dangermousie | RahXephon: a beautiful fevered dream

m_jade8's rec, I started watching RahXephon (as I mentioned earlier). I am four and a half episodes in.

It's part Matrix (the world of the protagonist is an illusion, controlled by alien entities and he has to free himself to see the truth), part Silmarillion (music as means of creation and power), and part Neon Genesis Evangelion (giant fighting robot machines). And it works perfectly.

Synopsis (from a webcite): Kamina Ayato lives an ordinary life. He goes to school. He lives with his mother. He has schoolmates. But all of that changes one day when massive machines, known as the Dolem, attack the city of Tokyo with their destructive vocal powers. Caught up in the chaos, Ayato meets a mysterious girl named Mishima Reika. She leads him to the sanctuary, resting place of the RahXephon, a giant humanoid being with powers to counter those of the Dolem. Upon its awakening, Ayato finds himself synchronising with the machine and it takes him to the world beyond Tokyo. It seems that Tokyo, more precisely called Tokyo Jupiter, has been cut off from the rest of the world. Those living within the boundaries of Tokyo Jupiter believe that the rest of the world has been decimated, when in fact they live in a world controlled by the Mu (alien, interdimentional invaders). Now, facing the truth, Ayato must come to terms with his new reality, for he is a central element in the fate of mankind.

It's trippy, it's beautiful, it's unusual. And I Love It.

Why?

First off, the opening credits/song has now displaced Fushigi Yuugi's credits and song as my favorite. Yeah, shallow, whatever.

Secondly, the animation is beautiful. While I can enjoy an anime despite bad animation if I like the story (I ended up liking HYD even though the animation in it made me want to poke my eyes out with a fork), but how much better when the style is so fluidly beautiful. And have I mentioned the conceptual design. Just look at RahXephon's chamber.

Also, I like the concept of music as creation. The whole plot and set-up of this, which is part dystopia, part tradtional scifi, part musing on nature of reality and part (of course) boys battling in giant robots. And it maintains this amazing balance between keeping me confused enough to want to understand more but not so much that I'd just go WTF?

But most important are the characters: I love Ayato, the protagonist, the quiet, composed 17 year old. He isn't too noble, he isn't screechy or hyper or immature or any of the other qualities that make me want to glomp protagonists. He is actually very cool and he is stuck in a world that is beyond anything he'd imagined, and his wonder and hurt and wounded steeliness just get me. And I love Haruka. In this story, she is his Morpheus, freeing him from the sphere and showing the reality beyond. She is also rather older than him (in her mid 20s?) but I am getting a shippy vibe and if that happens that would be truly interesting. I think this makes all the difference for me between this and something like Last Exile, which had an interesting concept and beautiful artwork but where the protagonists made me want to sleep.

Some gorgeous wallpaper: