Customer Reviews

Rahxephon - The Motion Picture

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

** Spoilers **

RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio is not a traditional anime movie in the sense that it precedes, follows from, or slightly strays from the series. For the amount of rehashing of old scenes the movie does, it is not a series rehash episode to help fill the audience in either.

RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio is the retelling of Ayato Kamina life before, during and after the incidents that transpire in RahXephon the series. While many of the scenes are recaps of what occurred during the series, to those that haven't seen the series in its entirety they probably won't make too much sense. Despite ridicules claims that the movie does not follow the storylines presented in the series, this reviewer can only find one instance in which this occurs: where Quon during the movie remains asleep and should be awake and present during Ayato's life outside Tokyo Jupiter.

For the full impact of the series one should most certainly see RahXephon the series (the purchase over the movie is recommended... essentially that's the only thing that is a requirement in the world of RahXephon). However those looking for a companion that introduces their favorite characters and experiences through different perspectives, feel free to pick up the movie after seeing the series. For those that know how things turn out in the series, the RahXephon team carefully introduces new scenes and segments which show what was going on behind the scenes from the series.

The "behind the scenes" material isn't earth shaking new material; instead it confirms what many fans knew to have occurred during the course of the series. That is to say that Terra's motives for their actions did not reflect Ayato's emotional well-being - they, in fact, used him as many fans gathered by the end of the series. Again, while nothing earth shaking, the new content is a condensed version of the series which comes across nicely.

Some of the finer aspects of the movie come across in the beginning segments of the film as well as the end segments. In the beginning we see Ayato's life with his childhood love and can sympathize with him more (we also see how frequently he thinks of his childhood love and how later, in time, his childhood love still thinks of him). The ending of the movie simply confirms the end of the series while showing you something akin to "where are they now" segments. Truly beautiful but short and in and of themselves do not constitute "earth shaking" new material.

One of the greatest scenes found only in Pluralitas Concentio is a scene in which Ayato meets up with Haruka shortly after she intercepts the union (or conflict) between Quon and Ayato (essentially a union which will decide how the world is tuned and which forces will prevail victorious). During this scene an almost-stoic Ayato stands before Haruka and explains just what is happening to the world, a world which is filled with dissonant sounds which needs to be retuned. In addition to that those that enjoyed philosophical and religious references found within the series will like how Ayato explains at great length how he, now, stands apart from past and future (essentially becoming almost Buddha-like figure), and will essentially live in all things.

RahXephon is a beautiful series and I highly recommend you see it. I would rent RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio before purchasing it just to ensure that you'll enjoy it. Not a fan of "recap" episodes in anime series, I have to admit I enjoyed Pluralitas Concentio quite a bit. The DVD scores a 4.5 out of 5 while the series itself scores a 5.

I imagine I must first explain that emotional content and emotional affect have a great deal to do with how I rate Rah-Xephon: Pluralitas Concentio. This movie rates high in both categories. I viewed the series in total a few years ago on DVD and was left feeling confused and unsure of what had actually happened. I'm in the process of rewatching the series, but only after having viewed the movie. In doing so, I now have better insight into the world and characters of Rah-Xephon.

The movie is emotionally charged. There really is no other way to put it. I must agree with some of the other reviews in that it skips from here-to-there in a number of places and that character development is lacking (for most of the players) when compared to the series. The exception would have to be Ayato Kamina's "other" female friend from school, Hiroko Asahina. Her death in the series was tragic. In the movie it is even more so because we have a better understanding of her feelings for Ayato. We learn that her love for him is as long-lived and every bit as deep as the shared love between Ayato and Haruka. That Hiroko's love is unrequited until just before her death makes it all the more tragic.

Recommendation: This is a hard one to recommend. Mostly because it is so different from the series. If you've seen the series and were left confused then Rah-Xephon: Pluralitas Concentio should be on your "must buy" list.

One last point: The end title song for the movie, Tune the Rainbow is a wonderful piece of music. My understanding is that it is unique to the film and did not appear in the series.

I'm writing this review as a person who found out about the series through this film. The film is beautifully done, the animation is out of this world and the story is unforgettable and amazing. I love this movie but having seen this first I don't have an attachment to the series and therefore I can give a review just for this movie. I watched some of the series after and I have to say that trying to do that will confuse the hell out of you so I understand why the reviewers who have seen the series first rated it the way they did. Still as a retelling in some ways it is done poorly. For one scenes in the film make it seem like an Evangellion Death & Rebirth styleized DVD. It can switch from one point in time to another within minutes but all in all its animation can take your mind off those things. It's a 5 star movie but if you've seen the series it's pointless and dumb.

As a huge fan of the Rahxephon series, I was eager to get my hands on this movie...After watching it I'm wishing desperately that I hadn't. Basically, the movie adds about 25 minutes of new scenes, and the rest is recycled material.

HOWEVER, the recycled scenes are redubbed with completely different words, in some cases this is very bothersome, more often than not obscuring the original purpose of the scene. This movie could be considered a Rahxephon crash course, but it's pretty poorly executed, and honestly omits most of everything good about the series. Many of the characters and events are changed totally to fit in this tiny slice of a plot.

In the series I found the Haruka/Ayato love story rather compelling. If you did as well, I'd suggest again skipping over this movie; it basically throws the relationship out in the open, and in doing so cheapens the emotions surrounding the original events. In general the things that took FOREVER to happen in the TV series are taken for granted.

Without providing any spoilers I will say that the movie changes a lot of what happens, in ways that make it very confusing. The ending also feels a lot stranger and much less definitive than the original.

Thus the only way I can really recommend this movie is if you're a huge fan of the series and don't care how the story is retold; you're too lazy to watch the original series, or simply like watching a series fundamentally changed and crammed into 2 hours. Otherwise, buy the complete collection, you won't be disappointed.

