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Rahxephon
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Animation - 9.2 |
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Sound - 8.9 |
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Story - 8.4 |
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Character - 8.6 |
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Value - 8.6 |
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Enjoyment - 8.7 |
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Average - 8.7 |
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Brent |
2009-04-23 23:01:16 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| a great mix of sci-fi and fantasy with a rich but not overly abstract plot line. It's a great 'big-robot' anime.
I especially liked that the action starts from episode one and the plot twists, character development, and story keep developing episode after episode without having too many episodes just full of dialogue about how great/horrible life is and how much person A loves/hates person B.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Rahxephon proved to be an extremely intriguing anime, filled with twists and turns. Starting out from it's humble beginnings I am surprised at just where it ended up, and just where I ended up. I was very moved by a number of episodes, perhaps the most moving of any anime I've seen. Very well produced and a wonderful plot line tied in with the action and humor to make a fantastic piece of work.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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dennou_san |
(2008-10-24 08:12:46) 2008-10-24 07:58:44 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| There's no room for Evangelion here.
Evangelion's the crap to Rahxephon's bling.
Besides, I've casted all the memories of Eva even before planning to watch Rahxephon. After having to go and sit through the show, whoa, what a wonderful surprise, it really drove itself into my mind.
Rahxephon is genuine: you don't get to experience confusion as much as you ought to tolerate. But, not only does the show reward you for your patience to sort things out, it implants its revelations on you as if they were yours to one day fully comprehend and cherish. Few series can pull off bemusing tricks and affect you considerably; Rahxephon is one that can fill you up to the brim.
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0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is probably my second favorite anime of all time. And that's saying a lot. This is a mystic robot series, and in my opinion the best of them, so if you're only into anime for the moe then you're sort of out of luck here (plenty of hot girls just not many cute ones). That is the only grounds on which I would not recommend this anime. Other than a shortage of moe, it if a perfect anime and you should absolutely watch it the first chance you get.
Well, every mystic robot series needs a mythology (even if they have to make it up) and RahXephon's is rooted in Nahuatl culture (especially their poetry) and the writings of James Churchward on the lost civilization of the Mu. The back story of RahXephon combines them and extrapolates upon both to form its own unique universe. The reasoning of RahXephin's world is almost air tight and provides an interesting, appropriate, and exotic background for the story. This is an area where Eva faltered terribly and so this success is doubly welcome and appreciated.
On that subject, it is plainly obvious that RahXephon stole many of its elements from Eva outright. I don't hold this against them. After all, Eva was a wreck, all the creators of RahXephon did was salvage it for spare parts. This series really does succeed in all the places where Eva failed and because of the elements they share, it can at times feel like an alternate or perfected version of Eva (which is hilarious).
RahXephon has unique characters who all have depth and strong character development. Though character is by no means a weak point for this anime, in many ways, the plot is even stronger. The amazing backstory lends it strength and the creativity of the makers imbues many parts of the series with a genuine feeling of "the other" which is so sought after in speculative literature.
The Mu themselves are a work of genius and they provide a more than adequate adversary to the united militaries of the world. Not only are they practically unstoppable, but the strangeness of their tactics gives them a certain unknowable characteristic which invokes both fear and wonder as the series continues.
It the end, it also succeeds where it's predecessors failed most: bringing a convincing and provocative close to the otherworldly conflict which spans most of the story. That they avoided this pitfall at all is commendable, but the skill with which they do it is hard to believe.
I can only criticize the animation as it did not totally appeal to me. It is very realistic and detailed and in no way bad. I just didn't really appeal to me. Also, the movie suck balls - never watch it. Just watch the series over and over again until you collapse from sheer amazement.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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PersonDude |
(2008-01-03 02:17:22) 2008-01-01 13:33:48 |
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| If any anime is perfect, it is Rahxephon. Pulling off a great love story while having an intriguing sci-fi story line, this series really impressed me. With music fitting in at the perfect moments to bring you to the emotion they wanted you to feel.
