Rah-Xephon (anime)

Director:     Yutaka Izubuchi
Studio:     BONES
Original run:     January 2002 – September 2002
Episodes:     26

Original story:      Bones, Yutaka Izubuchi
Character design:      Akihiro Yamada
Animation character design:      Hiroki Kanno
Mechanical design:      Michiaki Sato, Yoshinori Sayama

Other credits and more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahxephon

This is 1 little gem that i only just recently discovered. I got complaint that last time i did a review, it got too long, so i wouldn’t say so much about the story this time. Suffice to say, there are some parallels to anime greats like Evangelion and Escaflowne. This anime is about a teenager, Kamina Ayato, who lives a normal life in Tokyo. However one day some strange aircrafts invaded and attacked Tokyo. And he further witnessed a strange sight of a even weirder, almost humanoid, flying craft shooting down the invaders with beams. Okok i must stop at here, else i will tend to ramble on, but he will go on to find out the truths about the world, his family, and himself. Those who want to read the plot can do so at the above wiki, best of all go and get it (the dvd, or any alternatives you can get).

Those who watched Evangelion before will already notice that the opening of the series which i described above is eerily similar to the opening of Eva. In fact the similarities go on some more. Like how both series share pseudo greek names, and feature semi-biomechanical, semi-magical mechas unlike those of Gundam series. Like the almost similar use of clones in both series’ plot, though RahXephon used it more. Both are also about changing the world through some super paranormal event facilitated by the mechas. Both also used pseudo religious influences heavily, Eva drawing upon biblical associations, while RahXephon falls upon Mesoamerican/Aztec/Mayan beliefs as well as the story of the lost continent Mu. It shares some aspects of themes with Escaflowne too. But I must say that RahXephon overshadows both Escaflowne and Evangelion, in its completeness of story.  Watchers of Evangelion will remember how broodingly dark and melancholic the series and its characters were, and the ending to the unaccustomed would be a major put-off (and if i may venture it, even to the accustomed as well). Escaflowne (the anime series) was a wonderful romance fantasy with mecha in it, but the lovey dovey parts sometimes got abit too draggy i felt. RahXephon in its own way managed to combine both series’ appeal and positive points, and then add some more.

Highly recommended, even to the extend of getting the dvd if you can afford/find it. 9.5/10 by me. The .5 deduction though was for the rather lacklustre OSTs, considering this anime used quite heavily in its plot device the power of songs to change the world.

Some trivia:

Mitsuo Iso, in charge of Digital Works in this series, went on from his experience on RahXephon to become the chief director of Dennō Coil.

Acclaimed musician and composer Kanno Yoko, who wrote the music for Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell series, and upcoming Macross Frontier, also wrote the opening track for RahXephon.

There is a television movie version, being described by a distributor as an ‘encore’, showing new relevations but also changing some plotlines. At this point i’ve yet to watch it, but i got it along with the anime series, and will be watching it soon.

Shimono Hiro, seiyuu of Kamina Ayato, also voiced Hiro Hironno in Ef ~ A Tale of Memories, a highly recommended romance.

Sakamoto Maaya, seiyuu of Mishima Reika (an illusory girl Ayato always sees, but who is the soul of RahXephon, and takes on the appearance of his true love, sharing her family name, but Ayato’s memory was altered, so he couldn’t remember her real first name), also voiced Aerith in FF7:AC, Lunamaria Hawke in Gundam Seed Destiny,  Mishio Amano in KANON, and Kanzaki Hitomi in Vision of Escaflowne.

Hisakawa Aya, seiyuu of Shitow Haruka (aka Mishima Haruka), also had credits in AIR (as Kamio Haruko), Bleach, Love Hina, Rayearth, Noir, and many more.

Kuwashima Houko, seiyuu of Kisaragi Quon, also voiced ‘Miya-Miya’ in ongoing series Bamboo Blade, Tomoyo in CLANNAD, Isako in Dennou Coil, Flay Allster in Gundam Seed and Stellar Loussier in GSD, and many more.

The productions studio, BONES, also did titles such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Scrapped Princess, and Darker Than Black. This coming spring, it will also animate Soul Eater, a very humorous manga I read during the army. Very much looking forward to it.

There are alot of references to music, art, story, (mesoamerican) religion and so on. Do check through the wiki to understand the references after watching it.