Irishchatter
To be honest, I never expected to see an anime who involves a woman who really is so confident and acts like such a interesting character. Although I wouldnt call Rin the first female interesting character I've ever seen. Integra Hellsing from the anime "Hellsing" is pretty much the same as her, but a lot more serious and doesn't take crap from no one. Whereas Rin just doesn't give a toss and is pretty much laid back in that sense. You know, I really thought that Rin and Mimi were going to turn out as a couple because you could see they were flirting a lot. They were saying that Mimi was bisexual and Rin was heterosexual but i totally disagree through. I think both girls are bi like they do have a little intimacy even if they try to show it. I was actually surprised that Rin ended up having a child with Tajimamori like i felt they didn't really match well as a couple. Just my opinon like this kinda did give me a surprise lol!Interesting anime, I'll give it a 8/10!
dee.reid
"Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne" is not unlike most Japanese animation (Anime') out there: it has a weird and confusing plot, beautiful women, lots of female nudity, grotesque violence, and just plain weirdness. The good thing about it all is: it's done in a uniquely original fashion that does a good job of thoroughly keeping you on the edge of your seat, either in utter awe at all the exposed flesh or the general confusion of the overall plot, or in utter repulsion at everything you're seeing.The show itself is also a delightful hybrid of different genres, including horror, fantasy, detective-noir, and stylish eroticism. The influences of the Anime' classic "Wicked City" (1987) and the classic American fantasy film "Highlander" (1986) are also apparent in the story."Rin" is only six episodes long, with each episode only about 43 minutes in length. That's more than enough to thoroughly engross you in the on-screen events. The series takes place over the course of a 65-year period between 1990 and 2055, and focuses mainly on the voluptuous, green-eyed, large-chested lead heroine Rin Asougi, an immortal private detective who takes cases along with her fellow immortal sidekick Mimi that range from the simple and mundane (like trying to find a rare stamp or locate a lost cat) to the just plain weird (like helping an amnesiac young college student to discover his true identity or helping a young man evade mysterious hired hit-men).Rin is beautiful and sexy, in addition to being one tough little cookie; she'll kill you twice before you know what hit you, I mean, with her throwing knives and throwing chain that she has concealed on her person. She has the appearance of a young woman in her 20s, but the series tells us that she's at least a thousand years-old. She can also take a beating, a few dozen gunshot wounds, rape and even being sucked into a jet engine, and will still come out just as hot and sexy as she was before. That's the price, apparently, that she pays for being immortal and a tough female a**-kicker.All of these cases do eventually tie into the over-arching plot in some fashion later on in the series, but the show delights in keeping you in utter confusion at the seeming randomness of certain events and things that just don't seem to connect with one another. As one previous reviewer noted, part of what makes "Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne" so intriguing as a series is that it actually causes you to think about everything that goes on and draw your own conclusions about them. Not a whole lot of explaining is done in this series (at least with regards to the exposition - why everything is the way that it is on this show, what's going on, etc., and you have to take everything as is), and the few explanations that are given do help to sort out many of the more bewildering details of the characters and their motivations."Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne" does contain a lot of female nudity (both rear and full-frontal), which may draw in male viewers and drive away females, which unfortunately does not help the cause of doing away with the stereotypes that Anime' is full of sex and explicit violence. But "Rin" seems unconcerned about any mass appeal nor does it seem like it needs it; the show thrives in its own general weirdness and those accustomed to such material will have no problem watching it. Much of the sex and nudity in this series ranges from bondage-torture to rape to hot girl-on-girl action to general titillation like in a seemingly pointless shower sequence to finally, procreation (again, even the explicit sexuality ties into the overall plot of the series and does have some meaning here).Even with the outstanding blend of different storytelling genres, explicit sexuality and violence, "Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne" is one of the more unique and original Anime' series I've ever seen. The story is confusing and deliberately so, yet everything that goes on does eventually tie into the bigger picture later on. Despite the many red flags going up here, you won't be able to take your eyes off it.I know I couldn't.10/10
rabbyclare
