Nik Kastrantas
Although RahXephon shares several similarities to Evangellion in the end it's core story is actually about love and not war and a love that even transcends space and time for that matter. Because of that both the Federation and the Mullians play a secondary role in this anime which in the end proves to be a good thing, that is if you are sentimental as i. Of course much like many anime on the way to find complete love our hero goes through many trials and lots of sad events but what's new? Personally although RahXephon is considered a sci-fi anime i think that it has amongst the top 5 love stories i have ever seen in an anime and no matter how many times i see it i always wish we had more Harukas in the real world.
ebiros2
According to the director of this series Yutaka Izubuchi, Rahxephon is an homage to Brave Raideen, but I also see strong influence of Neon Genesis Evangelion throughout this series. It's almost as though the series is is an amalgamation of the two. Ayato Kamina was a teenager living a normal life in Tokyo. What he didn't know was that he was a descendant of interdimentional race of Mulians, and Tokyo was encapsulated in an energy field which the outsiders called Tokyo Jupiter where time passed at a slower rate than the outside world. Earth is under attack by Dolems - a quasi robot created by the Mulians. Ayato Kamina is lead by his classmate Reika Mishima to an egg containing Rahxephon. Rahxephon only accepts Ayato as its pilot due to his genetic ties with the Mulians. The plot of Rahxephon and its pilot having ties with the Mulians is strait off of Brave Raideen, and also the design of Rahxephon takes from Raideen. The main character who is an introverted in the closet type individual is similar to that of Neon Genesis Evangelion. People in this story seems to use "official assignment" as an excuse to forward their motives and importance within the organization. The story is rather dark with apocalyptic theme running through its plot, and introverted characters that fills the roster doesn't make the story any more uplifting. Artistry is high, and there is an experimental aspect of using music as main ingredient of the story. Bolodin's Polovetsian Dances is played in many sequences. The story progresses slowly, and that takes away from the excitement of action that should be the main focus of super robot anime of this type. Also the characters appearing in this series are mostly unattractive individuals as human beings, and takes away from the plot. The style of the story - a dark apocalyptic sci-fi with introverted main character which was popular in the early 2000s, is somewhat passé by now. Watch this series for its artistry and its somewhat mysterious mood. But don't expect much action in each episodes.
chrono404
The very beginning of the anime left me scratching my head and wondering what the hell just happened. I loved the middle of the series when Aiyto was on the new island and watching his relations with everyone else. Towards the end he starts getting an attitude problem as he finds out he is a "mulian"(enemy of humans) *spoiler* The Ending just seamed illogical to me and really stupid. It kinda fits the shoddy story but i would have rather seen it go other direction. *spoiler*If you like mecha anime, its definitely worth watching the first 2/3 of the show.
Altima
This series is one of the newest Animated series on Western shores, and it certainly looks beautiful. The cel artwork is very cleanly drawn with nice thick outlines giving the characters a bold look, and the backgrounds are beautifully done. This series is simply full of wonderfully dramatic images, and even the small, inconsequential shots are simply fun to look at.The story is also a strong point in the series. Try to avoid spoilers for this series' plot as much as possible. A lot of the enjoyment comes from watching things unfold and witnessing the nature of the world the creators have painted. The twists are hard hitting and the situations are constantly shifting, bad guys and good guys are so difficult to discern because in reality, there are no absolute evil people, just different shades of cruelty. The plot touches on issues like racism, war hatred, xenophobia, homesickness, adolescence, love and more or less everything else.It's been compared to Neon Genesis Evangelion, and one can see where people see the resemblance, but once one starts watching Rahxephon, one will realize howfundamentally different the two series are in almost every way. To any Anime fan, or really, to any fan of animation at all, this series is highly recommended, and ADV's DVD presentation of the series is top-notch.