The art, while a bit CGI-heavy, offers viewers surrealistic backdrops and personifications (gotta love the sun and moon) as well as fight scenes that are as interestingly executed as they are engrossing. There is a minimum of hazed-out background transformations and executions during fight sequences, making the animation and depiction of fights solely reliant upon actual action (go figure). This adds to both the realism of certain situations and the sheer pleasure of watching things actually happen. Details, it’s all about the details ... until things get moving.

Over the run of the first 13 episodes, the first three of which are entirely action-driven, character-building prologue, the frequency of detailed action scenes slips, but this is taken up by the upswing in character maturation and mind games between friends and enemies alike. This is not a weak point though. The action remains in focus while more and more characters are introduced and simultaneously woven into the fray. In fact, one of the most interesting and sinister characters, whose actions result in one of the most entrancing battles within the fantasy genre I’ve yet to see, only really gets her debut in episode 12!

Ah, which audio track to tune into? (I could write an essay purely on that!) While I think the Japanese is absolutely and without question perfect, I’d also admit that the dub grew on me like a weed. Don’t get me wrong; the English dub is well-acted in almost every respect (if only seeming phoned-in and out-of-sync a bit too many times), but whoever cast a woman to voice Black Star is at fault for the series' sole inexcusable audio atrocity. While her enthusiasm shows through and through, Brittany Karbowski should NOT be voicing one of the most vivacious central characters in the show, an early teen male, simply because of her estrogen levels and vocal range. Everyone else, however, finds their role and convincingly plays their parts, but there’s just something grinding about Brittany’s girlishness, which, to her credit, is either tamed or brainwashed via repetition throughout each subsequent episode.

great.

Our plot is as follows: Ootomo City has more skeletons in its closet than the house in Spielberg’s Poltergeist; one of those skeletons is ready to slaughter your ass.

The main story is told through the eyes of Hayato Mikogami, an ambitious, young and fearless newspaper reporter from Tokyo. He comes to Ootomo to investigate the serial murders of a mysterious “skeleton costumed” man who only appears after midnight. Once he arrives, his bad luck accidentally partners him up with Kiriko Mamiya, a teenage photographer with tomboyish charm to spare. Together, they uncover the links between the Skull Man, pharmaceutical companies, the resident cult, and the murderous mutants that prowl the streets during the night.

Sound like a lot to handle for a thirteen-episode series? It is, but only by keeping the mystery and the intrigue alive does The Skull Man handle itself so skillfully. As any well laid-out mystery goes, every scene, every moment, and every murder only opens the door to the next clue. When Ootomo City approaches midnight, citizens are locked in their houses and police cars patrol the streets, turning the city into a prison. For all its details, The Skull Man never loses the central mystery: the skull man’s true identity, and the reasons he terrorizes the city.

By episode two, Hayato meets Detective Shinjou, who tails him endlessly, convinced that Hayato is connected personally to the mysterious murders. Without his adopted uncle, a high-level bureaucrat watching his back, Hayato would be behind bars most of the series. With each new character they encounter, Hayato and Kiriko discover that the number of people they can trust is dwindling. Even at the halfway mark, when Kiriko’s true mission (not to mention martial arts skills) is revealed during a battle with her brother, is it clear that our characters are in desperately over their heads.

Hayato has a small network of people he continuously pumps for leads (though unsuccessfully). One lead is an old childhood friend who became the town priest, who guides Hayato in his quest to seek the higher power and truth behind the Skull Man. Another is an older P.I., whose wisdom and nearly Goku-level of perfect timing seems to have stepped from the pages of noire pulp comics.

Some of the lighter moments, especially those between Kiriko and Hayato (who share great moments in their struggle for dominance in their partnership) soften the mood just before the next murder or devilish plot twist occurs. Hayato’s constant confrontations with the Skull Man drive him to obsession to discover the face beneath the mask, even facing the dangerous specter down at gunpoint. By the halfway mark, it is clear that The Skull Man frames Hayato’s embrace of his inner darkness to battle the greater darkness of Ootomo City’s hubris and political corruption.

Sounds pretty epic, don’t you think? Just imagine all that and some werewolves and a small battalion of mechanized maniacal army clowns with flame-throwers and rocket-launchers. Now we talking badass.

