Mnemosyne (anime)
| RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ | |
 Mnemosyne Japanese title screen | |
| Mnemosyne -ムネモシュネの娘たち- (Mnemosyne -Mnemosyne no Musumetachi-) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action, Horror, Mystery, Tech-noir |
| Light novel | |
| Written by | Hiroshi Ōnogi |
| Illustrated by | Chūō Higashiguchi |
| Published by | Hobby Japan |
| Demographic | Male |
| Magazine | Charano! |
| Original run | January 2008 – September 2008 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Shigeru Ueda |
| Produced by |
Nobuhiro Osawa Yasuo Ueda Yoshikazu Beniya |
| Written by | Hiroshi Ōnogi |
| Music by | Takayuki Negishi |
| Studio | Xebec, Genco |
| Licensed by | |
| Network | AT-X |
| English network |
 2x2 |
| Original run | February 3, 2008 – July 6, 2008 |
| Episodes | 6 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Xebec & Genco |
| Illustrated by | Miss Black |
| Published by | Kill Time Communication |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Comic Valkyrie |
| Original run | May 27, 2008 – July 26, 2008 |
| Volumes | 2 chapters |
RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ (Mnemosyne -ムネモシュネの娘たち- Mnemosyne: Munemoshune no Musumetachi, lit. Mnemosyne: Daughters of Mnemosyne) is a six-episode Japanese anime television series produced by Xebec and Genco, featuring grotesque and erotic visuals.[1] The anime was produced to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the AT-X network, which it originally aired on.[2] Funimation Entertainment licensed the series in North America. The plot, rich in the mix of murder and action, is set in modern and near-future Tokyo, and revolves around Rin Asougi, an immortal female private investigator. A light novel and a manga adaptation have also been published.
Story
A mysterious tree known as Yggdrasil would often appear in the world of the humans, releasing small orbs into the human world known as "Time Fruits". If a particular Time Fruit enters a female, she becomes Immortal. If a particular Time Fruit enters a male, they become crazed beings known as Angels.
Rin Asougi is an immortal who runs a private investigation agency in Tokyo's Shinjuku district alongside her assistant, Mimi who is also immortal. Rin often converses with a mysterious unknown individual on the phone. She is often being hunted down by an assassin named Laura who was hired by Apos, an angel who persecutes immortals.
The story begins in the year 1990. During a search for a missing cat, Rin instead finds Koki Maenu, a young man with distorted memories. As she investigates on his distorted memories, she discovers that he is a clone created by Sayara Yamanobe, a woman searching for immortality. After discovering this, Koki decides to work for Rin in her agency. In 2011, Koki marries to a former client, Yuki. Sayara Yamanobe returns and kidnaps Rin and attempts to send biological warfare to Japan. Koki after becoming an Angel, sacrifices himself to save Rin and Japan. In 2025, Rin ends up investigating a case involving Koki's son, Teruki after he meets a his long-term cyber girlfriend in reality. Rin manages to save Teruki however ends up sacrificing herself.
In the Year 2055, Rin had lost her memory and went by the name Tamaki Saito and fell in love with a mortal man named Ihika. However, she regains her memories when Laura discovers she's alive and attempts to kill her.
Production
Mnemosyne is a six-episode television series directed by Shigeru Ueda and written by Hiroshi Ōnogi. The animation was handled by Xebec, but planning and production was shared with Genco, that also had a part in the original concept creation. Original character design is by Chūō Higashiguchi, and was used as a template by the character designer for the anime version, Mitsuru Ishihara. Music direction was headed by Takayuki Negishi. The series' opening theme is "Alsatia" and the ending theme is "Cause Disarray"; both songs were written by Yama-B, composed by Syu, and performed by Galneryus. Funimation Entertainment licensed Mnemosyne in February 2009 for a North American release under the title RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~.[3]
The series was produced by the Yggdrasil Executive Committee which included Xebec and Genco. The plot of the episodes is set in Tokyo and revolves around Rin Asōgi, an immortal private investigator, as she explores the secrets of modern and near-future world and the supernatural events that surround the fictional society of immortals like herself. There are large time gaps in the internal chronology between the first five episodes, ranging from one to thirty years.
