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KURAU PHANTOM MEMORY VOL. 3: THE BINARY COMPLEX (ADVANCE REVIEW) |
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Reviews
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Sunday, 05 August 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | ADV FILMS | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL SCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 100 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV 14 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 08/14/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 08/05/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | ROMMEL SALANDANAN |
…but I promise I will bring her back to you. I swear I will.
- Christmas
The chase continues and this time, Kurau and Christmas head off to San Diego to start yet another life. However, sudden events lead them to a Rynax Energy Facility and eventually to their capture by Ayaka and the GPO. Able to escape her captors, Kurau is unable to rescue Christmas in her weakened condition. Doug, who has been monitoring the situation, forces Kurau to attempt a rescue once they have regrouped. While on the moon, Dr. Amami falls to his knees with tears as he realizes that the Ryna-Sapein that the GPO gave him the opportunity to examine was in fact daughter's pair.
Finally able to mount a hasty rescue attempt, Kurau, Christmas and Dr. Amami manage to escape the grasp of the GPO, even after a lucrative proposal to stay as a family in the facility by Inspector Wong. As for Doug, he allows himself to be captured by the GPO so that the family can escape.
Now the family is staying in a sanatorium that secretly houses patients and survivors that were affected by an accident at a Rynax Energy facility on the moon two years ago. The survivors are slowly being enveloped by Rynax particles throughout their bodies that will eventually lead to their deaths. However, Kurau is able to extract, absorb the particles into her, and was able to cure all but one of the patients, and it happens that the patient’s history in the energy plant is the one that lead the GPO to raid the facility and force Kurau and Christmas to run once again.
The series finally makes it to the halfway point in this volume. While the first half of the series is laden with Kurau and Christmas always on the run, it has built to this short but emotional reunion between Kurau and her father. Other emotional factors surround the series that could lead the viewers to tears in this volume. To convey those emotions is the great acting of Monica Rial, Jessica Boone and John Gremillion. Tiffany Grant, who plays Ayaka Steiger, masterfully adds a stoic and cold-hearted character to her repertoire.
The volume also answers some of the questions on the work that Dr. Amami is researching with the Rynax energy, and why man is still trying to further develop more powerful energy than the one that's been established, the Blue Energy. Even at the halfway mark, the series continues its outstanding animation quality. While the soundtrack that is used in the series is similar in all the episodes, it never seems to fail when the scene calls for it - a characteristic that Studio Bones is well known for.
EXTRAS:
The extras comes with "Key Words" which explain some of the terms that are used in the series, more production art works accompanied by the show's wonderful musical tracks, and the Japanese DVD Spots. The usual Clean Opening and Closing animation, DVD Credits, and ADV Previews are included in the Extra. The DVD also contains a preview of Volume 4.
IN SUMMARY:
Action-packed, an engrossing story, and an emotional tearjerker. Kurau Phantom Memory will mesmerize you. |
