Rahxephon Part 1 Episodes 1-5

What if everything you knew about your life was actually a façade?  For Ayato Kamina, he’s grown up believing most of the world is gone save for Japan and that there are only 23 million people living in the world today.  An “alien” invasion and the appearance of a beautiful woman change his life forever.  Suddenly, Ayato is thrown beyond his reality and into the truth.  Tokyo has been trapped within a Jupiter style dome for over 12 years.  On the outside, it is the year 2027 and humanity is at war with an other dimensional species known as the Mu.  The military organization TERRA is the only line of defense the world has and they spent a lot of effort to break Kamina out.  Kamina’s path to the truth of the world and his life lies within the weapon that broke out of Tokyo Jupiter along with him: the singing giant known as the Rahxephon.

Man have I been waiting to return to this one.  Rahxephon surprised me when I saw it…god knows how long ago…wow feels like im starting my final thoughts weeks in advance on this one, gotta pace myself.  It’s been a long time since ive watched it and ill be curious to see if it holds up.  And I’m more than ready to share my thoughts on this much overlook Anime gem. 

Giant robots clashing in a city.  An alien race that has secretly invaded the planet.  A lone boy who is an apparent chosen on to pilot the titular giant robot.  This all sounds pretty familiar if not a little generic.  So what makes Rahxephon stand out?  Well in this starting set of episodes, we get a great sense of atmosphere, mystery and a likeable cast.  More importantly, the giant robots aren’t exactly giant robots.  No the Rahxephon and it’s fellow Dolems seem to be more like movable statues than actual mecha.  The use of sound as their main weapons (so far anyway) is pretty unique too, giving the series a little bit of a Macross vibe.

There is the one itty bitty elephant in the room when it comes to Rahxephon.  It has a reputation as being seen as Evangelion lite or just a straight clone of Evangelion.  Well the comparisons are there for sure.  From the opening attack on Tokyo to the characterizations of Ayato as the chosen one and Haruka as his older protector.  Even Captain Kunigi has shades of Gendo Ikari…but only a little.  If anything Kunigi was probably the chief inspiration for Idris Elba’s commanding officer in Pacific Rim.  I can just see him staring down Kamina and saying, “One, don’t you ever touch me again.  Two, don’t you ever touch me again.”  Given what I just said about the Rahxephon not seeming like your typical giant robot adds fuel to the Evangelion comparisons given that the Evas themselves weren’t really mechas either.  There’s even a military organization called TERRA which isn’t unlike NERV.  But trust me, these similarities may play to Rahxephon’s strength more than weighing it down.

While I do think Misato is a bit cooler (and hotter) than Haruka, Ayato is a much more likeable lead than Shinji.  He’s a smart ass, he’s a bit more open with people and he acts like any average human would being thrown into this new situation.  And it is a doozy, knowing the world around you is a lie and that aliens are involved…not to mention something I’m sure Ayato has thought about which is, does he have the same blue blood as his mother?  Food for thought for sure.  There are more mysteries to be found in the real world too: from the totally sketchy scientist Itsuki to the way more attractive than Rei Ayanami Quon.  Just the way people talk around Ayato practically says something bigger is going on in the real world and Ayato might just be a pawn in it all.  And what about that look in Haruka’s eyes whenever she sees Ayato…there’s something there for sure.  The only character who I still find grating is Megumi, who just whined and nagged Ayato during their whole first meeting. 

The action is little but exciting in these opening episodes.  Mostly it’s a lot of world exploration and character introductions.  But I’m expecting great things from the Rahxephon, or as I affectionately call it The Moose Gundam.  Plus it looks like Maverick Ace Elvy might bring some bad assery of her own with her piloting skills with a fighter jet.  No matter what though, it all looks gorgeous.  This Anime was done by Studio Bones, which produced feature films for Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop and even the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood TV Series.  So quality animation is going to be there, even if this is one of their earlier attempts and isn’t as polished as the other projects I mentioned.  Also fun fact, the opening theme, Hemisphere, while performed by Mayaa Sakamoto, was composed by Anime music legend, Yoko Kanno.  Kanno doesn’t do the score for this series but I can only imagine how the soundtrack, already great as is, would sound under her care.

A couple of annoyances aside, Rahxephon followed all of the introductory Anime rules: the world (or worlds) have been established, the characters smoothly introduced, the action top notch, and the mystery seeds sown and ready to grow.  We’ll see how Ayato continues to adjust to the new world next week on the Anime Corner.