RIN – Daughters Of Mnemosyne

Label:

Manga Entertainment

Certificate:

18

Format:

DVD

Discs:

2. (6 episodes)

Running time:

260 mins approx

Subtitles:

English (Full or Signs only)

Video:

16:9 anamorphic

Sound:

English 5.1, Japanese 2.0

Release date:

20th September 2010

RRP:

£19.99 - Amazon - Play - Manga UK

Brief synopsis:

Japan, late 20th century. Rin Asougi, along with her teenage assistant Mimi, runs a low-key and somewhat impoverished detective agency in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. Sifting thorough the dirt and scum of society’s seedy underbelly may seem like dangerous work for this pair of young females but appearances can be deceptive. Both Rin and her partner are actually age-old immortals, women infected by mysterious “time fruits” which leave them able to continually regenerate from any physical damage that the criminal classes may throw at them.

In an attempt to fit into the world around them, Rin and many of her fellow immortals strive to lead lives as close to that of normal humans as possible. But when eternity is pretty much guaranteed, a “normal” life just isn’t enough and for Rin a dangerous and ever risky career as a private eye is just what the doctor ordered. But when her fellow immortals start disappearing Rin discovers that her future, and that of all like her, will soon be far from secure as a war between the immortals begins. A battle is being waged over control of the key to their immortally, the fabled world tree Yggdrasil, the source of the life granting time fruits. A mysterious figure named APOS will stop at nothing to control Yggdrasil, and using fellow immortals as expendable pawns in this, the ultimate game, is just the opening gambit.

Comments:

Originally commissioned to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Japan’s AT-X anime network, RIN – Daughters Of Mnemosyne is a hard-edged detective thriller packed with oodles of blood and gore, sex and violence and then all that again. Beautifully animated by Xebec (a subsidiary of the highly lauded anime production company Production I.G.) scripted by Hiroshi Ōnogi (Aquarian, RahXephon, Shangri-la) and Directed by Shigeru Ueda (Fullmetal Alchemist, Fate Stay Night, Serial Experiments Lain), this is one show that pulls no punches and seems to delight in making the audience squirm in their seats.

Right from the outset it’s obvious that this is strictly for the grown ups and about the only way it could be any less “for the kiddies” would be if it veered off wildly into full blown hentai territory as some other comparable anime before it have done and which thankfully it doesn’t. While AT-X were obviously trying to the push the boundaries as far as they could, they made sure that they didn’t go so far that the censors would come down on the like a tonne of bricks. It’s a good thing that they did too as even they way it is I’m surprised that certain of our UK daily newspapers aren’t calling for it to be banned already. Many of the characters that Rin runs foul of over the course of this rather short series are just downright cruel and sadistic and while it’s true that Rin is indestructible, this in no way means that she’s invincible. Subsequently some of the situations she’s put through would make a quick death look like a much more appealing option.

The thing is, this show really doesn’t need to veer off into pure titillation territory as, and this is the major difference between this and some other shows of a similar ilk, is that if you stripped out all the blood and nudity and foul language you’d still find a half decent plot underneath. Maybe not an Oscar winning plot I’ll admit, but still pretty decent. At heart it’s a thriller/drama with heavy sci-fi/fantasy leanings and both erotic and supernatural undertones – a mix that’s been particularly popular these last few years – spanning more than sixty years and several generations.

This means that children in the background of one episode can turn up as major players later on before leaving the action to their own children in even later episodes. It’s interesting to note both the city of Tokyo and it’s incumbent society changing and evolving from episode to episode, and all this while Rin and Mimi are just trying to live their lives as close to normal as they can - which isn’t easy when the mortals around them can live, age and die in what for our heroines may as well be a period as short as a single heartbeat.

The English language version boasts an impressive rewite, which flows well and clears up some of the ambiguities of the original Japanese script. The dub’s actually not bad either though the Japanese voice acting is better. The Japanese version is helped somewhat by the rather bold, and thankfully successful, casting choices, most notably where both Mamiko Noto and Rie Tanaka are cast heavily against type and still carry off their roles impressively and with great aplomb.

Extras:

Disappointingly there’s very little in the way of extras. There’s an image gallery, a single audio commentary and a short feature where the four main Japanese voice actresses have a good natter about the show… and that’s it.

RIN – Daughters Of Mnemosyne is available now from most high streets and online retailers. A trailer for this series can be found at Manga UK’s official site here.