RahXephon

[raktus]

RahXephon - Wiki

In the year 2012, mysterious alien invaders nearly destroyed the entire world, or so the people of Tokyo believe. Now 2015, the people of Tokyo are stunned by the attack of forces from outside of their city. Caught in the middle of this conflict is Kamina Ayato, a young man who, like the rest of those in Tokyo, has been duped in to believing that the city around him was all that was left in the world. With help from his mysterious friend Mishima Reika, Ayato awakens RahXephon, a giant mecha with awe-inspiring abilities. Ayato then breaks out of Tokyo Jupiter, the name given to a giant dome controlled by the alien menace that encompasses the city of Tokyo and its 23 million inhabitants. Once out, Ayato discovers that the year is really 2027 and that the world outside of Tokyo is still very much alive. Together with TERRA, Ayato battles against the mysterious alien invaders (known as the Mu) in RahXephon, all the while attempting to discover what is real, what is not, and what his place is in the events unfurling before him.

Although RahXephon is part of the mecha genre of anime, its "mechas" are not generally mechanical. The mechas used by the Mu are called Dolems and are made of clay, like golems. Each is bound to a Mulian, and some are also bound to a human host called a "sub-Mulian".

Music, time, archetypal mystery, intrigues and romance are central elements of RahXephon's plot. The series shows clear influences from philosophy and Japanese folklore, and from Western literature such as the work of James Churchward. Mesoamerican and other Pre-Columbian civilizations have a prominent place in the cultural background of the series. Director Izubuchi said RahXephon was his attempt to set a new standard for mecha anime, as well as to bring back aspects of 1970s mecha shows like Brave Raideen.

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I honestly do not know where to start with this one. Theres just something so hard about reviewing a great that makes coming up with a begining the most difficult proposition of the entire deal. I could begin to describe any number of details from characters to mecha, from the setting to the mind blowing events which occur. Just so much, I feel like my fingers are going to snap from the strain of trying to comprehend all the messages my brain is sending to them...

The characters of RahXephon are well hashed out with nearly all of them having their own wants, desires and motives to be acted upon. What I am trying to say is that from the student acting on a crush to the jet pilot with an 'I gotta be the best' attitude you can see and feel what each of them wants and will do. Theres a particular scene in the episode Ticket to Nowhere that is heart wrenching in the way that only anime's tend to find ways to be.

*SPOILER*

Without giving too much away, and I will for certain give too much away, the main character beats up an opposing Mu which is tied to his first love interest in the anime whom he has decided to run away with. While he is doing so, she is in the hotel room writing down how much she loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. All the while, each blow laid on the Mu is inflicted on her so that by the time hes done and returns to the room he has to bear witness to a horrid murder scene caused unknowingly by himself.

*SPOILER*

The series delves into the development of each character in their own right, taking the time out to sacrifice some of those characters to further the development of certain more central characters to the story. The cycle of love interests I found to be extremely compelling. There was the initial school level interest which I could have done without early on, but could never have done without for the spoiler above. We have long lost flames that could never let go, abandoned hope which tries its best to hold on and maturing innocence which trails behind the rest. If there were no Mecha's the characters alone would make a more than compelling anime (and did, in my eyes, when the OVA came out).

Now then, how to describe the mecha of this series. Well, if you enter into this expecting super smooth robots or biological suit hybrids then you may or may not be disappointed. Mu are the mainstay of the series, basically giant clay beings that are controlled by a person with a connection to them. Unlike other mecha series these Mu are not controlled via a cockpit but rather through the sound their controller emits. Another significant change of pace is that the Mu's controller is significantly influenced by what happens to the Mu itself, and example is above in the spoiler for those that do not mind being spoiled.

There are so many twists in this story that you might want to watch it more than once to get the full effect of everything that is being tossed out at you. It really is a heavy story to wade through, leaving few if any loopholes for you to wonder what just happened or where someone went. If you do find yourself thinking these thoughts, then you may just want to pop in the CD again and start over. I am sure you wont be disappointed in having done so either way.

All in all you get strong yet vulnerable characters, a unique setting with different realms which create their own vibrant stories and a new take on the mech genre. I know theres more I could say and very likely so many better ways to put the things I have said. All in all I just wanted to pass along the excitement I feel for an anime thats been circulating its way through my collection for quite a while now and I hope soon to enter your own.

Raktus gives RahXephon:
(In the voice of my peers: Evangelion Done Right}

[animetvroy]

Originally Posted by raktus

Raktus gives RahXephon:
(In the voice of my peers: Evangelion Done Right}

In the words of Roy: You are dead to me Raktus, dead to me.

[raktus]

So sorry if I enjoy my mecha with a proactive non-whiny protagonist. I get the depth of EVA, the character development and the twisted story lines without the worst parts of EVA. Yes, I know his psychological issues were a part of the story but in this case I find that Rah improves upon that particular element. Instead of Daddy issues we get Mommy issues, but oh wait, Rah directly resolves those issues in both the movie and the series.

One Mecha fan to another... Rah is EVA done well. You know, minus the drugs.

[animetvroy]

Originally Posted by raktus

One Mecha fan to another... Rah is EVA done well. You know, minus the drugs.

One Mecha fan to another.... read Post #2

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j/k

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[justicetang]

Man, you know what's overrated?

...

Eva.

[dr-nix]

RahXephon is a good series but it's not better than Evangelion.

[cooleo]

Originally Posted by justicetang

Man, you know what's overrated?

...

Eva.

Agreed

[amss00d]

Personally, I thought RahXephon was an AMAZING series. However, my biggest problem with it were the Mech battles. I felt the were too long, dragged out, and completely uninteresting. Not to mention, wtf was w/ the phallic enemies. they could have been designed so much better. I didn't feel any tension at all during those sequences. loved everything else, especially the music, (downloaded the soundtrack as soon as I finished the series!). two series I loved: Eureka Seven and Code Geass. these were able to hook me almost immediately with the story, characters, music, etc. and featured entertaining action which didn't take me out of the story, (very important since I've never been a huge fan of mecha anime). Animes like this have allowed me to broaden my horizons, and have pushed me to actively go back and check out other animes I may have missed just because I was turned off when I saw a giant robot on the cover. Though RahXephon could be found on a list of my favorites, it definitely wouldn't be very high on that list.

[bkkkk]

Eva is fantastic until it went all trippy and LSD-y, but I think it wouldn't have stuck with people as much as it does if it wasn't twitchy and confusing. I don't think you enjoy Eva so much as you...absorb it, because it's quite a taxing show to watch. You can't cannon-ball 6 episodes in one day.

On a different note I will definitely give RahXephon a try sounds interesting.