Bounen no Xamdou was pretty good. all those nods to Studio Ghibli just tickles me the right way. It's not Rahxephon level though. They constantly trip themselves up with more poetic nonsense (for even if it is not nonsense to the creator, surely it is nonsense to the majority of us commoners who are not privy to the author's original concept).
Xamdou has to CONSTANTLY pretend to be deep (in much the same way early 80s anime has it - Think Evangelion) and I think its pretentiousness hinders its message more so than it enhances it.
For whatever the flaws, this anime has spectacular triple A budget animations. Sony lost a LOT of money on this project, but they did it anyway. Because some genius at Sony said, we have a video store. and... It NEEEDS to have a high budget, exclusive ... (wait for it)...omg, <gasp> Anime! <--- a surefire instant death formula.
One more thing that Bounen no Xamdou manages is incredibly complex and mystifying character chemistries. For me, it was surely worth suffering some 20 episodes to see the ultimate scene when Ryuuzou Takehara (Akiyuki's dad) face off with villanous soldier officer/director guy (And I DID not spoil it for you. I didn't even describe their engagement. And it is certainly not a shounen power-up then climatic clash earth erupts *the end*. Bounen no Xamdou is a much more delicate and intelligent anime than that). Another relationship worth noting is Furuichi (Akiyuki's friend) and HIS infatuation with Haru - followed by a tragedic story. Very cool stuff.
All in all, Xamdou is pretentious. And the Anime-crazy non-experts like me will be lured in like hook and sinker, only to be let down some 16 episodes in. But snap~ was it worth watching. Just remember, this anime is poetic. And it is in my opinion not to be interpreted like prose. Otherwise the better side of your left brain will revolt against you for feeding it un-parsables. Some 50% of the anime is made up of people sitting down and reciting poetry for god's sakes!
