Between Excel Saga and RahXephon

[LouiefromLodoss]

Ok... so my soon to be trip to NY (unexpected) plus one in the summer to Spain means that I have to REALLY cut down my anime expenses.

This means that out of the shopping list I had: Excel Saga,RahXephon, the Legend of Crystania DVDS and so many others.... I have to just choose one of the ones mentioned in the title post.

Which one should I get?


PS

By the way, dvdpacific is selling PHOTON for $6 that I'm going for it. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[Fencedude]

Here is an apple.

*points at an apple*

Here is pair of pliers.

*points at a pair of pliers*

Which should I get?

[LouiefromLodoss]

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
Here is an apple.

*points at an apple*

Here is pair of pliers.

*points at a pair of pliers*

Which should I get?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah , I know... WAY too different anime.... but these are my choices.

[citicslmatts]

I'd personally go for Excel Saga - simply because from what I've seen of it, it's nuts mate.

[XenoCrisis0153]

I haven't seen the other two, but I can tell you that Excel Saga will not be a disappointment

[O-chan]

Honestly because they're COMPLETELY two different anime series it's hard to recommend one. It's best to understand what mood you are to watch. Random, comedic, colorful and funny or serious, romance, dramatic, epic storytelling.

O-chan

[LouiefromLodoss]

Well, is ES that hilarious? As much that after repeaed viewings I'll be still smiling?

with R.... does it end in a depressing way (or teh series tae that turn)? I mean, one thing is being serious which is great and another thing is being depressing.

[naiera]

Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious. All it does is try to be funny but it merely gave me a chuckle once in a while. Stay away. The only positive is that it has an inexpensive yet complete box set.

RahXephon is a modern classic and one of those epic 26 episode shows that all anime fans need to watch at least once. Yes, it borrows a lot of things from Evangelion, but it has no trouble standing on its own. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to both anime newbies or veterans. It's a beauty to behold, the characters are great and the story's deep and interesting without becoming too complicated, though there's still plenty of stuff to think about afterwards.

[itsuka]

I recommend RahXephon of the two, since for me it had much better replay value. I loved some of the episodes of Excel, but not all of them, it was always a bit hit and miss. RahXephon is of course serious and angsty, but it ranks a lot higher in my all time favourite list.

[chotto]

[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

RahXephon is a modern classic

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

[AbeChinchilla]

[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

[/ QUOTE ]

I concur.

The first DVD was a blast, I though. Volume 2 was more "eh". Volume 3 had some moments. Volume 4 was a few steps up. Volume 5... was just annoying. Volume 6 brings a good close.

It's just a rollercoaster with its ups and downs.

[Vicserr]

Just read this... this is the answer...

<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Rahxephon hands down, it's romantic, well animated and with lots of mecha blasting each other to scrap /images/graemlins/wink.gif</span>

[Hakaisha]

[ QUOTE ]
chotto said:
[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

RahXephon is a modern classic

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto. ES is just not funny, but RahXephon is an amazing story with a good ending.

[DanielJr]

You haven't gotten RahXephon yet??? Didn't you make a thread asking for recommendations a few weeks ago?

[The Pirate Queen]

[ QUOTE ]
Hakaisha said:
[ QUOTE ]
chotto said:
[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

RahXephon is a modern classic

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto. ES is just not funny, but RahXephon is an amazing story with a good ending.

[/ QUOTE ]

Consider me a part of this bandwagon as well. Excel Saga had amusing moments, but...not very many, and certainly not enough to carry a 26 episode series. RahXephon is incredible.

[ADC]

Haven't yet seen rahXephon (waiting on the next ADV sale at TRSI, unless there's something else I want at that time), but I can wholeheartedly recommend Excel Saga as the most pure fun I've had with animé in the past 11 years. You just have to be willing to pay attention, because there's a lot of gags in the background that you can miss if you're distracted. (On a side note, the first half of ES had one of the best acting jobs I've ever heard in the English, that of Jessica Calvello in the lead role; otherwise, I stuck with the Japanese.)

