Kurau: Phantom Memory: is the story of a young girl by the name of Kurau whose father is a leading scientist on a moon based research facility. The year is 2100 and advances in energy research have yielded substantial gains as the colonists try to learn more about a unique energy source that could end all the problems of the day. As in most opening background bits, you know something is going to go wrong, setting the stage for the series to begin. In this case, the experiment goes awry and produces a twin burst of light, one of which hits young Kurau and seemingly disintegrates her on the spot, much to the dismay of her father, the research team surrounding them, and all looks lost until she reappears. Unfortunately, she seems to be someone else, something else, and although she looks like his daughter, it is apparent that her form is now occupied by an alien lifeform. This changes soon enough to reveal that both his daughter and the alien inhabit the body of Kurau, the alien called Rynax (as in a verb and a noun). Extensive testing reveals that this fusion had given Kurau extremely interesting abilities, abilities that could come in handy to those in positions of power. The story picks up ten years later to show an adult Kurau working as a high priced agent; a form of private detective that augments the police and military but do so in a questionable manner for the highest bidder.

Kurau keeps her secrets to herself and those around her are led to believe that she is just a talented operative. As her missions grow increasingly dangerous and complex, her survival instincts force her to use more of her powers, ultimately drawing attention to her from outside interests that want to contain her as she poses a threat to the natural order of things and for other, as yet undisclosed reasons. They follow her and gather evidence along the way just at a time when someone enters into her life that proves to be important, more important than anyone she has known before. Naming the gal Christmas, after her fond childhood memories, Kurau now has something to protect so as the world starts to chase her and her secret, she has to stay one step ahead of them to protect the gal she calls her younger sister. The rest of the volume mixes up some of the dangerous assignments and predicaments she faces while keeping one step head of the law and rivals, at times proving extremely difficult even for someone with her powers.

One of the last things I'll say about the volume in specifics is that something inside Kurau is changing and her powers are becoming increasingly unpredictable, a factor in the kind of assignments she will take on as well as how she is forced to rely on more than her raw powers as she has for the previous ten years. Will she manage to keep ahead of her foes, out of governmental hands, and figure out what's going wrong or will the overwhelming odds she faces manage to stop her cold? Those are the questions the rest of the series is set to answer, reportedly in the most appealing of fashions, a believable idea considering the original studio making the show is the infamous BONES; a top flight company in the anime industry providing quality shows.

The back cover said it like this: "Her name is Kurau, and in a world of mercenary agents, she's the cream of the elite; a master martial artist and thief so skilled that no secret or objective is beyond her grasp. The greatest secret of all, however, is the one Kurau conceals inside herself: The freak result of a disastrous experiment with a new kind of energy, Kurau's body has been fused with a binary alien life form called the Rynax. Every second Kurau lives is lived twice, one alien sharing her consciousness, the other still waiting to be born... and now none of those lives may last very long! The truth about Kurau has begun to leak out, a worldwide manhunt has been launched and now the ultimate agent is the ultimate target. From the craters of the moon to the most dangerous corners of the Earth, the action explodes at every turn in the acclaimed masterpiece from the creators behind RAHXEPHON and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: KURAU PHANTOM MEMORY!"

Okay, I'll admit that I enjoy science fiction, anime, and powerful leading ladies as much as the superhero genre from my youth reading comic books so this was a natural for me. I also enjoy well written fiction that provides suspense and keeps me guessing so Kurau: Phantom Memory was a delight for me to watch. I enjoyed the dub as much as the original language track too, the dub director being Matt Greenfield, a main force at ADV Films since day one of their existence so you know he gets first dibs on their best projects. With all it had going for it, I rated it as Highly Recommended for genre fans, the first episode airing on cable this week if you want to see how good it really is.

Picture: Kurau: Phantom Memory was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color as produced for Japanese broadcast several years ago by director Yasuhiro Irie. The colors were strikingly appealing, the mood set by the almost film like manner the scenes were shot in complete with extensive textures and angles as though it were serving as the story board for a live action movie. I watched it a couple of times this past week and tried to dissect it a third time, finding it to be more complex as I looked closer and closer. There are only a handful of shows made this way each season so I was very happy with the way this one was handled.

Sound: The audio was presented with the usual choices of the original 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo Japanese as it aired in Japan and the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English track newly made by the folks at ADV Films, using the usual voice actors and engineered by Bryan Leach. This was a case where the dub varied slightly at times but showed no significant deviations in terms of what was said compared to the English language subtitles, the voice acting in all the principle characters handled exceptionally well on both tracks. There was some separation that helped make the show come across as more dynamic and the dub once again proved to have more going for it due to the enhanced properties of the surround set up; the music and special effects sounding especially good.

Extras: The first extra worth noting is something you can't download off the internet in the form of the paper insert with some interviews and artwork. It was the six page foldout style and while I wanted more, I strongly suspect that each volume in the series will provide something similar so that made it a nice treat. There was also the usual set of trailers, clean opening and closing, and even some production artwork for fans to enjoy. On top of that, there was a promotional video for the series and a glossary of terms to give fans a bit of insight into the futuristic elements of the series.

Final Thoughts: Kurau: Phantom Memory was a lot of fun to watch and the combination of the Bionic Woman theme with some of the standard elements used in comic books will make this one a title to look out for, whether you watch it on cable or enjoy the uncut, unedited, commercial free version seen on the DVD release. In short, Kurau: Phantom Memory is currently at the top of my "must view" list of anime titles for all the potential it offers, making me want to drive over to ADV Films headquarters and see even more. Ignore the marketing hype but be prepared to enjoy some interesting concepts woven tightly into a cohesive plot that relies as much on the intelligent writing as the glamorous visuals and audio the show offers fans of the genre.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.