Another high point of the series is its animation. The colors were blended perfectly to set the mood for the scene of whatever the viewer was watching. It also had great character animation. The only time there ever was a repeat of a scene was if it was a flash-back.
The story was great, but the only thing that nagged me was it's similarity to Evangelion, but the origional additions more than satisified me. (Specially the omittence of Shinji...) The balance and great blend of sci-fi and romance was amazing, pleasing both audience equally. The twists and turns of the story were unexpected and important.
The characters were great, all having their own unique characteristics and changing over the course of the show. Couple key characters were also shrouded in mystery effectively to deliver a great suspense to its audience.
In conclusion, it was a great piece of work, with many commendable elements. It requires deep thinking to unravel the true meaning, but once you do understand it, it is a very satisfying anime.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| RahXephon was one of about six or seven series I watched to really get me into anime. I recently just finished rewatching it, and sadly many of the bad tastes I had in my mouth from before were resurfaced. Right off the bat I remembered the biggest qualm I had with RahXephon, and that was its characters. While by far not a bad series overall, its characters sling truckloads of mud on a potentially great show, and I was certainly not wrong in harboring a fair amount of resentment because of this.
RahXephon's animation isn't half bad, but by no means is it outstanding. The character designs are alright, with a particular amount of detail given to Ayato, but are cheated in many places. A substantial portion of the large caste have downright crappy designs (Haruka, for instance) that don't contrast well with the higher quality characters. Having a few outstanding qualities parallel to overall mediocrity is not a good thing and tends to highlight the bad much more prominently than it showcases the good. A fair amount of nice scenery, however, and an abudance of light/dark shading manage to squeeze their way in for most of the series, so it's not a complete eyesore to behold.
Where RahXephon could have used the most work, however, was its sound score. About the only pleasant sounds were the D1 arias, and even then they get annoying quick. Hemisphere is a great opening song, though, and the ending is smooth and melancholic. Unfortunately, I can't say I really cared for the soundtrack all that much. For a few episodes I just put on some other music (and no, trance does not fit the mood of the series in case you were wondering, but it makes things interesting) in the background to drown out the other music. I tried to time this with the Quon scenes in particular, as I had to hold back from putting a fist through my screen everytime I heard "Ra-ra?" Her Seiyuu was absolutely horrendous, and not because of the voice actor but because of her character period. I'd hate to hear the dub, as even in Japanese all her random prophetical tripe is a complete earsore. The other character whose Seiyuu I hated with a burning passion was Ayato's mother; one of the worst I've heard yet. I turned up my other music especially loud when she was talking.
Storywise, RahXephon had a lot of promise, it just tripped over itself a few too many times. The first slew of episodes are, as other reviewers have pointed out, thrown together in somewhat of a blur, and not a lot is explained. Regardless, it sets up an interesting storyline that catches your attention right from the start. The problem is, just as you get unconfused from the opening episodes, you get hurled in twelve or so episodes of fillers. We get introduced to backstories of completely useless characters whom never appear again along with a "monster of the day" theme which is vaguely reminiscent of Evangelion style. I will disagree with some of the other detailed reviews that say there are no parallels to Eva; they are they, even if somewhat minor and a bit subjective to interpretation. More along of the lines of easter eggs rather than substance. Once the slew of episodic junk is finished, however, RahXephon picks up rather quickly and starts tying things together. Not everything during the previous episodes was worthless, but a great deal of it could have been left out and devoted to more proper explanations of more important things happening throughout the series. Definitely the best part of the show, however, as it's both original and involving, and probably in itself makes RahXephon worth watching. Originally always tends to imply decency or better, and RahXephon is certainly no exception.
