Mnemosyne
Not all anime are flowers and rainbows. Many anime take on darker themes and appeal to more mature audiences, bringing out some complex themes indeed. Action, Horror, Sci-Fi and Supernatural sound like a daring mix of dark themes, making them all work is no easy task within one single anime. Among the many anime that took up the challenge, few succeeded.
Mnemosyne, also known as Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi, Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne and Mnemosyne: Daughters of Mnemosyne is a 6 episode TV anime series which started airing on 4th February and went on until 7th July as a Winter 2008 title. It was produced by VAP, Sotsu, Genco, AT-X and Showgate, licensed by Funimation and brought to life by Studio Xebec.
This original series features the genres of Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Shoujo Ai and Supernatural, rated R+ for mature audiences as it showcases mild nudity amongst more mature themes. The main team behind the production include Bevins Christopher (Producer, ADR Director), Mima Masafumi (Sound Director), Ueda Shigeru (Director) and Galneryus (Theme Song Performance, Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Lyrics, Theme Song Arrangement).
The series is adapted from source materials; Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi 2008, which is a single volume Light Novel featuring the genres of Action, Horror and Yuri (ran from 30th November 2007 to 30th July 2008) by Author Oonogi Hiroshi and Artist Chuuou Higashiguchi and Mnemosyne: Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi, which is a two-volume Manga featuring the genres of Action, Ecchi, Horror, Shoujo Ai, Yuri and Seinen (ran from 27th May 2008 to 26th July 2008) by artist MISS BLACK, serialized in Comic Valkyrie.
The Mnemosyne series focuses on quite a controversial topic: Immortality. Many people would wish this as the ultimate state of being, but others dread it as the cruelest of curses. The story looks at it from the latter perspective; would immortality be such a coveted ability if the owner knew they would be subject to countless attacks because of it? Not so much! Protagonist Rin Asougi is in such a terrible situation, where her immortality is giving her quite a handful of problems. She is an immortal private investigator, and there is absolutely no shortage in the number of people who want her dead. Over the many centuries that passed, she had met one grisly end after another, with no end in sight. Each time a dreadful fate occurs, she returns to life as if nothing had happened, a true testament to her immortality.
Rin’s seemingly endless life of this nature comes to a climactic situation in 1990. While on the trail of a lost cat, a simple enough job, she runs into a peculiar man named Kouki Maeno. Kouki is definitely out of the ordinary, but at first, he simply feels that his memories are wrong. Unknowingly, Rin agrees to help him but then discovers that Kouki is not what he seems at all. Rin’s fateful decision only draws her closer to her true enemy. This destined adversary knows Rin and her peculiar “kind” far too well, dangerously so, and if she happens to die by his hand, she may as well stay dead permanently, immortal no more.
“The gift of life is a fleeting, precious thing. It is not something to be toyed with," with these words, Asogi Rin spins a genuinely unique tale around herself. The series isn’t necessarily very gory, but it definitely isn't for the faint of heart searching for a lighthearted, wholesome, and chill anime. The three horsemen of the apocalypse of Mnemosyne are sex, violence & alcohol, and a lot of it. If viewers can look past the three, they could enjoy a pretty deep anime well-worth the watch.
The story of Mnemosyne centers around the lives of two immortal private detectives, namely Asogi Rin and Mimi, as they take on different investigations and assignments. Due to the immortality, the timeline spans several decades within the short series, with each episode skipping quite a few years at a time. This adds a unique beauty to the story as viewers see the world and its characters change as the years pass, but Rin and Mimi remain unchanged.
Their agency works with relation to one particular monster or enemy at a time in each episode, with seemingly unrelated events across episodes. As the story progresses, all the bits and pieces start coming together, making the bigger picture clearer. The main antagonist Apos’ true motives become apparent, and viewers learn more about immortality and everything connected to it.
Initially, many unanswered questions make the story confusing and even intimidating, but it moves on, explaining everything pretty well as the series goes on. However, there will still be some unanswered questions left at the end; that’s just the nature of the series. This element of mystery and suspense keeps viewers thirsting for more at the end of each episode.
The characters of Mnemosyne are decently done. The two leads stay the same throughout the series, not aging at all. But unfortunately, the same goes for their character development, as they hardly ever undergo any. The series looks more at their backstories, with occasional flashbacks that reveal their pasts bit by bit.
This is interesting as they are immortals who have lived for centuries and have lived quite eventful lives. Sadly only the segments most important for the plot are portrayed in the series. Each new episode introduces a few new characters to the cast; they are typically young upon introduction and hang around for a few episodes at best.
Due to the limited time, these characters get minimal development in the short span of screentime, but they are handled decently well for viewers to feel relatable. The characters are dynamic, unique, vivid, likable, and engaging, making them a significant strength for the series.
When it comes to the Art and Animation of Mnemosyne, expect a lot of fanservice constantly! But this factor is executed pretty well so that it doesn't feel forced, and it only counts as a tiny detail of what's actually happening in the scene. There will be plenty of nudity, be it a fight scene or an erotic scene. Also, be prepared for many homosexual scenes in this series.
These factors don't distract viewers from the story itself and just act to serve guilty pleasures. The art itself is pretty well done, and the character designs are unique and likable. The subtle changes made to them as years passed were a beautiful detail, how they do age but are still recognizable. The scenery, backgrounds, and architecture also change subtly over the years and are portrayed quite artistically. The time skips are evident from these and display how civilization had advanced.
The Music and sounds of Mnemosyne are also decently done. The Opening is "Alsatia" by Galneryus, and the Ending is "Cause Disarray" by Galneryus. Both have a similar style and sound pretty identical; while they don’t particularly stand out initially, they become more likable towards the end.
The voice acting, too, is top-notch, matching the characters well overall. As opposed to the anime’s style, the soundtracks were quite calming and had a very casual feel to them. This doesn’t clash with the anime’s themes and is quite enjoyable. The only downside is that the background music stays the same for most of the series and would’ve been better if they added some variation.
Overall, Mnemosyne is quite enjoyable. It is an exciting series that features a lot of sex, nudity, and violence. Though once again, this is not the anime for viewers who cannot handle the gore or sexualized content. The storytelling mechanics are unique and exciting, with great twists and events along the way.
This is backed by good art and animation that utilize the fanservice well, blended nicely with its contrasting soundtracks and vivid characters. The downsides include the many unanswered questions that lead to confusion, the Opening and Ending themes that appeal to those of non-typical tastes, stagnant soundtracks, and hardcore levels of violence and nudity. If these won’t bother you much, then Mnemosyne will be an excellent watch!
