RahXephon Recommended

Publisher
ADV
Director
Yutaka Izubuchi
Production
BONES, Fuji TV, Project Rahxephon
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Year
2001

RahXephon Orchestration 5: Synaesthesia (eps 17-19)

By John Huxley
2nd Jul 04

Some of you may remember that I wrote a glowing, positive review of the first volume of RahXephon a few months back. It had the makings of a great series - beautiful designs, interesting characters, fluid animation and an intriguing concept that promised much. Unfortunately RahXephon has struggled to fulfill this potential, losing its way with unnecessarily confusing sub-plots and an increasingly large cast of minor characters that have diluted the formula and led to a varying level of quality. With a return to the series' origins of Tokyo Jupiter, hopes are high that the fifth volume of RahXephon can at last deliver what those early episodes promised.

When we last left Ayato he was making his way to Tokyo Jupiter in the RahXephon with the unearthly Quon by his side in the hopes of discovering the truth about their mysterious origins. His decision to leave upsets his surrogate family and angers his superiors in the military TERRA organisation who are hot on his heels in an attempt to prevent his return to the Mulian territory. But Ayato is in control of the powerful RahXephon mech and there's little his commanding officers and friends can do to persuade him otherwise. Once inside the dimensional walls of Tokyo Jupiter, a place where time moves at a different pace and the inhabitants are blissfully unaware of their caged existence, Ayato and Quon come face-to-face with their true identities in a maelstrom of truths, revelations and, above all, yet more confusion.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - RahXephon is a very, very confusing series. It seems to be the case that for every question we have answered, two more are asked in the process. The three episodes on this disc do go a long way to resolving some of the series' more perplexing mysteries, but nothing is really finalised and by the time the credits roll you'll be wanting to crack open the next volume to find out more. And, strange though it may seem, this is one of RahXephon's greatest strengths - the pacing of the show is excellently handled by the writers and directors, giving you just enough new information to keep you hooked, but not enough to spoil the surprise. You may curse the writers for teasing you so mercilessly with endless red herrings, but you'll soon be on to the next episode in the hopes of being fed some more precious tidbits of information.

With the change of setting presented to us in the first episode of this disc comes a new set of characters. Well, not exactly new as such, more like some familiar faces returning with new roles to play in the endlessly twisting story of Ayato's life. His mother and his friends (remember them from the train in the first episode?) all return with a few surprises up their sleeve, and Tokyo Jupiter itself isn't exactly the homely place Ayato remembered it to be, despite the Mulian's suspiciously warm welcome. A few of these characters came across as slightly washed over, which gave me some difficulty in believing that Ayato would forget his life outside of Tokyo Jupiter in favour of these relative newcomers. But it's soon made clear that Ayato is only hiding from himself and the reality around him...his past will catch up with him eventually.

Without wanting to spoil too much, these are an eventful few episodes that really pick up the pace that was set towards the end of the last volume, ending with an excellently plotted coup de grace that, despite RahXephon's usual habit of explaining absolutely nothing, remains surprisingly effecting. Just how this scene might effect you is best left as a surprise...you'll thank me eventually!

These episodes also represent a presumably large scale of time, which could be anything ranging from a week to a few months to perhaps even a year. In fact, since RahXephon began we've been given very little indication of the timescale used, which is strange when you consider that time is one of the central themes and plot devices used in the show. Maybe this was a conscious decision on behalf of the writers or directors, or maybe they have something special lined up that will give reason to this seemingly slack omission? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but as it stands, I'm disappointed that they haven't made better use of their potentially innovative narrative.

That aside, I can honestly say that I'm really quite enjoying RahXephon. It may not be the world-beater that the early episodes promised, but it's a solid series that's well worth a look if you don't mind all the confusion that comes with it.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0 audio, English subtitles, production sketches, clean open/close, original Japanese cover art, interview with Hiroki Kanno, ADV previews

Release information: UK: 19th April 2004, ADV

Notes: We've only got a paltry three episodes on this disc, for which the excellent presentation of the disc doesn't really compensate. But it is an excellent little disc, with that gorgeous booklet making a welcome fifth appearance. By the time the seventh volume comes around you'll have enough material here to compile them in to an 'art of' book! Incase you've forgotten, they're around 10 pages long with full colour artwork, character profiles, staff interviews and a semitransparent cover that gives it that extra touch of class. By comparison the extras on this disc pale, with only an interview and the Japanese cover art being of note. Interestingly, I thought that ADV's cover art is much nicer than the unusual and often sparse illustrations they used for the Japanese covers. Without the booklet it's an average disc, with the booklet this is an excellent package.

-- John Huxley 2nd Jul 04

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