Despite being a side character and relatively unimportant to the main storyline, Megumi was actually my favorite character. It's surprising, actually, that the creators didn't just make her Ayato's love interest, as a great deal more time is spent developing her and Ayato's relationship than any of the other characters. Haruka pissed me off for the entire duration of the show, and despite the somewhat interesting twist with her thrown in at the end, I found her to be utterly annoying and shallow. Ayato's affections seem to jump around and change at the whim of the storywriter merely for plot purposes, which makes for a rather pitiful excuse at romance. Despite this, they make the relationship/love theme somewhat central to the plot, and it still boggles me why they focus so much on Megumi when she has absolutely nothing to do with this. Go figure. Oh, and did I mention how much I hate Quon? Because I do. She's definitely on my "Top Five Anime Characters that need to be Burned Alive" list. Since I can't think of four others to fill the other spaces off the top of my head, just consider Quon shitty enough to fit in all five spots. Make it ten if you want, actually; I think I get my point across.
RahXephon is actually a unique series in the fact that, despite all the trash, it's a good watch. It never really gets boring and Ayato is interesting enough (or bi polar, not sure) to keep the story moving along at a steady pace. The plot definitely is its strongest point, though, and pretty much carries RahXephon's virtues on its shoulders. As I said before, an original storyline can work miracles, and it certainly does here. Despite being riddled with flaws and detractions, RahXephon deserves some credit for its uniqueness, and thus should not be passed up as if it were complete trash. A somewhat overhyped show that at least has the framework of greatness even if it doesn't make it that far.
Recommended.
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0 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
4.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| Ok... i'm not exactly sure why everyone seemed to enjoy this anime so freaking much. Additionally no one on this freaking review board has actually broken down WHY this anime is good or bad. So basically here is my break down of why I think this anime is NOT one of the best of all time.
Before I start, I'd like to just say I don't really think this anime fits too good into any category, and if you are looking for a mecha anime, DO NOT WATCH THIS. It doesn't fall really at all in that field. The mecha part just kinda pulls it together b/c the story has so many holes. I'll break apart some other stereotypes below too.
I'll start with the standard breakdowns.
Animation: Ok, to be honest the animation itself is pretty good. It is drawn pretty well, and rarely are there any repeated frames. So I don't see a ton of point in thouroughly explaining the animation. It is good quality so don't worry about watching some half-assed drawn anime. The art just isn't detailed enough to give it a 10, so I give the animation a 9.
Sound: I'm going to be perfectly honest here. I am a BIG fan of classical and orchestral music and I am rarely critical of voice actors... BUT the soundtrack itself is HORRIBLE. The songs are played over and over again and again, and the songs are not even good. They are like 1 minute clips or less stuck in a perpetual repeat and they alternate back and forth. The music itself is just terrible. The voice actors, both the original and english cast are just no good. They aren't the worst I've ever heard, but they really are just too over expressive and phony. They just aren't believable. So really out of generosity I am giving the sound a 5.
Story: I'm going to do my best not to just do a slice and dice job on this, but here is my honest opinion. First, this seems to have NOTHING to do with evangelion and other than the weird psychological and mecha connection, nothing in this anime has anything to do with evangelion. The story itself is just completely confusing. They don't answer really any questions at all in this anime, in addition to the fact that you will have absolutely no idea what is going on until episode 4. Overall I'm not even sure exactly what the real plot was. I did understand the love story aspect, and no I'm not some moron who just missed the boat. This story is just very poorly written. I like a sense of mystery and I like not knowing everything usually, but this is almost taken to a ridiculous state. Story = confusing and ridiculous. I'm gonna give it a 3.
Character: Let me list the one thing this anime doesn't have. Attatchment. I could have cared less if anything happened to any of the main characters, seriously. I didn't even really get the majority of there names until halfway in b/c everyone just kindof looks at each other and talks in cryptic messages, and even by the end I still had no idea what some people's names were. The characters do have multiple facets, although you really have to kind of infer them yourself. I'm going to be generous again and give this section a 4.
Value/Enjoyment: Well. There are a few types of anime that I classify things as. There are those you can't wait to watch the next episode. Those you dread the next episode, and those you just kinda watch the next one for the hell of it. I'll go with the last type for this one. I wasn't really drawn into the series other than I was hoping maybe at some point it would actually become clear. Even by the end the writers never seem to quite get where they meant to go. >_> Dissappointing.
