So RahXephon...

[M4730]

WARNING, SPOILERS!

So I watched RahXephon on a recommendation of two friends and pretty much every review out there. Also I watched it knowing some people preffered it over Eva in the way that they were alike in some subtle, and some obvious ways. Right off the bat I could see what they were talking about (Haruka is practically Misato, with minor differences, and Ayato gets taken in to a situation he didn't want to be in the same way Shinji did, and so on...), so maybe that was why I felt like I missed some bigger picture to it all.

I don't dislike the show, it was good, but I wasn't like, blown away by it as I was by other shows. That being said, I have a few questions about it. Maybe some clarity will help me get more out of it.

A. For the love of God someone explain the family tree. All of this adopted son and sister stuff left me going "huh?"

B. Did Terra know Quon and Ayato's purpose? I can't believe that they would. If they did, and they knew Quon's..."mech" was with the Mulians, they wouldn't be fighting the Mu. Was Terra just oblivious to what RahXephon actually was?

C. What, exactly was the procedure of retuning the world? From what I saw, Quon didn't seem to have any bad intentions, in fact she helped Ayato soulsearch himself. So that final battle wasn't even a good vs evil thing. Clarity needed here :|

D. The random flashback episode. I know who the kids grew up to be, that much I got. But were they then mulians as well and just as capable as Ayato and Quon to pilot the RahXephon, if not, why not? Ugh...

E. What was the purpose of that background organization that was funding or backing Terra. I forget the name...the group with the crosslike symbol. And what was the deal with that guy climbing the mountain and being killed. What were all the conspiracies going about?

Really, I tried following it all. I've followed things like this before without a problem, but some of this just seemed like overkill. Like it was distracting you from the bigger picture, which was essentially the only thing that really mattered in the end...Some guy kept body jumping to witness his system of rebuilding the world, and then he gets shot for some reason. Ayato finds peace within himself and makes with the happy. I have way more questions, maybe I'll think of more once the discussion gets going.

Again, I don't dislike the show, but I'm just confused about a lot of this.

[Westlo]

Don't have much time...

Some guy kept body jumping to witness his system of rebuilding the world, and then he gets shot for some reason. Ayato finds peace within himself and makes with the happy.

You kinda answered your own question here... he has lived for a long time, jumped to different bodies and finally when he's about to see the pinnacle of his life's ( a very long one I might add) work he gets shot.

[Sauer]

You should find answers to most of your questions here

http://kenoki.com/nko/faqs.html

[Dolza]

RahXephon is one of my favorite series - but what I would reccomed is watching the Movie. It explains a lot of your questions, although there are in sort of an alternative universe in the film.

[zero_chance]

A lot of the goings on in RahXephon tie into Mayan "end-of-the-world" mythology (which is more or less pointed out within the show itself).

In short, it's all Bahbem's (the old "Methuselah" figure) fault. Originally, Earth and Mu were one world. In his experiments to find the workings of the universe, he unwittingly ripped the world in two (and thus resulting in the Earth's "lost civilizations" like Atlantis and such), creating Mu in one dimension, and Earth on the other, he himself being trapped on the Earth side.

The twin RahXephons were the result of his research to reconstruct the world as it was, and the Dolems were byproducts of this research as well. The Instrumentalists required to operate the RahXephon units are the individuals most in tune with the units own capabilities, in much the same way as how the Dolems were controlled.

A) The "Spirited Forth" incident is mentioned several times. Bahbem succeeded in part in breaching the dimensional barriers between Mu and Earth, transporting Maya and Quon to Earth. Quon, as a potential instrumentalist, was kept in stasis until the time was right. Maya was adopted by Shirow Watari (who along with Shougo Rikudoh, Haruka's Uncle) found Maya and Quon initially. Meanwhile, Ayato and Itsuki are male clones of Quon, to create a paired Instrumentalist. Ayato was similarly kept in stasis for a time, while Itsuki was allowed to mature normally. When Ayato was released, he was adopted by his "Aunt", Maya.

So in short: Maya is actually Ayato's "Aunt", while Quon is his "mother". Itsuki is Ayato's twin brother. Watari Shirow is the closest thing he has to a father. Ayato and Haruka are not related, despite the fact that Haruka calls Maya "Aunt".

B) More or less, yes, they were oblivious. However, most of Terra's actions were subtly manipulated by the Bahbem Foundation, who knew everything.

C) I'm no expert on the subject, but from what I gather, the Mayan end-of-world scenario involves the clash of two gods, in which the world is either destroyed or reborn as a result of their conflict. So as it happens here, Bahbem's attempt to rejoin the worlds resulted in the creation of the twin RahXephon units, and the tuning of the world would be completed in this manner.

