vlebsack - 2016-08-29 17:53:48

Good start and concept, final episode was disappointing and I see as one of those overcomplicated plot.

alena77 - 2015-12-27 11:42:30

The titular Rin is a immortal detective. Through her work she meets with many dangers but because of her immortal body she always heals. The central antagonist is Apos, who is obsessed with sacrificing Rin to the tree of life, Yggdrasil. 
The episodes span 65 years and thereby show how society and technology evolves around Rin. this was a aspect of the show I felt was particularly well done. The aging and eventual death of mortal characters and their relationship with the immortal Rin was also something I liked seeing explored. Apos manages to be both mysterious and keep his motives secret to the end keeping a suggestive athmosphere around what Apos really wants. 
The backgrounds were very well done and one of the standouts on the visual side. Use of lighting was not very consistent, same with character models, and made the show more hit or miss than it deserved to be. The voice-acting and sound design was consistent throughout and managed to be serviceable. Not really any standout performances though. Nothing wrong and nothing really good with the voice-acting in general. 
What can turn a lot of people off this show is its heavy use of fanservice. "Torture Porn" is a term that can be used to describe the show when the fanservice gets especially heavy. I personally felt the use of fanservice could be motivated by the story but I can understand if people give the show up because of it. 
If you can take scenes of torture, gratuitous nudity and female exploitation you will find a story about the cost of immortality and the importance of memories. It is not a show I can recommend to everyone but I feel at least some of you might enjoy it.

wmcclure - 2015-04-29 04:08:52

i will be short in this Review..

LOOOL this is serie look like mature but thats completely ridiculous... try to be serious but i just laugh for nothing... they have a very strange concept.. and i think we can add the Genre : Ecchi .. and this anime is too much based on the Sex... they say Yuri , thats a Yuri with too much Sex .. they have completely destroy the real story about the Yggdrasil with Masochist Porn .. 

on the beginning i have search what is the real goal and you just have de answer at the end ... this is a world who everyone is dominated by Sex everyone help people with Sex Favor , Rape are here too , Immortal Women become Horny when they feel a Angel Presence , the Angels are attracted by the Immortal Female and Eat it .. (only Male can be a Angel)

you have a lot of Blood too , i think thats the best thing in the anime but this is something hardcore for people who dont like the Blood..

the Symbol who appear on the Guardian look like cleary to a inside pussy.. i dont have image for showing you but nevermind..

the main girl Rin just Fuck too much guys and girls... this is a little disgusting... after that she is suposed to be Pure... LOOOl Mimi his friend Fuck too much the others too... they look like a little slutty or dirty thats your choice if you know what i mean.. they sell their body for information...(this thing happen only with girls.."Yuri")

they have put a lot of Sex not neccessary for the story...

so in big this is ridiculous .. the most Teenager can create a story poor like that .. dont know if the creators have making this when they have been Horny.. but this is very bad.. i can't recommand a anime Empty like that... the elements in the story are fitting good but... thats not make the anime better...

the 1st episode look good but after that... this is completely Random...

I can't believe the people who have buy the Blu-Ray DVD of this anime... what a waste this is pretty sad to say soo much bad thing for this anime.

morissette.wallace - 2015-04-26 05:03:15

I like "extreme" anime - I love Claymore, and I really enjoy Murder Princess and Mirai Nikki.  However, an anime being extreme is not enough to simply get me to watch it - I don't like Elfen Lied, and I dropped Pupa after 1 episode.  In order for an extreme anime to be good, it also has to have really good writing.  Mnemosyne is a perfect example.

Mnemosyne follows Rin Asogi, an immortal detective who deals with the supernatural.  She is being pursued by Apos, who wants nothing more than to consume Rin Asogi's time fruit, which is the source of her immortality.  Rin's partner is Mimi, another immortal, who has a very close relationship with Rin.  Over the course of the story, which takes place over I believe 60 years (with a time skip of varying lengths in between each episode, save for the last 2, which occur in the same year), she battles various different supernatural threats, ranging from angels (who are very similar to male Claymores) to cybernetic women.