The six episodes were broadcast monthly on AT-X channel in Japan,[4] between February 3 and July 6, 2008. Each episode is 45 minutes long. Two pieces of theme music are used for the episodes: the opening theme "Alsatia" and the ending theme "Cause Disarray". Both were composed and performed by the Japanese metal band Galneryus. The series was produced to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the AT-X network it originally aired on.[2]
| # | Title | Chronology | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cats Don't Laugh" "Neko wa Warawanai" (猫は笑わない) | 1990 | February 3, 2008 |
| The episode opens with Rin being chased to the rooftop by a female assassin named Laura. Severely wounded, Rin falls down to her death. In the next scene, she wakes up unscathed in her apartment and returns to work, looking for a stray cat she was hired to find. Circumstances lead her to run into a man named Koki Maeno in a quiet street. After knocking out several agents pursuing Koki, Rin takes him to her office where he tells her and her partner Mimi that although he is not amnesiac, he feels that his memory is fake and he would like to know why he is pursued. Through Rin's links, they find out that Koki is connected to the Aoyama Pharmaceutical company. With Mimi's help, they infiltrate its labs but are captured. Rin is tortured to death by the sadistic chief researcher Sayara Yamanobe, while Koki is revealed to be a runaway cloning test subject. Miraculously, Rin survives, completely healed of her injuries, and confronts Yamanobe, leaving her in the hands of other delirious test subjects. As the compromised facility is demolished by Aoyama Pharmaceutical, Rin escapes with Koki and hands him a gun, for him to decide what he wants to do with his life. After he seemingly commits suicide, Rin leaves the scene. The next day he appears in her office, wounded on the head and with the missing cat in his hands, and asks to become her business partner. | |||
| 2 | "Angels Don't Cry" "Tenshi wa Nakanai" (天使は啼かない) | 1991 | March 2, 2008 |
| One year after the Aoyama Pharmaceutical incident, Rin is hired to track down a rare postage stamp and visits an old homeless man she calls "Professor" to gather information on it. He is revealed to possess one himself but it is stolen soon afterwards and he is severely injured. As Rin looks through his belongings, she is attacked by Laura who quickly detonates a suicide bomb. Meanwhile, Koki meets a girl named Yuki Shimazaki who is looking for an "angel" that may know the whereabouts of her missing brother Shōgo. Attracted by the explosion, he finds Rin's mutilated body and is visibly shaken by witnessing her regenerate. Later, Mimi explains to him that both Rin and herself are immortal because of the "time fruit" inside their bodies. In the meantime, several people including Rin's client are murdered and before long, she confirms that Yuki's brother turned into an "angel" due to contact with time fruit and committed the recent murders as acts of revenge. She also reveals that angels are natural enemies of the immortals like herself: in their presence, immortals are overcome with lust and angels use that time to devour them. Rin then deduces who Shogo's final victim would be and confronts him only to seemingly give in to sexual desire. As the angel starts feasting on her, she manages to kill him. An apparition of Apos, the chief villain of the series, emerges nearby to claim Shogo's time spore but Rin gives it to Koki instead and he, in turn, to Yuki. In the final scene, Rin returns the stolen stamp to "Professor" who laments how his life was wasted on it. | |||
| 3 | "Flowers Don't Shed Tears" "Hana wa Namida o Nagasanai" (花は涙を流さない) | 2011[5] | April 6, 2008 |
| Twenty years after the events of episode two, Kōki is still working for Rin, is now married to Yuki, and has a son with her. The episode opens with them receiveing a call from a girl wanting to meet Rin. However, she only says one cryptic sentence and dies in front of her, which reminds Rin of a story she heard from a friend back in 1945. She soon discovers that the girl displayed the same symptoms as subjects of a biological weapon "Higan", once tested on the so-called "Death Island". The Island has been officially demolished and Tamotsu Yanagihara, a police officer and Rin's friend, confirms that its former residents were among the victims of each recent bombing in Tokyo. Soon after that, Rin is captured