Melody of Oblivion (忘却の旋律) is an anime series from Gainax.

The series is 24 episodes long, and originally aired between April 7, 2004 and September 21, 2004.

Melody of Oblivion is an anime series rife with cultural references. Everything from Zen Archery and Bushido to Revelations from the Bible, stories of Greek mythology, and images from the Garden of Forking Paths can be seen in the series. Therefore, readers who view this anime without being widely read risk missing prominent references and being unable to appreciate the depth of the tale.

Melody of Oblivion's premise is that in the 20th century, humanity waged and lost a war against beings known only as the Monsters. In the 21st century, the Monsters rule the earth, but humans have forgotten about the war. Children are disappearing and nobody knows why. Only the Meros Warriors are still fighting against the Monsters. The series focuses on Bocca, a teenager who chooses the path of the Warrior. In doing so, he gains the power to fight back at the horrors he sees, but it costs him his place in society.

Meros Warriors are the only ones who can see the ephemeral Melody of Oblivion, personified as a girl who appears at important times and shows emotion but does not speak. The Meros, as they are also referred to, fight primarily with bows and arrows infused with the energies of their spirit. The visible marks that they employ in this infusion process appear as tattoos on their person.

The Meros Warriors are aided by devices called Aiba-Machines, which are essentially futuristic bikes with many additional capabilities. The process of bonding a Meros Warrior and an Aiba-Machine involves a symbolic naming of the bike by the one who is to ride it. Thereafter, the Aiba-Machine follows voice commands. All Aiba-Machines have at least limited intelligence and are able to carry out reasonably complex instructions.

Opposing the Meros Warriors are the Monsters themselves and their human lackeys, the Monster Union. The latter, part satanic cult, part fascist secret society, is composed of people who have been given power and authority in exchange for providing a steady supply of human sacrifices to their Monster overlords, and keeping the majority of humanity in the dark as to who holds the real power and what really goes on in the world. The process of imbuing Monster Union members with their powers leaves a visible mark on the body identical to a hot iron brand mark.

Monster Union leaders employ machines in combat, but in contrast to the Meros Warriors, there is no standard design among these machines.

The contrast between the Monster Union members and the Meros Warriors is suggestive of the text in Revelations where it refers to people being marked by Heaven and being marked by Hell.

Characters

• Bocca: The main character, a teenager proficient with the bow who becomes a Meros Warrior (voiced by Houko Kuwashima).

• Sayoko: A girl who travels with Bocca to seek her love.
• Kurofune: The first Meros Warrior to appear, and Bocca's inspiration.

• Toune: A quiet girl who is proficient with the bow.
• Koko: A very young and playful girl.

• The Melody of Oblivion: A girl who is confined somewhere, but can project her image so that Meros Warriors see her. She guides and supports them somehow.

External Links

• Official website [1]
• AniDB entry on the series [2]