[LouiefromLodoss]

[ QUOTE ]
DanielJr said:
You haven't gotten RahXephon yet??? Didn't you make a thread asking for recommendations a few weeks ago?

[/ QUOTE ]


I know. But back then I had a choice between EVA and RahXephon, once decided RahXephon I'd go with that one AND so many other titles.... but now the matter of choice is RahXephon OR ES as I just can get one.

Seem though, I'll en up getting RahXephon after all.

[Speedy Boris]

[ QUOTE ]
ADC said:
Haven't yet seen rahXephon (waiting on the next ADV sale at TRSI, unless there's something else I want at that time), but I can wholeheartedly recommend Excel Saga as the most pure fun I've had with animé in the past 11 years. You just have to be willing to pay attention, because there's a lot of gags in the background that you can miss if you're distracted. (On a side note, the first half of ES had one of the best acting jobs I've ever heard in the English, that of Jessica Calvello in the lead role; otherwise, I stuck with the Japanese.)

[/ QUOTE ] Agreed. Even on repeat viewings I still laugh at many of the spot-on visual gags, satires on genre conventions, and the funny lines. "Animation USA" is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in any anime, EVER.

About the only episodes I don't like re-watching are episodes 10 (Menchi episode 1), 24, and 25. Otherwise, I've found the series has one of the highest replay values among all the animes I own, and I recommend it.

I can't speak for Rahxephon because I haven't seen it either.

[tangent]

As someone who owns both Excel Saga and Rahxephon, I have to agree with everyone who has recommended Rahxephon.

While Excel has its funny moments it does get a little boring after a while. Rahxephon on the other hand, kept me riveted with suspense the whole way through. Rahxephon is just such a great story with such memorable characters.

[Kellory]

Here's a question.

How much anime have you seen? How much anime that you've seen comes from different genre's? Like sports, fighting, drama, school, etc?

Excel Saga is a parody show. 26 episodes of parody to be exact. And not just Comic Party type parody which essentially just parodies To Heart and the fan comic groups, but almost every episode is parodying a different genre. And while you'd think this gives a lot of variety, they're pretty generic and often feature parodies from many different shows in the episode so it can get confusing and boring. Not to mention you really need ADVidnotes on and it seems almost half the time your TV screen is filled with little cliff note type bubbles explaining everything. ADV did a great job with them, but there are just so many linear notes that you often cant even see the animation.

But if you like parodies, and you've seen a lot of anime (I'm talking probably upwards of about 100 different series across all genre's from the 80-90's) then it might be for you. Otherwise...

I'd recommend RahXephon. I'm not all that thrilled with the show myself, but thats neither here nor there. RahXephon, for all its faults (and thats a different thread) does what it sets out to do and tells a solid story and has a good (arguably) ending. I certainly enjoyed it and it was a good romance/drama show. Less agnst than Evangelion, more filling than Infinite Ryvius. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Oh yes, and the opening song is Hemisphere. Wonderful song, very catchy and one that I never tire of hearing.

Anyway, thats my 2gil.

[Judeau]

[ QUOTE ]
chotto said:
[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

RahXephon is a modern classic

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed.

[/ QUOTE ]
Indeed. Go with Rah.

[Puppet Master]

Excel Saga as stupid as it is if you've seen enough other titles its pretty funny.

[fractured78]

As Quon Kisaragi (http://absoluteanime.com/rahxephon/quon.htm) would say, "Rah, rah."

[kit-kat]

[ QUOTE ]
Naiera said:
Excel Saga is NOT that hilarious.

RahXephon is a modern classic

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to agree with this /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

[WRX]

If you have to ask the question then you're probably better off with RahXephon.

[LouiefromLodoss]

Ok.... the RA it is.

Thank you guys.

[cheezisgoooood]

Excel Saga IS hilarious IMHO. But if you've chosen RahXephon, I have no idea what to say, as I haven't seen it.

However, I would like to know whether or not RahXephon rips of Evangelion or not. I think shows that blatantly borrow from one specific series too much are annoying and I don't really wanna watch another Evangelion-like series, even if it is said to be better.

