I agree about Asuka; she brought out some pretty base disgust in me too (let’s not even start on fucking Haruhi), but I recognise that was the point and her break-down is probably the most coldly emotional moments in the whole of Evangelion as a result.

My point is that fiction that whips up feelings of outright hatred are equally as skilled as those that inspire affection. Just because a lot of Eva’s characters aren’t likeable doesn’t mean it isn’t an incredibly well-written and well-observed example of ‘humanity’. I think many people hate it /because/ it’s so honest and real.

Personally, there’s been very few anime that have made me care as deeply about their characters as Eva. I think it relates to personal resonance and all that, but also the method in which GAINAX developed and exposed their cast. RahXephon is simply more compassionate of its audience in its story-telling etc. Eva relished brutally slapping us in the face. The differing intentions of both anime justify their methods, in my opinion.

I enjoy a bit of audience brutality in fiction. It makes everything all the more vivid. Doesn’t mean the sweeter, more affectionate approach of say, RahXephon, is any less valid or respectable.

but the thing about rahxephon when i think about the show i cant help but think about the love between the main characters. when they meet for the “first” time, when the kiss for the first time, when Haruka is in Limbo talking to his mom, when he becomes “god” and comes to see her one last time. what gets to me the most is the last 20 seconds of the anime. the very last 20 seconds when we find out how they truly met for the first time. thats some powerful shit man. really powerful stuff that just hits you.

kauldron26: In a general sense I agree – the ending supports that argument – but I hesitate to call it a love story because of all the sappy connotations of that label. RahXephon’s love story is messy and complicated without much romance, which why it’s so affective. People’s motivations and affections (bar Haruka, kinda) are deeply hidden in a very realistic ‘so much unsaid’ sort of way. The skill of the writing/direction was that we got very well-paced hints of how characters felt about each other without massive dramatic scenes (again, barring Haruka – which is what made her outbursts so damn amazing). RahXephon was definitely a love story, but an intelligent, restrained one.

Sasa: I’d say so, but in a rather covert way. Superficially RahXephon is quite easy to write off. It has quite a light pleasant feel to it that makes taking it seriously much harder than, say, Evangelion. But there’s a lot to excavate and discover, and the character relationships almost match Eva’s, albeit in a less FUCK MY HEART JUST DIED sort of way.

Martin: Yeah, the Eva parallels quickly die away once you get into the meat of the show. I only ever focused on the directional similarities after that. I still wish RahXephon took its raw materials and did it in a more unique way, though. Maybe Eva is too influential to escape when you make these kind of intelligent mecha shows. Who knows…

*takes note on her to-watch list*