2010 TV Series (episodes 1-6). Director: Shigeru Ueda. 270 minutes. DVD, bilingual, $59.98. Distributor: FUNimation.
Rin is a private dick in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. She also happens to be immortal! Within in her resides the time fruit of Yggdrasil, the tree of all life. Yet, immortal she may be, Apos, a hermaphroditic demi-god, desires to tear this berry from her body and devour its delectable memories. Over sixty-five years, and cases ranging from lost identities to missing virtual girls, Rin will have her body torn apart, even blown up, as she folds time to unravel her destiny.
Sounds good? Well it is! Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ moves like a sleek, film noir-ish Aston Martin. And yes, being a Bond car, the sex does follow. No, seriously. Lots of sex. Girl on girl. Boy on girl. In fact, this series is everything that “Skinemax” failingly tries to be; naked bodies strewn along the landscape of a well manicured tale.
Okay, okay! Down penis! Down! Remember, I said story too. Rin delivers a series of vignettes that, though disconnected and violate the laws of linear time, are connected through well-developed immortal characters and the generations of one mortal family that is unwittingly linked to Rin. Now, we know she can solve a case. But trust me. You'll soon be quite invested in learning where Rin came from, let alone what's the connection between Yggdrasil and humanity. Thus episodic drama and fun, like the hunt for a missing cat or the healing of an amnesiac Rin herself, tightly pulls you through space and time towards a climax – no pun intended – that you’ve been chomping at the bit for since act one.
Erotic! Erotic! Erotic! But, hey, the story works, whether viewed as fragmented episodes or taken as an epic whole.
Oh, and the transition through time, which includes sadistic violence and is draped in both cyber and steampunk trappings, is enough to make William Gibson grin.
I like it. I like it a lot. Well, hopefully this isn’t just the male in me.