There seems to be quite a difference of opinion on this two-hour feature film based on the RahXephon series. I find my impressions are mixed, but that overall the film provides a different angle on the original story. One that touches more on emotional factors, and ekes out several things that are easy to miss in the series.

The plot, for those who haven't seen the series, is the tale of Ayato Kamina, who is caught in Tokyo during an alien invasion. The city is separated from the rest of the world, and the human inhabitants are convinced that they are the only survivors. When Ayato reaches the age of 17, a sudden meeting with a secret agent (Haruka Shitow) turns his world upside down. He discovers the truth and finds that he is connected with a giant robotic creature called the RahXephon.

He leaves Tokyo to aid humanity in stopping the aliens (Mu). Ayato is an instrumentalist, half human half Mulan, and badly torn over the path he should follow and his true nature. He is haunted by an old relationship and faces a complicated, metaphysical crisis or two.

What I especially liked -

The story isn't exactly different, but it focuses much better on the abridged romance between Haruka and Ayato. In the series, which has time to develop the detailed characters better, let time is spent on this theme. There are hints along the way, but only at the end does it achieve prominence. In the film Ayato's female relationships are the key element. This clarifies some of the confusion of the series.

One the other hand -

Either there was a very poor transfer or the film was made with sloppier artwork. Nor is the music of the same quality. Character development is seriously abridged, as is often the case in a feature length version. There are several cases, though, where it would have been better to leave out a character entirely. And poor Quon Kisaragi is barely a shadow of her series self, which is a shame. And finally there are some monologues which try to be lectures on the theory behind the action. These border on the tedious.

It's certainly worth renting the film especially if you have seen the series and are looking for a bit more light. But while the series manages to combine action, romance, and some interesting ethical questions, the film is more monotonic. If you have a choice I would recommend viewing the series, which is beautifully made and acted.

this movie is nothing more than a gimmick to swindle money from any anime fan. If you have already watched the series then you should be less enticed to purchase this DVD. It offers nothing new to what you have already seen in the series. As a matter of fact the movie is just compiled scenes of the orginal series. Probably about 15 mins of footage was added the rest is straight from the series. The animation isn't even different or improved. The story is basically the same and the ending is similar to the series. Nothing's different at all. There are no added battle scenes just a alternate beginning and ending which is the 15 min of footage that was made to seem like it was something new. If you want to see a anime movie based on a series, watch Escaflowne. Better animation than the series with no scenes pasted on the movie. Plus the story is rewritten for a new prospective. The movie and plot was okay it could have had a better story and plot plus more fight scenes. But Dammit! atleast they made an effort which I thought was great and I felt I got my monies worth! Unlike this turd that was hashed out!

I spent most of this movie trying to figure out WHY they made it. There are no especially shocking new revelations or things that made me go, "Ah, that explains such-and-such from the series." I consider myself to be fairly skilled at understanding anime, or at least letting drop what I don't understand. However, neither I nor my even more anime-literate friend could figure out precisely what the point of this movie was: what it added to the story, or what action scenes were supposed to appeal to our less intellectual sides, or even what was supposed to be going on.

In other words, the dialogue was full of technobabble and half-formed theories that were never satisfactorily explained, the action was subpar compared to the series (and you can see most of it just by watching the series anyway), and no serious plotholes or loose ends were resolved.

Thus, I can honestly say that I feel this movie has no special artistic merit and should be avoided. Rent it if you must, but save your money.

I can only conceive of two reasonable excuses to purchase this movie:

1. You are a HUGE RahXephon fan. If you have the Instrumentalist signs tattooed onto your body, you qualify. And you need help.

2. You already own the entire series, feel a deep need to complete your set, and have $30 disposable income.

In the end, I think I only liked two things about this movie: the fact that I got to see RahXephon's ultimate attack one more time (it really is awesome) and the ending song. Not nearly enough to amount to a worthwhile purchase.

After finishing the series just recently and having watched the movie quite some time ago, I think that honestly this film is only good in the sense of how well it ruins the series.

Haruka Mishima from this movie is totally given away from the beginning and nothing in this film ever explained Mishima's role and what she represents, the major plot twist in the end that explains who she is was totally expected by the time they built up to it, and the ending failed to close alot of plot holes.

They twist the whole series by clipping away the parts that make the story intriguing and make the relationships that are built in the series important to the overall story.

I for one was disappointed to recall the movie and how it played out akin to series order but without explaining crucial elements of the story like the where and how of what was really going on, they leave out very key elements about the story overall, such as the implications of the Foundation's involvement, the Bahbem Group, explaining how the Mu control dolems and where dolems and instrumentalists come from. The TERRA Commander's heartwarming story about his daughter's death and his struggle to atone for his inability to save his daughter in the great mu war.

This entire series is built around the premise of how relationships evolve and connect people by events, people, places, and things. Such as the squad leader's handkercheif, the picture of the Commander's daughter, Haruka's gloves, Buchi, etc. All these things connected one person to another even if only for an episode, and the emotional transcription is way more profound in this way...

The movie made me feel as though I lost part of that by knowing what happens before it happens, especially with Asahina.

If you have a burning need to own this film, please watch the series first, this is not a good introduction movie to the series and will ruin the story for you.

Rahxephon is a very good show, It has just about anything you would want in a show, Action and sadness and most of all a boy and girl fighting all ods for a life where there Love for one another can come true. It is to me a Really Must See Show, But if I was you I would just get the Series not the Move, The movie is just made up of parts of the Series and nothing new. If you get the Series don't bother with this movie.

This movie is awesome. Even the series is like Evangelion it gest it right where Evangelion went wrong.The movie also gives us a since of closure and just does not give us a reveiw of the series.