Dai-Guard Review

Make the coffee!
File the paperwork!
Save the world!

Every once and a while, I watch something that completely catches me off guard.  Dai-Guard did just that.  As soon as I watched the opening, I found myself being filled with the spirit of JUSTICE.  The opening song invaded my head for at least a week, playing especially loud while at work, and I would find myself humming along to it in public.  Needless to say, the show grabbed my attention.  I had previously looked at the boxed set a view times and had seen some screen shots, but I had no idea what I was in for.

Anyway, for those who don't know, Dai-Guard is a mecha show centered around the members of 21st Century Defense Corporation's Public Relations Division, three of whom become the pilots of Dai-Guard, a giant robot built for battling strange, multidimensional invaders known as the Heterodyne.  Out of any mecha show you watch, this one is likely going to be the only one that will take into account things such as paperwork, damage claims, red tape, public relations and so on.  I'm sure this doesn't sound exciting, but the results are often quite funny.

Office workers saving the world!

The Heterodyne themselves are somewhat reminiscent of the now-typical mecha anime monsters such as the Angels from Eva.  The designs are strange, ranging from a giant ball of dirt to a giant mushroom to a huge floating pyramid to a vase-like shape with thin, flailing arms, etc.  You get the picture...weird and almost random designs.  Their purpose is eventually revealed to be something disappointingly simple.  I won't spoil it, but I suppose in a way it was nice that the show didn't try too hard to be deep.

The main character, Shunsuke Akagi, is fun and almost child-like for an office worker.  He usually leads the way into battle as Dai-Guard's main pilot, uttering often-humorous justice-infused lines.  My favorite is, "You Hetero bastard!  Take this fist of justice!" simply for the possibly-unintentional homosexual connotation.  What bothers me about Akagi, though, is that he is fairly static throughout the whole series.  The other two Dai-Guard pilots get quite a bit of development, but by the end of the series, all we really know about Akagi is that he grew up watching giant robot anime and that he's pretty much fulfilling his childhood dreams by piloting Dai-Guard.

There's also not much resolution in the end.  After the nature of the Heterodyne is revealed, things just kind of boil down to Heterodyne conflict will keep on happening intermittently and indefinitely.  The End.  It has its own appeal, I suppose, in that Dai-Guard and crew will continue having crazy and silly adventures for a long time to come, but I'm not sure it's quite the way I would have liked it to end.

Baa ba ba baa, ba ba baa....

When I watch anime, I typically watch the dub if it is available, and this was no exception.  I was very pleased with the overall quality.  My favorite dub voice is Shirota, hands down.  Everything he says is so deliberate, so official.  Those who watch it will see exactly what I'm talking about.  Also, Kokubogar is one of the most awesomely silly names for a robot I have ever heard.  I love saying it.

Overall, Dai-Guard is just plain fun.  It never stopped being a blast to watch.  The show isn't perfect by any means, but it should prove to be refreshing to most mecha anime freaks such as myself.  If I were to give Dai-Guard a rating, I'd give it a solid 4/5.  It isn't as easy to snag a copy of it on DVD since ADV went under, but there should still be some floating around out there.  Do yourself a favor and watch it.

The Weird Stuff I'm Watching/Playing

I've built up quite the queue of stuff to watch/play, and it's only getting bigger.  Here's what's playing at Kingstone Flash and some associated thoughts.

Anime/Toku

Juukou B-Fighter - Hi No Tori ended up posting the first episode of B-Fighter some time ago, and I was very curious to see how it compared to that Beetleborgs thing we got over here.  Even as a kid, I thought Beetleborgs was pretty dumb.  B-Fighter proved its overwhelming superiority within the first 30 seconds with that awesome opening.  The action was awesome, the suits are cool, and the characters aren't dumb (Though Takuya initially seemed kind of silly and awkward to me in his own way.  Might just be corny acting.  Can't decide).  When extra-dimensional invaders arrive to mess up your shit, remember that the insects have your back, along with Guru, who appears to be a cross between a rhinoceros beetle, a Furby, and Yoda.  Overall, a pleasant surprise.  This is my first Metal Heroes show, and now I'm starting to go back and look into the others.