and brought to the Death Island. Mimi decides to visit Rin's informant (whose name is never mentioned in the series) who demands sex with her in return for information on Rin's whereabouts. She informs them that the group behind the bombings and Rin's capture is called "Kudoru" (Sanskrit: Evil). Meanwhile on the Island, Rin discovers that Sayara Yamanobe survived as an immortal but has to rely on a powered exoskeleton to move. Surviving a vivisection, Rin escapes but is chased and killed again. Sayara explains her plan to exterminate humans with Higan, leaving only immortals on Earth. Koki arrives on a helicopter to free Rin but is fatally shot. With his last strength, he consumes Shogo's time spore and turns into an angel. After carrying Rin to safety, he returns to devour Sayara but Apos arrives to remove both their time fruits, killing them instantly. The next day, Rin and Mimi stay in their office, visibly shaken by Koki's death. | |||
| 4 | "Ghosts Don't Scream" "Yūrei wa Sakebanai" (幽霊は叫ばない) | 2025[6] | May 4, 2008 |
| The episode opens with Koki's son Teruki having sex with a girl named Ruon via a virtual reality network called "2.0". He offers to meet her in real life ("1.0") but she refuses. Later, he meets Ruon in 1.0 only to witness her murder. Teruki finds Tamotsu, who brings him to Asougi Consulting. Mimi explains that Ruon is actually an AI created by Katsuyuki Kamiyama, a modern von Neumann. Rin takes Teruki for a walk but they are attacked by Laura, now a cyborg, who mutilates Rin considerably. Teruki is shaken by the sight of Rin regenerating so she tells him about time spores and immortals. Teruki suffers a mental breakdown but she comforts him. Mimi and Tamotsu discover that Ruon was created during "Project L'Isle-Adam", based on Kamiyama's daughter whom he killed. Ruon calls to invite Teruki to 2.0 but they are attacked by Kamiyama and Mimi severs the connection. Immediately thereafter, commandos attack the office forcing them to flee. En route, Mimi explains that Ruon might have been an attempt to create "The Future Eve". The military attacks again and Teruki is taken away. Back in the office, Rin and Mimi realize that the girl Teruki met in 1.0 was an android with Ruon's AI. Tamotsu calls to tell the flight number that Teruki is on but is fatally shot by a sniper. Rin boards the plane as it takes off, only to find Kamiyama shot by android Ruon. Ruon is revealed to have manipulated the military to get Teruki, the only person she cares about. Rin pushes Teruki out of the plane with a parachute and after a brief fight, she and Ruon fall out of the plane and into its jet engine together. Some time later, Teruki finds that Rin's office was demolished. Mimi is shown bringing flowers to where Tamotsu was shot. Rin's fate is uncertain. | |||
| 5 | "Holy Nights Don't Shine Brightly" "Seiya wa Kagayakanai" (聖夜は輝かない) | 2055[7] | June 1, 2008 |
| Thirty years after episode four, the borders between 1.0 and 2.0 have been erased completely and it is now possible to "download" things into the real world. Rin took 25 years to regenerate her body and suffered retrograde amnesia in process. Teruki became a successful businessman and Mimi, a Buddhist nun. Meanwhile, Apos disguised Laura as Rin and made her hunt immortals for their time spores. The episode begins with Teruki's daughter Mishio discovering his records of Rin and by chance, meeting her amnesiac self. Rin is working for a company whose CEO is an immortal who is soon killed by Laura. Mishio finds her body, and thinking that her killer was Rin, starts following her around. She witnesses a man named Ihika propose to Rin, which she refuses, telling him of her amnesia. After Mishio asks Teruki about Rin, he finds her but decides that it's better for her painful memories not to return and avoids contact. He then finds Mimi who tells him that Rin is apparently hunting immortals. Meanwhile, Rin accepts Ihika's new proposal and the two are about to have sex, when Laura attacks and kills them both. This returns Rin's memories and she escapes with Mishio to Teruki's estate. After a conversation with him, Rin and Mishio take a train to Kyoto, where Mimi's temple is located. Anticipating Laura's attack, Mimi invites three other immortals but Laura brings along several angels who proceed to devour them. Rin arrives and defeats Laura and the angels, only to witness Mimi raped by Apos. Apos is then revealed to be an immortal angel hybrid and removes Rin's time spore, presumably killing her. | |||
