At long last, the inevitable final confrontation between
Humanity and the Mu has come. As Ayato
and Quon become one with their instruments, the world begins to feel the
effects of their chaotic song. Haruka is
desperate to reach the man she loves and remind him of what’s still worth
protecting in this world. But is Ayato,
now fused with the Rahxephon, still able to hear her words? What will be left of the Earth when all is
finished and the final tune is composed?
The story of Rahxephon ends here…or does it?
It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel not as
traumatized as I was with End of Eva.
Im surprised ive gone this long throughout this series
and not been flat out miffed at all the comparisons and sometimes flat out rip
offs of the legendary Evangelion. But to
be honest, I feel like Rahxephon has sometimes done things much better than Eva
has. I know that’s going to net me a lot
of flack but let me be clear, I love Evangelion and it can easily find a list
on my 10 Greatest Anime of All Time.
Rahxephon has never been a rip off of Eva. The similarities are pretty evident but I’ve
never held those against it. That being
said, now that we’ve reached the end, does finale reach the uncomfortably
somber notes of The End of Evangelion?
Short answer…no.
Whereas End of Eva was Hideki Anno’s always intended,
ginormous F U to the fans that resulted in the deaths of every main cast member
and a head scratching finale moment, Rahxephon piles on the intensity and loss
but also offers more of a hope that End of Eva never had. I mean sure, we lose Soichi and Elvy (amongst
a list of others), and those losses really suck. And yeah it did seem like dismal times were
ahead in Earth’s final battle. But all
signs were pointing towards a more optimistic conclusion…except when we saw the
final Ayato and Quon fusions with their Rahxephons…those were just nightmare
fuel.
So let’s get into it a bit. The final battle between Humanity and Mu might’ve only taken up half of the final set but it was some of the best action so far. Elvy definitely got a couple of moments to shine before biting the bullet, as did the rest of her Alpha Squad. And the scope just felt bigger than before. Ships at sea blasting and being blasted by enemies from above, including a maniacal Mamoru, you knew this was going to be it, no matter the outcome. The final battle between Ayato and Quon’s Rahxephon’s (I guess that’s the plural) was more of an uncomfortable erotic wrestling match than an actual duel. Quon even jokes to Ayato in their dream state to “be gentle with me.” That and all the choir screaming from them…the imagery is something but the actual watching is kind of a strange experience.
Speaking of, we did get a ton of last minute reveals to
go along with all the mecha chaos. The
moments in the church with the final fates of Itsuki, Makoto and Sayako (does
anyone even really remember her), and Babhem Helena detailing the history of
his grand plan could have been an episode squeezed in right before the final
act began. There’s just so much story to
mine there that is, instead, left as one last bit to digest before we wrap
things up. In a way, it almost feels
fitting that Futagami was the one to gun down the supposed immortal Babhem
before the mad man could see the new world.
That’s what he gets for showing us so little about the secrets he
kept. Plus it gave Futagami a chance to
have one last moment of badassery.
The lack of Babhem explanations feels almost as unfair as
not giving more time to the supporting cast throughout this series. I felt bad losing Soichi but not so much for
Kim crying over his death and blaming Ayato for it. Kim was just too miniscule a character,
compared to say Megumi or Kunigi, that I didn’t even care that she was pregnant
with So’s child. Still, it was nice to
see some familiar faces give their final farewells to Ayato before the world
ended. Seeing Elvy’s final message was
pretty touching, admitting that despite Ayato being a Mulian, she still thought
of him as a comrade and friend…wow Elvy, you could have said this sooner but
still you get all the points back you deserve.
And what of the end?
Well, like I said, it’s a lot sunnier than End of Eva and even less, but
definitely not totally, bloody. But then
again, Ayato has always been one to be more open to possibilities and the voice
of his own heart…even when he didn’t realize Haruka was HIS Haruka from before
Tokyo Jupiter. I think the world was
always going to be ok in his hands. And
after all the crap he went through, Ayato got his happy ending, being reborn with
Haruka in the new world. Why Quon is
their baby…idk im not gonna broach that.
But as one final treat we got to see the origin of Ayato’s Mishima
painting and the moment he first met Haruka.
It was a payoff we wanted to see, even though Haruka’s handling of
keeping true self secret from Ayato made me roll my eyes a lot.
Well, we’ve come to the end…sort of. I’m tempted to do my full series thoughts now
so…oh ok I’ll get it out of the way here.
There are plenty of unanswered questions and water cooler topics come
series end. But I really enjoyed
Rahxephon nonetheless. The characters
are interesting (if a little annoying at times), the mechs are different and
unique (even if they do share similarities with the Evangelions), the look is
gorgeous (Studio Bones doing its thing and doing it well) and I was never bored
and always willing to press on. Was it
better than Evangelion? Overall,
no. But it is a very strong successor to
the model that Evangelion setup and, as I said, does somethings better (more
constant action, a more likeable protagonist).
I think this series doesn’t get enough attention in the world of Anime
and that’s a shame. This is one gem I
hope others can discover on their own, watch and enjoy debating together. Fly on Moose Gundam.
8/10
BUT…
This isn’t over yet.
There’s still one more tale of Rahxephon to tell and I’m going to review
it next week. We reach our grand
conclusion with the epic encore: Rahxephon The Motion Picture-Pluralitas
Concentio. See ya then.
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