Of course everything was kinda crammed into episode 25, explaining all of Sannova’s motivations (I don’t even know if I would have understood it if I had to rely on the subs) and basically everything that caused the events of the series in about 10 minutes.

I haven’t read the manga, but because it started half a year after the series began airing I still understand it as something complementary to the series and not it’s origin.

The similarities to Nausicaa are definitely there, and I feel the original Miyazaki classic does in its shorter feature length runtime a much better job of getting its main message of sacrifice and world preservation across than Xamdou. Still, BnX scores lots of points for its animation, music (I have to find the soundtrack for this), and character development (I especially liked Akiyuki’s parents, they were so believable when most other anime parents are kinda footnotes).

But the show does leave you with the sense of what could have been, not to mention wanting more. Especially considering they flash forward 9 years in the future and we get to see shots of an older Yango and other characters all grown up. If they had stretched the show out to maybe another 10 episodes, it would have been a certifiable hit, instead of just pretty good.

I like action when it’s done well. I like happy endings, especially when they are well deserved. Xamdou succeeds extremely well in the animation, action and music departments, but when it comes to its story and characters, it falls completely flat — the entire storyline is actually a half-baked interpretation of Nausicaa’s main theme of the value of struggling against inevitability.

Those who’ve read Miyazaki’s manga would know what I mean. Watching Ep26, I couldn’t help wincing at how badly Xamdou’s writers misunderstand the very concepts that they are trying to portray. And that detracts tremendously from my viewing pleasure. Ultimately, Xamdou’s story makes very little sense, in terms of character motivations and plot development.

If you think differently, try explaining why Nakiami and Sannova made the decisions that they did. Try examining the logic behind Sannova’s “religion”. In the end, what are the writers trying to say? That nihilism is good? That it’s something to struggle against? How so?

They’ve tried to cast Nakiami into a messianic role, similar to Neo in Matrix Revolutions, but failed to build up her motivations effectively. Her actions, in the end, just don’t add up. Hence this hollow feeling despite a gloriously animated ending.

Question: Do content producers in Japan pay broadcasters to have their shows aired? If so, that’s pretty much the complete opposite of how things work just about everywhere else, where content producers are paid by the broadcasters for the ‘rights’ to air the program (broadcasters making their money from advertising on air and any additional distribution channels they license)

I think Sanpei Yuuko’s voice performance as Nakiami was one of the very best of 2008, too. In fact, if she’s a main character, she and her pal Koshimizu Ami (Horo in Spice & Wolf) had the two best performances of the year, in my opinion. If she’s a supporting character, I think I’d now give it to her over even Sawashiro Miyuki, Horie Yui, and Toyoguchi Megumi. Yuuyu just gets better and better.

The show does a lot of great things, but it falters in some areas. Still it deserves recognition for its amazing production quality and its ambition. I’ll take a dozen flawed yet interesting series like Xam’d over most of the other stuff that gets released these days.

Considering Bones’s Rainbow in the Pocket features Eureka Seven’s characters and concepts in a different setting, it would be nice to see the world of Xam’d recreated in a different story, I think it could really shine given a different direction and composition.