The characters of Mnemosyne are as equally fleshed out, with Rin being a very nice person, but she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty.  Mimi acts as a sidekick, and Apos is a very cruel individual.  I know they might seem one note from my description, but it's easier to just watch the show than it is to have someone describe it to you.

The animation is by Xebec, and it alternates between mediocre (fortunately, even when it's mediocre, it's still a million times better than anything Studio DEEN has animated) and on par with stuff that ufotable and P.A Works have made.  There are several scenes where the detail is very precise.

The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, with Galneryus contributing both the opening and ending.  It's one that just needs to be heard in order to be described.

However, there is one thing that might deter some - this series features torture.  A lot of torture.  However, it's a horror anime - and an uncensored one at that (which is made even more amazing when you take into account the recent censorship of Terra Formars and Tokyo Ghoul).  Also, there's a lot of sex.  But it isn't too graphic - it doesn't approach hentai territory.

Lastly, the voice acting in the dub is superb, featuring my favorite duo of Colleen Clinkenbeard and Todd Haberkorn (xxxHOLiC,  Rosario + Vampire) as Rin Asogi and Apos respectively.  Go with the dub, which I consider to be one of FUNimation's finest.

If you like Kara no Kyoukai, Baccano!, Claymore or Canaan, you will LOVE Mnemosyne.

valentina22 - 2015-04-08 19:32:54

I liked it to some extent, but I feel like I would be better entertained if I could make more sense of the story being told. The writing is not exactly as deep as it thinks it is, but I enjoyed a fair bit of the dialogue. 

pveum - 2014-11-18 02:33:39

Rin Daughters of Mnemosyne is a mature tale with a great dub that is highly unknown and underrated due to it's extreme content.

alisha90 - 2014-08-01 01:34:24

Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne has a great story and interesting characters but the sexual content, nudity, gore and graphic content unfortunately gets in the way of a show that really could have been something special. Sometimes being discreet is a good thing, which is something the creators of this show didn't have in mind.
(BTW my review is from a critical standpoint, my review may be okay but I personally didn't like it.)
Pros: Intricate story, interesting characters
Cons: Graphic content

myriam.luettgen - 2014-02-21 13:34:08

I don't know WHAT the fuck is going on. It's like watching an untranslated Israeli indie movie about Christianity dropping acid and ass-fucking Norse mythology while a private investigator/figure skater watches.

weissnat.kaleb - 2013-05-14 04:38:00

You can either A) Watch the review in Video form embedded below, or B) read the transcript of the review. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

Story

Rin starts off as acasual Film Noir, a story with mystery and investigations, but all too soon it swiftlyand surely starts to bend towards the supernatural.  Theyear starts off in 1990 and our story follows the life of our titular characterRin, a private investigator from the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan, whosolves mysteries including things like missing persons, and even cats. However, what she andher partner Mimi specialize in are the things of a more dark and paranormalnature. What is special about Rin is that she is animmortal. And we're not talking about those pussy immortals who just never grow old but can dieother ways, like when you chop their head off. Naw man, I'm talking about the hard core, cut them into a billion pieces and they still putthemselves back together,Dr. Manhattan stylekind of immortals. [Cue Dallas Genoard from Baccano: It’s freaking UNBELIEVABLE].

So she’s a badass immortal. What does this mean?Well, two things. First, she is able toinvestigate situations that are far too dangerous for your typical investigator,because she can't die. Butalso, if she gets trapped in a situation where she can’t escape and she getstortured by sadistic people, she can’t die. And that brings us to the dark yet inescapable part ofthis show. While the subtitle of the show is Daughters of Mnemosyne, areference to Mnemosyne the Greek personification of memory which of courseholds no symbolic meaning in the show at all wink wink, people like me have givenRin the unofficial subtitle Daughters of Torture Porn, because while the main plot is veryintriguing – allabout immortals, angels, and the mystic tree Yggdrasil – Rin contains almost as much nudity, sex,and graphic torture as it does plot. Hence my earlier warning, children shouldnot be watching this. Heck, most teenagers shouldprobably not be watching this. But the good thing about this graphic content isthat it’s never there just for the sake of having it. It’s not like the unnecessary fan servicethat most shows have;everything ties in, and the method in which this story is told is almost asinteresting.