Conclusion:
Well... overall I'll have to say that this wasn't the absolute worst series that I have ever seen, but it was by no means anywhere near one of the best I have ever seen. I'm really not quite sure how it got so high up on the ratings. I am glad that I watched it though because it gives me a variation of anime experience. All in all, I can't reccommend watching this. It really isn't very good unless your really bored, but yea, its your choice to decide based on my review.
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1 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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|
elle |
(2006-09-28 09:48:34) 2006-09-28 02:08:07 |
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Some peoplewere a bit nervous before starting to watch this as alot of people label it as a Evangelion copy but it is so much more than that. The ending was alot more acceptable but it wasn't a super everything ends perfect ending either which is always nice to have a change.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Despite the superficial similarities, Rahxephon is far more than the Evangelion clone that it is often accused of being. The two shows are in the end wildly different, not least because in ultimately, Raxephon isn't a mecha anime at all, but a love story with strange alien mechas thrown in.
The focus of the show is the complex relationships between the vast number of characters and their occasionally obscure motivations. Rahxephon has a lot to offer those people that enjoy deep and complex shows which build slowly to a stunning climax. The show is incredibly deep, despite its simple message, and needs a fair amount of patience and a lot of thought to get anything out of, so much so, that it is easy to get lost and confused, especially if you watch it slowly over a long period of time as I did.
Most of the depth and complexity comes from the sheer amount of time devoted to the motiviations and feelings of each of the characters. These feelings drive the plot forward, but can make some of the characters seem cold and distant to the viewer. This is especially true of large cast of secondary characters, who change significantly over the course of the series, but still end up feeling one-dimensional. The fact that it is extremely easy to lose track of who's who doesn't help matters either.
All of this is backed up by excellent animation and sound. The sound is particularly important, given the importance of music to the plot. My only complaint with the visiuals would be the occasionally strange and annoying design of some of the enemies.
All in all though, Rahxephon is a very good show, so long as you're willing to put some effort in trying to understand it. It's not as good as Evangelion, but the two shows are so different that this doesn't matter. Fans of one are far from guaranteed to like the other, but should at least give it a try.
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black26 |
(2006-08-17 19:29:44) 2006-08-17 14:09:09 |
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Rahxephon is first and foremost an absolutely incredible love story. Arguably the greatest love story in all of anime. What would you do if you lost the love of your life at 15. How much would it change your life? would you be able to move on? This is what Rahxephon is about... forget about the stupid inevitable comparisons with Evangelion, because Evangelion does not come close to the greatness of this anime.
The animation, im my own humble opinion is perfect. Not one single flaw nor weak episode. Some scenes surpass greatness thanks to the directors incredible eye. The colors and designs hit you like an anvil full of beauty and emotion. Every line and curve serve a greater purpose in the telling of this story.
The sound is truly phenomenal. The theme of the anime itself is sound, and how sound cand be used and derived from different forms. Sound can be used to create, destroy and express. In RahXephon, BONES takes imagination and knowledge to a whole new level when they incorporate the concept of sound and how it pertains to the story.
The story is by far the greatest part of this anime. What is love? can love die? Does love ever go away? can you fall out of love with someone u truly love? what is family? can we relate to concepts and people we do not understand? These are the questions that Rahxephon raises.
The characters in this anime stayed with me for days and days after watching this masterpiece. Ayato and Haruka's love transcend time and space. Even heaven and hell could not stop their love. There is not a single weak or annoying character in this show and every character is fleshed out and serves a purpose.
The value of this anime is tremendous. I have seent this 3 times and it only gets better and better, because u learn and discover more depth. There are so many reasons why this anime is a masterpiece that its impossible to list them all. Rahxephon is not just a show, its an experience that grabs you and never lets you go. Take a ride to Tokyo-Jupiter, and u will never be the same.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Overall a great series that can easily wipe out many of the competition from the entire film industry, both animated and not. Although commonly compared to NGE, as should be, Rah nevertheless includes numerous unique elements that make it its own. Not as deep in philosophy and intelligence as Eva, Rah wins in terms of the personal, more human, category. Overall, NGE still wins by a small margin; however, it is no reason to avoid Rah. It's still one of the greatest shows to be watched by all and will certainly be at least the top 2 animes of the audience, if not easily 1.
