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March 28, 2006

RahXephon Episode 4 (review) - "Watch the Year Hand"

Summary:

We get an extended recap instead of the opening credits, giving us a synopsis of the series so far. After this, the carrier is about to arrive in the harbor of an island known as Nirai Kanai. At the same time, another ship is arriving at the island, as we see the Captain of that ship talking to an odd looking man in sunglasses and a flat top hat. We also see a red haired girl on the carrier, the same one seen for a moment in episode 1 when the operation was initiated. Finally we get a glimpse of the Commander's second in command, Souichi, a young man onboard ship.

On board, Ayato is getting a checkup and blood test done. Haruka watches with obvious interest as they draw his blood - it is red and she seems relieved. Just then, the Commander of Terra arrives in sickbay. He tells Haruka to look for the cat, then tells Ayato that his watch's time is wrong and he needs to adjust it. As we move around the ship, we see that it is carrying the RahXephon.

Later on the bridge, the Commander of Terra is told to hand over the RX to the Earth Federation's Mulian Technology Labs by the other captain. When the Commander asks about Ayato, the Earth Federation Captain says they have no interest in the boy; that they have enough Tokyo Jupiter specimens.

Meanwhile above decks, Haruka is looking for Buchi the cat. Ayato asks about what he was told by the Commander about time difference. Haruka shows her watch explaing that it's not just a time shift to the outside world - that time in Tokyo Jupiter is going slower than outside world. They are being watched from cockpit of nearby fighter (looks like one from battle in the first episode). Haruka tells Ayato to go on ahead.

The pilot of fighter is another woman, and she's upset with Haruka for not telling her about the operation. She wants to know why all her wingmen died to get one boy out of the Mu area. She also wants to know if Haruka knew about the operation before Haruka got her drunk, and when Haruka doesn't give a straight answer, we hear the sound of a punch.

Inside the ship, Ayato sees a barber pole near one of the rooms, then meets the redhaired girl (RHG), who keeps saying "Rara?" He says he thought it was weird that the ship has a barbershop. She mentions that the red, white and blue barber pole was once a medical symbol, with red and blue representing blood vessels - she wonders aloud why there are two colors of blood vessels since human blood is red. Just then, she asks Ayato to help her put on her vest, which she is carrying one hand. Of course, typical feelings of embarassment from Ayato as it's a close fastening job. After, she grabs his hand and says "Come on Ollin, let's go." He asks what an Ollin is, and she tells him "Never mind."

On deck, they notice the RX being taken to the other ship. The RHG seems surprised, Ayato is upset. Just then, the sunglasses/hat man comes up and explains that what they do with spoils of war is none of Ayato's concern. Ayato asks what his name is and...

We flash to the bridge where Sunglasses/Hat explains that he is named Isshiki Makoto and he works with Terra. Ayato asks about RX and the Commander explains it is going to Federation Research. Souichi notices that Haruka has a black eye from being hit earlier (they were both on the bridge also)

The Commander tells Ayato that he cannot claim ownership on the RX, and when Ayato yells and tries to fight, Haruka moves to stop him. The Federation ship leaves with the RX. Ayato asks if he will be transferred like the RX. The Commander says not at this time, but it is their right to do so. Haruka seems worred, says she'll brief Ayato on his situation. All the while, the RHG watches RX sailing away and speaks cryptically of matters (this happens often with her, for me to explain most of it would be difficult, as most of it is riddles and meaningful statements of code.

Haruka is in a room saying that the Commander just wants Ayato to adjust, Ayato says that people on outside don't see the Tokyo Jupiter people as human, or at least not as equals.

Meanwhile, in med lab, the doctor says that Ayato has the Mu Phase in his blood. They don't think he's a Mu, but the commander decides to treat Ayato as if he is for now. We flash back to the room, where Haruka asks Ayato if he thinks she's that way also, he says "No, not you." She tells him "Then who cares what the rest think?" As they look at each other, Haruka is summoned to the bridge. As she leaves the room, she notices the room seal behind her, and she knows he is being locked in and is upset. She goes to the bridge and tells her superior to let Ayato out or let her in, but the commander will not. In addition, if the door is forced, it will explode. They explain the test to Haruka, saying that Ayato has the Mu Phase, but she says he doesn't know anything and vouches for his cooperation, yelling that he is human. The others cannot agree - they point out on a camera that while he could be reading up on his situation on a computer in his room, instead he is drawing. The Commander says that his personality makes no sense. The picture Ayato is drawing is the same as his painting - a picture of a girl on a cliff who appears to be Reika. Just then, the RHG walks ont he bridge holding Buchi - she tells them the Mu are coming.

