Clone of Evangelion?


At first glance this does look like an eva clone but after the first few episodes its story goes into a different direction. Personally i think that it isnt a copy but inspired by eva andt there is nothing wrong with inspiration.

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i didn't watch evangeklion so i don't know.
i liked rahxephon very much, especially sweet ayato ;)

All Is One

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yes, it is partially an evangelion rip-off

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No, there are similarities - Eva was another "rip-off" of every other young boy in a mecha out there - of which there are countless others.

Unlike Eva however, RahXephon:

1) didn't go off the deep end on the existential BS like the original Ghost in the Shell did

2) Didn't suddenly start degrading from animation into sketch drawings - I could swear they ran out of money at the end of Eva and they were hauling away the guy's desk while he was scribbling the last episode.

3) MADE SENSE! They posed 101 questions and actually answered the vast majority - and they answered the rest in the movie (as well as blind-sided you with the subtle messages that you might not have caught on about)

4) Can't say because it's a spoiler, but it has to do with the movie giving you what most people wanted in the series on 1 or 2 occassions - but they didn't want to distract you from the series.

5) Was, subtly, one of the basic archetypes of stories - and a DAMN good telling of it.

6) didn't make me think "Oh God, when is this going to end?"

7) didn't have a main character that was a whiny little b*tch like Shinji

They heisted a couple of ideas from Eva - big deal; Eva heisted plenty from others as well - that's storytelling.

As one review I read put it: RahXephon is what Eva /should/ have been - a good series. :P

My $.02

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I like them both, but I think I like Rahxephon better. There really weren't any characters in Eva that I really cared about, while Rahxephon had quite a few.

All the characters in Eva were seriously screwed up. I mean, every single one of them. It was easier to connect w/ RahXephon's characters because they seemed more real than Eva's.

And Ayato was a much more likeable character than Shinji.

The love stories. Well, there was only one in Eva, really, between Misato and Kaji. RahXephon had several, but only one main one. All the people who seemed to have a crush on Ayato were for various reasons, but nothing compared to the love from Haruka.

Eva did get a little too deep into the headgames at the end. Its like they tried to hit at too many things at once. A little too ambitious, I guess would be the right term for Eva. RahXephon flowed much nicer and just seemed to be a better overall package. IMHO, anyways.

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"No, there are similarities - Eva was another "rip-off" of every other young boy in a mecha out there - of which there are countless others.

Unlike Eva however, RahXephon:

1) didn't go off the deep end on the existential BS like the original Ghost in the Shell did

2) Didn't suddenly start degrading from animation into sketch drawings - I could swear they ran out of money at the end of Eva and they were hauling away the guy's desk while he was scribbling the last episode.

3) MADE SENSE! They posed 101 questions and actually answered the vast majority - and they answered the rest in the movie (as well as blind-sided you with the subtle messages that you might not have caught on about)

4) Can't say because it's a spoiler, but it has to do with the movie giving you what most people wanted in the series on 1 or 2 occassions - but they didn't want to distract you from the series.

5) Was, subtly, one of the basic archetypes of stories - and a DAMN good telling of it.

6) didn't make me think "Oh God, when is this going to end?"

7) didn't have a main character that was a whiny little b*tch like Shinji

They heisted a couple of ideas from Eva - big deal; Eva heisted plenty from others as well - that's storytelling.

As one review I read put it: RahXephon is what Eva /should/ have been - a good series. :P

My $.02 "

completely agree, especially about point #7. That got really annoying. The character history and development was not as enjoyable because you'd either get Shinji whiny sceaming, or Asuka psycho screaming. The original series ending to Evangelion was perhaps one of the worst endings imaginable. Although that scribly drawing stuff makes you re-think what is possible. But, nevertheless, you gotta admit that the eva movie ending was really cool.. especially the macha battle.

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In reference to your remark:

2) Didn't suddenly start degrading from animation into sketch drawings - I could swear they ran out of money at the end of Eva and they were hauling away the guy's desk while he was scribbling the last episode.


