Synopsis

Ayato Kamina is a middle school student who has his life interrupted and irrevocably altered by the sudden appearance of visitors from an alternate dimension known as the Mu. These invaders envelop Tokyo within a giant hemisphere which separates the city from the rest of the world and slows down time within the barrier. The story picks up 3 years later when he encounters Haruka Shitow, a member of a group called TERRA, and decides to follow her in order to learn the truth about the world.

Ayato?s world begins to unravel after he encounters the giant alien monolith called the Rahxephon and becomes its pilot. He finds that almost all that he has known is part of a false reality created by the Mu. Compelled to fight the Mu and their Dolem constructs, he is maddened by the questions of who he can trust and what his identity truly is. He begins to find that his destiny is larger than he ever imagined.

Review

Rahxephon is one of my favorite anime series of the past few years. It is beautifully crafted for a TV series, both visually and musically. One of its biggest criticisms might be how heavily its overall storyline borrows from Evangelion, and it also suffers from similar problems, in my opinion.

The storyline, while extremely complex and rather multi-faceted, remains purposefully obscure and elusive even after multiple viewings. Part of the reason for this, in my opinion is that, while the overall plot is cohesive, some of the individual elements meant to be thought provoking are not really essential to the story, but merely poetic tapestries woven to make the saga seem deeper than it really is. A more direct appeal would have had better luck with me, as I found trying to unravel these elements distracting.

That?s not to say that these visions are all non sequiturs, as they do often have some connection or provide some insight, but they are usually tenuous at best. The problem comes from the fact that they are presented so often, and in such rapid succession, that they not only lose their significance, but also serve to blur the distinction between reality and subconscious, confusing the viewer.

The Mu culture and the story of Rahxephon revolves around concepts of sound, so it is fortunate that the musical score is adequate to support this theme. In fact, it is more than adequate, having a catchy yet somber intro and solid, thematic, orchestral pieces throughout the series. The soundtrack is definitely one of the highlights of the show. The musical imagery is a bit overdone, however, and the music metaphors quickly became tiresome.

Animation is another highpoint of this series, and Rahxephon exhibits some of the finest animation to be found in a series. It is consistent in both quality and artistic design. The locations are rather varied, showcasing everything from military bases to traditional rural homes and post-modern Tokyo. The motions are very smooth and the animators do a very good job of conveying emotion.

The characters in Rahxephon are all rather likeable, with the protagonist being one of the least enjoyable, in my opinion. His clueless and sometimes childish attitude was endlessly irritating. Emotional outbursts are certainly to be expected, but once again, I found these to be too frequent to be really taken seriously after a while. All that said, though, he is still less grating and melodramatic than similar characters in other series I have seen. My biggest complaint would be that the emotionally-challenged high school-aged boy confronting his destiny theme is far too trite to be viable anymore. Fortuantely, Megumi, Asahina, and Haruka are all much more complex and charming characters and compensate for many of Ayato?s inadequacies.
I won?t go into more detail here for fear of spoiling some of the best plot points.

It is hard to escape the force of an anime as infuential as Evangelion, and its influences on Rahxephon are undeniable. Several of the main characters have parallels in Evangelion: a shadowy organization pulls the strings to hasten the end of the world, a boy struggles with his destiny to pilot something he doesn?t understand ? the examples go on, and I won?t describe them all here, although I will add that the ending leaves you feeling significantly less disappointed. As I mentioned earlier, this resemblance may be a strong deterrent to some, but I found it to be something that I could ignore. It would be na?ve to believe the creators of any series (or anything) to be totally original, and as I am not aware of any lawsuits being filed, I suppose it was not considered to be excessive ?creative borrowing?.

Conclusion

This is a beautifully crafted series overall, and is capable of expressing very strong feeling. Despite being overly confusing, it is enjoyable and superior to a lot of what is currently out there.

-Review by Reptile (17 Jun, 2006)

Audio:	Excellent soundtrack and audio
Video:	Great animation for a series with some subtle CG
Plot:	Engaging storyline, but overly complex
Style:	Nice mecha, character, and environment designs.
Characters:	Enjoyable cast, although some are unoriginal
Violence:	Moderate (some blood - mostly blue)
Language:	Mild
Nudity:	Mild (some pseudo-nudity)
Genre:	Scifi
Episodes:	26
Rating:	4.0 of 5
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