A sub is attacked first and destroyed, then the automated defenses are tried to stop the Mu, The Dolem is approaching Nirai Kanai and the female pilot wants to launch, but her ship not ready. Automated drones called Eidolons fight and fail. The Dolem comes to the base, surfacing underneath it and pushing its way into the base. As it pushes its tentacles into the base, they seem to seep through the metal of the walls and floor.

The tentacles move around the RHG, but she steps back one step and they come no further. Ayato is trying to get out door of his room, yelling for Haruka. He thinks Haruka betrayed him in locking him in and that he could be killed. Just then, his picture glows, and it looks like Reika in the picture is moving. On the Federation ships, the RahXephon gets up, breaks free, and flies back towards Nirai Kunai. The RHG's eyes begin to glow red. As RX approaches, Haruka (on the bridge) realizes it is coming for Ayato. RX lands in base puts hand on the floor. The RHG turns around and somehow can see (through the wall) Ayato looking at the girl who looks like Reika. His picture seems to have come to life around him. When Reika turns to look at Ayato, his eyes also glow red as he says "Mishima." She reaches out to him and they clasp hands. Suddenly, Ayato is teleported to the RX. The RX rises and easily crushes the Dolem, carrying it outside the base and destroying it in seconds, showering the area in blue blood.

Some time later, the captain of the Federation ship is saying that Terra must have stole the RX, but the Commander suggests that perhaps the captain should show his orders to the RX. They decide Ayato cannot be confined as the RX lands on Nirai Kanai in a pool near the Terra base on the island. There, a scientist in glasses is awaiting it. When sees a glowing and sleeping Ayato come out of it, he says "Welcome back, Ollin."

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A lot of good things to get a grasp on in this episode. A variety of different characters are introduced, among the most important being the Commander of Terra, Quon (the RHG), Souichi, and several others. There's not a lot of development on Ayato's part, other than his seemingly odd possessiveness of the RahXephon - it doesn't seem to scare him at all that he's seemingly bonded to this odd humanoid craft. Haruka gets a lot of development this episode, as we learn more about the operation which was sent ostensibly to retrieve Ayato.

Many of the characters in this episode will see their roles expand in the next few episodes on Nirai Kanai.

We get a slightly better explanation of the time difference between Tokyo Jupiter and the outside world, although much of that has not been explained yet.

It might seem odd to mention this, but Buchi the cat seems to serve no purpose. His role would seem to be to show the humanity of certain characters, but I would suggest that a cat isn't necessary to do that. I don't think the cat was suppossed to be the token fluffy animal, because quite frankly, it's not drawn in a very cute manner. Mostly, Buchi seems to be some sort of foil for Haruka, although her humanity has not been in question yet in this series - she very clearly displays her emotions at times.

Repeat after me: Quon is not Rei from NGE. Quon is not Rei from NGE.

The island will be revealed in the next episode, as we learn more about the organization Terra and the components that it is made up of.

Posted by Drylnn at 01:04 AM | Comments (2)

March 27, 2006

Ow, I was just blindsided by Canvas2

So, I've been watching Canvas 2 for this past season. All this time, they've been working up to a Kiri ending - all the leadup laid the groundwork for a final episode where Kiri and Hiroki live out their lives, and Elis goes off to Paris, with a sendoff by her "brother" Hiroki (even though they're technically not brother and sister).

Then the final episode comes, and with almost no leadup, takes a right turn smack into the wall.

It'd be like watching Titanic, getting a leadup to the sinking of the ship - rivets popping, ship flooding and slowly sinking, everyone freezing to death in the water, then having the ship right itself and the captain says "Sorry folks, looks like we were wrong on that sinking thing..."

Granted, that might have made a better movie than Titanic...

I would have no problem with a Elis ending IF PROPERLY SET UP, it's just that the series had no leadup to that moment at all. I had a sinking feeling when the Kiri confession occured so far before the ending, but they did *nothing* to persuade me that Hiroki saw his sister as anything other than a sister.

