Customer Reviews

RahXephon - Tonal Pattern (Vol 2)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While this series continues to echo Evangelion it continues to diverge in both plot and focus, carving out its own territory. Ayato, a mature seventeen, finds himself dashed from a supposedly 'normal' existence in Tokyo to a real world where the battle with the alien Mu is ongoing, and Tokyo is really under control of the enemy, isolated by a temporal force field. Ayato becomes part of the battle, the only person who seems able to control RahZephon, a giant monster that might or might not be a robot.

Battle is waged using Dolem, constructs who can sing destruction. RahXephon is able to counter the efforts of the Dolem and destroy them, but there is a stead cost to Ayato. Fortunately, the headquarters of TERRA, the Mu opposition force is on the beautiful tropical island of Nirai-Kanai. There Ayato can relax and work his way into the complicated relationships among the cast members. And it is work, for both Ayato and the viewer. RahXephon's cast is large, and the plot moves fast enough to make it hard to keep the characters, and who is on what side, straight in one's mind.

Perhaps the most important new character is Quon Kisaragi, who quotes poetry and seems to be watching a different world. She is drawn to Ayato although the attraction seems to be spiritual rather than physical. Another female character, Haruka Shitow, who first appeared in the previous DVD is also showing signs of unexpectedly strong feelings for Ayato, who is 12 years younger. Now should we leave out Reika Mishima, who might be a school friend of Ayato's, or who might be something else entirely. Other relationships fan out from these core characters, and it is still too early to get a clear picture of how everyone will inter-relate. In contrast, Evangelion's character development is almost simplistic.

Neither the battle action (which is plentiful) or the character development take a secondary role in the story. Instead they alternate and interweave. And the excellent artwork provides a distraction of its own. Fortunately, the DVD's do include cast booklets, so I expect some order will arise out of what sometimes feels like a chaos of loose ends. There is simply too much of a good thing here right now, and director Yutaka Izubuchi fully intends to get all the key pieces in play before letting patterns emerge. This series has all the ingredients to be a smash success, and I'm looking forward to coming episodes.

RahXephon is a sci-fi anime with an intriguing story. Editorial review does a good job for summarizing the overall scenerio, so there is no need to lengthen my review. RahXephon resembles Neon Genesis Evangelion in many respects but it doesn't have the drawbacks of Evangelion that I mentioned in my review of its complete set. If you enjoy science-fiction books or movies having interesting and intriguing subjects, you will enjoy RahXephon as much as I do. If you need an example from anime to make your decision, I can say that the ones liked Gasaraki will probably like RahXephon, too.

Video and audio quality of this DVD edition is very good. Most anime fans dislike dubbing and prefer to watch Japanese sound with English subtitles. However, subtitles are not that good. I found out that listening an important conversation, which you couldn't understand it at first, for a second time is much more efficient than figuring out what happened from subtitles. You should notice that there are actually two English subtitles. First subtitle is the regular one and the second one is similar to the "Pill" option of Akira, it only translates Japanese words on the video and background conversation on scenes such as a news heard from a TV. This second English subtitle is benefical to turn on.

Leaflets on DVD's are very wellcome and useful. There are fully coloured drawings of mechas and persons together with a brief information. The leaflet of this first volume also includes short interviews with Japanese cast and translation notes. These notes are subjects related to Japanese culture and used in the series and they are very wellcome for me. Other extras in this DVD are :
- Clean opening animation : Animation is very good but the music is spectacular. I really love this opening music, even though I mostly listen to metal music. You can watch the animation and particularly listen to the music over and over again.
- Clean closing animation : Closing music is boring for me, but you may want to watch it as the words are closely tied to the overall story.
- Production sketches : These are clearly drawn in full color and the fantastic opening music accompanies them.
- Interview with the English cast : Voice actors of Quon, Haruka and Ayato answer a few questions, respectively. The questions are somewhat cliche but I enjoyed watching this.
- Oh, the ADV previews are also there, too.

Second volume keeps up the good pace of the first one with the next four episodes of the series. I, as a science fiction fan, give five stars to this volume as well as the other three and I am looking forward for the rest.