BeetleFurbyYoda

Kamen Rider V3 - Started the supposed epic troll-fest that is V3.  V3 has always gotten a lot of attention from Kamen Rider fans, though many claim that the show itself is actually standard Rider fare.  So far, it's been a very entertaining experience.  The action is, of course, wonderfully old-school Showa.  Seeing Kamen Riders 1 and 2 was extra cool.  I haven't watched the original Kamen Rider, but it was awesome to see them in action in the first couple of episodes.  Pretty sure they come back later.  I can't wait.  Subs here.

LOL I troll u.

Kamen Rider Stronger - Midnight Crew Subs has slowed on releases, so I'll be taking a break from Stronger for now.  I am still loving it, though.

Kamen Rider Black - Still waiting on episode 47 from Century Kings.  It's okay, I am patient about it.  The guys that make fansubs for these shows have lives.  This is a hobby for them, and I understand getting caught up in other things and not having time for hobbies.

Kamen Rider Kuuga - I finally broke down and decided to watch a Heisei series.  Kuuga is quite the different critter from the Showa series that I've been exposed to.  Godai, the main character, is a goofy, yet plucky hero.  His manner and personality don't exactly scream JUSTICE, but he's very likable.  I can see why fans affectionately refer to Kuuga as Cool Guy.  The tone of the show is a bit darker and mysterious than what I'm used to with Showa.  So far, it's less formulaic and more story-driven.  We don't know what the exact nature and purpose of Kuuga at the beginning, and we get to discover that along with the characters.

It's just so different from what I'm used to that it was a little jarring.  Kuuga seems more mystical in nature, as opposed to the tech-driven powers of the cyborg Riders of past shows.  I was pleased to see some extra violence, though.  It showed one of the Gurongi actually snapping police officers' necks, slashing them across the face, and whatnot.  Death tolls from attacks are frequently reported, and blood is shown.  I'm pretty much hooked. This one is also available from Midnight Crew Subs.

This guy.  He's cool.

Mazinger Z - I have been interested in watching some classic super robot shows for some time.  From what I can gather, Getter Robo or Mazinger are probably the best places to start.  It's a fun show, though I can't say I'm hooked.  Then again, I've only seen two episodes.  I might have to watch another episode or two before getting a feel for what I think of it.  Deserves Subs is working on this one.

Shinzou Ningen Casshan - I've become fairly familiar with Casshan/Casshern over the years.  I saw the live-action flick a few years ago, and I thought it was pretty cool.  I have seen some places selling the OVA, though I heard to avoid it like the plague.  I have also been playing Tatsunoko vs Capcom when I have friends over, and Casshan is one of my favorite characters to use.   It was only a matter of time before I decided to give the original anime a look.  I like the feel of the show.  It's a bit bleak, yet maintains some of the feel of a superhero show.

However, the writing seems a bit lazy or silly.  It kills me how easy it was for Tetsuya to convince his father to turn him into a Neo-Human, like it was the only possible option.  I would have expected for Dr. Azuma to flat out refuse, just to give in when Tetsuya is mortally injured or something.  Oh wait, that happened in Kamen Rider V3.  Also, in the second episode, Dr. Azuma inexplicably transfers his wife's consciousness into Swanee while being confined by Braiking Boss.  How he did it is beyond me, considering he didn't appear to have any tools.  His reasoning was that Braiking Boss was going to kill her, which he could have prevented by going along with BB's plans.  I figure that after building BB some more awesome robots, Dr. Azuma could secretly program them to screw him over, all the while biding time for Casshan to save them.  But no, sending his wife's mind over to a robotic swan body was the ONLY WAY.  I'm interested in seeing where the show goes.  Take a look at the Skaro Hunting Society for subs.

Ahhh, the sun.

Choujuu Sentai Liveman - Taking a break to let GUIS get some more episodes in.

Music

To be honest, the only music I've really been listening to lately has been Toku music.  My latest favs are Metal Heroes stuff, mainly the themes for Jiban, Winspector, and B-Fighter.  I've also been listening heavily to Kamen Rider Black RX songs.  I'm a pretty big fan of Takayuki Miyauchi now.  I enjoy every song he does.  Listening to this stuff probably seems like a childish/weeaboo thing to do, but it really gets me pumped before work and keeps me inspired to trudge through all-night homework sessions.  Haters gonna hate.