For me, the series was very realistic and literally fell off the cliff. I won't say things like "It's the worst anime series I've ever seen!" because that's certainly not true. I can say however that the ending did ruin my perception of the series. It was 23 episodes of good, and one episode of bad. Surprise twists that come out of nowhere, with no reasoning whatsoever do not make a good ending. I wouldn't have been so disappointed if they had say, spent half the time on Kiri, half the time on Elis, and had Hiroki choose in the end.

The writers largely failed in the ending of this series. I cannot possibly recommend it to anyone - it was ruined that much for me. As such, I created a new category, so that I could banish it to Caina. I won't even tolerate Canvas wallpaper on my computer anymore... I want nothing to remind me of the horrid writing in that last episode.

Posted by Drylnn at 04:09 AM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2006

New Beginnings

The beginnings of my new preparation for a move to the region.

Years of preparation have been going into getting to live in China/HK or Japan. I have been in serious discussions with people in these countries, and I don't want to jinx anything, but things are falling into place. So I figured I better get a pile of new books on the area and begin extensive research. First up, Hong Kong, since I've done quite a bit of research on Japan already.

More details to follow - after all, that's part of what this webpage is for.

Posted by Drylnn at 03:40 AM | Comments (0)

RahXephon Episode 3 (review) - "Welcome to Our Town"

Summary:

The RahXephon has hatched from the gigantic egg and taken Ayato inside of it, as Maya and the agents look on. Ayato says "Mother" aloud, but is surprised to hear Maya's (his mother's) voice in his head, saying "So, you've awakened." Apparently she can communicate telepathically. She tells him that she has been waiting for him to "awaken". Meanwhile, the military watchers who were with Maya detect an energy signature, saying that Dolem and the Xephon are syncing. At that point, one of the Dolems (I don't remember which) crashes through the wall of the Shrine of Xephon, which shatters the ground under Maya and the agents. Surprise surprise - Maya can float in midair and does so, floating up to the second Dolem that enters as she utters "Come Ayato..."

As Sunglasses runs up the Shrine, Maya notices Reika on the RahXephon's shoulder and is shocked by her appearance. Meanwhile, Sunglasses yells "Ayato, don't do it!" as she gets near. She is about to get caught in an avalanche of debris caused by the Dolem, but Ayato reaches out (via the RahXephon) to block it. The shock knocks her out, but the RahXephon surrounds her in an orb of light and picks her up, all the while yelling out a multitone yell, which lifts it into the air. One of the Dolems follows it up, and the two titans stare at each other in the Tokyo skies. While this is going on, Maya (on top of the other Dolem) watches and says "Ixtli... of course..." while brushing away the blue blood.

Reika is still on the RahXephon's shoulder, saying in a multitonal voice "Time to sing, Rahxephon... Sing the song that is forbidden.... Sing, so that someday all will become one." Ayato can hear her inside, and turns the head of the RahXephon to see her on his (RahXephon's) shoulder. The Dolem attacks, hitting the shoulder Reika is on. As Ayato looks for Reika, he sees only her shawl falling, and he screams in defiance at her apparent death. The watchers note the scream. The Dolem fires again, this time dead center, but Ayato's yell causes a shield to block the blast. He reacts violently, putting his hand to the Dolem's neck, crushing it. At the same time, a woman in the watchers' center reacts like she is being choked. Above the Rahxephon, a circle of light appears as the Dolem is dying, and when it does die, the choking woman also vanishes. The circle of light sucks Rahxephon in, and the watchers say he has "lept the barrier... with.. the Ollin..." Maya watches and seems undisturbed - as she puts it, Ayato will return to her, with Ixtli.

Ayato awakens on a beach, staring up at the RX (what I'll call the RahXephon from now on). As he looks at the horizon, he notices and orange-red barrier nearby, taking up a good portion of the sky. Nearby is an abandoned boat, which Sunglasses emerges from, where she was apparently search for a transmitter. He asks her what the barrier is, and she answers "That's Tokyo Jupiter... well, that's what we call it." She tells him it was his entire world until this morning, but Ayato is confused. She starts to look for pursuit, and as she does on the boat, Ayato causes her to fall towards the water, as he jumps after her, grabbing her in midair, making her blush.

