Setting

Ayato lives a normal life with his friends in Tokyo. One day, a mysterious attack happens, everything is too fast, and he suddenly discovers that the world around him is "fabricated" by the MU, a weird race which blood is blue. Ayato soon find out that he is what they call an 'Orin', which enables him to be a pilot of one of the giant Dolen's (a Dolen is a stone monster), in this case, the RahXephon. Now, with this information and Tokyo pretty badly damaged from the attack, he must choose to fight or not. To add to the mystery of everything that is going on, a pretty woman who used to be his classmate Mishima is always by his side, as if she shows up from thin air, but what really is her goal?

Pacing

RahXephon is an intense dose of mystery, plot-driven action and romance, and action. The series will make you need to watch one episode after another in order to get some answers, as there is no clear solution to what is going on. Also, no clear dichotomyc dualities exists: evil and good seams to not exist, and the right and wrong, or which side to choose, is the hardest decision to make, and eventually, this is the main theme of the title.

Everything is well explored and developed, and a particular theme that is nicely portrayed is the prejudice against different people: Does it really matter the 'blood' color, intentions (as long as tolerant) or way of life of people? The intense mystery of what are the MU and what they want also fills in the plot as you struggle to try and understand Mishima's character. But this might be an useful hint if you want to get all the mysteries in this anime: RahXephon is about relationships and it's characters, not a big world war.

An excellent title filled with surprises.

On a side note for the Neon Genesis Evangelion hardcore fanatics, RahXephon is not a copy of the first. To the rest of the healthy community, this comparison won't even make sence.

Conclusion

If you like and want comparisons, RahXephon has the battles of Evangelion, except with a solid and strong plot, and also a feasible and realistic romance. The title also explores the few friendships between a man and a woman that is not (in a whole) based on love, but actual friendship.

Focusing on the relationships of it's characters to conduct the title's plot pacing, without ever forgetting the situations and circumstances in which the characters are inserted into, RahXephon brings polemic and complex human themes, without really getting heavy and all preachy about it.

Simply a great title, not only plot wise, but also as an action and adventure pack ... and a full dish for our essay section.