What I want to know is if it really is an Eva clone or if it's original enough to warrant a purchase.

[naiera]

It's more than original enough. There are similarities with Evangelion but that's only something you see in some of the basic premises. A lot of things are very different and the show is awesome, to say the least.

To mention one difference: The ending!

I don't think it's better than Evangelion though. I don't think it's the general perception that it is either.

[JackProton]

[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
However, I would like to know whether or not RahXephon rips of Evangelion or not. I think shows that blatantly borrow from one specific series too much are annoying and I don't really wanna watch another Evangelion-like series, even if it is said to be better.

What I want to know is if it really is an Eva clone or if it's original enough to warrant a purchase.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its Divergence Ev<font color="red">e</font> that rips off EV<font color="red">A</font>. RahXephon just admires it from afar. /images/graemlins/wink.gif RahXephon is more of a fantasy love story while EVA is... well, EVA. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[Puppet Master]

[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
Excel Saga IS hilarious IMHO. But if you've chosen RahXephon, I have no idea what to say, as I haven't seen it.

However, I would like to know whether or not RahXephon rips of Evangelion or not. I think shows that blatantly borrow from one specific series too much are annoying and I don't really wanna watch another Evangelion-like series, even if it is said to be better.

What I want to know is if it really is an Eva clone or if it's original enough to warrant a purchase.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rahxephons watchable Eva isn't that's all I can say.

[cheezisgoooood]

[ QUOTE ]
Puppet Master said:
[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
Excel Saga IS hilarious IMHO. But if you've chosen RahXephon, I have no idea what to say, as I haven't seen it.

However, I would like to know whether or not RahXephon rips of Evangelion or not. I think shows that blatantly borrow from one specific series too much are annoying and I don't really wanna watch another Evangelion-like series, even if it is said to be better.

What I want to know is if it really is an Eva clone or if it's original enough to warrant a purchase.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rahxephons watchable Eva isn't that's all I can say.

[/ QUOTE ]

In your opinion. I dunno, I asked for a good detailed answer on why RahXephon is a good series and I get this.

I think the two above answered better /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif.

I think I'll give RahXephon a try when I'm done with...everything else.

[Teiresias]

[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
[ QUOTE ]
Puppet Master said:
[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
Excel Saga IS hilarious IMHO. But if you've chosen RahXephon, I have no idea what to say, as I haven't seen it.

However, I would like to know whether or not RahXephon rips of Evangelion or not. I think shows that blatantly borrow from one specific series too much are annoying and I don't really wanna watch another Evangelion-like series, even if it is said to be better.

What I want to know is if it really is an Eva clone or if it's original enough to warrant a purchase.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rahxephons watchable Eva isn't that's all I can say.

[/ QUOTE ]

In your opinion. I dunno, I asked for a good detailed answer on why RahXephon is a good series and I get this.

I think the two above answered better /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif.

I think I'll give RahXephon a try when I'm done with...everything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

My suggestion: Search some threads here at AoD. There are literally thousands of posts on this subject. You'll get more info than you'll ever need or want. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

[banksie]

[ QUOTE ]
cheezisgoooood said:
In your opinion. I dunno, I asked for a good detailed answer on why RahXephon is a good series and I get this.

I think the two above answered better /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif.

I think I'll give RahXephon a try when I'm done with...everything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

To answer your question, RahXephon is clearly influenced by Eva in that it shares a more psychological viewpoint in its storytelling and a lot of the time the episode is about understanding a particular character's view. Definitely the mecha fighting, while present, is not the primary focus of the story. Most of the rest is straight similarities because both are Mecha series.

RahXephon is a love story told in grand sweeping terms. Eva is a psychological study which doesn't actually know how to answer the questions it raises. This to me is where Rah scores heavily over Eva in that it is quite self contained. By stories end you know everything you need to about why things have happened and what the end fates of the main characters are.

In short it shares only a few similarities to Eva but is definitely it's own story. I prefer it to Eva even while I recognise that Eva was a landmark series and deservedly so.