Reviews for Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi (7.38) r5q39

Story: 8/10 (Warning: potential spoilers in this section)

The basic story slowly reveals the mysteries revolving around immortality.

The first half of the story follows the main character through multiple generations solving various supernatural mysteries while we learn more about the world and how immortality has come to be and what is the power behind it all.

It's very interesting to see how immortals view the world and what they actually do, being immortals. In this story, a majority seem to stay underground, but Rin is more openly involved with the world. The world doesn't seem to realize that immortality already exists and it's interesting seeing Rin interact with this world and how far in the past her influence runs and catches up to her.

The main plot stays a mystery until the last third of the series. It's very easy to identify who's the bad guy and that they're up to no good, but it's very hard to follow his methods - you have to wonder, why does he do what he does (the reasoning is finally revealed near the end). The villain has a thing for torture and he seemingly likes the ones who can endure the worst he can dish out - which is why the main character caught his attention.

The story was hard to follow and required me to rewatch it to gain an understanding to the point where I could explain it here. It's not very deep and doesn't seem to carry hidden messages. There doesn't seem to be a "moral of the story". I feel that it's simply a "what if there were immortals" type of story that went on a fantasy arc.

Visuals/Animation: 7/10

The visuals are amazing... in the intro. The visuals in the actual series varies. In the first few episodes, it seems a bit above average, but then becomes gorgeous in the later episodes.

The color depth and sharpness on stills/settings show a very mature level of art not often seen, which I have high praise for. Settings change a lot - none are overused. A lot of work went into this.

The general animation quality is relatively standard in this day and age - characters seem to obey the laws of physics and gravity and often sway, stagger, and have a slack posture rather than appear rigid and and robot-like. Visual quality is average for a majority of the series - nothing spectacularly detailed. There are some sequences which they did an exceptional job on, with shadows and lighting that you'd normally expect from an anime movie featured in a cinema, but they were rare and had varied effects (example: the time Maeno was getting info from an old lady and the sun was pouring though the patio door, had minimal bonus effect on the mood).

I'd say the overall animation quality is clean, but on a scale of 1-10 of 2007-2008 anime series, the quality of [anime:5535:Kurenai] is a 7.5, this is an 8, [anime:4403:Seirei no Moribito] is a 9-9.5, and [anime:5415:Macross F] is a 10. The visuals aren't worthy of a v

Sound: 6/10

The soundtrack is fairly simple. It's definitely not something you would find on a CD packed separately selling record numbers. It's timeless, but that's due to it not having any real style (unless you consider the frequent use of the xylophone and other 16-bit video game system quality sounds a style). It's at least is suiting to the series and does seem to make the mysterious atmosphere more pronounced. I'm quite partial to the instrumental in the OP, but not so much the gothic-like vocals.

Ambient sounds are sometimes used rather inappropriately - an example would be one scene in a park with a fountain in the setting, the sound of rushing water is way too strong.

The voice acting is very good. The voices are well-matched to the characters and the only over-acting that I could sense were from the "extras".

Character: 9/10

This is where they did a relatively great job. They gave each character a distinct personality that was unique and really made them stand out as individuals. You can't help not become attached to the main characters - love or hate them, you want to know what happens to them next no matter what. In other words, you start to care for them as if they were close to you.

One thing characters do in this series that oddly impresses me is that they change clothes! The clothes can get disheveled and damaged, but not through normal means and only if it adds effect. Think of how many series have characters that wear the same indestructible clothing every ep and you'll see where I'm coming from.

Value: 8/10

They did a great job on characters which helped make the story on immortality come out more believable. Watching it again, I felt that the value wasn't there anymore, but I see how they got my opinion to be so high with how the later episodes are better down than the earlier ones.

There's quite a number scenes with relatively extreme levels of gore and soft core level adult scenes which adds to the appeal of this series. They don't cut anything for the sake of making a rating and reaching a wider audience. Worth watching and even checking out the DVD.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Overall, I find this as a relatively unique story that strays away from traditional anime styles which offers solid entertainment. It's unique style seems to be it's weakness as it will get many varied impressions, both good and bad and may even be classified as controversial. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend it to any casual viewer, but if you are looking for something new and fresh different from traditional anime, I would eagerly recommend it.