This is a total misunderstanding. Every frame and "sketch" in the last episodes of EVA reflect and generate the meaning of the series. Your not thinking about how the imagery and the artistic use of the animation can portray meaning.

I enjoyed Rah-xephon, but there was little soul in the work and it was derivative in too many areas. EVA on the other hand, whilst flawed in many ways, had many moments of pure genius that totally took my breath away . In light of this, i consider EVA the superior of the two series by a long long way. In the end tho, it is all about personal preference and i'm glad that i have had the chance to experience both anime shows.

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[deleted]

People who compare this to evangelion are people who have no future.
I say this because the existence of eva will taint Rah-Xephonm. yes they are similar, but let go of eva, this is new and different, enjoy and forget.

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Yes, without eva rahxephon would not exist. Eva opened the doors to new kinds of mecha anime. However this took what eva accomplished and added so much more. It clearly is a technically and aestheticly better series then eva and made more sense. Evangelion was origional, but this was perfecting the genre the eva created.

Those who would sacrifice liberty for a bit of safety deserve neither liberty nor Safety.

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If you think that Eva didn't make sense...then you have issues. It makes perfect sense, you just have to be willing to interpret and put thought into the happenings. The style all has something to do with it.

God.

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Well I think everyone will take something different (positive) from End of Eva. It can be interpreted in many ways. For me though it made perfect sense.. (lol probably after watching it far more than would be considered healthy..)

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Have no future? What? What does that mean? I fail to see how comparing one thing to another causes one to "have no future". I tried desperately to ignore this inane statement, but it is one of those utterly insane comments that drills into the deep caverns of your brain and explodes in an aneurism. The illogic of the statement of plotting one's future based upon an opinion -- how do you begin to even think -- uggh, here it comes, pop, ......... oh I get it, contemplating that stupid statement blew out a blood vessel in my brain, "therefore I have no future," I think as my head hits the keyboarbyhjmdkkbjn

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Rahxephon is like EVA- with the exception that Rahxephon
- has a (good) plot
- has (tons of) likeable characters
- has character developement
- doesnt stretch out or drag on
- doesnt folow the clechies of other animes
- has great animation (not washed out and bland)
- doesnt have mechs ("dolems" is Engrish for "golems"- so there magical clay monsters, not bigass robots)

but yeah-- i mean other than that its just a third rate EVA clone right? right? DIDNT THINK SO

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there are similarities, but the mecha genre of anime is so 'full', it's impossible to make something deep, inventive and involve teenagers in giant robots without it being compared with something else. to say Rah is a clone of NGE isn't really fair. they both touch on similar themes and fans of one will probably like the other as well. however, there are enough differences between the two to make Rah a classic in its own right. i can understand why people compare it though. i suppose it's a compliment in many ways.

my website: www.concretebadger.co.uk for music, film, anime and forum

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Eva has a good plot, 12 year olds like yourself just fail to understand it.
Just because you didn't like a character doesn't diminish that character.
Evangelion has entire episodes that are nothing but character development.
Evangelion does drag towards the end because it had the budget slaughtered.
Rah is so full of cliches(nice spelling by the way) it isn't fun.
Rah is almost a decade older than Evangelion, of course the animation is better.
Evangelion didn't have robots...I'm not surprised you missed that.

Rah crosses that fine line between inspired by and rips off. It stand alright on its own, but it isn't that great. Make everyone pretty, through in a bunch of cliched romances and suddenly people think it's deep and full of character development.

Rah isn't a third rate Eva clone, it's a third rate anime all together.

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Totally agree Shinji.

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"Rahxephon is like EVA- with the exception that Rahxephon
- doesnt have mechs"

You either haven't watched all of EVA or didn't pay much attention to it.

As is made perfectly clear in the later episodes, the Evas are NOT mechs. They're synthetic organisims created from a mix of "angel" and human DNA. What makes them look like mechs is ARMOR, which also is used to augment their strength and act as a restraint and control system.

I saw episodes 11 and 12 of RahXephon tonight on G4TV. Two elements that appear to have come right from EVA, RahXephon standing in a tank of fluid (blue instead of red, dunno why/what it's for) and the D1 looking very much like another biological 'angel'.

