(L) Bonen no Xamdou (Xam'd: Lost Memories)

[SinsI]

I wonder how good is their translation.
I.e. in episode 6 Akushiba jokes about "kaitai" - which means both "dismantling" and "becoming pregnant" - but in English there's nothing that explains how "dismantle it" is connected to "pillow talk".

[feRfe]

Nakiami is awesome. If they hook up it would be great.

[orion]

Originally Posted by SinsI

I wonder how good is their translation.
I.e. in episode 6 Akushiba jokes about "kaitai" - which means both "dismantling" and "becoming pregnant" - but in English there's nothing that explains how "dismantle it" is connected to "pillow talk".

Akushiba is jealous because Nakiami is spending more time with Akiyuki and doesn't notice him. Therfore, he teases Akiyuki using the term "pillow talk". It's immature but this is the guy who knocked Akiyuki out of the ship hoping that he would fall onto Nakiami's craft and spare him from getting into trouble with Ishu.

[DragoonKain3]

As far as romance is concerened, I still don't feel any 'threat' from Nakiami. Of course, Nakiami's amount of time dedicated to her in the OP/ED worries me, but so far in the actual show, interest from both parties aren't even remotely in there. And in the end, it's Akiyuki's feelings that matters in the end, and right now it seems firmly towards Haru. After all, why her and not his parents or even his male best friend did Akiyuki write for?

Just wondering, what do Akiyuki and Haru's names mean? I'm taking a hazard at the guess that Akiyuki is 'autumn snow' and Haru is 'spring', but I might be wrong.

[orion]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

After all, why her and not his parents or even his male best friend did Akiyuki write for?

That's easy to explain. Haru is a good friend. Teens won't write to their parents. If there is a problem, their friends will be the first to know. Also, since he saved Haru, he knows that she is alive. He didn't really know if his parents were alive or dead. Sending a message to someone you know is alive is the best course of action. In other words, she is being used as the messenger in this scenario and nothing more.

In ep. 1, he was looking at that other girl so Haru wasn't exactly a priority.

Haru is going to get a rude awakening from both the military and Akiyuki I bet. She was just a friend at first looking after Akiyuki because of a promise to his mother of all things. Now because he's gone, she's on some mission to bring him back when he could come back on his own at any time when his special situation resolves itself. Besides, there is no school to go back to. She didn't have to join the military on some half ass thinking that you can travel wherever you want in the military. She realized that she has feelings for him because of her situation which looks to be one-sided.

She had her life ruined in one day. She is holding on to these feelings for something that's not quite there (Akiyuki, school life, island life) and can't move on.

Akiyuki is on a ship with 2 hot chicks and one of them he has to protect. It should be expected that Akiyuki moves on. There wasn't anything developing on Sentou Island from his perspective to be faithful to.

[DragoonKain3]

Which begs the question then, why Haru and not Furuichi? This is especially telling, since in the first episode, you said yourself the he is 'looking at the other girl' and not only that, but Akiyuki seems to be really annoyed at Haru AND seems to be closer to Furuichi at that particular moment. So logic states that if not parents, it should've been Furuichi. But the first and so far only letter he writes is addressed to Haru?

[and618and]

Don't you think it is a little early to start talking about romance?This is not some shojo anime,where you can tell the couples by the first episode.We are six episodes in and all we have is more and more questions.What is xam'd?What is the state of the world?All we get are tidbits of information.I do not doubt there is going to be romance,but it is going to be very limited.So,you cannot expect coupling so early in the game.Moreover,while everyone likes Nakiami,she's the most secretive character of all.How can Akiyuki have feelings for her,if they don't even talk?

[and618and]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Which begs the question then, why Haru and not Furuichi? This is especially telling, since in the first episode, you said yourself the he is 'looking at the other girl' and not only that, but Akiyuki seems to be really annoyed at Haru AND seems to be closer to Furuichi at that particular moment. So logic states that if not parents, it should've been Furuichi. But the first and so far only letter he writes is addressed to Haru?

This is a long-shot and is most probably wrong,but I can't forget that Haru screamed Akiyuki's name back in episode 2,when he was in xam'd mode.Could there possibly be some connection between them?

[DragoonKain3]

As far as I'm concerend, I consider this a 'mecha' anime, where majority of the time, couples are the most predictable over the course of the series. And its usually the starting one as well.

And actually, shoujo anime are usually even more unpredictable than most other genres in terms of couplings when they focus on romance. In fact, the unpredictability of the couples is the charm of these romance focused shoujo anime, as examples like Vampire Knight, Bokura ga Ita, and Honey&Clover shows.

Of course, it's still much premature for me to declare victory for Haru, but considering her status in this genre, and the archetype she belongs to, then her chances for 'victory' is quite high indeed. Right now, no doubt in my mind she is the forerunner in the 'race'.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by SinsI

I wonder how good is their translation.
I.e. in episode 6 Akushiba jokes about "kaitai" - which means both "dismantling" and "becoming pregnant" - but in English there's nothing that explains how "dismantle it" is connected to "pillow talk".

