Search - RahXephon - Harmonic Convergence (Vol. 3) on DVD

The Series Continues To Set Up

Chon-ny | 06/23/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This series overall gets a five; and while this disc is essential to understanding RahXephon, it's one of the slower offerings that is used to set up the rest of this intriguing series.As a recap, the title character is a giant robot with yet unexplored but sound-related abilities, and uniquely pilotable by teenager Ayato Kamina. Kamina has just been freed from the space-time bubble surrounding Tokyo-Jupiter (where time runs at a rate years behind) and has been told that what he thought was reality is a construct by an alien race of Murians. The battle for Tokyo-Jupiter and its numerous human inhabitants is waged with Dolems--the Murian giant robots--and RahXephon, on behalf of the "real" Earth.Call Vol. 3 the Quon Disc, as it deals heavily with delving into exactly who this unnerving girl who calls Ayato "Orin" or "Ollin" (depending on the version) is. The two continue to find more and more connections with each other, and this volume spends most of its time exploring that. Each episode features one Dolem battle (one and a half in the first); one, in particular, is very important in setting up the series. As the battle progresses, RahXephon is swallowed by the Dolem and transported to a different temporal space, and Ayato proceeds to go through a hallucinatory dream/trance that takes him back to Tokyo/Jupiter and explores some of his hidden feelings.It's a necessary volume, but one that is a bit slow-paced, even for RahXephon fans. However, nearly everything shown will come back in some form in the series later episodes. The previously mentioned Dolem fight will seem like a preview for the things to come in the pivotal Vol. 4, which will kick this series into high gear.Great art, in the new modern style seen in series like Gasaraki or Full Metal Panic--cleaner, CGI-integrated, not line-y art; different music, mixing techno-pop with majestic orchestra. A great series that takes some time to develop...and this is the last disc in that slow process. Not recommended by itself, but necessary if you have started collecting the series."

Interior Dialogues

Marc Ruby? | Warren, MI USA | 07/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This series has a particular fondness for exploring the inner workings of its characters. Frequently this is in association with RahXephon's battles, but the first episode here is an exception, playing the antagonistic relationship between Ayato Kamina and Megumi Shitow against Commander Jin Kunugi's painful visit to his daughter's grave. In a sense, fractured relationships are as much a major sub-theme of RahXephon as is the music that often expresses via the mysterious Quon Kisaragi.In the next episode, Ayato, pilot of the RahXephon, encounters a new Dolem, 'Vivace,' in battle. It thrusts Ayato into a strange dream world that is a partial replica of the Tokyo locked behind the time barrier. He finds himself more in touch with his on inner turmoil and fears of intimacy than he expected to be, creating a crisis that will resound through the rest of the series.The last episode is Quon's tale. Her role so far has been that of a beautiful, but physically weak woman who is most noted for her poetry and violin playing. In undergoing her own crisis - triggered by Ayato's in the previous episode, Quon comes face to face with her own potential, and very nearly overreaches herself.Often, this series will get compared to Evangelion, and not inappropriately. But there is much more going on here at the character level than it's forbearer offers - and correspondingly less action. If you can imagine Evangelion grown up a bit, with even better music and art you would have a good idea of what to expect. I find it fascinating both as art and concept, with a difficult to achieve naturalness to the acting.By all means seek this series out, it shows every sign of being a keeper."

This should have been titled Dissonance

iso_allen | Irving, Tx United States | 07/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is what I would consider a break away from the main series with three episodes that stray a bit from reality.This disk is going to be a love or hate. The art and color use are still great. Not much is revealed about the main story line and as I said its a few steps away from where the rest of the series has been so far. If you are looking for answers you wont find them here but if you pay attention you can intuit a few things that I feel will be major in the story line later.I liked departure from reality episode. It reminds me more than just a bit of the Twin Peaks TV series. The pacing could have been faster but I think it was done well enough. It also sets some interesting character relasionship umm.. dificulties. I'm interested to see if they intend to work through them or if they will just go away next episode and everyhting will be fine again. Could go either way.
I think it was a brave move for the creators of the series to take this kind of divergence from the formula people might have come to expect. I don't know that it would work for the whole series but I think it works on these few episodes.Like I said - love it or hate it, to each their own."