Story & Characters
Story Introduction
Taking place in a world where two time dimensions exists, the protagonist lives in Tokyo Jupiter, a land ruled over by
the Mulians which in turn is barricaded with a barrier which causes a difference in time flow between the world within
Tokyo and the world outside it. After the attack of the "invaders", Ayato, the protagonist, finds himself
swept up into the events of which is to be unfold and learns the truth about his past.
Story Overview
Essentially, the Anime starts off by confusing the daylights of the audience by slapping them with a dozen different
terms which doesn't really make sense and several more terms were related to mythological content.
After confusing the audience for a VERY long period of time, the Anime then starts to explain about the terms which it
had chucked out to the audience's faces in bits and fragments. Those whom are not paying attention would easily
miss these explanations as the terms were not enforced and emphasized throughout the series.
Even after watching the entire Anime, some questions were left unanswered and questions which were answered was generally vague and unclear.
Whilst the Anime had an interesting concept, the story in itself was fairly vague and most of it only starts to make
sense after watching through a dozen more episodes.
As for the characters however, some of them were nicely built whilst others felt a bit contradictory.
The series was rather similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion in some regards, in terms of the role of the machines which the
protagonist use, the self confrontation and the troubled cast of characters.
However, Rahxephon did not do quite as well in that regard since the self confrontation of the protagonist seems rather
unnecessary as he did not exhibit any sense of self-loathing nor a truly emphasized negative mindset throughout the
series.
In fact, it was really rather uninteresting compared to Ikari Shinji's self-confrontations in Neon Genesis
Evangelion as he had displayed weaknesses throughout the series and thus, is able to confront them.
Ayato, the protagonist of Rahxephon on the other hand, feels just like any typical bloke so the self-confrontation
involved was weak and flimsy as a result.
The other characters, however, were more interesting owing to their backgrounds which was mentioned in the various
episodes and the amusing part is that how their stories actually allowed them the opportunity to shine as brightly, if
not beyond that of the protagonist.
However, as the story is generally centered on the protagonist, the other characters had little chance of actual
development and are hung out of the window like wet clothes left to dry.
What really makes the story interesting, however, is the romance factor of the story which I can't really go much
into unless I want to chuck out some spoilers.
All in all, the story is filled with enough flaws to make you flop around like a landed fish but makes you stay because
of the concept, the curiousity you had yet to sate and the fairly unusual love story between the protagonist and the
heroine.
Rating: 7
Art
Artwork Review
The Anime was rather impressive in terms of artwork and animation - though I must admit, the running looks pretty
awkward in this Anime.
Otherwise, most character movements were really well-done and they've even went as far as to emphasize on the
fluttering of the clothes, how the hair is blown backwards at times and naturally, these are elements which are usually
missed out in non-Movie Anime series.
What really bothers me, however, is the design of the Dolems (The huge entities which the protagonist have to face) ,
the battle scenarios and the Rahxephon itself.
For an Anime with a serious plot, the Rahxephon had a rather... "Super Robot-ish design" - then again, that
was pretty much what the Rahxephon was so it is disconcerting to watch an Anime being sliced between "Super
robot" and "serious atmosphere".
The Dolems could look interesting but some of them looks pretty downright ridiculous.
None of them were particularly terrifying in nature but in a way, I guess they had pulled off an "exotic
effect" for the Dolems.
As for the battle scenarios, to be honest, for a Mecha Anime the battles were terribly short and disappointing.
None of the battles lasts long and none of them were particularly impressive - the action side of things just
doesn't really cut it despite how nice the animations were.
Rating: 7
Sound
Music Review
Well, I must admit, the music of Rahxephon makes me all depressed.
In a good way.
The music of Rahxephon is, without a doubt, beautiful to listen to but also somewhat depressing at the same time.
Most of the background music is something which I wouldn't really listen to whilst I'm standing in a train
during the morning but it does play out nicely along with the nature of the Anime as a whole.
The music itself does not enhance the atmosphere of the Anime - it actually ADDS on emotions to the Anime, turning the
entire series more gloomy and emotional that what it really is.
Rating: 8
Presentation
This is a Review of Rahxephon
Other than the fact that the Anime had the feeling of being a "forced philosophy" Anime, the concept itself,
the music, the interesting relation between the protagonist and the heroine and most of the side-characters really did
save this series from plummeting into failure.
The entire series was something which you'd grow to dislike and love at the same time, filled with plenty of flaws
but with enough strengths to pull you right back into the entire series itself and balance the whole series out.
Whilst it is filled with flaws, it's not something your likely to forget anytime soon.
Overall (Others)
Pros
- Interesting concept
- Interesting cast of characters
- Unique music
- Unique romance story
Cons
- Forced philosophy
- Pointless self-confrontation scenarios
- Fluctuates between the "Super Robot cliche" and being a serious Anime series
- Unexplained concepts even after reaching the end of the Anime can potentially leave you annoyed
Genre : Mecha, Romance,
Mystery
Forced Philosophy
Generally, I'm not all too impressed with what they are trying to do.
It's easy to see that they are trying to boggle the minds of the audience, ramp over their minds with a bit of
insanity and essentially do the same things as Evangelion but had failed in that regard.
Generally, the audience would feel more confused and annoyed than mind boggled truth be told, though the tight knot
within the audience's heart is gradually loosened as the story starts to make more sense as the story
continues.
Unique Romance
Well, ignoring the pointless Harem genes that the protagonist has for the earlier parts of the story, the bond between
the protagonist and the heroine is fairly unique and unusual.
I can't talk much about it without giving much spoilers but all I could say that it is unique. Not particularly
well-done nor touching perhaps but it is certainly unique and memorable.
Interesting concept
Whilst there are elements in the story which simply screams "Neon Genesis Evangelion!", the Anime still bears
it's own strengths, unique concepts and bears enough elements to make it's own mark.
I wouldn't say that the story elements were actually well-explained but as I've said before, curiousity would
somehow reel you back in though undoubtedly, the unexplained questions after watching the series would leave you
rather... annoyed.
All in all, this is an Anime to love and to hate. It's like a mixed drink filled with cliche and originality,
annoying elements along with interesting ones.
Rating: 7
Final Verdict
7.1667 (above average)
Reviewed by z827, Feb 06, 2013
