RahXephon

'RahXephon' is an engaging, stunningly crafted series, possessed of an emotional depth rarely seen in animation, Japanese or otherwise. Critics often compare 'RahXephon' to 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', even accuse Bones of plagiarizing Gainax's intellectual property, but this is both inaccurate and unfair; while the broad strokes of premise and plot are similar, the two shows are wildly different. At its core, 'Evangelion' was an action series with elements of psychological drama, collapsing into a confused muddle of arcane symbolism and overcomplicated plot twists. 'Eva' was entertaining, even enthralling, despite its flaws, but 'RahXephon' leaves it in the dust.

'RahXephon''s biggest advantage over its contemporaries is its character development. Virtually everyone who appears on screen is given a complex set of motivations and a significant amount of personal depth, and it is in watching these well-developed characters interact that the series' biggest is found. Personal conflicts--between Matoko and Kisaragi Itsuki, between Haruka and Megumi, between Ayato and, well, everybody--are given an emotional weight that invests these situations with a real feeling of tension, as well as sympathy for one, if not both, of the characters involved.

As intricate as the writing is, it would not be half as convincing without the stunning animation throughout the series. The animators imbued every person on screen with a personality displaying in their very appearance, and allowed subtle changes in facial expression and body language to speak as much as the dialogue. There is a shot in a latter episode of the expression on Haruka's face changing so subtly, in tiny movements of her eyebrows and lips, that one doesn't even notice until it's almost complete. The attention to detail is awe-inspiring.

As the series builds towards its thrilling climax, the emotional stakes rise higher, and the characters' situations become increasingly desperate, the show violently plays on the viewers' emotions-impressively enough, -without- being blatantly manipulative. I was lucky enough to watch a bootleg of the entire series in two sittings; I cannot imagine the torture of having to wait a week between instalments.

There are so many elements, so many fine details in 'RahXephon' that are beyond the scope of this review to explain. Whether or not you are an anime fan, whether or not you care for -any- form of animation, you absolutely -must- watch this series. It could change your view of the art form forever.

Although RahXephon shares several similarities to Evangellion in the end it's core story is actually about love and not war and a love that even transcends space and time for that matter. Because of that both the Federation and the Mullians play a secondary role in this anime which in the end proves to be a good thing, that is if you are sentimental as i. Of course much like many anime on the way to find complete love our hero goes through many trials and lots of sad events but what's new? Personally although RahXephon is considered a sci-fi anime i think that it has amongst the top 5 love stories i have ever seen in an anime and no matter how many times i see it i always wish we had more Harukas in the real world.

The main problem with RahXephon is that it tries too hard to duplicate the success of Neon Genesis Evangelion, ending up rather derivative and turgid in the process. It has it all: the teenager with the knack for mecha piloting and whining, the cute but enigmatic "waif prophetess", the mysterious mecha that isn't really a mecha, the strange invaders named according to the show's theme, the ancient conspiracy, the world cataclysm, and, of course, the Looming Apocalypse™.

Another issue is the rather incoherent and contrived feel that comes from trying to combine a musical (specifically operatic) motif with Mayan mythology. The writers did not seem particularly knowledgeable about music, however, and the most conspicuous example of the musical element is the fact that many of the angels, er, dolem look like giant stone Valkyries, suitably stylized to look Mayan, who use song as a weapon. Another is the rather silly naming scheme for the dolems, which seems to involve picking random terms out of a book on music.

Despite these rather glaring issues, RahXephon did have some nice aspects, such as the music, unsurprisingly, and some plot twists involving the origins of Ayato and so forth. Although hardly a great series, it's not too bad if you can't find much else to watch.

OK, I have just finished watching RahXephon and I mean it when I say that RahXephon is a show that should not be missed by anybody who's a mecha fan, a drama type fan or an anime fan in general cause the show is just that good. The story is such an incredibly detailed story, every character is likable and has a story to tell, the art is fantastic and the animation for a lot of the battle sequences are great also. The music is wonderful and addictive and I have both the opening and closing themes. The extras on the all seven volumes are really detailed with interviews with a lot of the English and Japanese cast. Lots of production sketches that are great and a nice music video as well. A lot of fans will say that RahXephon is similar to Evangelion, in a way its similar but its a lot more of a joyful series than Evangelion, I mean Evangelion is like the black series while RahXephon is the white series. Well thats the best way I can compare it. At this point cause no doubt I will have to watch the series again to fully understand the series cause it is mind boggling like Evangelion accept no religious questions thank goodness but still I would love to watch it again.

So right now I give it a 9 out of 10 but who knows it could be the only series that I own to get a 10 out of 10 and I find it very hard to give something that but RahXephon is very close.

I can't believe I actually watched all 26 episodes. But I did it so you don't have to. The cringe attempt to copycat everything NGE was, was a mistake. The "story" of RahXephon is virtually impossible to follow (Steins;Gate is more clear), and the plot is so complicated I began to suspect they were just throwing things in as they went and it got boring. The main characters are absolutely bland, I wasn't invested in any of them, therefore I honestly didn't care what happened to them. I was relieved when it was over. If you love NGE avoid this at all costs. If you like good anime, do yourself a favor and skip this one, because it's not.