Rating: 
Summary: Encore!
Review: For those of you who've seen the whole of Evangelion and have vowed to do terrible things to Hideaki Anno should you ever meet him, watch Rah-Xephon and see the series Eva should have been. It does cover almost exactly the same ground as Eva, but with enough differences and more importantly enough coherency that your not left saying what the... after the final episode. Easily as good as the series that so clearly inspired it. Crescendo, wraps the series perfectly, answering just enough questions to prevent the outcry that greeted Evangelion, but leaving enough unanswered to avoid critisism that the show was dumbed down.
Rating:
Summary: Oh Yes! Finally!
Review: I've been waiting for this since I finished Aria. And then it was backordered and...well anyway finally got it, watched it, and oh was it good. COnfusing. Unlike Eva, since eva just didn't really explain things, RahXephon is just plain confusing! Which is why i love it. So yeah, it's over and was exciting. Can't wait for the US release of the movie, that'll rock!
Rating:
Summary: Oh Yes! Finally!
Review: I've been waiting for this since I finished Aria. And then it was backordered and...well anyway finally got it, watched it, and oh was it good. COnfusing. Unlike Eva, since eva just didn't really explain things, RahXephon is just plain confusing! Which is why i love it. So yeah, it's over and was exciting. Can't wait for the US release of the movie, that'll rock!
Rating:
Summary: Several U-Turns Ahead
Review: Not unexpectedly, the conclusion of this series is apocalyptic. After being forced to action after fleeing from the disasters of the previous episodes Ayato Kamino finds himself at a crossroads in his own quest for identity. He fears that, if he gives in to the call of the RahXephon, he will lose his own personality. But the war between the Mu and humanity reaches a fevered pitch around him. If he does not commit, the ruin of what he loves is inevitable. Torn between his love for Haruka and the lure of Quon, Ayato most make a great leap of faith, with results that are difficult to absorb. Watching these episodes is like falling through one layer of deception after another. Like an onion, the viewer first sees the interpersonal deceptions, then the deceptions of Mu and human, and finally the deceptions created by director Yutaka Izubuchi. These components are so intertwined that it is impossible to determine whether Izubuchi was deadly serious or tongue-in-cheek. This creates an intentional air of unease which is hardly relieved when the entire plot is once again stood on its head on last, glorious time. After pointing out that RahXephon was quite a bit different than Evangelion, These final episodes unexpectedly reestablishe RahXephons relationship to its noble predecesspr, while retaining a great deal of independent creativity. From all production viewpoints - art, animation, music, acting, etc. - these final moments are outstanding, frame after frame. I have to say that I'm happy to have decided to follow the series, even if I haven't quite figured out what to make of it. As in much of art, you have to decide what it is you want to believe, which may very well be the point being the conclusion. In any case I don't think you will be disappointed - stunned maybe - but not disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Several U-Turns Ahead
Review: Not unexpectedly, the conclusion of this series is apocalyptic. After being forced to action after fleeing from the disasters of the previous episodes Ayato Kamino finds himself at a crossroads in his own quest for identity. He fears that, if he gives in to the call of the RahXephon, he will lose his own personality. But the war between the Mu and humanity reaches a fevered pitch around him. If he does not commit, the ruin of what he loves is inevitable. Torn between his love for Haruka and the lure of Quon, Ayato most make a great leap of faith, with results that are difficult to absorb. Watching these episodes is like falling through one layer of deception after another. Like an onion, the viewer first sees the interpersonal deceptions, then the deceptions of Mu and human, and finally the deceptions created by director Yutaka Izubuchi. These components are so intertwined that it is impossible to determine whether Izubuchi was deadly serious or tongue-in-cheek. This creates an intentional air of unease which is hardly relieved when the entire plot is once again stood on its head on last, glorious time. After pointing out that RahXephon was quite a bit different than Evangelion, These final episodes unexpectedly reestablishe RahXephons relationship to its noble predecesspr, while retaining a great deal of independent creativity. From all production viewpoints - art, animation, music, acting, etc. - these final moments are outstanding, frame after frame. I have to say that I'm happy to have decided to follow the series, even if I haven't quite figured out what to make of it. As in much of art, you have to decide what it is you want to believe, which may very well be the point being the conclusion. In any case I don't think you will be disappointed - stunned maybe - but not disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Ok, so I knew it was going to end like it did. I thought it wouldn't bother me, but it does. I think maybe it was too much of what I expected. The ending isn't satisfying.
There aren't any major plot twists you haven't already figured out. The revelations come too little too late and never answer most of the questions the series brings up. So much is just left hanging, justified by an ending that renders everything that happens irrelevant. Well maybe not irrelevant, but certainly less important. There's a sense of meaninglessness in it all that I found depressing. And why kill everyone? What was accomplished by that?
So Ayato fails to escape his fate and is forced to become Rah. The real Rah or Xephon's Rah? Is there a difference? I was hoping for a more scientific approach to the whole Aztec myth premise and a firm scientific explanation of the Xephon system, but instead what I get is some glorified techno/religious babble that doesn't explain anything. The series should have stopped playing peek-a-boo in DVD6 and started giving FIRM answers to satisfy the viewers, yet they continue in meaningless cloak and dagger play with no real answers. The Xephon system is never explained. Dolem are never explained. The Mu are never explained.