Later, wet and tired, the two look to dry off. Ayato says he thought the outside world was destroyed, but she says that's what he had been taught, but that it still exists and he shouldn't believe everything he's told... that he's not a child. They go to find dry clothes and food to eat. The town is overgrown, like its been abandoned for some time. In a nearby store, Ayato finds some HIDEOUS purple clothing, then notices a phone covered in dust. As he tries the phone, Sunglasses says that he's wasting the time - there's no power or working phones. Sunglasses emerges in new clothes, but tells Ayato to change into something better.

They grab water and food from abandoned store, and Ayato says they should get some boxed stuff as she is only looking at canned, but she says he'll get sick. Ayato says he thought that the food was good for three years from date. The box says the date of expiration is 8/16/2015, and as she looks, she mumbles "That's right, you don't know yet...." She says they need to go back to RX (thus telling Ayato the name). That night, they listen to a radio broadcast about the olympics, saying that last Olympics was 2024.. shocking Ayato, as he says he was born in 1998, and he's only 17. She looks at her watch, does some calculations, and says it's 10th of Nov 2027. He asks if she's from the future, which causes her to laugh.

She tries to explain that its really 2027, but leaves it at that.
He asks if everyone stil exists inside the sphere, and she tells him they're all okay, which comforts Ayato.

The next morning, she awakens to find Ayato gone. He is walking around, seeing the abandoned city remains and the overgrowth. While walking in one area, he hears a payphone ring. When he answers, he hears his mother on the other end. She says to him, "Be Careful... the ones that wrecked our city, they'll try to make you forget about me... they'll compel you to hate me and make you believe horrible things about me.. Be strong (the voice breaks up into foreign tongue, like Latin here)" Ayato yells asking about the blue blood, but gets no answer and runs away from the phone. He runs to the edge where the land ends before the barrier of Tokyo Jupiter... it looks like the barrier just appeared, cutting off the area, breaking land, bridges, pipes, etc. Sunglasses rides up on a bike behind him, says it's 10 KM from there to barrier. She says they think the bottom is also hemispherical, so you can't just tunnel your way in. He says he could go back, but she says that he can't.. that it took too much energy for them to enter. Ayato goes to the bike, takes it from Ayato, and tells Sunglasses to get on... he'll pedal.

On way back, she says she'll have to call for a pickup somehow. While searching for a transmitter, they find a cat roaming in the ruins and take him along to feed him. Ayato asks her what she's going to do with him, and oddly, she asks him if she can keep him. Hearing a plane overhead, Sunglasses turns the boat into a bonfire, signalling the jet. Much later, they see a ship coming to pick them up. She tells him its a carrier belonging to TERRA, an "Earth Federation Anti-Mu strategy group" and that she works for them as an intelligence officer. She says her name is Shitow Haruka. End of episode.

-----------------------------------

We have sort of a reverse Matrix going on in RahXephon, or so we are led to believe. Is the inside world of Tokyo Jupiter the real remnants of an alien attack, or is there really an outside world. Who is lying - is it Maya or is it Sunglasses? And who/what is Ixtli? There are so many questions to answer, and we've just barely scratched the surface.

Assuming this is a reverse Matrix, then what is the significance of the time difference between Tokyo Jupiter and outside? The RahXephon would seem to indicate that all is not false inside Tokyo Jupiter, so what is being hidden from Ayato?

Posted by Drylnn at 03:16 AM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

Just Call Me "Sucker"

More inside the entry...

I thought I wouldn't buy it, but in the end, I did. As to the why, I'm not really sure. It's obvious from my reviews that I didn't think that SEED Destiny was a bad series, it just wasn't quite SEED. The art was more polished than SEED, but there were so many inconsistencies.

I watched a tiny bit because I was curious about the dubbing. I've been forcing friends to watch Gundam SEED from the beginning, and it has been a necessity to watch the dub for them because we're often playing a game at the same time or eating dinner or something along those lines. Most of the dub voices in SEED aren't bad - they just get emotional inflections wrong.