When I first watched the fansub of Rahxephon last summer, I thought "hey... this looks and AWFUL lot like Evangelion.." However, watching later episodes I discovered that it was in no way an Eva clone.. it is something in and of itself. It is more complex than Eva, with even MORE three dimensional characters who actually do develope over time. Though these first 9 episodes are very Eva reminicent, I promise that later episodes will transform into something else entirely. Rahxephon is a complex story with interesting music and breathtaking animation- it should not be disregarded because of Evangelion similarities.

My only complaint about this DVD and the one before it is that ADV, its American release company, made some horrible changes. In the first episode on the first DVD, there are some horrible text edits where the Japanese text was simply blurred out in a box and had English superimposed over it. Both DVDs are lacking in extras, and the cover art used tries to sell this series as simply a Mecha program. However, this series actually has heavy character appeal, and the original Japanese DVD covers have beautiful artwork that I wished could have been preserved for the US release. The other complaint I have is nit picky... They subtitle the word "Orin" as "Ollin" with two L's. "Olin" I could live with because there is no distinguishing between L's and R's in Japanese, but the use of two L's is distracting to me as someone who saw the fansubtitled release before this professional DVD release.

Having watched all of the RahXephon episodes, I can safely say to anyone who is picking up this series for the first time that you will not be dissapointed. RahXephon combines stunning artistry and storyline, with excellent character development, and a musical score that in my oppinion has yet to be topped in Anime.
I first started collecting it because of its claim to being a "sequel to Evangellion" which was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration given the storyline of this series, although if you keep focused you may hear a couple of interesting references and similarities, at the risk of spreading spoilers I wont go into it, but even as a stand alone series, RahXephon performs, in a way I guess you coul say it is Eva done right, (animatd properly and with a definative ending.)
Unlike most of the other mecha animes out there, RahXephon does not put alot of emphasis on combat scenes, in fact towards the middle of the show you begin to hear references to them rather than actually seeing them yourselves. This gives more screen time to the story, and allows for in depth and often deeply emotional scrutiny of character bonds. Again, I wont say anything revealing but, the nineteenth movement, wow! I havent seen anything that powerful in a series in a very long time.
Ok, so there are a few dud episodes along the way, places where the story slowed down, and where the animation even seemed to change slightly, but in general this is rare and does not affect the overall picture one bit.
The japanese voice acting is superb, with the english dub being also unfaultable, it does not fall into the trap of over pronounciation, or of extremly emotionless delivery, this is really important for a show such as this one but thankfully they got it right.
So buy it, watch it, and enjoy it. The plot is tar thick ala Serial Experiments Lain, but if you dont get it, watch it again. The overall effect of a mixture of well chosen (not cheesy or out of date) music, superb voice acting, and beautiful surroudings make this a total must have for any fan of deep Anime.

"RahXephon Orchestration 2: Tonal Pattern" sees the world and concepts introduced in the brilliant first volume of the series really start to come together more tightly. And even as new layers are added, the viewer gets a chance to begin piecing together the mysteries laid out in "Orchestration 1: Threshold", without giving so much away that there isn't room for a slew of twists and revelations in the further volumes.

The RahXephon has been secured by human forces outside of the bubble-enclosed Tokyo Jupiter for use as the ultimate weapon in the war against the Mu. The only hitch is that the only person who can pilot the RahXephon - or, perhaps, the only person the RahXephon will allow itself to be piloted by - is Ayato, the character brought out of Tokyo Jupiter along with the robot in Orchestration 1, and Ayato is hesitant to do battle against the only world he's ever known, even now that he knows the secrets behind the city.

There is plenty of grand action in this Orchestration, but "Tonal Pattern" focuses more on the inter-personal developments and relationships than the previous volume did. "RahXephon" is one of the biggest successes in the world at combining the 'epic, earth-shaking fantastic adventure'-vibe with the moving, mysterious, and often humorous unfoldings of the lives and personal stories of the characters who populate its world. Neither facet takes precedence with the other falling into a supporting role - they're perfectly meshed. The main characters from the first volume continue on here, but new characters and ones only briefly seen in "Threshold" take large roles. Haraka - the agent who infiltrated Tokyo Jupiter the first time around - gets a lot of the best character development.

The battles between the RahXephon and the Mu's war machines- or even the battles between those machines and conventional human forces - are often so otherworldly as to be eerie. The thought of these bizarre-looking robot(?)s singing in battle in the skies may sound ridiculously hokey, but the 'songs' - if that's what they are - are so alien that it unnerves and awes rather than looks stupid. The utterly strange melodic sounds emitting from the Mu machines (when they're not using more conventional battle tactics) sound like windows into some un-knowable alternate universe have been opened. There's a musical connection with the RahXephon too, like it's partly powered by some universal music, and perhaps partly by imagination and emotion as well. Other questions are cropping up as well - about what's going on with certain characters, and about the true nature of this war that's been burning for decades and what really started it. The cast is magnificent, and the voice work by all involved continues to hit a very high mark.

Thrilling, heartshaking, dark and beautiful - "RahXephon" is without question one of the best lines of DVDs out there.

If there's one thing that gets on my nerves, it's someone that's a great anime an Eva clone. People keep saying Eva is a classic. Well, I'll tell you something, I regret ever buying the box set. I grew up with animes that had an excellent story line and included battle sequences that were just grand. Eva had a few battle sequences, but not enough to make me feel I spent my money on a worthy anime. Eva is too much into messing with the minds of viewers and most people won't understand the ending, which in my book, just blew. I had to listen to the commentary just to understand it, but after that, I hated it even more than before. I just started watching Rah Xephon and it's a hell of a lot better than Eva. How someone like Shinji could be a main character in any series is a big mistake. If you're looking for anime with mecha, blood, and great fight sequences, you want to go with RahXephon, Argentosoma, Escaflowne, or Blue Gender. Stay clear of Eva, unless you need to write a paper for psyche class on how to screw with people's minds. Save your cash for anime you can watch more than once.

Ok this has to stop people. Neon Genisis Envangelion is a superb anime perhaps one of the best but to compare every mecha anime that comes out after it is not fair. Just like how almost every post apocoliptic anime was compared to Akira after it came out. There were several Post apocoliptic anime before Akira there were many more and when Akira is forgoten (which I hope never happens) there will still be more. Same for Eva. there were Mecha anime before it (Gundam, Robotech, etc.) there are Mecha anime after (Rahxephon) and when Eva is forgoten there will still be more.
Now on to my review lol This is perhaps one of the best story line and action animes I have seen in a long time the Character development and storyline hook you from the start. The music and animation are a treat for the senses now if you want a generic Mecha anime buy Gundam Wing (ZZZZZZZZ) but you want good anime and with mecha's as a backdrop for a good story buy Rahxephon.

Its a good installment to the series with one or two things that I would consider draw backs.
The art and use of color in the series is great. The character design and the RahXephon and other "mech" designs are top notch. Of course this makes me wonder why the cover art on the packaging and promo posters are so bad.
The music is great and I really like the opening theme song.

At this point in the series Ayato is trying to find his path in this new world (new for him) and with Terra. He also has to come to understand if not his reason for being able to use the RahXephon then at least his responsibility for being able to use it.
There are a lot of characters in this series which I think is a plus since the focus can shift around and not get stuck in one area for to long - and the focus sure does move around.
Character development is also being handled well. Given the number of players thats an acomplishment.
The only thing I don't like in this second installment is what seems to be the redundency in the fights with the Dolems. It goes like this: RahXephon attacks Dolem - RahXephon gets in trouble - everybody starts yelling Ayatos name - RahXephon beats Dolem. Fourtunatly thats only a small part of the series with so much more good stuff going on to make this only a minor point.
I will say that Vol. 3 gets away from this pattern with some pretty cool and pretty twisted encounters.

It's a somewhat amusing FanBoy(or Fan Girl?)re-tread of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It is almost hilarious to see throw-away episodes like episode 6 waste time until they reach a well-know moment from NGE, in that case, the battle with an Angel/Dolem who pulls things into the ground. In others it's the enemy who absorbs the main character to communicate with him,the falling-out with the surviving adversarial parent, the realization by Shinji/Ayato that he can't just sit on his [back](in Ayato's case, folks can't seem to stop commenting on how cute it is on one way or another)and let the alien threat wreck the planet if he has the unique ability to stop them or the wreckless person who doesn't care if they live or die when engaging the enemy.There's even a battle in which Ayato has to chose between killing a human inside of an Angel/Dolem and dooming the world! It's all there. If you hated the allegory of the futuristic fable NGE, you'll be relieved to know that it has been swapped out for sitcom/soap operatic content in it's stead. The dialogue and character facts are plenty here and much of it very goofy and entirely meaningless outside of it's entertainment value unlike the bare snippets given in NGE, all intended to further the story or make a point. The main character is attractive and gregarious rather than a homely withdraw nigh-autistic wimp like in NGE, though I prefered the latter as it he is someone you won't run into on American TV(at least not as the main character...for long), unlike the former, and it is more interesting to see him finally open up, just to regress even further in the end. Shinji will probably have more appeal at least to those people not obsessed with normalcy and familiarity in fictional characters.The Rei-clone doesn't even become really important until much later in the series than in NGE, giving more time to the more 'well-adjusted' characters. As for the title Titans,rather than mysterious Colossuses with their own motives that the Eva were, RahXephon and the Dolems are just tools for human or Mu use, so don't worry about the quasi-TransFormers of NGE confusing you here, though RahXephon still isn't quite some simple machine. Quite the opposite. It just doesn't really matter in terms of the story. The music of the series is a huge disappointment though. There is only one standard battle tune and the robots just scream at one another as they fight. If the creators weren't just being pretentious, they could have written new music for every episode just like they write new dialogue for each scene. Like all post NGE-End of Evangelion anime, the visuals are nice, though the character designs all strongly resemble other characters we've seen before (Dr.Kisaragi looks just like Citan Uzuki, for example), a common anime problem, I suppose. If you look at it (and it's inspiration) as just another TV show or cartoon, you will be fine with it. I don't take it as some personal offense or anything.Hype that magazines in cahoots with the anime companies like New Type sling can be more harmful than good so pay them no mind. You'll like RahXephon better if you do.I didn't even like NGE at first because of the expectations built up by the hype, but when I gave it a chance and analyzed it myself, I saw that it had a lot to offer. If you hate anime conventions, steer clear. This isn't the break-out title you're looking to make this art medium accessible to you. Anime fans/Otaku would do well to give it a try.
Just two more things: Way more fan service than in NGE (especially in the beach scene of episode 8). Shinji and Ayato have the exact wrong hobbies (Shinji plays violin while Ayato draws, skills their other-worldly equivalent could use).

After promising NOT to continue buying this series, I went out and got the second DVD because the art in the first one was so nice. And this DVD continues everthing you find in the first DVD, but becomes even more disjointed in the story department.

It is an odd collection of nearly random scenes and 'stories'. One minute you are watching Ayato kamina in a training session, suddenly some Dolem is outside in a city, then we are finished the battle. Kamina suddely acquires an inexplicable 'Shinji' disease and doesn't want to fight, but heck- does it anyway without much reason. Slinky and angry female characters pile up like sexual driftwood, another vapid female (who can't reach down to fasten her own silly life jacket) spouts pabulum and hides from the cold, a crew of abusive male leaders, and a lead boy with fairly little personality round out the basic bederock for confusing situations. There is a GIANT Dolem walking through the ocean nearby...for some reason...and you can only see the legs. The fighter pilots shoot the legs out, but it doesn't fall...it is hovering! If it is hovering, why does it need legs? Why is it there? Why is it walking on two tiny legs? Great Ceasar's Ghost - It is all over the place. These stories are truely awful, but the art is so good. SO GOOD, in fact that I will buy the rest of the series (most likely) just to see the art and animation).

This series is such a direct take off on Evangelion, you would have to be unimaginitive to not admit the likeness. A young boy, coerced into a top secret military organization, made to fly a robot MADE for him, not wanting to fight, besieged by and living with a slightly older woman in a warm colored waistcoat and tight, black clothes, working together with a hollow girl, having abusive leaders, surrounded by women, he sits in a 'sled' inside a giant robot/creature that fights single 'evil' giant robots sent out by an alien race in the future Tokyo...hmm....no, maybe I made the mistake, there is NO similarity. These are obviously just mere coincidences. Gainax really did their homework on most fronts compared to RahXephon. Evangelion was a nicely coherent story (part of the time) about 'the father, the son and the holy spirit' and the relationship of man to religion and his own perception as a god, etc, etc, etc. RahXephon is unfortunate to be a loose collection of silly images and events that might become a story in the remaining two thirds of the series but i doubt it will really tie well since none of it becomes understandable after 9 episodes. Why singing robots? What next? Smell-bots? Why build a giant robot just to have it use a voice? Couldn't you just have a flying head? RahXephon is very badly thought out when you give it a tiny, tiny amount of thought. Sorry.

But the art is AMAZING.

'nuff said.