RahXephon: Orchestration 2: Tonal Pattern (ep.6-9) [DVD]

Features

• Type: DVD
• Studio: ADV Films
• Language(s): english, japanese
• Subtitle(s): english
• Director(s): Akitoshi Yokoyama, Ikurô Satô, Masahiro Andô, Mitsuo Iso, Susumu Kudo, Sôichi Masui, Tomoki Kyôda, Yasuhiro Irie
• Actor(s): Jason Douglas, Hiro Shimono, Aya Hisakawa, Fumioki, Dai Matsumoto, Houko Kuwashima, Yu Sugimoto, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Kôki Miyata, Katsuhiro Harasawa

As the Mu launch a succession of attacks against the free world, TERRA is forced to use their secret weapon, the RahXephon, despite the reluctance of its pilot. Lost in time and trapped in a world he thought had been destroyed, Ayato must confront both a new wave of Dolem and his suspicions that he is only a pawn in a much larger game. The mysterious advances of the girl known as Quon and the reappearance of a supposedly dead friend are only a few of the many mysteries that must be unraveled in the second collection of RahXephon. As RahXephon progresses, a number of parallels with Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion emerge. Ayato, like Shinji, is the reluctant, chosen pilot of a fantastic mecha; the officers of TERRA are using Ayato as a pawn, as the directors of SEELE used Shinji. The Dolem, the gigantic flying fortresses of the Mu, recall the menacing Angels. But unlike many Evangelion clones, RahXephon is challenging and intriguing. Although Ayato is understandably uncertain about his role in a strange time and place, he remains less alienated and more likable than the schizophrenic Shinji. The interpersonal relationships surrounding Ayato are more complex and involve more humane characters than the remote Commander Ikari or the emotionally scarred Misako. Director Yutaka Izubuchi preserves a sense of mystery without allowing the story to degenerate into incomprehensibility, as he did in the muddled Gasaraki. (Rated 15 and older: violence, brief nudity, minor profanity, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon