(L) Kurau: Phantom Memory

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by RobertM

I just saw episode 4 and I dunno... The music is impressing even more. (When the OST is released, I am SO there!) But the plotline is really going out of control.

I totally agree about the music. An essential buy, along with the OP and ED which are both great tracks.

Ep.4 did leave me confused...

Spoiler:

...Kurau's fading power during that fight didn't make sense unless she was 'giving birth' to new Rynax. Perhaps when the two Rynax are complete another pair emerge, aka a virus as has been suggested?

I notice in the OP that Karau is floating in space, battling what looks like other Rynax. Firstly, she couldn't go into space in Ep.3 without a suit and why would she be battling other Rynax in the first place?

I'm thinking maybe Rynax are ultimately hostile (they are clearly parasitic) and Karau's own 'Phantom Memory' enable her to be different i.e. be good rather than bad, because the original Karau was an innocent child. Perhaps Christmas would not have been a 'clone' of the original Karau if Karau herself had been someone of different character?

Confused or not, this series is amazing, one of the most promising new shows this year...

[RobertM]

Originally Posted by Sonhex

I totally agree about the music. An essential buy, along with the OP and ED which are both great tracks.

Ep.4 did leave me confused...

Spoiler:

snip

I notice in the OP that Karau is floating in space, battling what looks like other Rynax. Firstly, she couldn't go into space in Ep.3 without a suit and why would she be battling other Rynax in the first place?

snip

Confused or not, this series is amazing, one of the most promising new shows this year...

As for Kurau wearing a spacesuit in episode 3, she does mutter to herself about how まどろこしい (sluggish) it is. Even if she did not need a suit, she would have had to wear one in order not to advertize her Rynax powers to the whole world, no?

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by RobertM

As for Kurau wearing a spacesuit in episode 3, she does mutter to herself about how まどろこしい (sluggish) it is. Even if she did not need a suit, she would have had to wear one in order not to advertize her Rynax powers to the whole world, no?

Ah yes, it would make sense. She has successfully kept her powers secret from her colleagues up to this point afterall.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Secca

I'm confused too on what hapen in the end,

Spoiler for ep 4:

As if she's loosing control of her Rynax power. Did another pair of Rynax came out or it's just some of her power diminished?

The guy that got hit with one of the new rynax seems break apart, he either dead or he became a host for Rynax like young Kurau was...

for the end of ep4

Spoiler:

I think another pair of Rynax came out. remember Rynax exists inside atoms, so there should be numerous Rynax inside Kurau's body, all constantly trying to get to the outside world.

[pyu]

Musings on ep 4.

Spoiler:

I'm more curious on how the GPO classify people posessing Rynax powers. It seems that there are differences in what powers a Ryna Sapien can have and Kurau seems to be high on that power classification system.

Are they hinting that there are more people with Rynax powers out there? Are they all held by the GPO in labs as experiment subjects or part of some super soldier program?

More Rynax?

Spoiler:

I am curious on the 'birthing' of the new pair of Rynax. One always seem to be stronger of the two - is this a reference to the 'strong' and 'weak' atomic forces? Hmm... Anyway, it seemed the guy in the armoured suit was atomized by the stronger Rynax while the weaker of the twin Rynax seemed to fade away. Curious...

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by Secca

I'm confused too on what hapen in the end,

Spoiler for ep 4:

As if she's loosing control of her Rynax power. Did another pair of Rynax came out or it's just some of her power diminished?

The guy that got hit with one of the new rynax seems break apart, he either dead or he became a host for Rynax like young Kurau was...

I think I know.

Spoiler for end of episode 4:

I think she was pregnant. Remember back in episode 1 she said that her pair was weak and needed to sleep inside her for a time? I'm wondering if this has something to do with how Rynax reproduce. If this is so, the reason that Christmas came out of her is because she had finished that stage of the reproductive cycle and it was time for Kurau to give birth.

Just my opinion. There's no way to be sure that I am right yet.

[Za Paper]

According to Newtype:

Spoiler:

Kurau is now sort of a gateway to other Rynax into the human world. These other Rynax are not so nice and GPO is trying to kill her so that more Rynax do not enter. It seems to me that one of the two rynax that came out has entered the one bad guy.

[Yebyosh]

Originally Posted by Za Paper

According to Newtype:

Spoiler:

Kurau is now sort of a gateway to other Rynax into the human world. These other Rynax are not so nice and GPO is trying to kill her so that more Rynax do not enter. It seems to me that one of the two rynax that came out has entered the one bad guy.

Well, I've not read NewType so my speculations might be a bit off, but to add to your interpretation of Newtype,

Spoiler:

I believe all Rynax are simply neutral sentients with no moral concepts, sort of like a blank slate. However in entering our dimension, they cannot exist in their natural state at the begining and require a host body, e.g. Kurau. However one of the pair that found a host can store its complement in the same host body until the complement gains enough strength to assert a physical state of existence, e.g. Christmas.

It can be postulated from the devotion shown by Rynax(Kurau) to Rynax(Christmas) that a pair is required for perfect existence (also derived from the "Rynax is a pair"). Hence if one of the pair dies, it is likely that the other would suffer from an 'emptiness' and with the influence of the host body, suffer the extreme gamut of emotions that a normal human body would feel about this normally. What this means is that a Rynax without its complement would likely go insane or 'evil' from frustrations and grief.

With Ep4, we can see that one of the new Rynax did disappear (die), since it found no host body nor did its complement come out to gather it within its host. I believe that its complement found its host in that bitter young aristrocratic punk. This would mean we have an 'evil' Rynax soon, lost in grief over its complement and with the memories and emotions of the punk flooding and overwhelming it. It should be a nemesis of Kurau.

I find this series still interesting. Science fiction drama with mystery. We don't need explanations of mysterious happenings right away, just as long as they are explained/revealed steadily till the show ends. High hopes for this one.

[dreamless]

Hmm...

Spoiler:

Kurau being a gateway sounds like Rynax is from another dimension or somehing... I thought Rynax is some sub-atomic existence constantly trying to break free and get out? that would mean the new Rynax are all existing inside the atoms of Kurau's body?

I definitely agree that

Spoiler:

Rynax without a pair will most likely turn "evil", and maybe start random destructions.

[RobertM]

Just listened to the OP and ED singles. Highly recommended. The OP, 懐かしい宇宙 "Natsukashii Umi" just happened to be the 7000th song in my library! I think that's a good omen. There's a really nice piano version of the ED, "Moonlight" in there too.

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by RobertM

Just listened to the OP and ED singles. Highly recommended. The OP, 懐かしい宇宙 "Natsukashii Umi" just happened to be the 7000th song in my library! I think that's a good omen. There's a really nice piano version of the ED, "Moonlight" in there too.

It's good to finally hear the full versions, 'Moonlight' is just so eerie and beautiful. The OP is so catchy it's untrue. Really looking forward to the OST when it comes out..

[Yebyosh]

Just watched Episode 5 and

Spoiler:

Yep, one of the new Rynax went into that punk, though initially they made it seem possible that it might be the machine instead.

Kurau's concern over Christmas seems more of an obsession to me and comes across as rather creepy. Forget about horror shows. Her compulsive need to have Christmas near her just gives the shivers, even though it made sense in the storyline.

Spoiler for Rynax:

It seems also that the lone new Rynax did go crazy in the end over the loss of his pair. However the resolution of this suggested a solution for Kurau to solve her father's problems. But the solution presented yet another can of worms. What will happen to Christmas then?

Spoiler for Kurau's father:

He's now on the project and it seemed Mr Evil Scientist (not the father, his colleague) has produced a weapon capable of holding Rynax in stasis. Looks like there will be an episode where either Kurau or Christmas or both will be captured...

Hmm, I must have been slow on this but doesn't Christmas look like the young Kurau?

And the R2 DVD is available on Oct 22, 04?! Pre-orders are available now. Boy, that's fast...

[Sonhex]

Christmas does seem to be a 'clone' of Kurau in more ways than one , so their similar appearance seems to make sense. I'm guessing the second Rynax would have just duplicated it's physical properties based on that of Kurau...