Enjoyment-10-Simply spectacular, especially after combining with the movie, Hensokyoku. The movie is also very well-done, although it uses too much previous scenes. However, it's new scenes are so dynamic that you will ffeel as if you're rewatching it. By the movie's end, you'll feel full nostalgism. Overall, the series is beyond great on its own. Certainly capable of standing as the number one series in anybody's personal library.
Recommended: MUST WATCH!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| My biggest criticism is why Rahxephon decided to enclose itself within a mecha shell, as the mecha elements were not necessary or desired.
It has been done so many times, Rahxephon just felt to me as a sugar coated version of all the other psychological, philosophical mecha series out there, and likewise, they a less sugar coated version of Rahxephon. It doesn’t matter which came first, which way you look at it or which is better. In my eyes, they are all as bad and as good as each other; the only differentiating factor in this case was the visuals and design.
I feared for an incomplete explanation in the end, and that’s exactly what I got. The fact that you keep watching the series due to an unanswered question and not receiving a decent answer might be hard to take. Rahxephon did not give much away directly, almost everything had to be pieced together by the audience. It felt at times at the pace moved unbelievably quick. Sometimes, there would be a huge difference between the episodes with regard to what has happened, so much so that I had to go back and replay the next episode preview from the previous episode to convince myself that I was indeed playing the episodes in order.
This wasn’t essentially a bad thing; it just contributed enough towards my dislike of this series as a whole. I felt after watching this series that there were too many wasted moments in it - all the fights and weak sub-plots that didn’t resulted in much really should have been subtracted. Maybe as a 13 episode series, it would have been better. There were also too little glimpse into the higher up authorities: those pulling the strings. Whilst this worked nicely in animes such as Saikano, it didn’t in Rahxephon. The one difference here was that Saikano had enough to keep me interested but Rahxephon didn’t.
There were positive things that I took away from this series too, but their brilliance has been somewhat damped by all the overwhelming negatives. As mentioned, two aspects were outstanding: firstly the fluidity of the animation (and it consistency); secondly the designs, especially the Mu machines. Ironically, the second aspect was something that Rahxephon could have done without.
The simplest way to know whether you will like Rahxephon is to ask yourself if you liked Neon Genesis Evangelion. If you haven’t seen that, then you can compare it to any other mecha series that has a “deeper” story and meaning to it. For me, Rahxephon was just one too many.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Studio BONES presents possibly their best work ever. The other reviewers on here do a good job of explaining the plot, so I'm not going to bother with redundancy of trying to explain it again. I will say, however, that this is not a mecha anime. Sure, it has mechs in it, but it isn't mecha. This is nothing less than a full scale sci-fi psychological drama.
It isn't all bangs and flashes, like most mech shows. Sure, there are plenty of those, but this is really about the characters, and their very real tribulations in a futuristic war setting. While there are high-flying battles, most of the excitement is down on the ground, with stunningly scripted interactions that grip you and pull you in like you never expected.
This is a mech show, but only in the most basic sense. And you know what? It's amazing.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
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| Average |
4.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| I watched a couple of episodes of Rahxephon on satellite TV a year ago, but since it was in French and I hadnt watched it from the start (I picked it around ep. 13) I abandoned watching it quickly as I couldnt grasp the plot at all. But I was impressed with the animation and visuals.
Then I learned that it was produced by Bones. Since I had watched Bones' ''Wolf's Rain'' a year ago, a series that impressed me and marked my re-introduction to anime that I abandoned for many years, I looked forward to watch Rahxephon, sometimes considering it to get even better than Wolf's Rain. How wrong I was!
Having watched Evangelion prior to Rahxephon also mattered a lot but the series had the potential to be as good as Evangelion but it failed miserably.
I was patient for the first two episodes. the moment Ayato escapes with Haruka I thought this would turn interesting and everything would gradually be revealed. But then similarities with Evangelion continue to appear at an annoying and often unnerving -for the enjoyment of the series- rate.
