In Volume 5 of Kurau Phantom Memory, not only do Kurau and Christmas have to face the secret behind their situation, but Ayaka is also confronted with the ugly truth about her own life and loss.
Despite the fact that all the characters are forced into sudden crises, there’s really nothing that surprising to us, the audience. Certainly nothing that we hadn’t guessed was at least a possibility.
Christmas and Kurau do their best to protect and nurture Yvonn, but he cannot survive in the world as he is. They have another few quiet moments, where they charge their own energy and emotions, but when Ayaka joins them, more layers are peeled back around the corrupt core of the GPO and their absurdly dangerous and utlimately idiotic experiments with Rynax energy.
(Dear all governments ever – any plan that includes phrases like, “human evolution,” “super humans” “advanced army of humans” and anything similar, is guaranteed to be a Bad Idea TM. I hope that helps.)
In any case, *just* as Kurau and Christmas think they might be able to relax, their existence is rediscovered. Two insane twin/cop/Human-Rynax hybrids are sent out to “retrieve” them, like yeah, that’ll work – you can totally see when they are carving swaths of destruction through helpless towns of mere humans, that they’re going to play well with others.
In terms of Yuri, the key takeaway for us is this – the bond between a pair of Rynax translates directly to power. The tighter the bond – the more powerful they are. Well, we already know that Christmas and Kurau love each other more than anyone…so we’re not eally worried, are we?
This is an excellent volume (much better than it sounds from this review) – good action and by constantly filtering human relations through the lens of Rynax, a fabulous grasp on what it means to be human. Most of all, we watch every episode on the edge of our seat, our fingers and toes crossed and a prayer on our lips that Kurau and Christmas, and their love for one another, will prevail.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Music – 7
Yuri – 2 (Because I still insist, even knowing the ending, that Ayaka and Kurau make a good couple)
Service – 1
Overall – 8
Next is the final volume…I wonder what I’ll think of the ending this time around!