Takayuki Miyauchi.  Also a cool guy.

Video Games

Rune Factory Frontier - Essentially a cross between Harvest Moon and a light dungeon crawler.  For me, this game pretty much takes the best Harvest Moon has to offer, streamlines it a bit, and then adds in some cool dungeons and battles.  You can even make friends with monsters and have them work on the farm or accompany you to a dungeon.  There a whopping total of twelve maidens to woo, and I admit I'm having trouble picking one.  Not only do you grow crops, you forge weapons, craft accessories, brew potions, cook, and fish.  Time doesn't pass when you are indoors, so you don't have to worry about not having enough time to do some things.  So far, the game does a good job of keeping things interesting with new things to do, new characters, and hints about the main character's past.  I used to be a Harvest Moon fan, though the last one I played (A Wonderful Life) got tedious and repetitive.  After playing Rune Factory, I'm not looking back.

Hell yeah, farming.

Skies of Arcadia Legends - I've been interested in playing this one for a long time.  I had always heard good things, and when I finally snagged a copy (for free, no less), I was excited to delve into it.  It's one of those JRPGs that is a fun, whimsical romp.  You get to fly through the skies with friends and go on an adventure to collect a bunch of crystals and save the world from a power-hungry empire.  Yeah, not the most original concept, but it is well-executed.  The game looks pretty good for its age, and the music is good enough to not mute the TV after hearing it for several hours.  Battles are pretty standard JRPG stuff, involving your usual turn-based rounds, with a special focus meter that charges so you can perform special attacks.  Elements can be equipped to the characters' weapons, which allows them to learn spells.  Overall, a solid experience so far.

Oh the pirate's life...

Thoughts on Evangelion

Like I said I probably would, I ended up watching Neon Genesis Evangelion (series plus End) during the break between semesters.  It had been quite a while since the last time I had viewed the TV series, about four or five years, actually.  I was surprised at my latest viewing, and the following are some thoughts on my experience and the show.

Before I even delve into the show itself, I must admit that I almost hesitated to even write on Eva.  It has such a strong and incredibly prickly fanbase.  To these folks, Eva is like the Jesus of anime.  I can't say that I include myself with these folks, and so my take is likely quite different.  I actually have a RahXephon and Eva comparison blog entry coming up that will address that whole "RahXephon is a NGE ripoff" claim that some Eva fans like to make.

Eva confirmed for Kamen Rider ripoff.

Evangelion was always an intriguing show to me.  Strange creatures called Angels, mechs, tremendously flawed characters, loads of religious references, etc.  It does a good job of drawing the viewer in with its interesting story.  The opening episode did a great job of hooking me, even the second time around.  After I got past the initial intrigue of the religious symbols and names and got a ways in, I came to see that religion or God didn't really have much to do with the plot.  It was a little disappointing after all of the cross-shaped explosions, Angels coming to wreck humans' shit, and whatnot.  I had heard that the references and imagery were put there simply to make the show look cool and unique, and I believe it.

Your shit is about to get WRECKED.

With Eva, I have some trouble distinguishing between Hideaki Anno's directing style and efforts to cope with a crappy budget.  Scenes with recycled backdrops, such as ones taking place on the NERV escalator, seem to have an intentional distance from the viewer so that the animators wouldn't have to waste money by actually drawing moving mouths and expressions.  The characters' bodies usually don't even move during some of those scenes.  Scenes with just silhouettes and dialogue became too frequent for me. I know there were budget and time constraints, and it wasn't usually that big of a deal, but it starts to get almost humorous after a while.  Such an approach also seems to weaken certain scenes.  In End of Evangelion, during the final exchange between Shinji and Misato, the "camera view" is largely on the wall instead of the characters.  It was such an intense and emotional moment, and actually focusing more on the characters' facial expressions and body language could have added to the moment, I think.  I'm pretty sure we can't chalk that one up to budget issues. 

*sigh*...Another escalator scene.

After the first episode, the show started to drag a little bit for me.  I think it's because Shinji and his interaction with others becomes a little depressing and repetitive.  However, when Asuka gets introduced, she breathes some life into things.  I generally found the first half of the series to be a bit weaker than the second half.  Eva seems to implement somewhat of a "monster of the week" formula at times.  New Angel appears, gotta find a way to beat the thing, drama, fighting, hints concerning big secrets, rinse, repeat. This doesn't really bother me, but I generally expected more from the much-hyped Jesus of anime.

I found some episodes during the first half, such as "A Human Work" and "Magmadiver", to actually be a bit dull.  Another episode, "Lilliputian Hitcher", was somewhat humorous to me.  Most of the episode consisted of NERV personnel looking at monitors and freaking out.  The viewer doesn't see much other than characters screaming things like "SHUT IT DOWN!" in regard to the Angels' attack.  Then, the solution to destroying the Angel revolves around some techno-babble that we know works when the monitor shows the characters that it does.  Anno attempts a sense of urgency and panic, but I don't really think showing us some character reactions to action we don't see as viewers is particularly effective.  There was some decent character development for Ritsuko in that episode at least. These are just a few episodes that I recall offhand.

I swear, this still shot lasted for at least a minute, maybe longer.

Toward the end, Anno really starts delving into his characters' psyches.  It can actually get fairly deep at times, probably not as deep as some fans will have you believe, but also likely deeper than what folks who sneer and make "lolDEEP" comments will tell you.  The final two episodes start to get pretty abstract as Shinji struggles to justify his own existence and much of the character drama reaches a climax and somewhat of a conclusion.

Then comes the End of Evangelion.  Its existence is almost a controversy, as Anno was apparently at odds with Eva fans that were dissatisfied with his original ending.  Such fans demanded a "better" ending, and a few even sent Anno death threats.  I think Anno was pretty reluctant to make the movie, and I bet that he was using it to make some cash while spitefully trolling everybody.  All in all, the movie had good action and many intense scenes as this whole thing comes to a close.  During the second half, we get bombarded with a more abstract imagery and thoughts as Shinji comes to some sort of decision about his part in all of the crap that goes down.  The ending is open ended and a bit disturbing.  It wasn't necessarily a bad way to end, but I can't say I felt satisfied after watching it.  Eva begins with many questions and slowly trickles some details or hints to the viewer, and this process continuously opens up new questions, some of which are never really addressed in the end.

I GOT this.

Maybe I've been a little to harsh or picked Eva apart too much.  It's just that whenever anything gets an extraordinary amount of hype, it makes me want to put things into perspective.  Somebody reading this might get the idea that I didn't enjoy Evangelion.  To be honest, I loved it.  I simply desired to push past the ravings of the fanbase and tried to see Eva for what it really is, recognizing its merits as well as its flaws.

That being said, I enjoyed a lot of Shinji's existential pondering.  In addition, instrumentality and the surrounding concepts are interesting and give you something to think about.  There's so much angst about personal boundaries and being with other people, not to mention loads of sexual frustration.  Another one of my favorite things about Eva is that it can get fairly creepy.  There's something awesomely disturbing about seeing that NERV has a crucified Angel that leaks LCL stored away in the basement and that the Evas are actually lobotomized creatures bound by mechanical parts.  The "angel graveyard" and the tank of Rei clones also come to mind in regard to the cool creepy factor. 

I have one of these in my basement, too.

Also, many of the battle scenes are cool, and seeing the Evas in action can be exhilarating, especially when one goes berserk.  The scene where Unit 01 brutally beats the living hell out of Unit 03 and almost kills Toji is one of my favorites, and the emotional trauma Shinji goes through as a result helped to keep me glued for a while.  All in all, Evangelion is a solid series with a lot to offer.  If I were to give it some sort of rating, I would probably give it a 4 out of 5.  If you haven't seen it, you need to.


 

Origins of a Semi-Weeaboo

It's obvious that I'm a big fan of Japanese stuff, but the other day, I actually stopped to think about how I turned from normal American child to semi-weeaboo adult.  I identify as "semi-weeaboo" because while I think Japanese stuff is super cool, I don't exhibit some of the inherent (and often annoying) weeaboo stereotypes, such as inserting Japanese words or phrases into my normal speech.  Lolis?  Not in my town! Heck, I don't even care if I never visit Japan.  As long as they keep making cool stuff, I'll be interested.