I'll mention the two major problems that mess up the series. Story and characters.
Story first: without spoilers suffice it to say that Ayato moves from his world to another one completely different than his. not much is revealed about how and why his world was created. Even the moment he leaves Tokyo Jupiter the shifts focuses on his new home with TERRA, an organization created to fight the MUs. Tokyo Jupiter is ignored except for 3 episodes much later in the series. A missed chance to be better than Evangelion. Whereas there the Angels popped out of nowhere, here the viewer could have detailed info about each Tokyo Jupiter robot and why it was sent. Watching decisions from both camps could have made the series more interesting.
As for the plot and the various mythological elements from South American culture I think they made the story interesting but the execution was terrible and the viewer had to guess what was going on. In the final episode everything is insufficiently explained or rather made more confusing. And where I thought Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain were difficult to grasp. This tops them all in terms of cryptic messages. the only redeeming factor were the action scenes, though Evangelion had better direction in that field too.
Now for the characters. I admit they look very nice with fluid animation. But thats all.
Nothing more. Characterization is horrible. I'm referring to the Japanese cast. The English cast was unavoidably even worse. The French cast I saw on TV was decent but then I had no idea how mediocre the series would turn. I've felt nothing for any character. The series that manage to do this to me deserve my utmost disrespect. I dont know how they managed to do this. It is the first time I dont feel for any character at all. Even if some of them died I actually fell glad that they wouldnt reappear. I felt frustrated when in the last episodes a furious girl (perhaps the only one I liked for that reason alone) shoots Ayato and misses (not deliberately I assure you). Why didnt he die so as to make me enjoy the series?
As for the enjoyment, in many animes recently I was used to watching 13-14 episodes a day without problems. But here I struggled to watch the first 13 episodes in one day and even more to watch the rest the next day. So painfull it was.
Fortunately I didnt buy that crap. Just downloaded it. The official ripped ADV version.
I'd recommend the other viewers, especially those who've seen Evangelion to do the same. Or rent it or lend it from a friend. Never buy this. I'd prefer to have rewatched Wolf's Rain again instead of watching CrapXephon.
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Avalanche |
(2006-04-03 12:52:57) 2006-04-03 12:51:25 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Oh dear... I'm going against the general opinion again. I really did want to like enjoy Rahxephon but no matter how matter hard I tried but I couldnot make much sense out of the story. For it has so many things going for it, stellar animation, amazing sound, an OK story to boot and above all decent characters. But in the end, it failed to impress me and it left all high and dry by the end.
Considering this was done by BONES (FMA, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess etc.), I had my hopes high - for this is one of my most favourite studios. But the show by the end was not only incomplete in it's plot but also characters.
Read on...
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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swede |
(2006-03-21 20:08:47) 2006-03-21 20:04:57 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Rahxephon is an anime placed in the genre of Mecha. I usually hate mecha anime, for me they seem cheesy and there is no way for me to get myself to like them. RahXephon changed all of this.
After completing the series it became my favourite anime. Everything about this show is done superbly, the plot, character development, animation and music that is used.
The greatest thing about rahxephon is the fact that every single word that is said, every single character that is introduced all of them serve a purpose. Nothing is put in, in an arbitrary fashion. And thus once I finished the anime the ending became even more meaningful than it would have been had the character development not been so extensive.
This show had some moments that are absolutely brilliant. Not just the fact that the scenes were meaningful and would be very moving for most people. But the way in which the anime is put together, eccentuates all of the feelings that are put forth by this anime.
All in all, i strongly reccomend. The characters relationship, seemingly bizarre plot turns all lead up to an utterly thrilling conclusion.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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cain |
(2006-04-20 22:54:00) 2006-03-21 02:35:17 |
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| Average |
5.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
2 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| Another mecha series, you think, but this one stands out most probably because its been called an Evangelion Clone or Fafner-alike sometimes.
I have not watched NGE yet Rahxephon stood out from Fafner in a peculiar manner. Though both were confusing mecha shows, Rahxephon managed to baffle their audience not through philosophical boredom but extremely irritating plot confusion. Bravo.
