Xam'd?

[One Vorlon]

How is Xam'd? What are the good/bad/interesting points (no spoilers, please)?

[doubleO7]

I voted for "a good, fun show." Its not prefect but it has an interesting story, likable characters, good music, excellent animation, and a great english dub (dunno about sub quality, I only watched it dubbed)

[sickVisionz]

The story is interesting but after a while it teetered off for me. TI think they tried to pack in too much and eventually it crumbles, but the characters stayed interesting for the whole time time though and none of it was bad enough to make me drop it or fall behind when it first came out. I'd say that it's mix of action, romance and drama is super similar to Eureka Seven, but maybe with even more romance and a love triangle to boot.

I wouldn't call it a must buy but it's a good show. If I could get it for around $45 on BD, I'd buy it without thinking.

[pianocello]

Originally Posted by One Vorlon

How is Xam'd? What are the good/bad/interesting points (no spoilers, please)?

Good: One of the best romances featuring a middle-aged couple, one of the best "childhood friend" female leads.

Bad: The story becomes increasingly muddled with too many plot points leading to a less-than-satisfying climax.

[kadmos1]

I would put it's unique beauty on the level of Kemono no Souja Erin. While it certainly does have the level of generic shonen sci-fi fantasy, it's strong character development is what I find the driving force. It's character development I would equate to Brotherhood. The main protagonist's mother is a beautiful loving mother that is one of those strong anime women in the realm of Moribito's Balsa. The secondary lead heroine (Nakiami is the first. She is the "C.C." of the series whereas Haru's importance is closely behind as comparable to "Kallen". That is, both are equally important roles) Haru yields sex appeal, kindness, love, and dedication.

I've seen it the whole series twice subbed. I am currently in the process of finishing the dub. While watching the dub with the subs on (Nearly all the DVDs I buy/rent I will watch it this way. That is, unless of course, it doesn't have a sub option), I noticed they are very faithful to the script. To give a hypothetical example: If there was 1200 total lines from the dubbed episodes I've seen so far, about 95% are either literal to the subs or stay very close enough to convey the idea.

While obviously, added lines for sake of matching lip flaps or liberal lines that do stay true to the spirit of the story are occasionally used, I consider it the absolute best dub I've ever seen. I would say that it is one of those series that is essential to watch both versions. I personally have found the dub so far to be more enjoying than the Japanese.

[Betenoire]

Keep walking, these aren't the droids you are looking for.

It is pretty as hell on the technical side and care was taken in animation and sound production but less care was shown to the characters. The world is ill defined and most of the characters make out about as well.

And they introduce a fairly large number of characters and give you little hints to their past but little else to go on. That can work in a movie or shorter series but if you want to make people connect with a character and care about what happens to them you have to do a better job than Xamd did.

And the climactic battle fell flat for much the same reason as it was just poorly built up to. It almost felt like the producers said we need a battle that has enormous implications but we don't want to tell the audience too much and wound up telling too little for it to resonate.

Which is sad as a few characters seemed to have tremendous potential just to wind up often sloughed aside and left as closer to caricatures than developed characters while the story plodded along in a seemingly haphazard manner.

It has a few decent points but I'd recommend waiting for a complete collection and studio sale pricing before biting as it really is not a great work.

[Ashyukun]

Originally Posted by pianocello

Good: One of the best romances featuring a middle-aged couple, one of the best "childhood friend" female leads.

Bad: The story becomes increasingly muddled with too many plot points leading to a less-than-satisfying climax.

I voted for it being a good, fun show- and piano hit it pretty much dead on. It tries to incorporate too much cast and too many different plot points and ends up fumbling the ball a bit in bringing them all together. I think it would have been FAR superior had they left out a faction or two (the village would probably have been easiest to write out) so it was less confusing and they could focus more on the important characters and explain things a bit better.

It is a good show though- it's got some beautiful animation (it was one of the first shows I watched in true HD back when it was on the PSN and I rented the first few episodes, and looks great on Blu-Ray), an interesting and unique world, and a good mix of characters with considerably varying agendas and ages. While I think they definitely could have improved things, I don't regret at all having picked up the Blu-rays and have no problems recommending it to others.