I can sort of understand Kurau's obsession though, as a Rynax she's probably 'programmed' to keep her twin close and protected.She's been waiting for her to arrive, she's bound to now want to protect her especially from the 'big bad world'. Like any older sister, parent or guardian would. It seems to be quite a maternal relationship.

[Secca]

Also Kurau has a strong role model, her father. The way I'm seeing it, Kurau unconciously behaving exactly as her father did. Her father was very overprotective also and he would go all the way to keep her safe.

There is a saying an apple wouldn't fall far from the tree.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by Sonhex

Christmas does seem to be a 'clone' of Kurau in more ways than one , so their similar appearance seems to make sense. I'm guessing the second Rynax would have just duplicated it's physical properties based on that of Kurau...

I can sort of understand Kurau's obsession though, as a Rynax she's probably 'programmed' to keep her twin close and protected.She's been waiting for her to arrive, she's bound to now want to protect her especially from the 'big bad world'. Like any older sister, parent or guardian would. It seems to be quite a maternal relationship.

Hmm... I'd say the bond between the rynax pair is more like "love" in human emotion terms... but then they are sub-atomic existence so... well... now I think about it, I don't know whether such human relationship terms like "love", "care", "maternal", "sister/brother" can apply... I mean, take proton and neutron for example, neutrons can't exist alone, they must have protons with them, but do we say neutrons... err... "love" protons? or protons give "maternal care" to neutrons?

I think we need to keep in mind that Rynax is conceptually different from human. They are not like humans who can live alone or live in huge groups together, they always exist in pairs. You could say it's their foundamentals for existence. They have only two basic desires, one, to break free from inside atoms, two, to exist with their pair. you could say it's like we humans need to eat and sleep.

[Sonhex]

Originally Posted by dreamless

Hmm... I'd say the bond between the rynax pair is more like "love" in human emotion terms... but then they are sub-atomic existence so... well... now I think about it, I don't know whether such human relationship terms like "love", "care", "maternal", "sister/brother" can apply... I mean, take proton and neutron for example, neutrons can't exist alone, they must have protons with them, but do we say neutrons... err... "love" protons? or protons give "maternal care" to neutrons?

I think we need to keep in mind that Rynax is conceptually different from human. They are not like humans who can live alone or live in huge groups together, they always exist in pairs. You could say it's their foundamentals for existence. They have only two basic desires, one, to break free from inside atoms, two, to exist with their pair. you could say it's like we humans need to eat and sleep.

Even if the Rynax are just responding to their natural atomic attraction when separated, they still display the same emotional awareness as humans. Though in Christmas's case she seems very clumsy at it, perhaps because her body isn't an original human like Kurau. Kurau undoubedtly loves Christmas in the human sense of the word, even if the actual emotional connection is simply a manifestation of the Rynax's own need to co-exist in a pair, it's still recognisable human behaviour.

[EfrainMan]

Originally Posted by RobertM

Just listened to the OP and ED singles. Highly recommended. The OP, 懐かしい宇宙 "Natsukashii Umi" just happened to be the 7000th song in my library! I think that's a good omen. There's a really nice piano version of the ED, "Moonlight" in there too.

Who's the artist for Moonlight? Is it SENS?

[kamij0]

Originally Posted by EfrainMan

Who's the artist for Moonlight? Is it SENS?

Not sure about that, but i got the singles and it says Katsumoto Yukari

[pyu]

Just watched ep 5 and well...

Spoiler:

Not too sure whether the attractor beam will work that well on Ryna Sapiens such as Kurau, since... well, she has mass as a human being. That beam seems to be designed to hold and capture Rynax which have not bonded/entered another being.

Theories for Rynax using Kurau as a gateway...

Spoiler:

I find it interesting that the Rynax had told Kurau that she had called him/it into the world. Again the same response the first one (10 years ago) had told Kurau's father in the lab after the incident. Was Kurau's emotional and physical distress during the battle a beacon for help?

[thelightandthedark]

Originally Posted by kamij0

Not sure about that, but i got the singles and it says Katsumoto Yukari

Memories sounds a lot like the song "Merry Christmas Mister Laurance" by the film of the same name. (80's movie starring david bowie)

Also the girls name is christmas. Maybe a connection?