Forum - View topicEvangelion vs. RahXephon
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tenryu
Posts: 3 Location: Texas |
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For some time now I've been seeing a lot of posts saying things like "RahXephon its everything Evangelion wants to be" or "RahXephon it puts Evangelion to shame" and I began thinking could RahXephon be better than Evangelion?
Now I have never actually seen RahXephon but I have heard nothing but good things about it. On the other hand I have seen Evengelion several times and find it VERY hard to balive that RahXephon could be better than it. In the end I guess what I'm trying to ask is what do you like better RahXephon or Neon Genesis Evangelion and why? |
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Swordfish_II
 Posts: 617 |
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I don't really like to compare them. Rah is more a love story than Eva.
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Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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Eva is more aloof, more mysterious, and overall less substantive with vast amounts of psychological babble.
Rah is newer with sharper animation, a better budget probably heh, with much more concrete ideas for most of the show. The basic ideas behind both, mechs and the boys who pilot them that change the world, are quite similar. I thought both were different enough that I could enjoy each without having to compare them constantly. Really, any mech show that has a lot to do with "bigger" ideas, can be related back to Eva. Big O has some big similarities and I heard Fafner in the Azure does as well(bunch of different names for that one, not sure what people regularly call it). |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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Very true! And Ayato gets over the whining and the "I don't wanna do this" parts quicker than Shinji. Or at least RahXephon gives you the impression that he does or that enough time has gone by for him to stop whining. I think why some people like RahXephon over Eva is that they understand it better. While they still have to think, they don't have to think as hard for the deep meanings and nuances. |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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Of course I don't mean that in a negative way =P Eva is just very much more open to interpretation.
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Pleroma
 Posts: 443 Location: Eromanga island |
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You really should just watch it already and make your own opinion.
That said, Rahxephon is much better planned and executed work. It holds together exceptionally well, the pacing is damn near perfect and in true BONES style just seeing characters interacting is often enough enjoyment by itself. While I do like Eva, I rather resent comments such as it being more open to interpretation or requiring more thinking than Rah. Eva is Postmodernism at its finest, it is a lot of often unrelated elements from mythology, religion, science and history thrown together and cleverly assembled into something coherent. That however does not mean it actually means anything. Yes we see the references, yes we see the imagery (Freud would have such a field day with EoE) but they are there just for effect, not because they tie in with everything else to provide some grand insight into the human condition. Add to that the overly irritanting characters (flawed heros are a good thing, but aside from Misato and Gendo the characterization fails due to excess) and Eva is really nothing more than a good anime. While Pahxephon plays a fair bit of the Postmodern game itself, it is a lot less pervasive and fits the story better by being relatively unified in its relations to plot elements. There is quality writing here, which Eva ultimately lacks and a much more solid story. Also, as aforementioned, the characters are all perfectly realized. Even the smaller supporting roles behave like real people would and the heroes deliver the required emotional impact without sinking into melodramatics. There is a wildness to Eva which makes it unique, but as the storytelling craft goes Rahxephon is far above it. PS: Rah also happens to be one of the most visually striking shows out there, allthough it its serene beauty is very different from the bold and maniacal Evangelion. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Looking at them both strictly as series RahXephon comes out on top by a mile in my book. It's just as complex, thought provoking, and philosophical but minus a little of the confusion factior and does a way better job of tieing up the loose ends of the story. Bones's animation is also superbly better. I like the main character better, the addition of a real romance that actually goes somewhere, the mech designs are better, and probabally one or two other things that I'm forgeting. All said and done it just felt more complete and solid like it was better planned out and executed.
Evangellion even with the addition of the films/OVAs still feels like it's incomplete and pieces are missing from the puzzle that is the story which bugs the hell out of me since well...I guess I'm a completist. I still liked it a lot and own it, but I wouldn't rank it as high. It does top Rah in one area though, the supporting cast like Misato, Ritsuko, and Kaji although RahXephon is no slouch in this area by any means either. |
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tenryu
Posts: 3 Location: Texas |
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While it is true that with Eva most people are more often inclined to over think the true meaning of the series because of its religiose elements, that doesn't mean thout that there isnt a deeper meaning to the series.
Most people are often to busy looking for a deep religiose or spiritual meaning to Eva that they overlook its true meaning. All in all Eva is best meant as a way to explain the "ego", which is one of the most crucial aspects of philosipy to understand. It is a simplified view of who we are as individuals and how what we veiw as "the truth" can be changed or destroyed so easaly. It shows how delicate the human psyche really is. I would also like to not that from a phlisophical point of veiw it is important to leave things openended as they did rather then creating straight forward conclusions, this creats a sense of mystery and wonder which leads people to find there own answers rather than having it given to them. "seeking ansewers is not about finding the conclusions but learning along the way." I think thats how it goes at least. PS. Sorry about rambaling on, I just wanted to be clear about the reasons I like Eva and why I'm so sceptical that RahXephon could be better, but I guess in the end it all just comes down to personal opinion. PPS. the only reason I haven't watched RahXephon is because the place I usually download my anime from doesnt have it and, well queit frankly Im much to cheap and much to lazy to actually go out and find it on dvd. |
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cheezisgoooood
Posts: 253 Location: Orlando, FL |
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This is the reason I won't touch RahXephon.
If nobody can even mention RahXephon in a post without comparing it to NGE then I don't deem it worthy of viewing! I honestly don't! I don't care if it's better or focuses on its love story more, why is it that nobody can ever talk about it without mentioning Eva?! It just seems like there are a tad too many similarities between the two! It almost seems like a remake of NGE from what I hear about it! I'm not a mecha fan, but I loved NGE. RahXephon doesn't seem to be capable of standing on its own two feet. Someone please prove me wrong. |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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If Rah is like Eva, than Eva is like Rah, no?