The exceptions:
1) Lacus Clyne - the English acting voice makes me want to rip my ears off to avoid hearing any more. It might not be so bad if they hadn't redubbed her singing as well - completely changing the words of her songs to make them sugar pop. Luckily, for the rest of the songs (so far) they didn't redub those, so I'm hoping I can survive to finish the dvds with my friends. It just... pains me.
2) Natarle's "Fire!" with a Texan accent... yeah.... something not right about that.
3) The narrator's horrible enthusiasm at the end of each episode - "Fly through the hoops of fire, GUNDAM!" It didn't sound as lame in Japanese to me, but I might have missed out on the Japanese inflection to imply lameness.

Most of the characters in the Destiny dub seem okay, with the exception of the guy driving the jeep with Lunamaria in episode 1 - I don't know what they were smoking, but he sounds like he's 7 years old and it just doesn't match. Arthur with a British accent oddly works. Shinn and Lunamaria sound okay - I'll have to hear more speaking by them to make a proper analysis of them.

I guess in the end I'm a sucker for all things SEED - hey, I did buy Never Ending Tomorrow! But we'll see if I finish buying Destiny.

(If you were a betting man, you should bet on "yes" for me being a sucker and buying those dvds)

Posted by Drylnn at 04:19 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

RahXephon Episode 2 (review) - "Awakening"

Continuing from episode one, episode two looks to provide some of the answers about what it going on in Tokyo.

Summary:
A slight bit of recap as we again hear Reika's voice calling to Ayato to awaken. Ayato is saying his name over and over again, then says "RahXephon" and the egg hatches. We also see the dolems flying around. The thing that emerges from the egg is a humanoid figure, with wings from the head covering the face like a sort of mask. The flying ships of the "invaders" from before fire at the new figure to no effect. The humanoid figure charges energy and then discharges, destroying many of the flying ships. The Dolem Allegretto then sings a tone at the figure, which fires back, destroying the Dolem and sending fragments all over. The Mu thing from last episode that Sunglasses Woman saw then disappears.

We note that the mysterious woman in the viewing area has been told what is going on, and also is told that the "Ollin has been found."

The agents are making photos of Sunglasses Woman from security tapes, and they discover the tracer in the "Ollin's bag", from which they get fingerprints and confirm a match. We leave them searching for her.

Ayato awakens in the hospital, seeing many other survivors of the attack. He asks the nurse if a girl was with him when he was found, but she says no, then tells him that his mother is coming to pick him up. Ayato has flashbacks to the egg hatching and the dolem being destroyed, but can't remember anything clearly. At this point, his mother picks him up, and we realize (if it hadn't been known before) that Maya, his mother, is clearly the woman in the center chair who watched the battle. As they drive home, Ayato asks his mother about the "secret weapon", as the news is calling the Dolem and if she noticed the humanoid with wings that it was fighting. Maya says no and tells him to relax.

Later that evening, Ayato is dialling the phone. Reika answers, and he asks why she vanished. She doesn't answer that, but asks if he is okay, he says he will explain tomorrow. His mother walks in and asks if he called his friend. When Ayato goes upstairs, his mother hits redial on the phone and gets a disconnected number.

The next day at school, Ayato notices Reika is absent. He flashes back to the Sunglasses Woman offering to explain things. Through the teacher's lecture, we learn that the Invaders destroyed America, Germany, and Britain years ago, and that Tokyo is literally the only place left unscathed, even in Japan. While this goes on, Sunglasses Woman is watching the school.

After lecture - Asahina, Momaru, and Ayato talk about what happened. Ayato mentions that he was running to get help and ran into Mishima. What's odd is that Momaru and Asahina seem confused as to who Reika Mishima is, but as they express this, Reika walks up, and they seem to recognize her after a moment's look at her. Reika thanks Ayato for yesterday. Out by the school pool, Reika and Ayato talk. Reika tells Ayato that she doesn't think his vision of the humanoid figure was a dream; that it must have been real - "It is a mirror that reflects the truth... and if it is the truth you desire, I think you might meet it again."

After school, Ayato heads home, but once there finds a note with a photo. The photo shows some of the things he saw yesterday and the note says "Don't you want to see how the world truly is? Meet me tonight at 2 AM in Shakujji Park." That night, we see the destroyed Dolem is repairing in the center where Maya watched the battle. Several people are watching the humanoid figure, saying it shows no sign of awakening from its sleep.