Religious imagery, especially those dealing with light, darkness and resurrection, recur faithfully in Skull Man. For example, the secretive Byakureikai cult (literally meaning white bell association) is grooming a key character to be their new Eve in the world they aim to create. While Ootomo City prides itself in its ever-present military-police force, the city does hold a striking Babylon parallel complete with the tower. In the end, the Skull Man’s true purpose is to keep the executives of the pharmaceutical company’s power in check and dish out divine punishment to keep the citizens grounded. The Skull Man himself quotes Nietsche and Macbeth just to add to his creepy persona. Forget Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer’s Angel, the title character of this anime is relentless, haunting, and holds more “badass” in his belt buckle than Blood +’s Haji has in his whole cello case. The black leather, spring-loaded sais, German Luger and glowing red eyes are enough to haunt even the most desensitized viewer’s dreams.

Besides being a mystery, The Skull Man is also easily categorized as super-natural with elements of horror. Studio BONES (who put out Fullmetal Alchemist and Darker Than Black and, by extension, have a direct link to my heart and wallet) assembled a patchwork team of directors and writers to compose this piece. With a lot of violence and intense moments, this series would find difficulty in a younger fan base. Its maturity and complexity limit its target audience and, thus, its interest from American dubbing companies.

While The Skull Man’s pacing mirrors The DaVinci Code and results in a stereotypical all-flash-and-zero-explanation ending that is inconclusive at best, it is still a very good mystery. Even the way its scenes are shot reveal something essential: characters over the phone, characters emerging from behind slightly ajar doors: Ootomo City can make any viewer feel like they are trapped in The Matrix. But I do offer fair warning that this is not a series with conclusive results. In fact, just to stay true to its own tragic nature, The Skull Man ends on a darkly lit here-we-go-again tone that shadows an even greater evil that will soon come to pass.

For all its red herrings, dead ends and McGuffins, The Skull Man still cranks out a great story with more layers than an onion and a great balance of horror, tragic desire and hair-raising action. How it handled itself so well is the real mystery.

Animation:		4.0		Overall: (4.0 stars)
Plot:		4.0
Voice Acting:		NR
Sound:		4.0

The story begins on Sentan Island, a land of seemingly contradictory nature. It is described as isolated, but it is highly populated. It is apparently under military rule, but the citizens live in peace. Akiyuki is a teenager living on this island, living between his separated parents. He is a confident and amiable individual, and has a pair of close friends named Haru and Furuichi.

On his daily walk with them to the school bus, he spots a pale-looking girl named Nazuna who appears to be a new rider on the bus. The soldier guarding the bus has the students lined up to check their armbands, and he notices that this frightens Nazuna. He passively slips her his armband, to help her avoid complications with the soldier. He claims he forgot his, and is expectedly let on anyway because he is a familiar face.

This appears to me a dreadful mistake, as Nazuna detonates a bomb on the bus as he exits in front of the school, an apparent act of war. Several students are wounded and killed, and a strange light from the explosion hits and enters Akiyuki's right arm. Confused, he re-enters the blown apart bus and tries to help Nazuna, who is wounded and bleeding green blood. She apologizes for getting Akiyuki caught up in her actions, and offers to give him her lost memories: Xam'd. Nazuna touches Akiyuki, and a strange white liquid envelops his body, and transforms him into a monstrous creature. (Just like they said would happen in Catholic School).

Suddenly, airships from a belligerent military from the north drop super weapons known as "Humanforms" onto the island. These humanforms are like living attack vehicles, except the are behemoth in size. A passing postal ship remains nearby, examining the situation. On this ship is Nakiami, a mysterious young woman who takes interest in the humanforms, and even more so, the Akiyuki-turned-Xam'd.

Xam'd is compelled to fight these humanforms, possibly to protect Akiyuki's friends. After being destroyed, the humanforms start to crystallize and corrode apart before the victorious Xam'd. In no time, Nakiami swoops down to Xam'd, and traps him. He then starts to corrode in a similar matter as the humanform. Nakiami urges Xam'd to come with her if he wants to live. Xam'd obligingly collaspes and transforms back into Akiyuki, unharmed, leaving only a mutated Xam'd arm on his body.

Nakiami takes Akiyuki back to her postal ship, where she cares for him, and explains that he now requires training to control the Xam'd within him and to keep himself alive. From then on the stage is set as Akiyuki travels with the ragtag crew of the postal ship, while his friends are left to try to restore their devastated lives and homes, in a city that lies on the brink of warfare.

Xam'd brings recognizable qualities with something new to the table. Like their previous work, Eureka Seven, Bones's animation is flashy and fluid, and of course, action-packed. Even the theme song, "Shut up and Explode" by the Boom Boom Satellites is catchier than chlamydia. Overall, this new anime seems to have a lot of potential, putting a new twist on predictable sci-fi and mecha genres. Definitely worth watching.