I'd have to see the whole series to say whether or not I like it. Those guys in the red suits and dark glasses who showed up to check out the sleeping girl... "Hey! The TV series 'V' called! It wants the uniforms back!" ;)

And then Columbo shows up to tell the main character his mom's a traitor! Wheeee! (Is Peter Falk still alive?)

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I'll save my final opinion until i have seen all of RahXephon to base it on. However even without focusing on story, their are obvious homages to Eva in the drawing and angles.. Look at the trailer for one of the best examples, it just screams eva.. (or in fact screams like shinji at the start as i believe Spike Spencer did that scream! :D )

Having said that The eva series was entirely too short for a lot of people, an Eva-inspired mecha series might be just what they'd need to fill the void.

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Have to say, I like how blanka, rossi, and backupguides put it. What eloquence ;)

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Well theres a fine line between "inspiration" and "rip-off". This kinda crosses that line. I'm not gonna say its a full blown rip-off but damn. It is a pretty good series though. It is inconsistant though. Its got some great scenes but also some really bad ones. It has some amazing battle secquences. Is it as good as Evangelion? No, but it stands on its own.

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I agree Chuck, Eva is better, and this has a bit to many similarities to Eva. even one sequence looks like it was taken from Eva itself.

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The way I see it, and I should tell you all I've seen BOTH many, many times. Grew up with Eva, and bought RahXephon as soon as it came out, is that they did one of two things:
So, they recieve a bunch of mail about the end of Eva. The show ending, of course, sucked. And then the movies were made, which would've been cool if they weren't trying to take the whole show, and give it a meaning. No. A meaning needed to be established much earlier on. They then decide to make a show where the development was throughout the show, and the audience new a twist was coming from early on.
Then, they decided to add some stuff into this new show, stuff of which they had also recieved complaints about. The role of all the females in Eva, the MAIN CHARACTER BEING A B ITCH! Seriously, though, it is a good show.
Then change just a couple more thing, such as the whole Tokyo Jupiter deal, and bam, new show.
My point: it is influenced. Anyone that says it isn't is wrong. The idea of the Xephon only excepting him, the episode with the angel/dolem encasing the mecha, and the main characters almost dying inside of it, blah blah blah.
One thing I loved about Eva: the realistic level of the robots, they can be controlled partially by others. The story behind rei. The idea about the Angels...sent from God to kill man.
But I think they are both on par to each other. Equal because they both have good sides and bad sides.

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Evangelion is based on Space Runaway Ideon.
Rahxephon is based on James Churchward's 1931 novel The Lost Continent of Mu.

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Although they do have similarities Xephon is not a clone of Evangelion. I loved both shows and refuse to watch children turn 2 awesome anime and manga series into a "Mine is better than yours" pissing contest.

"God is Dead and no-one cares"

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A clone to me is something that is identical. Rah is therefore not a clone. It have certainly borrowed some concepts from Eva, tho it got its own chars, story, design etc. It also didn't take water over its head as I thought Eva did. It was a good series but the creator didn't get to the point, or explain things and sort them out. This was probably the way it was intended but damn, it was hard to watch sometimes. Anyways, I loved both Eva and Rah, Rah cuz it flowed better, and kept an more interesting storyline and character relations. Eva cuz of the inner mental illness on the chars :) Rah's got the upper hand tho.

Funny thing on this thread is that there seems to be 2 kinds of people. First the ones that hates Rah, and praises Eva. Then those who defends Rah from being a clone, likes it, but still likes Eva. Kinda makes you see which type who is the most rational, uh.

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I agree with ghaleon here. I think that almost everyone that likes RahXephon has seen Evangelion and liked it (to some extent, at least)

In my personal case, Evangelion got me into anime, so it have fond memories of it, particularly the first episodes. But the later episodes and especially the film got me right out of anime for good. (Until Miyazaki came around, but that's another story)

Years later, I heard about a lighter Evangelion, RahXephon. So I got my emule working on it, I liked it, I bought the complete series (A practical demonstration of the fact that P2P networks do not decrease sales)

Of course, when you see RahXephon you are always reminded of Evangelion, but I enjoyed inmensely the fact that there was no whiny main character! Because if Evangelion had a serious flaw, that was Shinji. Come on, Shinji, man, I know your father doesn't talk to you, I know women hurt you, but will you stop whining and pull yourself together?