With that being said, how did I get to this point?  My first contact with Japan came through anime.  When I was about five or six, SciFi made some sort of big deal about how they were going to show the best in Japanese animation.  I was interested.  Cartoons.  Cool.  The lineup for this special event was Robot Carnival, Lensman, and Vampire Hunter D.  I still remember the commercials and intro for it.  Heck, I found a YouTube clip of it.

I sadly say that I don't remember much of Robot Carnival.  I think I might have been too young to appreciate it.  Lensman, however, blew me away and was recorded on VHS for later viewings until the tape got eaten or something.  Vampire Hunter D was cool as hell, and it forever became an epic masterpiece in my young mind.  Of course, Fox began airing Saban's Power Rangers, which would put me on course to becoming a tokusatsu fan.  I also watched the occasional Godzilla movie.

Some years later, the SciFi channel provided some more titles every weekend.  I ended up seeing a bunch of anime, much of which I can't actually remember anymore.  I distinctly recall seeing Iria: Zeiram the Animation.  SciFi had already showed the live-action Zeiram movie, so I ate Iria up.  They also played Ronin Warriors early in the morning on weekdays, and that was incredibly epic at the time.

Zeiram: bad mofo

By this point, I came to consider Japanese animation to be the top-notch stuff and serious business.  American animation just didn't do it for me anymore.  I actually went a few years without seeing any anime due to living in the middle of the woods and lacking cable service.

Anime would later come back into view in middle school as my friends started talking about Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing.  Of course, DBZ caught my interest, and I watched it until Toonami went kaput.  Gundam Wing was a major force in getting me permanently fixated on anime.  Say what you will about the show, but it was responsible for introducing me and many other Americans to the Gundam series.  GW also sparked my interest in Japanese music.  TWO-MIX's songs were so upbeat, melodic, and addicting that I didn't care whether or not I understood the language. 

The early days of Adult Swim took things a step further, with shows like Yu Yu Hakusho, and InuYasha keeping me interested while I developed my own tastes.  I also started getting into Japanese artists such as T.M.Revolution and L'arc~en~Ciel, whose music was featured in a number of anime titles.  After a while, I began surfing the net, hitting up places like Rightstuf and CDjapan.  

From that point on, my own tastes began to guide my viewing and listening selections.  .hack//SIGN, Macross, Evangelion, Zeta Gundam....  Yuki Kajiura, access, Sound Horizon....  I bet most semi-weeaboos and weeaboos can come up with a similar timeline of sorts.  I wonder if others started out similarly, as early, etc.  But yeah, back when SciFi was cool and wasn't SyFy, it set me on the path to where I am today, and then Toonami sealed the deal back when Tom was still alive.

RIP Tom ;_;

It's fun to sit down and actually think about the origins of your interests.  This can probably apply to everybody, even non-weeaboos.  It's fascinating to take a look at a fun part of the journey that has defined who you are and where you came from.

What's Playing at Kingstone Flash

Now that the semester is winding down, I can take a moment to give my thoughts on the shows I'm looking into at the moment.  I suppose I could wait and do full reviews (I still may), but some of these shows are fansubs that probably won't be complete for years at the rate they're going.  I guess I should go learn Japanese or something.

Current tokusatsu lineup:


Choujuu Sentai Liveman

I am pleasantly surprised at how much darker this show is then the Power Ranger stuff America usually gets.  The villains get a lot of good development, especially Obler and Mazenda.  I'll admit to having a crush on Megumi Mori.  I'm also very fond of the episodes where Jou gets emotional and his voice practically cracks as he henshins (episodes 3 and 18 come to mind).  It's been so many years since I've seen Power Rangers, but I can't recall PR having drama this good (at least for a kid's show).  Sometimes I catch myself really wanting to call Machine Buffalo when things get tough at work.  God, I really do get immersed in these shows.  I'm taking a break from Liveman to let GUIS churn out some more subbed episodes, but I love what I've seen so far.

Megumi Mori....Hnnnnng!