I think perhaps I have a fundamental philosophical difference of opinion with the writers of this series. They appear to be from the school that "art has no meaning except what the viewer puts into it. I don't have to give it a meaning, and others can interpret it how they like." Sorry, but all good art needs the artist to give/understand it's meaning. I finished this series and I am left confused by too much meaningless symbolism and unanswered questions.
While the first 5 DVDs were good, the last 2 are a real disappointment. Many things are left unanswered and too much is left open to interpretation. Since I made the mistake of buying the DVDs I'm still trying to decide whether to sell them or hold onto them for the first few DVDs sake. So far I'm leaning toward selling them.
Rating: 
Summary: Good ending to a great series
Review: Rahxephon has to be one of the greatest anime around today. This the final DVD of the series, can only be descibed as great. After the Absolute Barrier was taken down and the MU set up shop around the whole world, Ayato is again made to choose to fight for the person he loves, or to stand and do nothing. Of course he chooses love (what guy wouldn't). It does have a few twist that may require a second veiwing...but all in all it was perfect. First anime I've seen that did not leave me hanging. On a side note the Import Rahxephon movie is a good buy, it has a good deal of back story and will explain some of the twist they left out in the U.S. series.
Rating:
Summary: I like this series just as much as NGE.
Review: This series is vastly less well-known than Neon Genesis Evangelion even in Japan partly because it was broadcast after midnight. The release of the theater version last spring did not make much of a splash, either.
In my opinion NGE is ultimately a story of a family disguised as sci-fi anime, and RahXephone seems to cover a similar terrain as the story centers around Ayato Kamina's identity crisis and his search for his true self. As in NGE, the primary characters here feel somewhat alienated against each other and struggle hard to get their true feelings across. It is in this respect that the Jupiter barrier is to this series what the AT field is to NGE as they both represent the mental barriers that the characters harbor deep inside themselves. However, befitting their adolescent mentality, Ayato's and Haruka's yearning for each other seems more sugarcoated and thus less urgent than Shinji Ikari's yearning for love and recognition.
All the references to ancient mythology and music are ultimately peripheral to the main argument of this series. And I must admit that I could not get all the characters' names right until the very end of the series. That said, I am glad that I have seen the series and like this one no less than Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Rating:
Summary: Playgery is the Highest Form of Compliment
Review: Welcome to RahXephon, an unabashed "compliment" to Neon Genesis Evangelion, and shame on anyone who doubts it.
For those of you who finished Neon Genesis Evangelion with crossed eyes and drool at the corner of your mouth, have heart; I was there with you. Even the new End of Evangelion, an amazing and awe inspiring anime, brings little real closure other than what the watcher decides to believe. Evangelion is a mish mash of confused monologues, esoteric concepts and diluted theology. And that never stopped everyone from loving it.
Why am I reviewing Evangelion when RahXephon is what I am supposed to be writing about? Well, RahXephon is so much like Evangelion that to not mention them together would be criminal. Each episode is set up much like Evangelion, with a singular enemy appearing, the command unit deciding on a course of action, and the hero eventually somehow defeating the enemy, often after a crisis of character. Even the D1's in this series are angelic, more so even than Evangelion's but the relation is uncanny. Our main Character, Ayato, even acts like Shinji much of the time, endlessly questioning his own motives and his place in the world. The supporting cast also closely resembles those in Evangelion in one way or another.
BUT! This is not a criticism! The fact is that Evangelion is one of the most influential anime series of all time and it would be a damn shame if it wasn't borrowed from occasionally. What is special to RahXephon is, although the last few episodes break into a highly philosophical tone, it is not so confused as Evangelion. And by confused I mean that if you really listen to the last two episodes of Evangelion, and I mean really listen, they are not saying anything sensical. It is up to the viewer to take from it whatever they want. RahXephon is less demanding, allowing each viewer some lee way on interpretation but also setting a definite theme. Still, as I listened real close to RahXephons's ending, again the ideas were simple after the obsessive diolouge was sifted through.
The reason I give RahXephon a 4 instead of a 5 is that, as amazing as it is and as well done, there are still a number of series out there that are just plain better. Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne come to mind. I also personally disliked the level to which characters constantly questioned themselves, something that is much more common in anime than Hollywood. Whether this is cultural or otherwise, I know not. All I know is that as the end apporaches, its not action filled...its thought provoking.
In the end, RahXephon is worthy of any collection, though maybe not worth buying each disk individually. Because ultimately, unless you haven't seen Evangelion, you'll be noticing a lot of similarity throughout this series. And while that doesn't diminish this title, it is worth consideration.
Rating:
Summary: The tuning of the world
Review: With the war between Mu and the Human's about to conclude, the time for the tuning of the world is at hand. Ayato now must face what the attaining of Yolteotl truly means as well as deal with the death and destruction it will deal to those around him. Volume seven of Rahxephon ends with its final three episodes. The great thing about this anime series that's lacking in others is that ends magnificently. Just about everything you want to know is explained in this volume and that's what makes not only this volume great but also the series. This is truly a great anime series and one that should not be missed.
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