Rewatching: RahXephon (Eps. 1 – 26)
My first complete experience of RahXephon was something of a disjointed mess. I watched it on fledging UK Anime Time (which even now is a bit of a joke); it being one of the preliminary UK DVD releases in the rebirth of Britain’s anime industry. And this being a number of years ago, when I really didn’t have much money to spend on specialty DVDs, my acquisition of the whole series has pretty much been a four-year commitment. You can imagine how this messed up the experience. But, with a recent visit back home and access to my pre-uni anime stash, I’ve got the whole series all under one roof and apt opportunity for a thorough good marathon. Rah indeed.
And still, even with renewed, complete exposure to its beauteous charms, the Evangelion Contention remains my biggest distraction. But (!) it’s now a more a matter of regret than outright disdain. I don’t believe RahXephon is just a very pretty analogue of Evangelion anymore – its individual merits are unique and strong enough to differentiate – rather I see it now as a very liberal borrower of Eva’s directional and story-telling techniques. The only reason this bothers me is because, with every overt nod to the Daddy, I couldn’t help but wonder how uniquely fantastic RahXephon could’ve been if it hadn’t borrowed so heavily; how, if it went its own way completely (rather than partially), it could’ve been a true equal to Eva, rather than an incredibly enjoyable derivative.
Yet, like I’ve said, RahXephon has more than enough of its own spangly bits to make it a worthwhile experience. So let’s talk in terms of favourites.
Favourite character has to be Itsuki. Initially for his intelligence and underlying bitchiness, then for his fantastic exchanges with Mokoto, and finally for his dramatic relation to Ayato and all the wonderful parallels that develop in the latter parts of the series. All in all Itsuki was the most satisfying character of RahXephon for me. He had depth, subtly, mystery, everything. Really, all the Bähbem associated characters were fascinating (as well as affiliated characters like Sayoko) – I paid closer attention to their screen-time than anyone else. Mishima also holds a dear place in my heart — mainly because I’m a sucker for enigmatic female characters, but also because of her connection to Haruka and all the messed up romantic trappings.
One of the most satisfying things about RahXephon is that every single one of its characters has a deep, interconnected history to some other area of the cast (often with every single one, seemingly). I spent a good chunk of time working out every one and paying attention to the clues in how whom relates to whom, and what it meant to the over-arching story. I respect anything that gives my mind a good work-out without making me feel overtly stupid for not getting it. Needless to say, dems good writing techniques.
Favourite episode, if it isn’t obvious, was episode fifteen – the Bähbem school years flashback. Mainly because it was such a wholesome singular experience, but also because it dropped massive hints that were useful for decrypting things later on. It served as a brilliant contrast in how Itsuki, Motoko and Helena had changed so completely since childhood, and complimented the whole ‘We Grow and We Change’ theme the show subtly pushed from the onset. It was also nice to have a set of characters whose ages weren’t a complete mess of non-linearity.
Favourite scene has to be . . . and this is tough . . . where Maya bites her thumb and runs blue blood down Ayato’s lip. Apart from being incredibly atmospheric it spoke endless amounts about the pair’s relationship and all the troubles of physical maternity vs. nurtured maternity (complicated by the somewhat fucked up situation of Moms being an alien — on both bloody accounts!). Really, RahXephon is a lesson in how to speak volumes without directly saying anything. The amount of standout visual moments is testament to this. And my god, the amount of symbolism was almost gratuitous. But in a very, very sexy way.
I’ll pass on commenting on RahXephon’s animation and suchlike; its quality speaks for itself. Even after six years it looks like a beautifully consistent work of art and not once does it slip in the way anime often does towards its end. BONES set their gold standard with this show and since we comfortably come to expect high quality without any risk of GAINAX-like deterioration.
So, in retrospect, with the benefit of a complete unhindered experience, RahXephon has completely shot up in my estimations. Almost everything that had me scratching my head during my first overwrought run-through has slid effortlessly into place with this marathon session. My admiration has transcended much of the qualms that undermined the respect I previously withheld and now I’m left with the concrete opinion that RahXephon is rather fucking good.
Still, the amount of whacky incestuous desires in RahXephon was rather creepy. Those Japs and their mother/cousin/sibling love!
August 30th, 200712:28 am at
I absolutely must watch RahXephon again sometime; completely agreed on favourite episode, by the way- even now that’s the one that stands out the most for me.
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August 30th, 20073:18 am at
Rahxephon is first and foremost an absolutely incredible love story. Arguably the greatest love story in all of anime. What would you do if you lost the love of your life at 15. How much would it change your life? would you be able to move on? This is what Rahxephon is about… forget about the stupid inevitable comparisons with Evangelion, because Evangelion does not come close to the greatness of this anime.The story is by far the greatest part of this anime. What is love? can love die? Does love ever go away? can you fall out of love with someone u truly love? what is family? can we relate to concepts and people we do not understand? These are the questions that Rahxephon raises.
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August 30th, 20078:11 am at
To be honest, I never ever cared about Rahxephon – I watched EVA back then, but Rahxephon was just another of those uninteresting mecha in my book that I have not looked at. But if I look at it closely, it does sound quite intriguing – so, if Rahxephon raises interesting questions, does it do justice to the importance of those questions?
*takes note on her to-watch list*
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August 30th, 20076:35 pm at
I think I’ve seen this show three times now – the first, disjointed like you did owing to Amazon making a mistake with the dispatching, the second on ‘an ep a day’ and the third in an all-day session. I’ve given up on making Eva parallels simply because it’s a great series on its own. The animation, that experimental jazz soundtrack, the epic scope of the story…it’s all outstandingly done. BTW, if you have a spare hour or two, check out the Pluralitus Concentio movie – it adds a bit to the story and includes an insert card that outlines the character relationships. A nice touch, that.
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August 31st, 200712:44 pm at
Karura: Yeah, even after rewatching it in a more reasonable fashion ep 15 is remains the best of the best. My flat mate walked in while I was watching and immediately loved it, which says a lot seeing as he’s quite indifferent towards anime.
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…
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September 1st, 20075:51 am at
but the thing is… ive seen eva 2 or 3 times now and i have realized that i never cared about any of the characters. whether the lived or died. i have always only cared about the story. and as much as people hated shinji, it does not even compare to my utter hatred and abhoration of Asuka. i dont think i have ever hated a character in anime more. except Suzuka from Suzuka. Then again i also hate haruhi (how people can love an annoyingly selfish/conceited and arrogant character like that is beyond me. but i digress)
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.
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September 1st, 20076:32 pm at
kauldron26: See, I consider abhorrent hatred an equally valid form of caring as say, like or love. That characters must be well formed enough for you to feel so strongly, right?
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.
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