Let me finish with three lists:

a) The points where Evangelion beats RahXephon:

- There is actually just one: Mecha action, the quality and thrill of battle scenes such as when Eva 02 first appears and confronts the water angel, leaping from carrier to carrier, or especially the one with Eva 01 and 02 attacking the double angel in perfect synchronism, these scenes are yet to be surpassed.

b) The points where RahXephon beats Evangelion:

- For once, a decently told, credible, magnificent love story. What can I say, I'm a romantic.

- Generally lighter tone, but it can get serious when it wants to.

- Lots of lovable characters with high ideals, that really care for each other.

- Consistently better animation and music.

- And, above all, a proactive main character!!!

and c) Some essential, pivotal plot points of RahXephon that are nowhere to be found in Evangelion, where I try to demonstrate that it is far from being a rip-off, but is more like a retelling of the same theme (theme, not story):

- Haruka, deeply in love with Ayato but can never find the words.

- The character of Mishima, which is entirely new.

- The Mu, that live between us.

- The alien origins of Ayato, an inner conflict with no parallel in Shinji. Thank God, by the way, Evangelion would have dragged for at least three episodes with Shinji whining about it, including, of course, picturing himself with the whole female cast of the series nude.

Sorry for the long post.

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WE ARE ALL SAYING THE SAME THING

Most people who watched and now praise Rahxephon watched Evangelion too (in my case, many many times).

It is no coincidence that there are so many similarities, even down to quotable lines and texts. It is INTENTIONAL. Rahxephon is made partly in homage of Evangelion.

However, its not a remake, clone, rip-off, or any other nasty descriptions some of you creative types use. There are a lot of things to like and critique about either show. Evangelion focuses more on the action, and is more sombre and suspensful. Whereas, Rahxephon focuses on the characters, their emotions and relationships. Various people have different preferences and perhaps even based on mood would choose to watch one over the other. Please dont make a stupid b1tchy argument which essentially boils down to preference.

PS: There are hundreds of superficial similarities, and it certainly doesn't take a 5 year old to point them out. WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THESE SIMILARITIES so please stop with the lists, unless you want me to be sure you're childish. Oh and its also nice to watch both recently before recalling distant sentimental memories which are often exagerated.

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exactly...but NGE is much better...

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I wouldn't say NGE is much better, but it's undeniable that Rahxephon is hugely influenced. I think BONES would admit as such. Rahxephon has other influences including "The Matrix", Mayan mythology, World War 2, and other assorted sci-fi stories.

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[deleted]

Not a clone, but there are definite plot similarites throughout. I am indeed a bigger fan of Rah than NGE, and I'm pointing out some interesting similarities.

-The similarity between Elvy\Haruka and Misato:
Elvy and Haruka seem like a rolled up Misato, mostly because Haruka loves the main character and hold the same Captain rank and Elvy is like Misato in that she's strong, independant, likes to drink, and apparently bought Misato's necklace on eBay.

-The idea of non-metal "mecha":
Dolems and Angels are one and the same, along with the conecpt of Ixtli being inside Rah just like Shinji's mother and Asuka's mother were in the Evas.

-Design of charachters, mecha and scenery:
Terra HQ is a pyramid, like NERV. Haruka is wearing a red jacket like Misato. The torso of Xephon looks like the torso of Eva.

-Blue Blood:
Invading Angels have blue blood, as do the invading Mulians.

-Berserk:
Xephon and Eva are most effective when they berserk, or when the pilot loses control or almost dies.

-The end:
Ayato, like Shinji, use their ultra strong mecha to rewrite the world with a catastrophic event, but Rah does this better by actually fixing the world instead of killing everyone.

-Rei-ism
Quon and Rei are both enigmatic females whom the protagonist interact with that know a lot about what's going on.