| 6 | "And Then, to the Door of the Kingdom..." "Soshite Ōkoku no Tobira e to..." (そして王国の扉へと......) | 2055 | July 6, 2008[8] |
|
Shortly after the end of episode five, Rin wakes up in Apos' castle at the foot of Yggdrasil, the mythical tree that generates time spores, since Apos let her regenerate instead of consuming her spore. She is then locked in a room with a masked angel and kills him, only to discover that it was Ihika. Meanwhile, Mimi and Mishio desperately search for Rin and learn the location of Apos' castle from the informant. Tajimamori, former Guardian of Yggdrasil, invites them to his castle, explains that his son Apos aims to become the new eternal Guardian by sacrificing Rin to Yggdrasil, and opens a portal to Apos' castle for them. There, Rin is losing the battle against Laura but Apos double-crosses her and Rin escapes. In retaliation, Laura teams up with Mimi and Mishio and leads them to Yggdrasil. Rin is already there and meets Tajimamori, her millennia-old love. They have sex until Apos arrives, kills his father, and pushes Rin into Yggdrasil. Mishio tries pulling Rin out and fails but Rin manages to grab Koki's time spore (that Rin found in the sea after episode four and Mishio unwittingly brought to the castle) from her necklace. As Yggdrasil tries to merge with her, Rin consumes Koki's spore and his spirit helps her to break free. Mishio, revealed to be Tajimamori's descendant like all Maenos, pulls Rin out and back to the castle. Apos attacks them but Rin, now the new Guardian of Yggdrasil, pushes Apos into it himself. Before he is consumed, she feeds Tajimamori and Laura's spores to him. In the epilogue, Rin gives birth to Tajimamori's son and continues living in Apos' castle with Mimi and Mishio. Her closing narration reveals that their son is linked to the Yggdrasil and this link will spread throughout mankind with his descendants. | |||
Related media
A light novel adaptation titled Mnemosyne no Musumetachi 2008 (ムネモシュネの娘たち2008) was serialized in Hobby Japan's light novel magazine Charano! between the January and September 2008 issues. The light novel is written by the writer of the anime, Hiroshi Ōnogi, and illustrated by Chūō Higashiguchi. A single volume containing five chapters was released on April 1, 2009.[9]
A manga adaptation illustrated by Miss Black serialized two chapters in Kill Time Communication's male-oriented manga magazine Comic Valkyrie volume 12 on May 27, 2008 and volume 13 on July 26, 2008, respectively.[10][11]
References
- ↑ Hess, Adrianne (February 28, 2008). "Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi (Volume 1) Review". Mania.com. Retrieved July 19, 2009. "The series is full of female nudity, violence and yuri scenes which go from gentle fondling to full blown S&M torture."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Mnemosyne at AT-X" (in Japanese). AT-X. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
- ↑ "Funimation Licenses RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne". Anime News Network. February 20, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ↑ "Mnemosyne" (in Japanese). Xebec. 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ↑ "Mnemosyne - Episode 3 synopsis" (in Japanese). Xebec. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ↑ "Mnemosyne - Episode 4 synopsis" (in Japanese). Xebec. 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ↑ "Mnemosyne - Episode 5 synopsis" (in Japanese). Xebec. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ↑ "Mnemosyne - Episode 6 synopsis" (in Japanese). Xebec. 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ↑ "ムネモシュネの娘たち2008" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
- ↑ "コミックヴァルキリー 公式サイト - バックナンバー »Vol.12" [Comic Valkyrie Official Site - Back Number »Vol. 12] (in Japanese). Kill Time Communication. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
- ↑ "コミックヴァルキリー 公式サイト - バックナンバー »Vol.13" [Comic Valkyrie Official Site - Back Number »Vol. 13] (in Japanese). Kill Time Communication. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
External links
- Official website (Japanese)
- Funimation's official Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ website
- Xebec's official Mnemosyne website (Japanese)
- Comic Valkyrie's official Mnemosyne manga website (Japanese)
- Mnemosyne (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Mnemosyne at the Internet Movie Database