What if they were made in reverse order, Rah then Eva? And if they were exactly the same? Would you not watch Eva because Rah came first in that situation? How does that make sense? It's stupid to think a series is worse because it's very similar to something you like. I've heard Hunter x Hunter is a good shounen anime. Since I watch some shounen shows, I think I'll like HxH. Saying that one show mirrors much of another show, but is not a copy, is tantamount to saying "check this out! It feels like something else you really like!" And there is nothing to "prove you wrong about". Your opinion is that you don't want to watch it, whatever, don't. What's pretty factual is that both are talked about often together. Isn't Bleach and Naruto talked about together a lot? How about Texhnolyze and Lain? And Bebop and Champloo? Guess if someone sees one, they shouldnt watch the other, huh? |
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Pleroma
Posts: 443 Location: Eromanga island |
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Good point, if Rah had been made first then Eva would still be mentioned and viceversa. Yes they are similar in many ways beyond just being macha shows, but Rah is also a lot more than just a "remake" of Eva and has plenty of merit to stand on its own.
Think of it this way, you have a friend who looks kinda like some famous movie star, and you are trying to introduce him/her to friends to find them a date. Most people would say, oh by the way he/she looks kinda like xxxxx as a way to help describe them. Howevere in no way does that mean that your friend would be worthless without this similarity, or that it in some way makes him inferior to this more famous person he happens to look like. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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I have to agree with Swordfish_II on this. The only reason these two ever get compared is because they both have mecha, and confused protagonists. Otherwise they are pretty much stand-alone stories which should be judged separately. I think its ok to say why you like one better than another, but when you start saying one did this or that aspect of the story better than the other you start getting into trouble. Since the way they go about telling there story is different, and they tell there story through different means. |
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Space_cowboy64
 Posts: 337 Location: Great Britain...not all that great |
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Neon Genesis Evangelion for me was orginal and great. Really some superb character development and fantastic story to it. The films were pretty good but i still prefer the series, and i have to say RahXephon is a close second.
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one3rd
 Posts: 1818 Location: アメリカ |
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I would never try to make any deep comparison between Eva and RahXephon. Certainly, there are similarities that can't be ignored. They are shows featuring a teenage pilot who is abruptly thrust into piloting a giant robot to save the world. Of course, this could describe any number of shows to the point of being a stereotype. Let's not forget that the whiny hero Amuro Ray predated Evangelion by more than 15 years. Eva and RahXephon execute this concept in completely different ways. Not once while watching either show have I felt any particular connection between the two shows. More importantly, there is no reason to think that a discussion comparing and contrasting two shows means that one is necessarily inferior. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18435 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I fully agree that too much is made of the "similarities" between RahXephon and NGE. Both are very character-driven stories which try to explore complex themes within the context of mecha action, while deliberately obfuscating what they're really about. Beyond that, though, they are entirely different animals.
As has been mentioned before, RahXephon is essentially a love story, although it takes a long time for this to become apparent. NGE has nothing of the sort; it is, basically, a study of teen angst and coping mechanisms. Feelings of abandonment, isolation, self-hate, lack of self-worth, and how one does (or doesn't) deal with them - those are the elements that drive NGE. [As a side point, most people who see NGE don't realize this the first time around, which is a big part of the reason why so many fans hate the final two episodes. Look at the series that way and the final two eps of NGE are a brilliant and highly-appropriate cap to a unique viewing experience.] Both series do layer on symbolism subject to multiple interpretations and run plots at multiple different levels to give the impression of depth, although both series do it in different ways. NGE does a more effective job at this than RahXephon does, however; all too often I had the impression that RahXephon was just being obtuse for the sake of being obtuse. RahXephon clearly comes out on top when comparing the quality of technical and artistic merits, although it does have the advantages of coming along almost six years later and coming from a studio which cares a lot more about such things than GAINAX ever did. A lot of RahXephon is quite pretty, and it does have good mecha designs. Unlike NGE, though, Rah doesn't cut any new visual or technical ground. Before NGE, mecha almost always looked either like big boxy robots or armored knights, so the sleek, monstrous designs of the Evas was revolutionary. So was what was done with the mecha; although series like Gundam occasionally saw sword-fighting, down-and-dirty hand-to-hand combat was almost unheard-of for mecha prior to NGE. It's also widely-acknowledged that the visual gimmicks NGE used pretty much rewrote the book on how all anime series were made in the mid-'90s; Rah cannot claim such an influence. As far as characters are concerned, both series do an excellent job of bringing them to life. Unlike a lot of people, I never found Shinji that annoying; pathetic, maybe, but it was also extremely well-established where he was coming from and why he acted the way he did. None of the characters in NGE are just randomly the way they are or acting the way they do for effect. They all have Major Issues, and anyone who's dealt with teens on a regular basis over many years can see how such issues shape a person's behavior. Rah certainly had its share of well-developed characters, but most weren't as compelling as NGE's and a few seemed to have little solid foundation for their behavior (Quon in particular comes to mind). What it really comes down to for me, and the reason why I'll always regard NGE as the better series overall, is the effective intensity levels of the two series. Despite not being especially graphic, NGE is arguably one of the most intense anime series ever made - and I'm not including the even more intense EoE in that evaluation. Sure, it's got gripping action and occasionally gets a bit melodramatic, but it also excels in its dramatic intensity. Even after multiple repeat viewings I can still point to a dozen or more places in NGE which have me on the edge of my seat or tensing up as I watch them, while RahXephon was very ho-hum for me up until episode 19 - and although I regard that as one of the most effectively tragic anime episodes ever, one superior episode doesn't sell a whole series for me. |
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