Bōnen no Xamdou is the new upcoming Anime show by Studio BONES. (Famous for shows like Eureka 7, Fullmetal Alchemist and RahXephon.) I tried digging around to find more information about the actual plot behind the Anime but it seems like BONES is keeping a really tight lid on this one, and the trailer posted on youtube doesn’t give much away either. But only serves to peak my interests and make me even more curious .
Currently nothing is known about the Anime aside from the staff, genre, and trailer. BONES has promised more information by the end of April, so we will have to wait and see what they have in store for us. By the looks of the character & mecha design, I’m guessing it is the same people behind the animation of Eureka 7. Sony music will be providing the series with the musical score, similar to that of Fullmetal Alchemist and Eureka 7 so we can expect a topnotch soundtrack. I am really looking forward to this title, yes I know its still early days but its Studio BONES after all so who can blame me. LOL!
[Edit: 17/7/2008 - Plot synopsis added]
Akiyuki, the main character of the animated series, lives on Sentan Island, a land that has preserved its status as a free and peaceful island in a world consumed by fighting between the Northern and Southern Governments. All of this changes when Akiyuki boards a bus along with a mysterious white-haired girl who transforms his arm with the lost memories and power of Xam’d.
As Xam’d, Akiyuki goes on a rampage and is saved when a foreign girl with red hair named “Nakiami calms him down, taking him back to her postal vessel. Akiyuki now must gain control of his powers and use them against the Northern Government’s latest weapons, known as “Humanforms”. Travelling the world on a postal vessel, Akiyuki hopes to return home one day, but until then he befriends other passengers on the boat.
Genre: Science-Fiction, Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance.
Studio: BONES
Staff:
- Director: Masayuki Miyaji (Eureka 7)
- Character Designer: Ayumi Kurashima (Eureka 7)
- Animation Director: Masashi Okumura (Studio Ghibli)
- Xamdo Mech Designer: Seiichi Hashimoto (Eureka 7, Planetes)
- Mecha Designer: Kimitoshi Yamane (Cowboy Bebop)
- Humanoid Designer: Kenji Mizuhata (Eureka 7)
- Color Design: Hiroko Umezaki
- Art Director: Takashi Aoi (Darker Than Black)
[Edit: 17/7/2008 - More details revealed]
Apparently BONES has taken a cue from Gonzo as this series is headed for an exclusive PS3 service called PSN, which makes it capable for the PS3 to stream anime over the consoles private network.
[Start of Rant] I ask myself why BONES why? I mean this is asking a lot of the viewer in order to watch this series. It is R30 to rent an episode and then it expires after a certain amount of time. So let’s count the steps to actually be able to watch Bōnen no Xamdou:
* Buy a PS3 (R 5499 for a 40GB Bundle.)
* Get it hooked up to the internet.
* Access the PSN service
* Pay R30 to rent the episode. (Which basically amounts to Pay Per View)
* Watch it and then wait for it to expire after X amount of time.
* Pay another R30 for the next episode. (I am assuming this point.)
Now if this series is 26 or 50 episodes then that’s like R780 and R1500 respectively (Depending on the exchange rate.) which is about the price it would probably cost me to buy the whole damn boxset or a single DVD each month as it is released. Though in this case they obviously want people to shell out again otherwise they’d make the files downloadable and permanent.This debacle just goes to show you everything that is wrong with anime production companies these days.
They dare to claim moral high ground against fansubs and then purposefully make it fucking impossible not to watch a series. Unless they announce another means of watching the series in the recent future, Bones officially only cares about money and not about it’s fans. Apparently BONES will make a announcement regarding the status of the show on Friday, so we will have to wait and see what happens. [End of Rant]
Official Bōnen no Xamdou trailer:
[Edit: 17/7/2008 - New Trailer:]
Bōnen no Xamdou PSN trailer:
Yo…
I read that the anime is about a guy and his girlfriend (the girl in the picture is his girlfriend) who are involved in some sort of an explosion, from that point on his arm starts to mutate into a mecha monster. The only person able to slow or calm his transformation is his girlfriend.
* I believe in saw it in Otaku magazine, the june issue.
“Jan ay”
Bones need to make money somehow, and if this move proves to be much more profitable than conventional TV releases, then why aren’t they allowed to do it?
Granted it’s a bit tight, but some people seem to get very warped conceptions of what they deserve or how large bodies of business should treat them.
As a person who has never bought anything from Bones and has pirated almost all of their series, I don’t deserve any sort of say on what they do or what I get, and if you’re the same then neither do you.
In front of me I see a smart business move and a revolutionary experiment, and if you support Sony then you strike lucky. Besides, DVDs should be released eventually, just buy those.
Denizen, to some degree I agree but what about fans like myself who actually purchase there DVD’s?
I think its rather stupid move releasing it on PSN when most people cant afford a PS3 let alone the $4 a episode which you don’t even get to keep in the end.
I completely agree with Denizen, I mean, if you can afford the PS3 then u can afford the amount for the episode neways… So what if it expires, you only need to watch it once, and then when it comes out on DVD buy it, it’s almost the same as cinema release shit. Also Sony and Bones can’t keep on going getting ripped off by people like me and Denizen :-p They need to make money somehow, and they’ll make it off me for sure, because i’ll buy a PS3, buy the ep’s as they’re released, and eventually, either D/L or buy the DVD releases when they come out… Everyone wins…
Abloomfi, your reasoning is a bit flawed so you say its okay to buy a episode for 4$ so after watching the whole show pay the same exact amount again to get the DVD’s meaning you paid double for a show, that you could have paid for only once instead of twice. Not the mention the fact that only North American PS3 owners can download it and no one else, I don’t see that as making money. Exclusivity in the media industry has never worked.
With the money a PS3 costs these days I can easily buy 6 or 8 boxsets of anime, and then at 4$ per episode and a normal series being 26 episodes means with that money I can buy another boxset of anime. I highly doubt sony is getting ripped off, more like it is doing the ripping :P
eureka seven continuation?? i think yes.
subs where?