Rahxephon - Dissonace (Vol. 4)

Rating:
Summary: Ayato's mind trip
Review: I LOVE how just when you THINK you know whats going on Ayato is ripped out of one situation and thrown into another that is more complex and amazing

Rating:
Summary: Building Tension...RahXephon Gets Rolling
Review: Many "RahXephon" viewers may have been discouraged by the much too slow-paced third volume which was used to set up the rest of the series. Not to worry. "Dissonance" plays more like your typical anime series volume: numerous fights, major revelations, finishing with a cliffhanger. Things begin to get hectic in the real world, and this is the disc to get the ball rolling.

As a recap, the title character is a giant robot with yet unexplored but sound-related abilities, and uniquely pilotable by teenager Ayato Kamina. Kamina has just been freed from the space-time bubble surrounding Tokyo-Jupiter (where time runs at a rate years behind) and has been told that what he thought was reality is a construct by an alien race of Murians. The battle for Tokyo-Jupiter and its numerous human inhabitants is waged with Dolems--the Murian giant robots--and RahXephon, on behalf of the "real" Earth.

Vol. 4 starts off with the shady new characters Helena Barbem and Makoto Iishiki, the latter a white-haired albino with red circle spectacles and a heart of ice, speaking with Katsuragi about the experiments and examinations on his "sister," Quon. Everything begins to hint around the fact that Quon may well have been the first Murian specimen captured by those from the real world--in fact, her past is so shady that they feel any information they do have may even be forged. Meanwhile, another giant spiky-appendaged Dolem hovers visibly over the Earth, and is promptly destroyed by Ayato using a new RahXephon weapon. "That's the path to destruction," says Quon.

The next episode is nearly a stand-alone and diverts strongly from the main RahXephon plotline. Three children--a boy with long, white hair, another boy in glasses and a girl with short blonde hair--are being vocally and academically trained (you can tell it's a flashback by the whitish-gold tone that tints the whole episode) by a man looking a lot like Makoto. The two boys sneak off, away from the girl, whom they don't seem to get along with, and go off to a rock-like creature they've been feeding and trying to nurse to life. This episode's plot brings a strong element of tragedy that helps us understand the main characters much better when we find out that the three are Katsuragi, Makoto and Helena.

Next, the Barbem Foundation gives the fighters from the real world Vermillion, their own flying, fighting robot, armed with a machine/pulse gun, piloted by the fierce lady lieutenant Elvy Hadhiat. But this isn't the most significant development on the disc. Since Elvy would most likely end up working alongside Ayato in RahXephon, Commander Yagumo drops a bomb that shocks Elvy, but that most viewers should already have been expecting: Ayato, savior of the world, is a Murian. Ayato overhears the conversation, further upping his anger and lack of trust with the authority figures. Still, Ayato manages to talk himself into piloting RahXephon again to help out Elvy against a splitting Dolem. He will fly RahXephon one more time at the disc's end--this time to go back to Tokyo-Jupiter with Quon, with Vermillion in hot pursuit.

This is a transitional disc. It still continues to set up the series by delving more into just who the characters are (including Haruka Shitou), but it also ups the number of action scenes and plot turns.

RahXephon has beautiful art, part of the new, modern style of anime seen in "Full Metal Panic," "Gasaraki" and ".hack//sign"--flat, thick-lined, clean illustrations with computer graphics imbedded nicely into the shots. The music seems to have gained a better foothold as well, coming in at more appropriate times with more appropriate beats or sad orchestral tones. The pacing is spasmic...slow, conversational sections followed sporadically by giant robots blasting weapons, and back. While this disc doesn't compare to the first, fifth and ending volumes, it does provide more flavor to the series, and of course the all-important "Ayato's a Murian!" revelation.

A four-star effort from a five-star series.

Rating:
Summary: A crying shame...
Review: RahXephon has slugged along at a steady rate, giving viewers little to adhere to, or be enthralled by outside of the incredible artwork. This DVD does provide some backstory, but doesn't tie in how any of it works, or why we should care. After these episodes I felt enlightened...but I am not sure why because the motivations and reasons for any of the histories or characters involved is immaterial. A lack of connection between events and reactions takes its toll worse in this disc then almost any other. The affairs in love and politics around the Earth defense forces doesn't get properly established most times to warrant a great pay off, and the same is true for almost any situation in every episode of the series to this point. Where it is going is secondary, I am just watching the incredible art and allowing the room temperature writing to wash over me as I wait for a 'shocking' resolve to WHATEVER is going on.

Rating:
Summary: A crying shame...
Review: RahXephon has slugged along at a steady rate, giving viewers little to adhere to, or be enthralled by outside of the incredible artwork. This DVD does provide some backstory, but doesn't tie in how any of it works, or why we should care. After these episodes I felt enlightened...but I am not sure why because the motivations and reasons for any of the histories or characters involved is immaterial. A lack of connection between events and reactions takes its toll worse in this disc then almost any other. The affairs in love and politics around the Earth defense forces doesn't get properly established most times to warrant a great pay off, and the same is true for almost any situation in every episode of the series to this point. Where it is going is secondary, I am just watching the incredible art and allowing the room temperature writing to wash over me as I wait for a 'shocking' resolve to WHATEVER is going on.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for a sci-fi fan
Review: RahXephon is a sci-fi anime with an intriguing story. Editorial review does a good job for summarizing the overall scenerio, so there is no need to lengthen my review. RahXephon resembles Neon Genesis Evangelion in many respects but it doesn't have the drawbacks of Evangelion that I mentioned in my review of its complete set. If you enjoy science-fiction books or movies having interesting and intriguing subjects, you will enjoy RahXephon as much as I do. If you need an example from anime to make your decision, I can say that the ones liked Gasaraki will probably like RahXephon, too.

Video and audio quality of this DVD edition is very good. Most anime fans dislike dubbing and prefer to watch Japanese sound with English subtitles. However, subtitles are not that good. I found out that listening an important conversation, which you couldn't understand it at first, for a second time is much more efficient than figuring out what happened from subtitles. You should notice that there are actually two English subtitles. First subtitle is the regular one and the second one is similar to the "Pill" option of Akira, it only translates Japanese words on the video and background conversation on scenes such as a news heard from a TV. This second English subtitle is benefical to turn on.

Leaflets on DVD's are very wellcome and useful. There are fully coloured drawings of mechas and persons together with a brief information. The leaflet of this first volume also includes short interviews with Japanese cast but no translation notes this time. I hope they will reappear in the next volumes. Production sketches, opening and closing animations are there again in the extras, as well as ADV previews. The last extra is the second interview with English cast. Voice actors of Mishima, Isshiki and Sayoko answer a few questions, respectively. The questions are cliche again but not completely same the first interview. Some questions are the same and some are different. This interview is somewhat poorer than the first one, but it's OK.

Fourth volume has four episodes which reveal much more secrets than the previous volumes. I, as a science fiction fan, give five stars to this volume as well as the other three and I am looking forward for the rest.

Rating:
Summary: The beginning of my respect for the series...
Review: The first three volumes of Rahxephon were good anime. The story was building at a nice pace and the characters becoming very interesting. Since we were still pretty early on in the series with volume four, I didn't quite know what to excpect. I have seen shows that have done well to this point and then suddenly shift gears and stall like a plane racing for the ground. For this reason, I couldn't quite get into the show, as I was waiting for the stall...

Instead I got some of the best anime I have ever seen. One thing that truly amazes me about the Rahxephon series is the character development. If you see someone on the screen, you're going to get some back story on them eventually. And the more and more you start knowing about the MANY characters in this series, the much more complicated and facinating it becomes.

The beautiful art, imagery, and music are just the icing on the cake. Rahxephon has so much going for it that I don't hesitate giving this DVD and series high praise.

Rating:
Summary: Dissonace
Review: The previous reviews basically tell you what the content of this volume is about so I'll just give my thoughts on it. What I really like about this volume and the series in whole are the relationships between the characters. As well as thier individual development. With this volume in particular the trust between Ayato and the people around him are really pushed to the limits. And this volume does a great job with this all while keeping the story interesting. That's what makes me really like this anime series.

Rating:
Summary: Changing the Key
Review: This fourth DVD in the series opens with a mounting puzzle about the nature of Quon Kisaragi. Haruka has become obsessed with finding out the truth for motivations which are not entirely clear. But her ability to enter the RahXephon has drawn intense interest, including the Mu, who send a new Dolem to send a message only Quon and Ayato can hear. This crisis has repercussions that will affect the rest of the series.

Even so there is little warning for the view about the plot shift to come. If there is a question about Quon's nature, the mystery of Ayato's is even darker. Elvy, the pilot from TERRA, is equipped with a new giant robot named Vermillion. This weapon is every bit as powerful as the RahXephon, and Elvy's competitiveness runs away with her when she finds out that Ayato is not entirely human.

But Ayato had no idea of his reality either and the discover shatters his self-possession. While he fights both his sense of alienation and his feelings of betrayal we are led deeper into what appears to be a 500 year old mystery surrounding the Bahbem mansion which has come to fruition in it's attempt to create a line of 'instrumentalists' who can wield the powers of the Mu. Thus, this DVD ends with more questions than it began with.

Almost lost in all of this is a touching look at Megumi, Haruka's younger sister. We discover that her obnoxious exterior hides a surprising sensitivity. Certainly, this set of episodes contains strong performances on all sides.

RahXephon continues its appeal to a more thoughtful audience than it's giant robo parents. There are clear parallels to Evangelion, but it is really a different and deeper story. Director Yutaka Izubuchi is looking deeper than surface character defects, and the ingenuity of its 'battle system' has yet to yield the same horrific violence. This isn't a criticism of either series, just an indication of their core differences.

Rating:
Summary: Changing the Key
Review: This fourth DVD in the series opens with a mounting puzzle about the nature of Quon Kisaragi. Haruka has become obsessed with finding out the truth for motivations which are not entirely clear. But her ability to enter the RahXephon has drawn intense interest, including the Mu, who send a new Dolem to send a message only Quon and Ayato can hear. This crisis has repercussions that will affect the rest of the series.

Even so there is little warning for the view about the plot shift to come. If there is a question about Quon's nature, the mystery of Ayato's is even darker. Elvy, the pilot from TERRA, is equipped with a new giant robot named Vermillion. This weapon is every bit as powerful as the RahXephon, and Elvy's competitiveness runs away with her when she finds out that Ayato is not entirely human.

But Ayato had no idea of his reality either and the discover shatters his self-possession. While he fights both his sense of alienation and his feelings of betrayal we are led deeper into what appears to be a 500 year old mystery surrounding the Bahbem mansion which has come to fruition in it's attempt to create a line of 'instrumentalists' who can wield the powers of the Mu. Thus, this DVD ends with more questions than it began with.

Almost lost in all of this is a touching look at Megumi, Haruka's younger sister. We discover that her obnoxious exterior hides a surprising sensitivity. Certainly, this set of episodes contains strong performances on all sides.

RahXephon continues its appeal to a more thoughtful audience than it's giant robo parents. There are clear parallels to Evangelion, but it is really a different and deeper story. Director Yutaka Izubuchi is looking deeper than surface character defects, and the ingenuity of its 'battle system' has yet to yield the same horrific violence. This isn't a criticism of either series, just an indication of their core differences.