Rewatched RahXephon. I’d tie it with NGE at 9⁄10. I especially liked the first two episodes. I thought the romance in it was quite good, too. The animation goes off-model from time to time, but it’s serviceable. The music is wonderful, especially the closing theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTUy44JA8w
I also watched Eureka Seven and found it vastly inferior to RahXephon—maybe 5⁄10 and that’s pushing it.
I’ve been enjoying Knights of Sidonia [slight spoilers] - a half-and-half mix of neat science fiction and annoying fan service. There was an interesting romance in the first season (and one wonderful scene of a couple stranded in space) but it’s pretty ridiculous how every female (including the eldritch monstrosity) loves the oblivious protagonist. Also, Izana has the potential to be super interesting but zer potential is mostly wasted.
As for the animation, I know it is controversial, but I think it’s quite good. It’s also obviously the future of the medium—people will get used to it. I’ll give it 7⁄10.
I still enjoyed the setting and some of the fights but I thought the second season was a fair bit worse than the first due to (as you mention) too much focus on harem antics, combined with a reduction in the overall sense of urgency/plot momentum.
What I find interesting about RahXephon is that having watched it and NGE several times and read staff interviews for both etc is that in almost every respect, RX is clearly better thought out and more competently executed*, and yet, it’s NGE which ultimately somehow turns out to be greater than the sum of its parts of RX and a part of anime history, while RX is ‘merely’ one of the best mechas around, especially from that era.
* with the exception of the music—RX’s is quite good but Sagisu’s NGE work is still considered one of the best, up there with Kanno’s Cowboy Bebop.
I agree, there is some magic to NGE that RahXephon doesn’t have—but I’m not sure how much of that is caused by the fact that I saw NGE first and it was the first Anime I ever watched. I love Neuromancer, but much of my love for it comes from the fact that it was the first science fiction novel I ever read. I had no antibodies. If I had read Vinge first, it’s likely I wouldn’t have been too impressed with Neuromancer, which has as many flaws as NGE.
I can’t justify giving NGE a higher score for the reasons you described, but I do slightly prefer it—though less so after re-watching RahXephon.
Watched a lot of robot anime last month.
Rewatched RahXephon. I’d tie it with NGE at 9⁄10. I especially liked the first two episodes. I thought the romance in it was quite good, too. The animation goes off-model from time to time, but it’s serviceable. The music is wonderful, especially the closing theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTUy44JA8w
I also watched Eureka Seven and found it vastly inferior to RahXephon—maybe 5⁄10 and that’s pushing it.
I’ve been enjoying Knights of Sidonia [slight spoilers] - a half-and-half mix of neat science fiction and annoying fan service. There was an interesting romance in the first season (and one wonderful scene of a couple stranded in space) but it’s pretty ridiculous how every female (including the eldritch monstrosity) loves the oblivious protagonist. Also, Izana has the potential to be super interesting but zer potential is mostly wasted.
As for the animation, I know it is controversial, but I think it’s quite good. It’s also obviously the future of the medium—people will get used to it. I’ll give it 7⁄10.
I still enjoyed the setting and some of the fights but I thought the second season was a fair bit worse than the first due to (as you mention) too much focus on harem antics, combined with a reduction in the overall sense of urgency/plot momentum.
What I find interesting about RahXephon is that having watched it and NGE several times and read staff interviews for both etc is that in almost every respect, RX is clearly better thought out and more competently executed*, and yet, it’s NGE which ultimately somehow turns out to be greater than the sum of its parts of RX and a part of anime history, while RX is ‘merely’ one of the best mechas around, especially from that era.
* with the exception of the music—RX’s is quite good but Sagisu’s NGE work is still considered one of the best, up there with Kanno’s Cowboy Bebop.
I agree, there is some magic to NGE that RahXephon doesn’t have—but I’m not sure how much of that is caused by the fact that I saw NGE first and it was the first Anime I ever watched. I love Neuromancer, but much of my love for it comes from the fact that it was the first science fiction novel I ever read. I had no antibodies. If I had read Vinge first, it’s likely I wouldn’t have been too impressed with Neuromancer, which has as many flaws as NGE.
I can’t justify giving NGE a higher score for the reasons you described, but I do slightly prefer it—though less so after re-watching RahXephon.