Mnemosyne will probably be most known for its extremely explicit and disturbing gore and erotic imagery, and no doubt that will turn many viewers off to the series. However, throughout its 6 episodes this series didn't cease to surprise and impress me with the breadth AND depth of knowledge and trivia, as well as a well-constructed plot that slowly culminates over the 5 hours or so of running time. The series begins in seemingly typical anime fashion -- an imaginative setup of a group of immortals as a vehicle for over-the-top fan service and exciting action sequences. Admittedly, after the first episode, I thought I had a good idea what kind of anime this is going to be. However, every episode after that gave me something new to look forward too, and did not disappoint my growing expectations each minute through the film. I recommend this film to anyone who can stomach how graphic its scenes are, and are not too lazy or un-observant to fill in the interesting, subtle gaps left purposefully by the script.***Spoilers below*** The protagonist of the story is Asougi Rin, a stunning woman in her twenties with a killer body. Honestly, the size of her breasts alone will trigger a "fan service no plot" alarm in most experienced anime viewers. She is one of many immortals who, at some point of their lives, absorbed a Fruit of Time from a tree (Yggdrasil) that spreads these fruits like spores throughout the world. Women who absorbed this fruit will regenerate and live forever in the exact state at which they absorbed the fruit. So, like one other character in the series, someone who absorbs the fruit right after massive injuries will retain those injuries forever.Rin and her assistant Mimi (another immortal who looks like a young teenage girl) run a private investigations office together. Mimi is very skilled with computers and technology, while Rin as we soon discover is a master of martial arts. Their time in the office together is usually light and sprinkled with jokes and a suggested lesbian relationship. This is a stark contrast to the frequent gory injuries and torture usually sustained by Rin (It seems her enemies are usually extreme sadists). Their work usually starts off innocuous (in the first episode, Rin was out looking for a lost cat), but quickly become tangled in bigger and bigger problems (from an illegal lab cloning humans, assassinations of political foreign visitors, to the end of the world. Yup, the usual.).The private investigator pattern continues for 4 episodes, where more and more of Yggdrasil's mysteries are unveiled. As the viewer, I enjoyed picking up each subtle clue and putting together more of more of the big picture. Towards the end of the series, immortals and angels (men who absorb the Fruit of Time turn into power savage winged creatures whose sole purpose in their short lifespan is to seek out immortals and eat them, as we discover later. They are one of the few true threats to an immortal woman.) plot elements come together in a sadistic plan to destroy all mortal humans. The pacing of the anime series, I felt, was excellent. 6 long episodes were just the right amount of time to deliver all the information to the audience, and the OVA medium (Direct-to-home video) allows the production crew to basically put anything they want onto the screen.The characters in this series show distinct and fascinating development. Since at least 10 years of time pass between each episode, we see all the secondary characters age and change, while the main characters remain pretty much themselves. That, in addition to the changes in the environment made provided meaningful passage of time. By episode 3, for example, the world painted by the series has become that of the near future. It is a fairly stark, yet not unrealistic future where many people are lost in immersing online games -- 2.0 as the anime calls it, with reality being 1.0, and those lost in between trapped in "1.5". The characters also use more and more compact cell phones. The beauty of it all is that Mnemosyne never forces these changes down the viewer's throat. The characters behave just as you'd expect from someone who has grown accustomed to the technology over the years: perfectly at ease, and using each piece of equipment in a matter-of-fact way. This show knows its direction, and it also knows to respect the viewers' imagination in only giving a few interesting tidbits about the world, just enough for us to piece it all together.Rin and Mimi (and a few other immortals) go through 3 generations of Japan over the course of the run. One of the secondary characters in the first episode, Maeno, who was found as a lost and helpless human clone, get married and have kids. In the 3rd episode, the male lead is his son, and in the 5th episode his granddaughter. The director did a very good job portraying teenagers who are fundamentally good people in this series. Too frequently do Japanese animes portray a flat, annoying brat as a kid. In this film, however, I clearly felt that despite being rebellious as teenagers tend to be, the youngsters are compassionate, smart, and capable. That brings me to another thing I enjoyed -- the characters, good guys and bad guys both, don't do outrageously stupid things like in most movies. Thanks to that, the plot rarely loses momentum because we're not overcome with frustration by how these people act.Finally, the script uses a variety of mythical and factual trivia that are accurate! That sealed the deal for me in giving this series an excellent recommendation.