Kamen Rider Black - I absolutely love Tetsuo Kurata as Minami Kotaro.  The way he goes on about Golgom's actions being unforgivable and how his eyes widen and he clenches his fists and all before he henshins...god, it gets me pumped.  The henshin sequence is so awesome that sometimes, I try and henshin myself, arm motions and everything.  For some reason, I can't say anything else except that I'm hooked and I'm enjoying the ride. Hopefully, Century Kings will finish it soon.

Kamen Rider Stronger - I started Stronger as sort of a diversion from Black to give Century Kings more time to finish the series.  I'm only a handful of episodes in, but I find it to be quite enjoyable.  Shigeru Jo is such a strange character.  He's kind of crazy, but he's definitely got balls.  He wastes no time telling Black Satan exactly who he is, and he always goes around wearing a shirt with huge "S" on it and gloves to cover his cyborg hands.  He's so quirky, and his henshin is so over the top that it breaches the awesome threshold.  Black Satan's henchmen look so derpy...they crack me up.  The action is very old-school, but it's great fun.  Also, Tackle <3

Current Anime lineup:

Witchblade

Not my usual type of show, but it's been pretty solid so far.  I can't say that I'm blown away or anything, but it's kept me interested enough to slowly pick at it.  Maybe it's the (scantily-clad chicks + violence) guy factor.  My roommate's reaction to seeing the opening was, "Why is she smearing blood on her ass?"  I'll probably finish it when finals are over.

That's all for now.  I'll probably return with my video game backlog and rant about something.

Being a Man-child (and why I'm okay with it)

So, here's the thing.  I'm almost 23 years old, and I watch shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.  I am well aware that these are kid's shows over in Japan, but I still watch them and I still love them.  I've been giving this quite a bit of thought.  Why do I love these shows so much?  Is it okay for a grown man to watch these silly things?

The result of awesome and hilarious trolling from Kamen Rider V3

Sometimes when I watch tokusatsu shows, I actually find myself getting really excited.  I'm talking things like, "Holy crap, Liveman is going recruit two new members and combine Live Boxer with Live Robo to form Super Live Robo!!"

Like many adults my age, I was a kid when the original Power Rangers first came on television, and I got sucked into it.  The style and concept was so different and interesting at the time.  I was attracted to anime that was showing at that time for similar reasons (Ronin Warriors, Vampire Hunter D).  It was just so damned cool.

Ronin Warriors.  Was cool.

Of course, after reaching a certain age (probably around 10 or 11), I stopped watching Power Rangers, and most boys I knew around that age didn't mention it anymore.  It wasn't cool anymore.  We were above that kid stuff.  I was too busy playing Pokemon, anyway.  Funny enough, Pokemon would also seemingly fall out of popularity by the time high school came around.  I can only recall one or two people that were openly into it, and they were the brunt of jokes.

However, during my senior year of high school and my subsequent years in college, nearly everybody I knew admitted to watching Power Rangers.  They even recalled their favorite rangers (Mine was the Green Ranger).  On a side note, everybody started admitting to playing Pokemon, too.

You know you thought he was cool

It seems that as we grew up, we started wanting to become more adult and started to discard all of the childish things we once liked.  However, when many of us became adults, loaded down with work and responsibilities, we wished to reclaim pieces of our childhood, things we would never fully experience again.  Things we liked as kids that were considered lame in middle school and high school became awesome again.  I'm pretty sure if I had asked any random person in college if they watched Power Rangers as a kid, they'd have said, "Hell yeah, that shit was awesome!"

I discovered Super Sentai as the origins of PR during my early college years when I saw a picture from Himitsu Sentai Goranger.  Imagine my surprise to find out that this series of Japanese shows that have been running for over 30 years contained the show on which PR was loosely based.

Himitsu Sentai Goranger.  Awesome.

It all started to make sense.  Of course the Japanese were behind it.  Everything they touch seems to be cooler to me.  Long story short, I started to slowly get into Sentai.  I started watching Liveman earlier this year, and I am loving it.  It's kind of dark sometimes, but it's still obviously a kid's show.

I recently recalled how my roommates in college started getting into shonen shows, like Naruto and Bleach.  I don't particularly have a taste for the newer shonen stuff, but I am beginning to understand why some people I know are still into it, years after watching DBZ on Toonami.  

