Content:  Violence and some dark themes.  15+

Specs:  RahXephon is a 26 episode TV series, each episode composed of approximately 22mins.  The series spans across 7 DVD's for its Region 1 release.  All DVD's include both English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0 dialogue (with removable English Subtitles), recorded in Dolby Digital.  Video is full-screen (4:3 Aspect Ratio).  Extras include Clean Opening and Ending animations, English voice actor interviews, Japanese Production Cast interviews, special Japanese Promo Trailer, and some ADV previews.  The DVD flyers are actually some nicely detailed little booklets with information about the characters, story, translation notes, as well as more interviews with the Japanese producers and cast.

Publisher:  ADV Films, in association with Industrial Smoke & Mirrors.

Animation Studio:  Bones

Synopsis:  High school student Ayato Kamina is suddenly found in a big destructive mess when his subway crashes, hurting his two other friends in the process.  When he goes outside to find help, he finds that his city of Tokyo is being attacked by special forces.  During this catastrophe he encounters a very mysterious girl who goes by the name of Reika Mishima, who appears to be strikingly familiar to Ayato, as she looks EXACTLY like the girl in his painting.  After the two have met, Ayato is then pursued by two men in uniforms, which he is then rescued by a mysterious woman.  However, not trusting this mysterious woman, Ayato flees away in a subway train in which Reika was in, leaving the woman behind.  After the train stops, Ayato and Reika are found in a mysterious, celestial-like room, called the Room of Rah, where a giant egg resides... 

What is that giant egg?  Why did that mysterious woman defended Ayato?  What's with all the chaos happening in Ayato's home town?  And who is Reika Mishima anyways???  All this is answered in the anime, so don't worry.  ;) 

Personal Opinion:  When I was first introduced to the RahXephon anime, I said to Greatoneshere and Treble_Xez from the IGN Boards, "oh great, another mecha series... sigh, Ok, I'll get it, ONLY because you say so!"  ...  Boy am I glad I listened to those two!  At around DVD #4, I had officially claimed RahXephon as my #1 favorite anime series.  So yes... the following opinion is one of the most biased opinions you'll ever hear.

The series starts with a pleasant and calm look at the city of Tokyo, and we are then introduced to the main character, Ayato Kamina, in his room staring at his finished painting of a girl in a yellow dress staring at the sea.  We then see how Ayato goes on with his normal life --his mother always busy at work, his trip to the subway heading for school, and of course, his two best friends.  All of that, will be abruptly interrupted when we see all the action thrown to us with the invading attack of the Special Forces.  We then see just how Ayato is able to cope with all the chaos going on, and amidst all that chaos he meets a very mysterious girl (which I already explained in the synopsis).  All this makes you think that this is yet another mecha series where a high school kid learns to pilot a giant robot to kick the special forces' asses... well, at least it did to me.  But then later in the first few episodes we are hit hard with the fact that Ayato has been living a lie... all his life.  I don't wish to spoil the exact details, but you'll see eventually if you decide to watch this series.

The anime does share the random invading aliens formula though.  In this case, they are called "Dolems".  They come in search for something, but they don't say what it is until later in the anime.  And since this is after all a giant mecha anime, the main mecha of the show is, obviously, the RahXephon.  An angel-like being with wings on his head, and is capable of tremendous offensive power.  The way the fights between the RahXephon and the Dolems happen is mostly through singing... yes... I said singing.  Now hold your horses!!  There are no lyrics here!  Even if it were lyrics, it would be a language humans can't understand anyways.  They sing to perform their attacks, each Dolem has their unique set of attacks, but they all sing to perform them. Ayato fights these Dolems with the RahXephon and the help of "Terra", the organization in charge of dealing with these Dolem Attacks (or as they call it, a D-1 alert).  So yes, you ARE going to see some supernatural fights in this story, and by supernatural I mean reality and even time distortion!