Ayato of course sneaks out, while we notice that a short distance away, Sunglasses has knocked out the two agents watching Ayato's house. At the meeting spot, she picks up Ayato, and tells him she knows he is curious about things. She asks him a strange question - "How many humans are on Earth?" Ayato answers with the answer from school - "23 million." She replies "Try 6 billion." Ayato is shocked.

They drive through a security gate, sounding an alarm, and grab an aircraft from a base there. Meanwhile, the agents have awoken and told Maya what is going on. We see Fortissimo is repaired as Reika is walking on water across to the RahXephon in the floating temple area (The Shrine of Xephon). The people in the viewing area pick up something moving towards the RahXephon, but they can't view it on the cameras.

Sunglasses is flying the plane when it suddenly starts flying on its own and she can't regain control. As this happens, Reika starts singing the one note tone she did in episode one from on top of the RahXephon's shoulder. The agents and Maya are heading towards the shrine, with Maya saying that if "it" starts to move, they need to activate the Dolem immediately. Ayato can hear Reika's tone in the aircraft and insists that he must get to it, saying someone is waiting for him. Sunglasses sees the RahXephon, calls it by name, while Ayato jumps from the cockpit, with Reika saying "Come Ayato..."

The jet loses control and crashes, but Sunglass is fine. She starts climbing the shrine to reach the RahXephon. Ayato sees the face of the RahXephon and looks upon it, his eyes glowing red. He walks into the face of the RahXephon.

Inside, he is in a room with standing water and a seat in the middle. As the RahXephon opens his eyes, Ayato can see through them. He is frightened and realizes where he is... he starts to ask "What is happening?" then remembers what happened before and starts screaming "Noooooooooooooo!"

Sunglasses barely hangs on as the RahXephon bursts free. The Dolems appear and begin to sing. As the RahXephon breaks free, debris hits Maya in the face. She is cut, but bleeds blue blood. Ayato notices this from the "cockpit" of the RahXephon. End of episode.

-----------------------------

I know you're thinking that many parts of this sounds like the Matrix - "Is this the real world?" It's safe to say that many parts of this are a reverse of the Matrix - is the outside world truly destroyed?

An interesting scene was when Ayato's classmates don't seem to know who Reika is, then as she walks up, it's hard to say, but it almost seems like they are fed information on who she is. Almost like a software update in the Matrix.

And yet, there are several differences from the Matrix. Clearly, the authors/writers are not trying to set up a "fake" world in the manner of the Matrix where people inside are only representations - we are given every indication that these are real people. We also know that everyone doesn't have blue blood, as we saw Asahina bleeding red in episode one.

Maya's role remains unclear. She seems to be the leader of the people who watch over Tokyo, but what is her purpose? What is the shrine of Xephon and the Room of Rah, and how do they relate to the RahXephon? What is the Ollin? I know now that many of these terms come from Aztec legends, but it's still interesting food for thought. Ayato is clearly the Ollin, but what does that mean?

In the end, we still have a ways to go till things are explained. Can Sunglasses guide Ayato to some answers? What will Reika reveal? If Maya has blue blood, does Ayato?

Perhaps episode three will enlighten us.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2006

DVDs Galore!

One small step for purchasing, one major "KA-CHUNG" on my bank card.

I just can't resist Miyazaki movies...

Posted by Drylnn at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

Anime Rewind - RahXephon Episode 1 - "First Movement"

I've decided to jump back and do some of my favorite series in blog form as well as continue to do new series. Of course, I don't mean the same series you've seen 4 billion times, like Love Hina or something of that nature. I'm going to try and shed light on some lesser known or passed over anime that you might have missed.

To that end, I've decided to start with one of my favorite series, if not my favorite series. This series is RahXephon:

For my review, I'll be using the newest released thinpak dvds, which I purchased from RightStuf. I'll start with the series and work my way to the movie, but I'll make notice right now - I've combined parts of the movie and series in my head to make the perfect synthesis of story. The reason I like RahXephon so much is not because the series was groundbreaking from the standpoint of story, but rather because the themes of the story resonated so much in my head afterwards. As a writer, when a story reverberates in that way, it's a sign to me that I was very much affected by the thought process and emotion of the story, and that's a *good* thing.