I began to realize that many of us are entertained by this kind of stuff for different reasons than when we were kids.  I personally love the nostalgia, and I frequently find myself chuckling at the pointless explosions and the crazy action, but at the same time I'm actually kind of into the story and the drama.  The style is just plain fun.  Even with the older shows, where the fighting is noticeably deliberate and punches and kicks obviously don't connect, I find myself loving how over-the-top everything is.  I laugh and then go..."This is awesome."

Does this make me a man-child?  Probably.  Is this okay?  Sure, when it's appropriate.

There's really nothing wrong with fun and entertainment, no matter how childish it is and no matter how old you are.  I have a friend that's 23 years old and has a well-paying job, and she still goes out and does stuff like play hide and seek, with other adults no less.  Our childhoods may be long gone, but they are still very much a part of who we are.  We shouldn't discard childish things just because we are adults.  We should rather embrace them and give our inner-children some time to play every once in a while.

RahXephon Review

Brief synopsis:  Ayato Kamina is a teenager from Tokyo who becomes entangled in a conflict between humans and trans-dimensional invaders known as the Mu.  He is called to pilot the RahXephon, an almost-mystical technological construct, and he becomes a useful tool of the Mulian defense organization known as Terra.  As the conflict with the Mu intensifies, so does his inner conflict as he struggles to find the truth about himself and those around him.

Initial thoughts:  I had seen parts of RahXephon several years ago and recently decided to purchase the boxed set in order to view the entire thing from start to finish.  I recalled enjoying what I saw of the show very much the first time around, and I was curious to see how the title held up during its second viewing.  This is my first time really trying to review something, so I'm going to try to tackle it by breaking it into sections.  Please keep in mind that this is all just my opinions based on what I have seen and felt.  It's really okay to have a different opinion.  I don't care for arguments and shitstorms.

Story: RahXephon is a complex show, with many references to music, literature, folklore, etc.  That being said, I definitely got more out of the second viewing than the first time I watched.  The show is often likened to Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it's apparent that RahXephon was influenced by Eva and various other shows in a number of ways.  However, RahXephon's basic plot is inspired by the 70's super robot show Brave Raideen, and it really has more in common with Raideen than Eva.

Brave Raideen

Like most anime fans, I have seen Evangelion, and I will admit that the similarities between some of the scenes in Eva and Rah are startling, especially toward the beginning of the shows.  However, as I watched RahXephon further, I noticed more differences than similarities.   I don't really see Rah as being an Eva ripoff.

Anyway, the characters in RahXephon are well-developed and complex.  I found most of them to be likable or at least very interesting.

Visuals:  I found RahXephon's visuals to be absolutely stunning.  I'm kind of an old-school anime guy, so I admit that I don't have a good feel for how they hold up against current titles, though.  I was pleased with RahXephon's beautiful imagery and smooth animation.  I loved the designs of the dolems used throughout the show, and I thought that the RahXephon's design was quite interesting and captivating, despite the clear influence of Raideen.

Music:  For a show that contains so many references to music, RahXephon doesn't disappoint with its powerful musical score.  It's opening song, Hemisphere, is definitely a standout anime opening.  Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto did a fantastic job, and I found the song to be unique and powerful.  Hemisphere was on heavy rotation in my mp3 playlists for some time after hearing it.  The ending song, Yume no Tamago, is amazingly beautiful, and is well-suited for the feel of the show.  In addition, the background music was used very well, and often complemented the scenes quite nicely.  One track that comes to mind off the OST is Second Sorrow, which was used to great effect in episode 19.  ;_;

The Requisite Rah vs Eva Section:  It's nearly impossible to talk about RahXephon without talking about Evangelion, and most discussions end in arguments about which is better.  I don't care to argue about it, but I figure I'll share my two cents on the matter.  Quite frankly, after seeing both, I vote for RahXephon.  It has stronger characterizations, more likable characters, better-grounded and well-thought symbols and references (not just there because producers thought it was cool), a clearer and more satisfying ending, and superior music and visuals.  That's just my take on things.  Don't get huffy.

Conclusion:  I found RahXephon to be a very interesting and riveting experience.  I blew through the whole thing very quickly, and when it was all over, I found myself sitting and thinking about it for quite some time.  Highly Recommended.  Do yourself a favor and buy a copy.