The overall plot of Rinis rather difficult to explain, as it’s not presented in a typical manner. The show is aseries of one hour OVA episodes, contrary to the usual 13 or 24+ episodeseries, and each new episode time skips into the future a certain amount. Ituses these time skips to tell a very large overarching story that takes placeover several generations, with each episode adding to the overall story, whilehaving their own unique elements. What makes the timeskip element work in this show and not in others, say like Sword Art Online, is that when there is a sudden jump of like10 years and stuff happens in those 10 years, while I honestly wouldn't mindknowing about, I also do not feel cheated about not seeing any of it and themain story just continues on. It’s made rather obvious that nothing necessaryto the progression to the plot really happens in all of the time in between eachepisode, and it’s the characters that really help this along.

Characters

Our main immortalcharacters are Rin herself and her partner Mimi. One of the great things aboutboth of them is that even though long stretches of time have passed with everynew episode, with technology evolving, and landscapes changing, these two stay the same,as if every episode only took place the day after the last. From the way theyact, to the way they dress, to the way that Mimi constantly reminds us thatvodka is water in Russian. It’s one of the things that makes the time skips muchmore manageable,because these two characters are stuck in time as it were. Even though everythingaround them changes, they do not. They are sort of like anchors in the story. It also leads toone of the show’s major downfalls, since because they don't change, we don't get much character development in thetraditional sense. Everything involving their pasts is shrouded in mystery; themoments when they became immortal are either never mentioned or only done inflashback near the end of the series, and the only sort of development we getis how they act with all the supporting characters as the show progresses.

Speaking of, the show also touts a strong cast of supporting characters, givingus another reason why the time skips in this show are used properly. One thingthat usually always makes a character memorable is when and if that characterhappens to die. So,when you have a storyline that takes place over the span of many years – in this case, a full 65 years from startto finish – deathis inevitable for any character that is not immortal. Charactersappear, they have their episode in the spotlight, and then they could go by the next episode. Butthe small time that they are present is enough to give us a proper impressionof who they are and what they are like. Just to be able to write characters like that isan achievement in and of itself.

Animation

The production studio behind Rin was Xebec, a curious thingconsidering some of Xebec’s more popular series include To Love-Ru and Negima,neither of which I would say are anything like this show at all, as the tone ofRin is vastly different from those harem fanservice romps. Not that I haveanything against them. The colours in Rin are dark and bleak and theanimation where necessary is fluid, but there are many times when the show endsup sacrificing detail in the art for animation. Granted, they never get as bad as say Gonzo on a bad day,but it does contrast the scenes of the show that are beautifully animated. Sowhen they want it to look good, it does. Shame that a lot of that goodness is used forthe torture scenes.

Sound

The soundtrack for Rin bears mentioning, as it has the unique ability to be able tocover a variety of music styles to suit the ever changing settings of theshow’s plot, and it does that job well. Unfortunately though, I didn't find many ofthe tracks outside ofthe opening to bethat memorable. Evenwith the show’s opening, the rough lyrics are something to get used to, but like Death Note’ssecond opening, ifyou can get used to it you end up rather liking it. Or at least I did. Eh.

The dubfor Mnemosyne matches up with some of Funimation’s best, which is a shame considering the show’s subject matterand the rather small audience it gathers. In particular, I was very pleased to hear ColleenClinkenbeard in the lead role as Rin, as to me she seems to spend way too muchtime in the ADR director role and line producing than she does in front of the mic. Likeseriously, herHawkeye, Éclair, and yeah ok she was also Luffy in One Piece. (For the record I would like to state that I do not follow One Piece)

Todd Habberkorn also makes an appearance as a character who is not whiny likeRakki, not nasallylike Sgt. Keroro, but is more like his take on Death the Kid, had Kid been older andwanted to have sex with everything and also take over the world, becausehey villain.

