It hasn’t been the smoothest transition for Ayato
Kamina. Not too long ago, his life was
pretty normal. Now the world he knew is
behind him and the real world needs his help.
Only Ayato is capable of piloting the Rahxephon he’s brought with him
from Tokyo Jupiter. Guided by a girl he
cant help but feel connected to, dead or otherwise, Ayato heads to the
frontlines of humanity’s war against the Mu.
As his friendships grow with the TERRA crew, other faces appear with
their own agendas…and their own knowledge of Ayato’s true nature.
Mysteries deepen and the world continues to build this
week. We got some fun new additions to
the cast while faces we’re getting to know are kind of a mixed bag. Also, the Evangelion comparisons came out in
a big way and I’m wondering if that will detract from some viewer who might see
this series as a simple Eva clone.
Here is where the English Dub kind of becomes an
issue. The original dub of Rahxephon was
done by the former ADV Films studios, which also did the original English dub
of Neon Genesis Evangelion. So when we
hear the voice of Asuka, who is the voice of Kim in Rahxephon, berate Ayato for
not wanting to pilot the Rahxephon, you cant help be feel like watching Asuka
berate Shinji. Actually, most of Kim’s
episode feels like the fifth and sixth episodes of Eva, where Shinji and Rei
had to battle the diamond Angel. Kim and
Ayato’s second talk along side the Rahxephon at sunset prior to battle was very
similar to Shinji and Rei’s moonlit talk.
The difference is, Ayato seems done with complaining after his little “I
don’t want to pilot” bit. At least he’s
more mature than Shinji. Kim wasn’t bad
but I hope they develop her a bit more rather than add her in so we can enjoy a
bunch of swimsuit clad hotties at Narai Kanai.
Watari and Futagami are going to be fun additions to the
cast. Both offer a good dose of humor,
especially Watari being so friendly with the TERRA staff, a definite difference
between him and the sort of cold Kunigi.
Futagami feels like our Ryoji Kaji of this series, sans the
Misato/Haruka love story. He’s eager to
delve into the truth of all things TERRA and Rahxephon and catches on quick. Still, he’s sage like and laid back, never a
jerk to anyone even when badgering them with questions. We also got our first look at Ernst Babhem,
who sees to be the head of our secret illuminati behind TERRA. Naturally, Watari and Kunigi are both somewhat
aware of his plans…there’s always a plan within a plan.
What isn’t so shrouded in mystery is the fact that Haruka
knows Ayato and isn’t being subtle about it.
Every time theyre together you can see a distant sadness in her
eyes. And when Ayato is in danger or
when he goes missing later on, she cant help but cry and scream his name. If she is trying to not give too much away,
she’s kind of failing. Did Ayato know
her in Tokyo Jupiter? That’s probably
the case but I know Haruka, and this series, are going to drag out this
bombshell secret as long as they can.
And speaking of Ayato being surrounded by nothing but hot
women on the beach (TWICE!!!), Quon got to join in on the adventure, a little
bit. She got to meet the Reika image
that’s been haunting/guiding/teasing (I really don’t know) Ayato since he
escaped from Tokyo Jupiter. Quon calls
her Ixtli, and that means what? And what
exactly is that egg she gave to Quon?
Another Rahxephon? The way this
story might go, I wouldn’t be surprised if Quon becomes an unexpected rival for
Ayato. And yes, I still think Quon looks
better than Rei Ayanami so we have a sexier potential Goddess of Death.
I’m continuing to enjoy this series and am always ready
to cue up the next episode as soon as the other ends. The mystery isn’t bad. I’m loving the music, animation and atmosphere
of the world. Even most of the
characters are making some progress (Megu was a lot less annoying than last
week). You didn’t even need a Rahxephon
action scene to make an episode a win…though it did help the otherwise
pointless Christmas episode, which felt a lot more like filler despite a not so
obvious clue drop about Haruka’s true connection to Ayato. Seriously, let him know you know him already
or it could come back to bite you girl.
Who am I saying? We’re only 9
episodes in and if you know your Anime, you know bits of story that big are
seldom dropped so soon.
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