I like Xephon better, beacuse it's got unparalelled romance, fast-paced story, and no *beep* muddy water at the end like in EoE. :/ I loved the amazing story and the use of music as the main plot device.

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NGE is much more "dramatic", and do not forget, the christian and jewish (?) influences in NGE have a parallel to the mayan influences of RahXephon...
i do prefer NGE... but rahxephon is great ( to NGE fans like me is good because we can see a little of nge evangelion on the rahxephon :D i think)
sorry for my english :S

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I like to call it the Jordan/Kobe complex(non basketball fans disregard this post)

Kobe's game heavily influenced by Jordan thus making him fun to watch but the mere thought of kobe being better than jordan makes jordan fans angry and hateful of kobe.

Which is why most people who hate Jordan love kobe and vice versa.

The reality is that like NGE and Rah you must respect their qualities and get around the similarities and view Rah as a stand alone rather than a rip off.

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I just watched the first episode of RahXephon, having got the series yesterday. Being a big Eva fan for about 8 years now, this series did interest me (I heard it was similar to Eva). However after watching the first episode I was cringing at just how similar to Eva it is at first glance. The animation style is the first thing I noticed. If you watch Eva, particulary the first episode, you notice there a lot of "shots" of overhead wires and scenery. I noticed the same use of this technique in RX instantly, even down to the blurred effects as used in Eva.

The second animation technique I noticed from Eva is in Ayato's house there is a scene using a black & white lens flare effect. Now, ok, these techniques have been used and tweeked in other animes, even before Evangelion, but Eva took this style and made it its own, so I think this point is valid.

Another thing I noticed in the first episode of RX is the scene where Ayato sees the tank explode and the "camera" focuses on his eye and zooms in slighty, then it cuts to another view and we hear Ayato's scream. Now, if you've seen the Eva series, you should remember the end of a very chilling episode where the camera is on Shinji's eye and the exact same thing happens. It cuts to black and you hear Shinji scream. At this point I became convinced that this is indeed a bit too much like Eva for my liking. But, a friend of mine who has been a fan of Eva as long as I and has watched all RX and really liked it, says you soon get over the similarities and the story quickly goes in a different direction to Eva. So I won't give up on RX just get :P

Oh, and Reika Mishima seems just like Rei, but with different hair and not-so-pale skin. She even has "Rei" in her name *rolls eyes*

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Rah used too many concepts from Eva... that's the problem for me. In the Academy (Oscars), Emmy, and the Grammy what's important is the originality.

Of course Evangelion was also inspired from some old anime, but with its original concepts it completely stand on its own. From the mecha design, character design , unique series' ending, unique animation (still,very fast, addition of 'real world' stuff), great screenplay, and also the first that has too many genre in just a 26-ep. anime series (action,mecha,romance,slash shounen-ai,drama,slice of life(psychology),comedy,suspense,shounen,sci-fi,and (I think) occult (because of SEELE's ritual stuff).

My most fave concept from the Rah series is from ep.26, which is the 'ending' of it. That's all.

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I don't understand how people think the way they do. I mean just because it uses concepts from something else you liked that means you can't like this? That doesn't make sense to me. That's like saying I don't like my daughter because she reminds me of my wife.

I think the person up there with the Kobe/Jordan analogy pretty much got it right for most people. I still don't get it though; why does it have to be one or the other? Maybe I just have no sense of loyalty. I wonder sometimes if this show had come before NGE would all the people who claim to dislike this show so much then dislike a post RahX NGE.

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I mean just because it uses concepts from something else you liked that means you can't like this?

-Definitely not. Its just one of the important aspects of a show, but to use too many unoriginal concepts are just not impressing.

That's like saying I don't like my daughter because she reminds me of my wife.

-That comparison is so funny. It's not like the daughter really wants to be (exactly) like her mom. I mean, that's something already expected. (Hello! They are related by blood.)

Unlike in Eva and Rah, the creators of Rah can still do original ideas to make the show different.

I wonder sometimes if this show had come before NGE would all the people who claim to dislike this show so much then dislike a post RahX NGE.

