RahXephon

Pretty disappointing series which really started to annoy me towards the end. Although some of the concepts were quite nice (singing mechas! Heh!), the story behind it stood on very wobbly ground, with a lot of plot-points which didn't make any sense or had no relevance at all. If there's anyone out there who could explain to me why the Mu put Tokyo into a timebubble in the first place, I would be very happy. The only use I could find in it, was that they would have a plot-device to create the Haruka/Ajato-Storyline. Apart from that it was very unclear to me what the Mu were trying to achieve ("We want to tune the world!" doesn't say anything to me) or what their whole war with TERRA was actually about. And why exactly were they a threat to humanity and how did TERRA know? Information that was simply missing.

Then there were quite a lot of subplots which sat there totally independent of the main-story. Most of them felt pretty useless in retrospective (especially the two Megumi-Lovestories) and made the impression that they were just there so that they had enough material to fill 26 episodes. And... keyword "lovestories"... there were too many going on at the same time. Especially in the last few episodes it started to become really ridiculous when there were about 5 or 6 women (maybe even more) in love with Ajato at the same time or had at least a crush on him.

A lot of people made a comment about how rich and well fleshed out the characters are. Well, my impression was the exact opposite. Almost everyone in the series seemed very flat and uninteresting to me. And yep, underdeveloped. Maybe it's because they had just too much characters on board, so that it was too hard to focus on everyone. But when I take at the "X"-TV-series where they had a LOT more characters to work with and yet they were all more than your usual stereotype... and considering that they had fewer episodes to offer... Hm.

Even some of the main-characters had their flaws, especially Ajato, whose characterization seemed to flip around from now and then and suffered from inexplicable mood-swings. When it was necessary for the main-story Ajato was an angry, impulsive guy. But then he could be very understanding and calm although the situation was (still) the same. And these irritating mood-swings could happen within minutes. VERY inconsistent writing, in my opinion...

The other thing I was wondering about was why so many people are persistently proclaiming that this is NOT a copy of "Evangelion"... and how much it stands on its own feet and how much more it is different from the GAINAX-series. Well, hum... Apart from the very similar character-designs (watch out for the twins of Misato, Asuka, Commander Ikari and Ritsukos brother) and yep, even set-designs (hello, pyramid!), "RahXephon" copies entire episodes from its predecessor. Here we have the "hero gets unconscious in the mecha and has surreal dreams"-ep, there is the "evil mecha who sucks his enemy into another dimension"-ep, and so on... The same goes for some of the plot-lines, like the one about the old guy who pulls all the strings in the background to achieve his own personal goals (he even has a German name - like in "Evangelion"). But the most obvious rip-off of them all can be witnessed in the last two episodes when everything goes "End of Evangelion", but in a very stale, shallow and meaningless way, lacking the philosophy and the depth which made the EVA-series and -films great. And when most of the questions are left being unanswered it doesn't feel mysterious or exciting in any way. They're just gaps which result from bad editing and even worse scriptwriting.

The only good positive aspects were the great animation and the decent soundtrack (lovely title-song). But that alone doesn't make a good show.

All in all an anime-series which wants to be important and meaningful at all costs but actually doesn't have anything to say. Underneath the pseudo-complicated plots and the pseudo-intellectual psycho-babble there is nothing more than hot air and a lot of steam. Very disappointing and not worth a second watch.

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.

According to the director of this series Yutaka Izubuchi, Rahxephon is an homage to Brave Raideen, but I also see strong influence of Neon Genesis Evangelion throughout this series. It's almost as though the series is is an amalgamation of the two. Ayato Kamina was a teenager living a normal life in Tokyo. What he didn't know was that he was a descendant of interdimentional race of Mulians, and Tokyo was encapsulated in an energy field which the outsiders called Tokyo Jupiter where time passed at a slower rate than the outside world. Earth is under attack by Dolems - a quasi robot created by the Mulians. Ayato Kamina is lead by his classmate Reika Mishima to an egg containing Rahxephon. Rahxephon only accepts Ayato as its pilot due to his genetic ties with the Mulians. The plot of Rahxephon and its pilot having ties with the Mulians is strait off of Brave Raideen, and also the design of Rahxephon takes from Raideen. The main character who is an introverted in the closet type individual is similar to that of Neon Genesis Evangelion. People in this story seems to use "official assignment" as an excuse to forward their motives and importance within the organization. The story is rather dark with apocalyptic theme running through its plot, and introverted characters that fills the roster doesn't make the story any more uplifting. Artistry is high, and there is an experimental aspect of using music as main ingredient of the story. Bolodin's Polovetsian Dances is played in many sequences. The story progresses slowly, and that takes away from the excitement of action that should be the main focus of super robot anime of this type. Also the characters appearing in this series are mostly unattractive individuals as human beings, and takes away from the plot. The style of the story - a dark apocalyptic sci-fi with introverted main character which was popular in the early 2000s, is somewhat passé by now. Watch this series for its artistry and its somewhat mysterious mood. But don't expect much action in each episodes.

Defined as : attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed. Sums this series up pretty well.

I'm not going to give anything away nor try to even explain the plot. Believe me, just watch it! It is somewhat like the Evangelion series and made by ADV; it's got the whole Mecha thing going and has shown a lot of depth like Evangelion. The character design isn't bad. It's just beautifully done. Again, just watch it and don't miss out!