Anime Review: Xenosaga, Volume Two

Catch up with Xenosaga by reading my review for Volume One first!

Things get more complex in Volume Two of Xenosaga as comrades’ pasts and motives are slowly revealed to Shion and her friends.

plot summary

Shion and the crew of the Elsa are taken aboard the Durandal by Junior (Jr.). Jr. is the pint-sized commander of the mega-ship, and though he appears young, his competent leadership betrays his true age.

After rescuing Shion and her companions, Jr. takes an interest in the Realian, MOMO, and sees she’s well cared for. His true motives for his interest in MOMO aren’t readily apparent as yet, but they involve who Jr. was in the past and his relationship to MOMO’s creator, Dr. Joachim Mizrahi.

Shortly after their arrival at the Kukai Foundation, the group is accused by the Galaxy Federation of taking part in the attack which destroyed part of the Galaxy Federation fleet, and the Woglinde, along with it. In order to clear their names of any wrong doing, the group must dive into the Encephalon to retrieve KOS-MOS’ memories of their battle with the Gnosis. Before they can do that however, they must overcome virtual foes and confront their painful pasts.

review

Xenosaga, Volume Two kept up the fast pace of the initial volume and included more development. Volume Two also took on a playful, gaming note in Episode Seven, Encephalon which highlighted Xenosaga’s video game roots. Fans of the game will be (or not) happy to see many of the characters displaying a few of their tech attacks from the game. Sheer fanservice, but fun nonetheless.

Character Development

Shion is revealed to have had a tragic childhood, which helped shape her current fears. She must face these fears before tackling the new obstacles placed in front of her and her friends. Jr. must also confront his painful past, and through this flash back, hints of Jr.’s relationship with Gaigon and even his connection with Albedo, are revealed. Even Shion’s brother, Jin, makes an appearance to further fill in the back stories and develop relationships between the characters.

All this character development flew by in the episodes, but it added more depth to the series. It showed that the characters are human, or possess the characteristics of humanity. Weaknesses were laid bare in stark contrast to the strengths which have been showcased up to now. Good contrasts make interesting characters, and the characters in Xenosaga are all interesting; except Allen. That guy’s gotta go…

Character Design

I’ve begun to notice how everyone in this anime is shiny. Everybody has a plastic sheen to them which reminds me of freshly made Barbies. After I noticed it, I couldn’t help but pay attention to how new everything seems in this anime. Does the history of the series not allow for dingy, dirty props? The newness of the designs gave the series an almost bubble gum feel, as if it were happy and glad to be animated. It was hard not to smile at the squeaky glow of the anime, even when blood was flying and robots were being obliterated.

The colors are still too loud for my taste, but I can’t fault the anime too much for it’s color choice. After all, the colors compliment the newness of the series perfectly.

Music

I really like the ED of the series, “In This Serenity“, by Mayumi Gojo. Her performance is great and one would be hard pressed to say the singer isn’t a native speaker of English.

Xenosaga, Volume Two went by as quickly as Volume One, but managed to cram in some background info and character development for a bit of depth. The series is going by almost too fast but I guess that’s what happens when the entire story from the game has to be told in twelve episodes. I’ve liked the series so far, from its shiny newness to its off beat designs. The next volume will no doubt fly by as quickly and enjoyably as Volume Two.

Rating

Xenosaga, Volume Two gets three out of four Hammies!