-If Rah were to come first, it won't certainly be like the Rahxephon we have now. Remove every concept that came from Eva, and see what's left.

The creators were inspired by Eva....that's a fact.

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Wow, you're like a hawk on this board. I wasn't really trying to join in the little feud you guys seem to have going on about the two shows. I was more or less thinking out loud, in type, about it. No need to single out and attempt to counter my lines, lighten up.

For the record though I do like both shows and I like them more or less equally. But in all honesty they are both highly overrated.

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I gotta call you on this one... how are they overrated? If your point is that some people go a little overboard liking them, well fair enough, can't argue with that... but if you're asserting that there is not a LOT going on in Evangelion (and likewise, Rahxephon), os that the complexity is hollow, without much meaning to it... well, you MISSED something. I'm not attacking you here, I'm just sincerely curious what you mean by "overrated."

"...and everything under the Sun is in tune, but the Sun is Eclipsed by the Moon...." -DSotM.

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No, I know that these shows told a very good, deep and complex story. That’s obvious from watching either one. By overrated I mean pretty much what you said, that people go overboard in liking them.

For example, before I watched NGE I poked around the internet reading different forums. It was not at all uncommon to come across comments saying things like, “the greatest anime of all time”, or, “this show changed my life”. Needless to say I went in with pretty high expectations. Sure it was good and it was a landmark anime that brought new depth to the genre when it came out, but even so it wasn’t what it’s been built up to be by the hardcore fans.

The same can be said, probably to a lesser extent because its fan base is smaller, for the RahXephon fanatics. Many seem to feel the need to justify the show by diminishing one of its main sources of inspiration and so by being compared to a show so highly touted people start to say the same things.

Ironically, I think that all this extreme praise often has the opposite effect because it builds the shows up so much that they can’t live up to it all and many people end up being disappointed. However, if they had gone in with more reasonable expectations they might have been blown away like people were when it was all fresh.

So yeah, like I said, I like them both but neither changed my life and I wouldn’t consider either to be the best anime of all time. I don’t even think there is such as thing as the best. That’s way too definitive for me; something may be my favorite, but that’s subjective and my favorites change their order in direct relation to my mood. I may really like watching Shinji and crew on their adventures one night and be bored with it on another. It depends on whether I’m in the mood for it; I might be tired and not want to deal with a complex story. I could be in the mood for something lighter, maybe a comedy, romantic drama, an ecchi harem type show, or just balls to the wall mindless action. Maybe I’m even sick of anime altogether at the time and just want to fall asleep watching some brainless sitcom, or reading a book. That doesn’t mean The Count of Monte Cristo is better than RahXephon, just means it’s better for me at that moment.

Since so many people seem to take anything even remotely negative said about their favorite shows as some sort of personal attack let me just clarify that all these are of course only my personal thoughts and opinions. And, brace yourself folks, they may differ from your own and that’s ok.

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It's true, hype actually ruins many things, even when they are really good. You go in looking for "the bestest EVAR!" and it mucks with the way you watch it. I was glad to go in to Evangelion just interested in figuring the story out, and then being wowed as the story changed and developed. I got lucky, in that way, that I wasn't told, "This show will change the way you live, dream, and EAT!" or something like that.

"...and everything under the Sun is in tune, but the Sun is Eclipsed by the Moon...." -DSotM.

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Hey Pritcher what you say sounds sensible but I think you have to have watched Evangelion around the time it came out to understand. I think it's harder for people who watch nowadays to get it. You had to have "been there" years after being stuck with stuff like Kimagure Orange Road and Gundam X and Sailor Moon to get what it did. And I kind of dislike what Evangelion did to anime, it turned every anime into derivative crap that had narcissistic, navel-gazing characters and extraneous spiritual and religious references and tons of vague dialogue that passes as insightful.

HOWEVER I still can't take this show seriously, it's like... I don't know. When people argue that Pulp Fiction clones aren't Pulp Fiction clones. Watching Rahxephon years after watching Evangelion is like seeing that that movie "2 Days In The Valley" a few years after seeing Pulp Fiction, it's kind of disgusting someone is making money off of this.

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