RahXephon focuses on a 17-year-old boy named Ayato Kamina; he's an average student who enjoys painting and spending time with his friends. One day, Ayato is caught in the middle of a sudden attack launched on Tokyo. He finds his classmate Reika Mishima singing, and she leads him to a giant egg that contains a mecha called RahXephon. Ayato finds himself piloting the RahXephon and fighting against a weapon of alien invaders called the Mu.Haruka, an agent of an organization of TERRA, brings Ayato and the RahXephon to the orangization's headquarters. Ayato learns that things aren't as they seemed, and he's also presented with a lot of conflicting information. Ayato, along with the audience, tries to figure out what may or may not be the truth.
When I first started watching RahXephon, I was seeing some similarities with Neon Genesis Evangelion. However, as the series progresses, the show develops into its own, and the similarities between the two series aren't as evident. Unfortunately, some of the "big reveals" in the series ended up being rather obvious. But I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that these plot points weren't written as well as they could have, or if I was simply recognizing tropes from similar series (such as Neon Genesis Evangelion). I was also a little thrown off and confused by the ending. Even saying all of this, I thought that overall, RahXephon is a decent anime series.
When it comes to the DVD set, there are several bonus features spread out through the discs. A "clean" version of the RahXephon opening and ending appear on the first seven discs. There is a slideshow of production sketches that appears on the first seven discs; each disc has a different slideshow, and all of the slideshows use versions of the opening song in the background. Previews for various properties that ADV was promoting at the time this set was released appear on all eight discs in the set.
The first disc includes a special Japanese promo trailer. This promo lasts for two-and-a-half minutes, and it has Japanese audio with English subtitles. I suspect this promo was used to promote RahXephon before it aired on Japanese television.
The second disc includes an interview with the English cast. This feature runs for almost 14 minutes, and features the voice actors for Quon, Haruka, and Ayato. The interview is done with a question appearing on the screen, followed by the voice actors' responses to the question. This was an OK interview, although I thought the voice actor for Quon spent a little too much time complaining about how little screen time her character was getting early on in the series.
The third disc includes an early production promo. This runs for two-and-a-half minutes, and it combines production sketches with some animated footage. My guess is that this piece was produced in order to get some very early promotion going for the RahXephon anime series.
Disc four includes another interview with the English cast. This interview is done in the same style as the one on the second disc, but it runs for 42 minutes. Personally, I thought this runtime was a little excessive for this type of interview feature.
Disc five includes two additional bonus features. The first is an interview with Hiroki Kanno, a character designer for RahXephon. This feature runs for nine-and-a-half minutes, with Japanese audio and English subtitles. A question appears on the screen, and is followed by Kanno's response. The second feature is a roughly one minute slideshow of the original Japanese cover artwork.
The sixth disc includes another interview with the English cast, which is done in the same manner as the previous two English cast interviews that appeared in this set. This feature runs for 44 minutes; like the English cast interview on the fourth disc, I thought that the length for this one was also excessive.
The seventh disc includes two additional bonus features. First is a 20-minute interview with the Japanese staff and cast, which has Japanese audio with English subtitles. The second is a music video for "Fate of Katun." The footage focuses on Ayato and Haruka; however, a decision was made to leave the audio from the dialogue in the video, which I thought distracted from the music. The song itself has a promising start, but it quickly becomes boring and repetitive.
If you're a fan of the RahXephon anime series, the RahXephon Complete Collection DVD box set is worth adding to your anime library. Even with its faults, it's still one of the best ways to acquire all 26 episodes of the series and the RahXephon anime film.
| Invasion of the Capital God & Man Awaken City Of Two His Own Watch Narai - Kanai Bonus Features | Obliterated Cities Day Of Assembly Bitterly Cold Holy Night Small Shrine of Time Bonus Features | Sonata Of Reminiscence Kyoja Circuit The Black Egg Bonus Features | Human Specimen 1 The Boy in the Mirror The Children's Night Island Of Others Bonus Features |
| Return to the Labyrinth The Bond of Blue Blood Blue Friend Bonus Features | The Artisan's Battle The Carved Seal of Xephon Operation Jupiter Obliteration From Here to Eternity Bonus Features | Doorway to the Tuning God's Uncertain Music Far Beyond Eternity Bonus Features | RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio Bonus Feature |