FinalVerdict

The thing you have to realize with Rin isthat it’s meant for a very mature audience; this is not kids’ stuff and as suchhas to be treated in a very mature way. While it does contain a rather largeamount of graphic violence and many sexual themes, the show has this way of tying everything intothe plot so that itmakes sense, rather than just having needless torture porn for the sake of it. The story itself isvery interesting as it’s able to take place over several generations, with a variety of locations andcharacters, from the pre-internet 1990s to the futuristic 2050’s, without beingoverly confusing about the order of events as shows like Haruhi or Kara no Kyoukai do.

With allthat said, I have meticulously calculated values for the categories of story,characters, animation, sound, and my own personal enjoyment. Which, after locking it into aroom and piercing it with half a dozen knives, daggers and other point objects,has me awarding Rin:Daughters of Mnemosyne with a score of 7.96 out of 10. Normally I would like togive this show a rating of BuyIt, considering how much Ipersonally enjoyed it,however given the subject matter and the limited audience this show caters to, I give it a Stream Itrating. As much asI like it, you should try it out before committing to buying it. Rin is availablefor legal web streaming from Funimation, but only if you happen to be a member of Funimation’s Elite videoservice that comes attached with a monthly fee. You can also check it out onNetflix if you live in the US and happen to have that service as well. Otherwise, Rin has been licensedand is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment. Foralternate anime recommendations, I point you towards the rather violent Elfen Lied, as well asthe mystery horror show Higurashi no Naku Koroni, which between the two should cover all of your bases. And with that, I leave you. Until next time, ladies, gentlemen and others, Stay Frosty.

jacobson.brandt - 2013-03-22 04:44:25

"It may sound ironic coming from me, but the gift of life is a fleeting precious thing. It is not something to be toyed with."

First, let me get the obvious out of the way: the first two words I heard about this series were "torture porn" and it's not far from the truth. I do think there's more to the show than that, it tries to have an engaging plot beyond pure smut and the concept is actually a decent one that somewhat justifies the show's perverse tendencies. Setting aside any moral issues I might have with it, for the purposes of this review it's no different than any other kind of fanservice, especially since it's sort of justified by the show's mythos. That said, if frequent nudity, erotic moaning and women being torn asunder in various and sundry ways is a deal-breaker for you, there's no need to read this review any further because Rin: Daughter of Mnemosyne has quite a lot of that going on. You have been warned.

The visuals behind Mnemosyne are hit and miss. On one hand, the backgrounds are nice and detailed and the animation is pretty solid and consistent, but on the other the use of lighting varies wildly in quality and the character designs are a bit generic, sometimes even dipping into ugly. When it's too dark, scenes that should be gripping just come out drab, and when it's too bright they end up looking gaudy. The show occasionally strikes the right balance, but the lack of consistency can be distracting, and the choreography behind the fights are pretty lackluster to boot. It's not completely incompetent, there are some good moments, but most of the show's important action scenes tend to fall flat. Maybe I'm being too harsh, it's perfectly watchable and never looks bad, it just could've used more panache. At the very least, it has a few decent camera angles mixed in.

Maybe it'd be more compelling with better music, but it was not meant to be. Half the time the music doesn't really support the series, it just feels like it was slapped on at the end with barely any thought given. It's a perfectly good soundtrack that could have matched the tone the series was going for in theory, but there was clearly very little effort put into its integration, so the strained music direction is a real shame. Combined with the poorly executed visuals, it makes all the difference between these scenes being edge-of-your-seat thrilling and just "stuff that happens". I will say that the opening and ending are both hilariously bad Engrish songs.

The voice acting in both languages is fine, perfectly serviceable all-around, but neither really tries to go beyond the call of duty. The exception to this is Todd Haberkorn as the villainous Apos, his voice dripping with venomous obsession in a way few voice actors can nail. Stop casting him as harem leads, Funimation, he's capable of much better than that. Also, I suppose Mimi sounds better in the dub, but that might just be my distaste for moe bleeding through, I'll take Jamie Marchi's sassy performances over Rie Kugimiya's distilled cutesiness any day. I digress. For a show as dry and dramatic as this I can't help but think that more nuanced performances would have been fitting, but the scripts and acting in both languages are pretty content to just skate by. On the surface, the whole package just looks dull and uninspired.