I will not commend Rahxephon's storyline because I have hardly witnessed anything but plain action (Xephon vs Dolems) that does not seem to synchronize with the events. The main character Kamina Ayato seems to be a very confused male lead that leads viewers into an even more confusing swirl of mixed impressions of a slow plot. His guidance would therefore be Mishima Reika because she has helped Ayato make a choice.
With a large character list, Rahxephon managed to pull off some stunts that other anime series have not dared to - and that is exploration and intricate development of all the individuals. Though you feel that you understand most of the characters by the end of the series, the procession of the anime annoyingly kept the viewers waiting too long for the answers. [Admittedly I got bored of waiting].
Emotions of love existed in Rahxephon, most usually unrequited. Some single-direction love was quite disgusting considering grossly large age barriers (i.e. a woman turning 30 has a crush on a guy of 17, as if she's still a kid or something).
Sexual connotations towards the end of Rahxephon drove me nuts. They were minimal but completely inappropriate. The girls sometimes sang like they were passionately making love at the same time. I did not imagine that Ayato's confused state of mind gave him room for those kinds of implicit images but they did nothing but annoy me.
Characters were also given weird names like 'Orin' or 'Lala' that sound kind of lame at times (until the viewers begin to find out what they actually mean). Sometimes names were too similar for the characters to be distinguished when they were addressed: i.e. Kunugi Jin, Kisaragi Itsuki and Isshiki Makoto.
On a sidenote, I really liked the idea of controlling Rahxephon through music and certain characters maturing through instrumental development. Their mystical songs were very alluring at times. I enjoyed the opening and ending themes and really adored the song "Tune the Rainbow" (which is from the movie, I think).
Animation was also a plus side to Rahxephon. The characters always swayed with realistic movements, and backgrounds were done utilizing effects of murky darkness as well as radiant light that seemed obscure at the same time. Well done to that!
Overall, this anime might just manage to be worth rewatching if you find that this confusing-plotted no-storyline show is worth the wait. Towards the end it does get somewhat clearer meaning that only the last episode is worth watching at all, basically. Otherwise, sitting through a load of jumbled talking-sequences and puzzling scenes that seem to happen for no reason will be absolutely worse than listening to Fafner in the Azure's philosophical lectures.
Oh yes, and by the way, just who are the Murians?
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is a great show. The animation is crisp and almost as good as it gets without CGI (sometimes better). The story is complex and there's a major wtf?-factor running through the entire series, keeping the tension up. The characters are credible and interesting - although a few ones somewhat annoying. And both Ayato and Haruka are quite hot. ^_^
But the possibly most important factor for making this series stand out from the rest is the sound. The music and the sound effects are very good and extremely well-tuned (no pun intended) to what's happening on the screen - at times the effect of the audio elements become almost nerve-shattering.
I'm sure this will be a future classic; at least it deserves that status.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This anime is clearly influenced by Shin seiki Evangelion, but in an unfortunate way. First of all, the progress of the story and how it unfolds is way too similar to evangelion to make it enjoyable to watch. In the end, all that was left in my head was, "this is a kid-friendly version of evangelion." This anime fails to amplify the characters emotions, and thus doesn't connect to the viewers. True, most of the characters have relationship issues, but that's about it. There's a mess of a triangle love affair and jealousy, but that's about it as far as characterization goes. Some people think that it has better character interaction than evangelion, but that's not true. In evangelion, there is a full spectrum of relationship (I hate you, you hate me, he hates you, she loves you etc.) but Rahxephon only has this triangle love affiar that gets pretty annoying after a while. Overall, it is a pretty decent anime, and I have no trouble understand why it can become pop culture, but not a literature like evangelion.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| And animation which got me hooked watching it for 8 hours straights well sumthing like that, it's that good even though I'm new here I think I know what I am typing. This anime has quite a interesting story line though it's hard at first to understand but in time I understood. Oh yeh, this is my first review on and anime becuase I just was recently hooked on anime.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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