To give you a one line of what the series is about in terms of emotion - "Can love survive across time?" or "Does it matter if emotion is only a memory?" To try and elaborate more would spoil the series, and you may take a different meaning from it than I do. I'll try and explain as I go along.

I don't think there's anything different about the thinpak dvds, but here's a look at the menu to give you an idea of what artistry went into this series.

Summary:
We begin with a scene on what appears to be an aircraft carrier. A female pilot descends into a jet, looking at her watch. We see two times on this watch: Normal and Tokyo. Other military members look on as it appears an operation is about to begin.

Elsewhere, we see a young man, perhaps 16 or 17 (what anime hero ISN'T that age?) He appears to have just finished a painting of a girl in a yellow dress, standing in an odd conjunction of images:

Ayato apparently lives with his mother, Maya, but as he readies to leave for school, he notices breakfast is sitting out for him with a note which says she'll be late from work. Ayato mutters "You mean again... don't you mother?" Ayato leaves, but fails to notice that a woman (henceforth called "sunglasses woman") is watching him from the balcony of a nearby building. She follows him, and both are later seen on the subway, with the woman slipping a tracer device into Ayato's bag.

As Ayato leaves the subway to change trains, he suspects someone is following him, but when he turns to see who, there is no one there. He quickly runs into his friends, Asahina and Mamoru. (At this point, I'd like to note, the dub voice for Asahina is terrible... please don't watch this dubbed...) They all get on another subway train.

We flash to Ayato's home, where two fellows in suits and sunglasses are looking around, saying that "he" may have been contacted, and that the first line of defense may have been broken.

On the train, we get typical high school banter, with Asahina teasing Ayato about his paintings of "pretty girls." Just then, the subway screeches and careens off track, crashing. The lights black out. We get a quick flash to the agents moving through the city, then we're back on the train, where Ayato's friends are hurt and bleeding. Ayato leaves the train to go get help.

As he emerges from the subway tunnel, the city is clearly under attack. Several strange aircraft of an odd design are flying around, while military vehicles (the Defense force) fire on them. We also see several human jets firing at the aircraft, but the aircraft are easily winning.

A quick flash to the sunglasses woman, who is on the subway car near Ayato's friends. She follows the tracker signal, ignoring Asahina's pleas for assistance.

Ayato is still watching parts of the battle, moving through the city, when he hears a single vocal tone being sung. Following the tone, he sees a girl on a rock making the sound. She looks oddly like the girl he painted, in that she has a similar yellowish dress and is standing in a similar manner. Ayato tells her it is too dangerous to be here, and as she turns to face him, he recognizes her, saying "Mishima Reika?"

After the commercial break, while Ayato gets them both soda from a nearby broken machine, Reika asks "Is this a war?" He says he's surprised to see her, but also that he's happy to see her, and she says the same. They both hear another singing vocal tone and follow it. As they do, Reika says "The Dolem...."

Overhead, we notice a large flying ... thing appear. It moves upright with the head of a humanoid figure and begins firing on the strange aircraft. Ayato says that it must be a military secret weapon since its firing on the invaders. The agents in the copter see the creature, then notice Ayato running around.

We flash to several people watching everything on the viewer, talking about how it could be dangerous to use "Allegretto". A woman seated in the center of the room says that it cannot awaken anyways without "Ollin", then another person reports that they've located the Ollin.

Meanwhile, Ayato and Reika move through damaged areas. While they do, the animators make great use of the background to play with our minds:

Ayato goes downstairs into another subway station, notices Reika isn't following - when he turns around asking "Mishima?", she is gone.

Just then, the agents from before show up, identifying themselves as Federal agents and telling Ayato to come with them onto the next train. When he tries to refuse, they pull a gun and hold it on his head to force him to come along. Just then, sunglasses woman attacks the agents, disabling the one with the gun. As she kicks the second one, it bleeds blue blood, which Ayato notices. Sunglasses woman wins, but Ayato points the gun at her. She says that his actions are not any way to treat someone who saved his life and takes the gun. They engage in some very sarcastic banter, then she says to Ayato: "Why was their blood blue.... that's what you're wondering..." She tells him to come with her and she'll answer all his questions. While he ponders, he sees that the train has pulled up and Reika is on it. When he refuses the sunglasses woman, she points the gun at him and tells him to come along. However, one of the agents regains consciousness and lunges at her, distracting her as Ayato gets on the train with Mishima. It locks as sunglasses woman yells "No, don't go!"