Later on in the anime we meet a wide array of colorful characters.  Each one with their own distinct personality, of course some stand out more than others, but it only adds to the variety.  And for me, this is where the series truly shines --the interaction of all these characters.  We have all sorts of drama here that make the story a lot more interesting, ranging from romance, to even a fan club!!  And the way a lot of these characters are connected, will give some nice twists and turns, and those are always interesting.   But certainly one of the biggest draw-ins for RahXephon are the differences between the two species of humans.  How does the racism between these two species affect the characters was truly well done, and certainly believable.  There are a lot of hidden feelings for some of the characters in RahXephon, they grow from either accepting or coping with those feelings.  These hidden feelings range from pure and utter love, to bitter jealousy.  A very interesting mix in these characters, it certainly kept me glued to the TV!  In a lot of ways, it feels like watching a romantic story, or a soap-opera, but it's so more interesting with a fantasy sci-fi setting, isn't it?

Speaking of the setting, the world of RahXephon is set in the near future, 2011 and 2012 to be exact.  So you're not going to see too many differences from that world to our world, it's modern, but not very far ahead in the future.  This type of setting certainly appealed to me, as I'm not very fond of very futuristic anime (with a few exceptions of course).  It gives a better sense of the reality I know, and it kept interested with all the fashion of the show, as well as the technology.  Most of the anime takes place in the tropical island of Nirai-Kanai, so the setting is certainly bright and sunny... well, at least half the time. 

As far as animation and music goes, the animation is new, as this is a relatively new series (2001, but released in the US in 2003).  There are no CG's in RahXephon, though the anime appears to be digital (or given a digital finished touch).  That's a good thing, as in some cases, Computer-Graphic animation looks off, it stands out and it detracts some viewers from the overall scene if not done right.  So nothing stands out in RahXephon, everything is blend in together nicely, and the animation is very crisp.  As for degradation (animation looses quality as the series moves on), there was some in some episodes, but nothing too noticeable.  For the most part, the animation stayed fluid, and the wide array of characters all looked their best.  This is movie/OVA quality animation.

The whole theme of RahXephon is classical music, even the Dolems are named after musical connotations (like Fortissimo, Obbrigato, and Allegreto); so the music essentially is classical/orchestral, to some it may not appeal at all, but for me, I loved every bit of it.  It gives the viewer a sense that he's watching a theatrical movie instead of a TV series, and that's quite nice, especially for the big scenes like the RahXephon fighting off some of the Dolems.  There is some JPop though, for all you JPop freaks out there.  Mainly the intro song (written by Yoko Kanno), and the ending song, though I don't consider the ending song much of a pop song, it's a more solemn, slow, classical vocal song, and the English version of the ending song was done beautifully. 

RahXephon is not just another mecha series, it's much MUCH more than that.  It has the action alright, but the character growth, the drama, the romance, will leave you begging for more after each DVD.  Well, at least if left ME begging for more after each DVD.  So in short, what makes RahXephon truly outstanding are the characters.  If you're into mecha series with a lot of character depth, check out RahXephon, a truly great series, and my personal favorite. 

Rating:
Story: A+
Characters:  A+
Animation: A+
Music: A
Replay Value: A+
Overall: A+

In other words... get this series!

Other Great Reviews:  **BEWARE OF SPOILERS**  If you want a safe bet, just read the volume 1's, or the ones linked as "series".  If you don't care about spoilers, then you absolutely have to read AnimeNewsNetwork.com's review of volume 7, simply the best review I've read on the web. 

AnimeNewsNetwork.com - Vol.1 | Vol.2 | Vol.7

DubReview.com - Vol.1 | Vol.2 | Vol.3 | Vol.4 | Vol.5 | Movie

AnimeOnDVD.com - Vol.1 | Vol.2 | Vol.3 | Vol.4 | Vol.5 | Vol.6 | Vol.7 | Movie

AnimeAcademy.com - Series | Movie

AnimeTempy.com - Series

ThemAnime.org - Series

AnimeJump.com - Vol.1