Rating: 
Summary: Appreciation
Review: I must admit when I watched the RahXephon series I only caught it from like the last 15 episodes and truly didn't understand what the hell I was watching; yet I knew liked it for some reason. If you're the same then you have to see this movie. Some say this movie won't really bring any closure to the series or explain what's really going on, but that doesn't matter. The whole point of this movie is to truly help you develop greater appreciation for an excellent love story. After watching it you could understand the story a bit more though you really notice the relationships and feelings of the characters more in depth. The movie kept all the important scenes that portrayed that concept. The whole story with the Mu invasion, the Xephons, the instrumentalist, and the tuning of the whole world, (sorry to those if I may have given too much away), only work as a back drop to better express this scenario. There are people torn between their feeling for one person and another. In a sense all the turmoil seems to help emphasize this, and only when they all become true to their emotions does everything become tranquil you can say. So check this movie out if you're still lost about the reason for why RahXephon is about all this crap. The only way to find closure to a story is to read it from the beginning. Even if the stories condensed a little, well that's just my opinion. I give it 4 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing!
Review: "RaHxephon: the motion picture" takes viewers back to the world of Tokyo Jupiter. Based on the hit television series that ran in 2001, the movie is not so much a rehash of the 26 episodes as it is a slightly expanded retelling of the story. Fans of the series and those who missed the show will enjoy the film as it offers something to both groups. Fans will of course want to learn more about the world of Tokyo Jupiter and newer fans have a great starting point to Rahxephon.
RahXephon tells the story of Ayato Kamina and his struggle to understand the world he lives in. Starting out as an ordinary school boy, his world is changed when Tokyo is attecked by invaders. Through a series of events he learns the world is much more than it seems and so is his part to play. The RahXephon movie features great Dolem (mecha) action sequences and drama. There are some great comedic moments also to help balance the mood.
Yoko Kanno (of cowboy bebop, wolf's rain fame) and Maaya Sakamoto return to music duties and have created the amazing ending theme "tune the rainbow." While some may find the plot convoluted at times, RahXephon is a great film filled with mystery, intrigue and excitement.
Rating: 
Summary: Rahxephon and Gucci?
Review: Actually, I only watched the series of Rahxephon and judging from the reactions of other reviewers, the motion picture version of this anime is complete rubbish. Since most reviewers are fans of the Rahxephon series and they only mentioned the shortcomings of the motion picture, I feel obliged to point out that all the bad feelings they have regarding the motion picture are as relevant when it comes to the series itself.
I am a fan of Japanese anime and I really like Evangelion and because of that I decided to check out Rahxephon. What I discovered totally disappointed me. Rahxepohn is a beautifully constructed piece with great aesthetic and musical value. But, those are its only virtue. The story of Rahxephon goes absolutely nowhere and while certain viewers prefer to solve puzzles while watching TV, I find it totally unacceptable to turn a plot into a puzzle. In addition to that, just about all the characters in Rahxephon are simple-minded humanoids with very limited logical capabilities. A normal audience can hardly comprehend the thoughts and feelings of the characters and are left to battle the confusion and pointlessness of Rahxephon in neural limbo.
I have the feeling that the producers and narrators only care about visual and musical output of Rahxephon. The plot is only an excuse to spend endless hours creating beautiful images and entertaining musical scores. While those are the things that make up great anime, they cannot be the only ingredients. An important anime is not just a smooth combination of audio and visual pleasures in continuum. It has to have a soul. Without that soul, Rahxephon is just a decaying corpse with Gucci outfit.
Rating: 
Summary: Discordant Melody (Spoiler Free)
Review: As a huge fan of the RahXephon original series, I was fairly disappointed after viewing the movie.
They are cramming a fantastic 13 hour story into just 2 hours - thus leaving the entire thing feeling like it's on fast forward. Character development is non-existant (since there's no time for it) and you meet most characters either already fully developed, in some cases completely changed, and some even totally removed! A story as complex as RahXephon with its large character base and overlapping storylines cannot be compressed...and this movie is proof of that.
The most tragic part is that there was no emotion behind any of the scenes. After viewing the original series over and over again, moments and music still continue to have an emotional impact on me each time I watch. Seeing these same scenes in the movie, only chopped to pieces, didn't touch me at all. There were segments that I was especially upset with since they thrust you to the climax without any sort of buildup - and without that guidepost you have no attachment to the characters, no anticipation of events, and thus no emotional connection.
Fortunately, in all of the rather LARGE gaps between scenes, I already knew what had happened (since having viewed the series all the way through a dozen times at least), so I was able to keep a decent track of the story...otherwise I would have been utterly lost. I even noticed two errors, two things that the original series clearly contradicts. It seems to me that they just created the movie as a place to put their new scenes and dialogue, and then put the rest in as filler.
Those new scenes are interesting. They are informative and reveal some of the questions that the series does not answer, but it almost seems too obvious. One of the best things about RahXephon is that you can spend hours puzzling it out, finding new 'hidden' hints in the series you never picked up on before. Each time through I discover something new, some small word or phrase, or backdrop that hints of events to come that I never noticed before.
The movie felt like it was almost a cliff notes version of the series, from the beginning to end everything was given to you plain and simple. There was no puzzle...no thinking involved.
The English voice acting is only average - the same actors (who were absolutely brilliant in the series) seemed mundane with the new dialogue. It felt like a rushed job, no time spent to get the inflection and mood of lines just right, almost as if did one take and called it good.