The train locks down, putting odd plating on the windows. Reika asks what is happening, but Ayato has no answers. He swears he will protect her. As the subway slows, it announces that the next and last stop is the "Shrine of Xephon". They tentatively get off, but have no idea where they are. Realizing they have no choice, they leave the station.

They arrive inside an odd-templelike place. Around this building are humanoid figures much like the Dolems in the skies over the city. Meanwhile, the people viewing notices where Ayato is, and the woman at the center says to launch "Fortissimo". Another Dolem enters the city skies.

Ayato and Reika emerge in an odd place on the water with floating arches and in the center, a massive egg. A singing tone again comes from the area, and Ayato falls to his knees in pain. Reika looks at the egg and begins to sing as well, while Ayato still lies in a fetal position. He hears Reika's voice in his head, calling for him to awaken, and with that, he mutters "RahXephon..."

Just then, the egg hatches. We flash to sunglasses woman, who is on the roof of a building, looking at strange shapes in the sky saying "There they are, the Mu, our enermy and that of all mankind..."

---------------------------

Most people read a synopsis for RahXephon and assume it's an Evangelion clone. And thus they pass over it. RahXephon is *not* a NGE clone. There are many differences (among them, I don't hate the main character as a whiny brat), but while NGE tries to construct a confusing story as the center of the narrative and then makes flawed characters around the story, RahXephon assumes that the characters are the central part and arranges the oddness around them. The difference is hard to perceive at first, but becomes obvious as you watch further.

What will happen is that we will follow Ayato's journey to find out what is going on, and in the process, meet a vast background of characters, each of whom have very interesting backstories and personality traits. In the end, you'll understand the motivations of all of these characters, something that NGE failed to do clearly enough.

In the end, NGE is a series that tries to play with your mind, wraps it up in religious doubletalk in the attempt to define the meaning of man's existence. Rahxephon is telling a much simpler story, and while I don't want to give it away, it's important to realize that it isn't trying to hit the dizzying heights of the thought in NGE, but rather tries to tell the stories through interesting and diverse characters who may have flaws, but aren't defined by them as the characters are in NGE. Asuka and Shinji are flawed people who in the end are defined by the extent of those flaws. Ayato and the characters in RahXephon will not be defined in the same way.

Getting back to episode 1...

There is much in this first episode we don't know. Who are the invaders? Why are there agents pursuing Ayato? And why is he painting a girl that he sees later?

Ayato is not a whiny person so far - he's merely a high school kid. Reika appears to be a classmate, although she has a bit of mystery about her.

In the end, we don't have much yet to explain this "taste" of the story. Episode 2 will continue to expand the opening narrative and give us a little more in terms of answers.

I know the analysis is disappointing, but we really must wait on Episode 2 to get a better understanding for analysis.

Posted by Drylnn at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

Quick Hits Again

The end result of the past month is that I will be blogging some older series of anime. I'll start tonight with RahXephon, but it's also static night, so that usually eats up my time.

The main reason I've been so busy is that I've been exploring my myriad options with going overseas, talking to people in Japan and China (specifically Hong Kong and Shanghai). It looks like things are coming together nicely, although I don't want to jinx anything too soon.

All this discussion seriously ate into my blogging time, so I'll reevaluate what I was doing and try to get back to it. I'd like to finish ToHeart, since I had started it. I doubt I'll do Shana, since its almost over. I'm looking at some new stuff as well.

I've heard rumors of a new GS series or OVA. I'm hoping OVA. I'd watch another GS series, but another 50 episodes would probably wear thin on me. I have the feeling if they did a series, they'd indulge in the "Let's kill a central character, say.... Lacus.... to make conflict for the rest. And while that would be an instigator of events, it smacks of just doing it "because we can!" I'd like some new ideas in the series.

More importantly, I'd like characters to evolve in the series. But I digress.

A pile of Miyazaki films are out today on American DVD. They will be mine, oh yes, they will be mine..... ( after class that is )

I apologize to everyone... it's been hectic for a few weeks, but I'll start back up tonight before Static

Posted by Drylnn at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)