In case my lack of enthusiasm wasn't immediately apparent, I'll just come out and say it: I was not impressed by this series in the least. Looking at the concept on paper I can see where its modest popularity comes from, promising a sexy thriller with suspenseful battles, engaging mysteries and a unique mythos. Oh, and lots of fanservice, if that tickles your fancy. In execution, though, the series doesn't deliver. Out of all the possible reactions I was prepared for going into this series, the one thing I did not expect was that I would find it boring, and yet that is just what happened. The poor direction is undeniably a big part of it--for a show that seems to want to stand out, the fights and action sequences are pretty standard, no flair or finesse to keep the audience's interest. Even when the risk takes on a global scale the tension is nonexistent. Mnemosyne is at its best when it's being tongue-in-cheek, so why couldn't it just stick with that?

Still, even with bland execution some shows can leave a positive impression if they put out a decent story. But nope, to call the story here would be mediocre would be generous. The entire first three episodes could be removed from the story altogether with only minimal rewriting and at virtually no detriment to the overarching story. The plot drags its feet through arc after inconsequential arc that often have little to do with the ridiculous mess that's eventually revealed to be the plot, and at the end of the day it seems to sincerely want the audience to take it seriously on some level. I couldn't help but think that this should have been a feature-length film if anything, maybe that would have given it some much-needed focus. We don't need to be repeatedly reminded that vodka means water in Russian repeatedly without variation, thank you very much. Apos' final plan is absurd and pointless and half of his means have nothing to do with the end. Several twists are thrown in for no apparent reason except to make the plot more "edgy", and it gets really old really fast, especially when the dry direction gives every indication that this story really thinks it's actually going somewhere.

Moreso than its poor plotting, this series falls flat in how it develops--and doesn't develop--its characters. For a centuries-old mystery woman, Rin is simpler and more transparent than she has any right to be. She's not unlikable, she has a respect for humanity and cares about the people who are close for her, but aside from getting angry every now and again she wears her heart on her sleeve, she has no hidden depths aside from a bit of backstory in the finale that doesn't really add anything to her character. Her partner Mimi actually gets more development, and that's not saying much. The side companions they pick up over the course of the series receive much the same treatment. Kouki, for instance, has an interesting backstory that the show conveniently tosses aside for most of his screentime only to pull it back to try to milk it for some last-minute drama. To make matters worse, they're not all that fun to watch. I know this is subjective, but if the show isn't going to make its characters complex and thoughtful the least it could do is make them energized. This show waffles incessantly between silly and serious, never sticking to one long enough to leave any kind of impression.

I've nearly beaten this show to non-death, but I have to come back to the show's fanservice elements, because while I don't think the raunchy material is inherently bad, in execution it drops the show from bland and forgettable to just plain bad. I mentioned that the mythos somewhat justified the presence of fanservice in the show, and it does: the Angels are basically incubi, and while I won't spoil it, a certain pairing becomes part of a ritual that plays a key role in the series' conclusion. It's ridiculous, but with better execution I'd be willing to go with it. Rin using her sex appeal to get close to her targets on missions? That actually makes sense. Battles fought in minimal if any clothing? A bit much, but it happens. A security guard shoving Rin, the unknown and probably dangerous intruder, to the ground and trying to rape her on the spot without subduing her properly? This is getting stupid. Everyone in this show, be they human, Immortal or Angel, is ridiculous loose and horny, to the point that it often gets in the way of their common sense. This show's oversexed nature extends well beyond what's justified by the tone and the mythos, it gets in the way of the story, and it becomes familiar so quickly that it ends up becoming just dull.

I've seen plenty of series stand out positively for the amount of love and care that went into making them, but despite its unusual production history and somewhat interesting ideas Mnemosyne feels shockingly cold and apathetic. It baffles me that the makers of something so novel and daring could care so little for their baby, but that appears to be the case. It has no idea what kind of show it wants to be, the end result tries too hard to be edgy and not hard enough to be entertainingly over-the-top about it. It still has some funny moments and some cool moments, but they're not enough to be called a saving grace. The show had no right to turn out as bland as it did.