On the plus side, the box and packaging is wonderful. I much prefer the art on the new box as opposed to the original series box - and the DVD case itself matches the same style as the originals, so it matches perfectly.
The music is still wonderful, however feels out of place. Songs you have come to associate with certain characters or emotions in the original series, are not where you expect them to be.
So overall I'd recommend watching the original series a few times, I still hold that as one of the greatest stories ever told. Watch it over and over until you have puzzled out most of the mysteries yourself, then watch it again and find the hints and clues that you didn't catch (both audio and visual). Pickup the new art box - but I wouldn't recommend watching the movie until after you've strongly oriented yourself to the original series...that way the movie's impact on your perception of the story will be minimal.
(Also, note that most of the 5 star reviews here were posted prior to July 16th...the DVD didn't release in the US until July 20th.)
Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: I completely agree with greg goebel's review of this movie, but I wanted to add that if you haven't seen the series in its entirety you will have absolutely no idea what's going on. I saw the series a few months before the movie and I still couldn't figure out a lot of things from the movie. So if you're interested in anime definitely see the series, but only see the movie if you have time and money to waste.
Rating:
Summary: Got me hooked.
Review: I like anime, but I'm very picky. I really liked the Lain series because it had me thinking, constantly. I liked Ghost in the Shell, because it made me reflect on the direction we are taking our society. I'm not an otaku, or whatever they call those crazy fanboys. Most anime fails my test. But not Rahxephon, and although it didn't make me contemplate things in the same ways as Lain, or define anime the way Ghost in the Shell did, I still fell in love with it immediatly.
I watched the movie twice in a two day period, because towards the end I became distracted and couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. If you can pay constant attention to the movie, it's wonderful. Bits and pieces of the puzzle are constantly revealed to you for you to put together to figure out the entire mystery of what is going on. Some people have complained about this. But I feel it really gives you the oppurtunity to be placed in Kamina's shoes, and experience what he is experiencing. As the truth of his world is revealed to him, it is revealed to you, too.
And who doesn't love giant, powerful robots? Giant powerful alien robots? That can destroy everything. The movie lacks a little in this department, and could have benefited from better fight scenes, but there's a lot to compact in 2 hours (it comes from a 13 hour series, I've found out) and the fight scenes they supply are somewhat adequate.
Then there's the love story. I wish I could spoil it for you, but I won't. I'll just say my heart was on a roller coaster ride throughout the movie. One moment, joy and warmth, the next moment, cold sadness.
The art style was amazing, as well. Most anime is generic, or gritty. Not Rahxephon. Its art style is amazing and more production studios should strive for this level of quality. If we compare anime to comic books, most anime is like your regular comic book and printed on that recycled paper junk. Rahxephon is that special edition issue where they print it on glossy paper and it looks a million times better.
The movie got me interested in picking up the series and really getting to immerse myself in the world of Kamina and the Rahxephon. Hopefully I can find it at an affordable price (amazon doesn't seem to carry the series!!)
If you're an anime snob, too, then you should dig rahxephon. The only people who dislike it are fanboy's gone bitter because they wasted so much time on subpar anime that their gpa suffered ;)
Stick to the good stuff. Add rahxephon to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, made no sense without seeing series
Review: I personally think that the Rahxephon series is the best anime series out there, however I was very disappointed with the movie. It was just a cut and paste of the original animation with little snipets inserted here and there. The story made no sense unless you had seen the series first. I understand that they were trying to condense 26 episodes into a 2 hour movie, but they left too much out. They don't explain why he sees Mitsumi, they don't explain why he goes back to Tokyo Jupiter. They don't explain his friends in TJ or who they are. But they still added them. I think that the movie would have been much better and easier to understand if they would have reanimated the entire movie and made it started it over. If you have not seen the series watch it first then watch the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood
Review: I think people are completely missing the point with this film. NO its not a condensed version of the tv show. It is simply, a companion. It isnt for new viewers,its for fans of the show. I find that be doing a "different" version of the story it works as a GREAT companion! You can't look at it as a cheap cut version of the show. New scenes are added to give a "different" take on the series. I think it fills in some gaps and makes you appreciate the show all the more! This needs to be watched as a companion AFTER viewing the complete show. Its a bit expensive just to get the box but it DOES come with a GOOD sized companion book also that has ALOT of info and pictures for the characters of the show. It is for fans of the tv show NOT new fans as I've stated. Its pretty cool to have it as a true end to the show.
Rating:
Summary: Anime for the Ages.....
Review: Ok, Whats going on with all the negative reviews of this movie? The series was great and I think the movie, though it was a little bit different view interpritation on the story line from the series, is just as good as the series. I don't think alot of people truly understood the series and probably would not have as great of appricitation for this movie as other might. However if you were a fan of the 30 some episide long series, than the RahXephon movie (which runs alittle over 2 hours) is a must see. If you have not seen the series yet, it might be better to try to watch the it first and keep an open mind. Though the similarities to series such as Evangellian are there, RahXephon is truly in a league of it's own and should not be compared to past anime series!! Just watch RahXephon and experience one of the best anime story lines ever to be written....
Rating:
Summary: Much more than a re-cap
Review: RahXephon: Motion Picture bears a similar stigma as Neon Genisis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth in that the majority of RX:MP is a recap of the series, however, it does reveal more about Ayato, Haruka, Quan, and many other main characters from about 10 years before the first episode to about 40 years after the last. A must have for RahXephon fans, but if you weren't thrilled by RX, you can afford to pass on the movie.
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