All about RahXephon

[Mr March]

I've read two reviews for this series and it sounds very interesting. However, I'm looking for a little more description and detail before I take the plunge. I do very much enjoy a good mecha series, but I most often enjoy the more serious anime series.

Macross is my all time favorite mecha franchise, and I absolutely love the three Patlabor films and Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket. Escaflowne was good, but a bit too "cheery" for my tastes. I absolutely hated Gundam Wing with every fiber of my being. Full Metal Panic and Gasaraki just don't do it for me and I've digested six episodes of each to give them a fair chance. I love Cowboy Bebop, Vampire Hunter D, and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. Akira is okay, but not one of my favorite films. I disliked Evangelion because of the fanservice and weak characters and even though RahXephon seems to share some elements of that show, many people have been calling RahXephon "Eva done right." Typically, the more mature an anime is, and the more serious the story is told, the more I like my anime.

Would I enjoy RahXephon?

*Aside: I noticed good old Shoji Kawamori worked the storyboarding for the series. Wonder how much Macross influence I'll notice when I watch this show*

[MrDisco]

Eva..fan service? never seen that said about the show before.

Anyhow ignoring that did you like the story line? did you like the ambiguity? rah has a similar storyline: big humanoid like mechs, mysterious enemy, young boy called upon to save the world, military organization with a sinister power head, etc.

i absolutely loved RahXephon. the ending was quite satisfying to me, and although there were a lot of story elements i didnt understand, that hasn't stopped me from buying the dvds.

[bob joe mac]

Yeah it was a great show with one kick @$$ plot. I LOVED ep 19. I loved those earth built robots (vermillions?)

Any idea what the movie is about?

[MrDisco]

rahxephon movie:

"RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio," - presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio options. The 120 minute long re-telling of the TV series story features 30 minutes worth of all new animation.

[TwinkiePlatter]

The "Eva done right" thing has always annoyed me. Yes, it does have some things in common, but I think the stories are very different. That aside, it is a Kick A$$ anime, well worth watching.

[GobotFool]

Typically, the more mature an anime is, and the more serious the story is told, the more I like my anime.

Word! I have heard the same good reviews of RahXephon. So I may check it out.

[Wes]

Yes, it's good. I'm holding out for a cheap box-set before I buy it, though.

[Graham]

I've watched both Evangelion and RahXephon and out of the two I infinitely prefered RahXephon.

Eva was great at the start, but for me at least just got plain annoying and incomprehensible towards the end.

Graham

[gnollman]

I have seen it in its entirety, but I didn't find it as engaging as everyone else seems to have. I didn't much like the whole Mu stuff....

It was a fun show, but I'd characterize it more as a rental than a buyer. Character design is pretty nice, though, as is mecha design (other than the Mu and stuff...). I also like the music, but the story was just kind of 'meh' to me.

It is really pretty, though....but I found Evangelion to be more interesting....

[007-vf1]

I been watching the series lately I am on the disk 2, first 9 chapter and I have to say is a neat rollercoaster ride.

I was pretty confused at the begining with the Jupiter base / time shift stuff but as the chapters go by things start to clear out. The subreal visions and complexity of animation effects are the best part; the plot is complex, intriguing and suspenfull, slightly slow paced and so far the main dude always wins a battle A-LA mazinhgaaa!!! but the music specially at the start credit has become one of my favorites.

I feel the difference between 'Rax' and 'Evas' characters is that in Eva the girls are too 'mature', introvert and conspicuos as in Rax that are more naive, carefree but deep.

[Yohsho]

I've seen both series so I can say that in EVA it had a good start but stumbled towards the end. In RahXephon, it has good pace and some good character development. I like the planes in it, and the ships. The whole thing about the Mu just bugs me and I love the ending of the series, it gave us a choice. The only that bugged me was the ending credits, I kept falling asleep cuz of the music.

[Jawjaw]

I have not seen Eva but have seen RahXephon. On the surface, RahXephon has great animation and plenty of interesting characters. The story gets confusing at times but I think I understood the basics. Things get intense and there are those cool battles you love to see. I would recommend it to anyone who likes quality anime. But why listen to me. Go download an episode or two off Macross4 and check it out for yourself.

[boinger]

imacross4 online.

I took rahxephon series off my server due to filling up my hard drive full of gundam stuff, ghost in the shell: sac and the latest [ass] macross 7 series releases. I'll see if I can make room.

There's also a rahxephon ova I found on shareaza; "interlude". I haven't watched the movie yet. I saw that the series is being released, since I saw a copy of rah v.1 at best buy in Winnipeg: $40+ Canadian !

rahxephon is a cool anime. I don't quite get mu. You can try downloading off shareaza or overnet.

[bigkid24]

I just started watching the series and it's pretty enjoyable so far. I'm almost to the second disc but so far I don't see the comparison to Eva at all aside from the main character being an unwilling pilot of a giant robot.

I like the character designs and music the best. I thought I saw Yoko Kanno's name in the credits for the music. Can anyone confirm this?

Quick plug - Once I'm done with the second disc I'm probably going to sell disc 1 and 2 if anyone is interested.

[Final Vegeta]

*Aside: I noticed good old Shoji Kawamori worked the storyboarding for the series. Wonder how much Macross influence I'll notice when I watch this show*

Actually, I don't think Kawamori was involved that much. Kanno herself only did the opening, so maybe even Kawamori left early.

You probably will enjoy this anime, but I think of it as one of the worst ever. I am a sincere anti-fan of Evangelion, but after seeing Rahxephon I had to admit it Eva was a lesser evil.

Rahxephon has the SAME characters of Evangelion split in TWO, sharing either flashbacks, roles or antics. Half of characterization each, so that is not much to start with, but they still pretend they were not ordinary characters.

The Rahxephon itself is so ugly it has to cover its face. His enemies are worse: totally removing their limbs is not a guarantee for a good fight. And obviosly conventional forces are totally useless, for less reason that Eva had.

Rahxephon is the fanboyish version of Eva, like Final Fantasy VIII was to VII. You have the berserk, the pseudo-universal sentences and even the bloodtype blue. What you do not have are pseudo-reasons for what you see on screen and an attempt to being original. And anyway, it is not like Rahxephon tried to be more clear than Eva.

[Mr March]

Well, I decided to take a risk and purchase the first DVD. Hopefully I'll enjoy it. It's been a long time since I've purchased any new anime, so I'm really in the mood for a good show.

Thanks for all your opinions everyone.

[Sebastian]

RahXephon is an AMAZING show. You wont be desapointed with it.

I saw it twice, and I will see it againg and again.

A must IMHO.

[gnollman]

I thought I saw Yoko Kanno's name in the credits for the music. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes and no. Kanno is not responsible for the music in the episodes, that was Hashimoto Ichiko. She did write the OP theme, "Hemisphere," though... sung by a personal favorite, Sakamoto Maaya.