps even self-identity come through as sincere elements of the story-- unlike in many other anime, where the emotional moments feel tacked-on and overplayed. The only problem I had with the series was that a few moments, and even a whole episode here or there, seemed out of place and a little too campy for the dramatic tone of the rest of the anime. That, and I wish that it had delved deeper into what seemed to be elements of finding wholeness within oneself. If you're signed up for Netflix, most of the series is online and can be streamed to be viewed instantly. If you enjoy anime with a more mature tone, I suggest you at least try a few episodes.

As an anime I believe it deserves 4 stars, but when compared to other movies and tv series I'd give it 3.

When she was 12 years old, Amami Kurau was involved in an accident in her father's lab on the Moon, that left her alive, but not herself. Kurau's body is now the home to an energy entity called Rynax. In order to protect her, Kurau's father sends her to Earth and claims that she died. Ten years later, Kurau is working as an elite mercenary, and is the creme de la creme of the crop. But Rynax are paired creatures, and Kurau's Rynax has been alone for a long time. Finally, after ten years of waiting, her partner is born - unfortunately for the two of them, Kurau's existence has been leaked to the government and now they are intent on hunting her down.

I watched this series because a friend of mine owned it. I read the description and thought "Hey cool, a sci-fi mystery anime" and agreed to watch it with him. In the beginning I enjoyed it a little, the mystery of the Rynax was interesting and seemed promising. But as the series progressed I realized with horror that it wasn't science fiction, it was a light yuri. While not a yuri fan, I could have put up with yuri in a Sci-Fi story, but I didn't want a yuri story with Sci-Fi elements. (Note: Yuri = girl-to-girl love) I knew after the second disc that I didn't like this series, but I kept watching because I was curious. It wasn't worth it.
Christmas (Kurau's partner), looks to be about 14 and Kurau is 22. Fortunately, there is no physical contact between them besides lots of hugging, but their obsession with each other was downright annoying. Looking at it as a pair of bonded aliens makes it seem cool, until you are subjected to countless scenes of "Christmas!" "Kurau!""Christmas!""Kurau!" (repeat x100), that you just feel bored.

I just couldn't stand this series because the relationship between Kurau and Christmas annoyed the h*** outta me. Also, the characters themselves were really annoying. Kurau and Chirstmas didn't seem to exist outside of their relationship. I wasn't the only one who was annoyed either. I watched this with a guy friend and two sisters, and all of us hated it. The Sci-Fi elements are cool, there just isn't enough focus on them. The ending was well balanced. But there are many more much better series out there, don't waste your time with this one. If you want Sci-Fi, try Heroic Age, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Darker Than Black, or Ergo Proxy.


PS If you found this review unhelpful, could you please leave a short comment explaining why? I am trying to improve my negative reviews and I'd like to get some feedback! Thanks :)

I'll keep this short - this is without a doubt the best anime I have seen to date (and I see a lot)
Fairly hard sci-fi background (which I appreciate), strong Yuri theme (ditto), Very high production quality, excellent voice casting for the dub, awesome soundtrack. This film is one of the few that reliably brings tears to my eyes.

The only thing I find imperfect is the ending is a bid weepy. The entire last episode is anticlimax. That's a Lot of resolution. I would have done it a bit differently.
But still, a FIne film.