D) They were part of the research in order to create Ayato and Quon as the perfect instrumentalists. Makoto Isshiki is constantly referred to as a "D", which is short for "D-Rank Instrumentalist". He does not have the full capacity to pilot the RahXephon, although several of his clones are seen piloting the Vermillion units, which are RahXephon-styled Dolem units.

E) I covered most of this at the beginning. The guy killed at the excavation site had stumbled upon the Bahbem Foundation unearthing the Black RahXephon egg.

[samwise]

There's a comprehensive "Mu timeline" out there somewhere that's really helpful (you can google it easily enough).

And then on the same site, some rather nice DVD volume-to-volume commentaries that are also well worth a thourough read.

None of it's authoritative, but the analysis seems fairly solid.

[M4730]

D) They were part of the research in order to create Ayato and Quon as the perfect instrumentalists. Makoto Isshiki is constantly referred to as a "D", which is short for "D-Rank Instrumentalist". He does not have the full capacity to pilot the RahXephon, although several of his clones are seen piloting the Vermillion units, which are RahXephon-styled Dolem units.


Ohhhhhhh...hahaha okay that makes sense now. I was like wait whats with Isshiki lookalikes :o?

As I said I sitll rather enjoyed the show, but there was that looming feeling of "this is all way too familiar" that kept throwing me off. Thanks for clearing that up. Thanks for the reference site as well Sauer.

[mighty_vespa]

Nuh-uh. No RahXephon discussion on AoD would be complete without referencing the great and LEGENDARY thread:

Rahxephon 7 WOW and WTF SPOILERS (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=54790) :bowsmiley:

Two-hundred and ninety-seven posts of commentary, revelations and speculation on the entire RahXephon franchise. Don't let the size of the thread scare you away. Everything you wanted to know about the series---its details, curiosities and idiosyncrasies---have been bounced around in that thread.

IIRC, the thread survived two forum upgrades/switches. Or was that three? The tags didn't survive the switchovers, unfortunately, but that doesn't make the thread any less awesome.

[Fencedude]

Nuh-uh. No RahXephon discussion on AoD would be complete without referencing the great and LEGENDARY thread:

Rahxephon 7 WOW and WTF SPOILERS (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=54790) :bowsmiley:

Two-hundred and ninety-seven posts of commentary, revelations and speculation on the entire RahXephon franchise. Don't let the size of the thread scare you away. Everything you wanted to know about the series---its details, curiosities and idiosyncrasies---have been bounced around in that thread.

IIRC, the thread survived two forum upgrades/switches. Or was that three? The tags didn't survive the switchovers, unfortunately, but that doesn't make the thread any less awesome.

That was the best thread EVER.

[M4730]

Well this definitely helps. Thanks everyone!

I mean yea, I like my shows with a bit if mystery about them, but this was just so darn cryptic :|

[zaldar]

Man I haven't watched the series but only the movie but that sounds all most more cryptic than eva....I may have to check this out. I love eva, but I couldn't get over the difference in animation style from the movies and the show. First time I actually noticed a difference I think. The movie was waaay simplier than this discussion though.

[zidanetribal2000]

When I got the new DVD collection I had to watch both the TV series & the move twice, in a row, to finally get a grip on the show. The one time showings on Anime Network weren't enough to understand the show lol.

[Torriate]

As much as I loved Eva, for me the best cast ever was on RahXephon. I fell in love with the cast to an extent I've not done since. The characters are all so fully realized. Even side characters that you think aren't important get entire episodes to explain their backgrounds, but not in the cliched way you normally see. There were many scenes of pure beauty in this show that defy normal explanation.

[bored@lazy]

Probably my favourite series of all time. Apart from episode 19, I don't feel there are any major standout points of the show, it's just that everything comes together so well at the end it's impossible to ignore how brilliant it is.

[Torriate]

Probably my favourite series of all time. Apart from episode 19, I don't feel there are any major standout points of the show, it's just that everything comes together so well at the end it's impossible to ignore how brilliant it is.

Only episode 19? I felt there were at least a dozen episodes that were standouts with the last 3 being absolutely brilliant. It's like the last several episodes summed up the entire history of anime into something greater.

[bored@lazy]

It's just that If I think of the series now(having not seen it for about a year) the only moment that is perfectly fresh in my mind is that episode. However the effect the series had on me as a whole is undeniable. If I was to watch it again so it would be fresher to me that may change however.

Regarding the last 3 episodes I guess I would have to agree though because as I said before everything just comes together so brilliantly they shouldn't be ignored.

[Torriate]

I actually haven't watched the series for about 2 years now after having watched it about 7 times in 2 years. I wanted it lay fallow for a while, to regain my love for the show.

[bored@lazy]

I actually haven't watched the series for about 2 years now after having watched it about 7 times in 2 years. I wanted it lay fallow for a while, to regain my love for the show.

I've "only" watched it three times. :P