The subtitles are very localized, and closer to dubtitles than literal subtitles. This is not the first occurance of it, and instead of trying to explain a Japanese pun, they will rather change it to fit the English language. It's not that bad, compared to the actual ep titles which they're not even bothering to translate. They're just making up new titles that sound cooler. :P

[and618and]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

As far as I'm concerend, I consider this a 'mecha' anime, where majority of the time, couples are the most predictable over the course of the series. And its usually the starting one as well.

And actually, shoujo anime are usually even more unpredictable than most other genres in terms of couplings when they focus on romance. In fact, the unpredictability of the couples is the charm of these romance focused shoujo anime, as examples like Vampire Knight, Bokura ga Ita, and Honey&Clover shows.

Of course, it's still much premature for me to declare victory for Haru, but considering her status in this genre, and the archetype she belongs to, then her chances for 'victory' is quite high indeed. Right now, no doubt in my mind she is the forerunner in the 'race'.

I do not doubt that right now,yes,Haru is the forerunner in the race.That is because the character of Nakiami has not been fleshed out yet.As far as I know,she may not even be a contender.It is just that the fans like her,that shipping theories show up.However,I think this is more of a sci-fi/drama anime,rather than a pure mecha.

[orion]

Nakiami is a front runner by the fact that she is in the same area as Akiyuki and they are communicating albiet slowly because of that cultural barrier and a lack of knowledge on the Tessik on Akiyuki's part. He acts like a Southern continent (Western culture) type.

You can't be considered a front runner if you're not in the same geographic area as the potential partner.

[sarcasm]Sony and dubtitles, who'd have thought?[/sarcasm]

[technomo12]

soo nakiami is the one on a good term to have a relationship with akiyuki???

dang!!!!!........ i soo want to have a love triangle ehehhehe

[orion]

Yeah we can add Ishu and make a lot of people happy.

Personally, I thought she was the mother or big sister figure for Nakiami.

[7Th]

Originally Posted by orion

Nakiami is a front runner by the fact that she is in the same area as Akiyuki and they are communicating albiet slowly because of that cultural barrier and a lack of knowledge on the Tessik on Akiyuki's part. He acts like a Southern continent (Western culture) type.

Haru is a front runner because she is Akiyuki's main romantic interest, that's all there is to it. Nakiami has no place in this subplot since they have a perfectly working love triangle dynamic in Furuichi-Haru-Akiyuki. Akiyuki and Nakiami they developing a relationship beyond that of friendship would be a needless diversion to overall storytelling.

[Ninjacat]

I'd root for Nakiami if only because it would be a nice change of pace from the old clichés. And because I think Nakiami is awesome.

But I have to agree, it's not gonna happen. It's quite obvious from episode 1 that Haru is the "bossy childhood friend with secret feelings", and Furuichi is the "romantic rival she likes like a brother". You can see where that subplot is headed before you even hear the name of the characters. Anime isn't strong on the groundbreaking storytelling front, and Xam'd is particularly derivative.

I still love it to death, the writing is top notch and the art breathtaking. But original?

[7Th]

For me, Nakiami would make a wonderful couple with Ishu. Their interactions have a very enjoyable dynamic that despite having foundation on the "mother-daughter" relationship are filled very honest romantic undertones. Not going to happen, though.

[kujoe]

That's just as predictable as Akiyuki/Haru/Furuichi for being your typical yuri-whatever-subplot as far as imagining things go. The difference being, that the Akiyuki/Haru/Furuichi triangle might actually happen. Of course, despite what one might think or wish to see, a lot pairing speculations really mere musings unless explicitly shown otherwise. It's like the anime subtly places all these "hooks" for those viewers who like to write doujins and fanfiction, even though it's already set in what kind of story it wants to tell.

And guess what? A lot of people like to bite.

There's really nothing going for Nakiami and Akiyuki, at least so far, and I'm not expecting that such a thing will happen. However, I wouldn't also be surprised if it does. But with the way things are now, I doubt it.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by 7Th

Haru is a front runner because she is Akiyuki's main romantic interest, that's all there is to it. Nakiami has no place in this subplot since they have a perfectly working love triangle dynamic in Furuichi-Haru-Akiyuki. Akiyuki and Nakiami they developing a relationship beyond that of friendship would be a needless diversion to overall storytelling.

But she's not Akiyuki's main romantic interest. He stated quite clearly that he thinks of her as a sister. She's the one that's interested in him. He cares for her, but I doubt he really thinks of her in a romantic sense. Right now, Akushiba really has a better chance of being Akiyuki's love interest than either Nakiami or Haru. Lol.

[orion]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Right now, Akushiba really has a better chance of being Akiyuki's love interest than either Nakiami or Haru. Lol.

He does spend most of his time with Akushiba. They even sleep in the same room and he confessed his love for Akushiba in ep. 5.

I vote for Akushiba as seme.