Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Nudity, sex, violence, and gore abound in FUNimation's first foray into adult-only territory.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner July 16, 2010

Given the tendency for anime adaptations to follow on the heels of their original manga counterparts, it comes as a bit of an oddity to find a successful series spawned on its own accord. Such is the case with Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, a joint venture between Xebec and Genco anime studios. Directed by Shigeru Ueda and written by Hiroshi Onogi, the series encompasses six segments running 45 minutes in length (each). Well known for its racy subject matter and extreme propensity for violence (primarily against females), the series isn’t suggested viewing material for squeamish adults or younger members of the audience, making this an entirely “mature” experience. If you’re still with me at this point, rest assured this is one of the better anime series in recent memory, and a fine example of solid storytelling.

Where'd the rest of her wedding dress disappear to?

At first glance Rin Asogi seems to be your normal everyday detective, tackling the typical odd jobs associated with her occupation. However, a closer look below the surface reveals a woman with a deep, dark past, who defies death at every turn thanks to the presence of a time spore within her body. These glowing, marble-sized spores are the product of an ancient tree known as Yggdrasil, which exists as a storage medium for knowledge and memories passed down throughout mankind’s existence. When a spore comes into contact with a female human it renders her immortal as long as the spore still exists. Men who bind with a time spore suffer a much different fate, becoming grotesque “angels” who feast on the blood of their female counterparts. Rin may look like an ordinary beautiful woman to those who cross her path, but one young man with a colorful history of his own knows better. Constantly terrorizing the young detective by playing puppet-master to legions of followers in possession of time spores, Apos views himself as a godlike being who revels in sadistic acts of torture and sexual extremes. Unbeknownst to Rin, humanity’s very existence could depend on her ability to stop Apos in his quest for power, and restore Yggdrasil to a state of everlasting harmony.

Trying to capture the heart and soul of this series in a single paragraph synopsis quickly turned into the most difficult aspect of this review. So much takes place during the course of the brief 5+ hour runtime, that it’s easy to either give too much away (thereby ruining the surprises that lay in store), or divulge far too little (barely scratching the surface). In case you came away with a wrong impression that leaned toward the latter, I should dig into the structure of the series a bit more. Essentially, each 45 minute episode lands Rin and her side-kick Mimi in the midst of a complex mystery arriving on their doorstep. During the course of their detective work, the two girls often stumble into encounters with characters that remain important within the overall story arch of the series, but don’t add much to the main plotline of each episode. In essence, these moments serve as a placeholder to remind us that something profound is set to happen before the series ends. Getting down to the actual detective work throughout the series, we have a significant level of variety in the cases Rin must solve, injecting a fresh perspective to each episode. This is enhanced to a great extent by the decision to stage subsequent episodes farther down the time continuum, occasionally resulting in up to 30 years passing between the events that occur in each episode. As a result, we have Rin and Mimi remaining ageless (due to their immortal status), but a supporting cast that passes by from generation to generation. This allows continuity to remain between each storyline (since we witness adult characters who were mere children in the prior episode), and adds some emotional impact to Rin’s immortality. All in all, this is a series that’s worth watching on several occasions’ thanks in no small part to the depth of storytelling, and the creative structure of the longer episodes.

Now on to the part most of you have been waiting for. If you had zero knowledge of Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne going into this review, you likely aren’t aware of the mature subject matter that permeates a large portion of the production, and makes this an adult-only affair. When Rin isn’t being gored to death by a maniacal doctor, or trading sex for clues from a mysterious informant, she can be found stripping down to her birthday suit for a healthy dose of fan service. I could probably fill an entire two page essay with further example of the violence and sexually-charged scenarios littered throughout, but you’d be better served to simply find out for yourself. I know this element of the series will serve as a deal-breaker to some, but I’d wager most anime enthusiasts originally gravitated toward the medium due to the lack of pandering to young audiences. After all, many on the western front would consider manga to be mere cartoon books, despite their immense popularity among Japanese adults. I’m not saying this is justification for widespread acceptance of the disturbing content occasionally depicted in Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, but if you have the stomach for a healthy dose of animated violence and sex, look no further.

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 20Mbps), Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne registers as a fairly solid visual presentation for an upconverted anime series. Fine object detail never reveals extensive depth or precision, but the lack of hazy textures or DNR application remains a notable strength in what appears to be an accurate portrayal of the source material. Stair-stepping diagonal lines appear in an unobtrusive fashion from time to time, serving as a reminder that this is a non-HD production, but aside from that one minor quibble I struggled to identify many distractions in the visual experience. Pesky compression issues are all but absent, color banding never rears its ugly head, and aliasing is kept to a minimum. Black levels fall toward the darker end of the depth chart and contrast maintains accurate control over shade differential despite the gloomy nature of the show. Color reproduction ranks nearly as high, though there are a handful of shots that appear a touch on the washed-out side (likely due to lighting choices in the source material).

In the end, this release from FUNimation falls between their best to average anime upconversions, likely ranking somewhere in the 80th percentile. It's a shame such a wonderful series can't be enjoyed in native high definition, but considering this is likely the best we'll ever get, the Blu-ray is the version to own in your home theater collection.

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

After growing accustomed to the inclusion of a lossless 5.1 English mix next to a 2.0 Japanese mix on the majority of anime series, I was thrilled to find dual 5.1 mixes, allowing fans of either language option adequate reason to rejoice. Switching back and forth between both tracks, I failed to land on a preference from a technical standpoint, so I chose the native Japanese track for the majority of my assessment. I wouldn't rank Rin extremely high on my list of game-changing audio experiences, but it manages to hit enough high notes during the course of the six episode series to provide a nice complement to the visuals. Paying close attention to the dialog, sound effects and musical score, I never detected a shred of volume imbalance, negating any temptation to reach for my remote. Surround sound incorporation could have been a bit more effective in creating a heightened sense of immersion, but despite the lack of profound spatial separation among the rear channels, we're still shown creative elements here and there. Clarity and richness are everything one would hope for, lending precision to each gun blast or blade swipe, and adding highly effective monster effects that enhance the cringe-inducing tone of the subject matter (I mean that in a good way). Unfortunately, the one element that left me slightly disappointed is the lack of robust lows in the LFE portion of the mix, leaving the majority of the audio experience feeling a bit bright. It's not something that will affect the entertainment value for most viewers, but is still worth mentioning as a partial explanation for why I didn't score the audio higher.

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

English Cast & Crew Commentary (Episode 2): Incorporating four members of the English production staff, this commentary track is surprisingly refreshing in comparison with prior offerings of this type. Everyone involved has a blast reminiscing on the adult subject matter and the additional freedom it provided during the completion of the English dub. It certainly helps that each contributor has a wonderful sense of humor, avoiding any uncomfortable moments of silence.

Japanese Cast Interview (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 13:43 min): The female Japanese voice cast assembles for an informal discussion of the various characters in the series, while tackle certain pre-defined subjects of little importance. Expect extensive giggling to ensue.

Rounding out the extras, we have a series of original FUNimation trailers for Rin (high-def, censored and uncensored), promotional videos used to market the series (480p), and textless opening/closing songs.

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'll readily acknowledge that Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne is not the type of series that will appeal to all anime fans, but we can hopefully admit that's not always a bad thing. Everyone has their own threshold for sadistic elements of this sort, and although I found some moments a bit off-putting, I never once considered walking away. There are simply too many reasons to love this show to get hung up on the occasionally uncomfortable sequences in the series, making this a worthwhile addition to the Blu-ray collection of most mature anime fans.