| RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tomoki Kyoda |
| Produced by | Maki Horiuchi Masahiko Minami Shiro Sasaki Kenji Shimizu Tatsuji Yamazaki |
| Written by | Tomoki Kyoda Yutaka Izubuchi |
| Music by | Ichiko Hashimoto |
| Studio | Bones |
| Release date(s) | April 19, 2003 |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio (ラーゼフォン Rāzefon: Tagen Hensōkyoko) is the movie adaptation of the TV anime series RahXephon.
Contents |
Ayato Kamina and his classmate, Haruka "Reika Mishima", are in middle school and are a young couple, still dealing with some awkwardness. However, the sudden appearance of visitors from an alternate dimension, the "Mu", tears the two apart. All of Tokyo is enveloped in the giant hemispherical Absolute Barrier, which looks very similar to Jupiter, and they become separated into the world inside and the world outside.
Three years later, Ayato, who was left inside, has become a high school student. He has been taught that the world outside has been obliterated and feels as though his memories of Haruka are a distant vision. But one day, invaders from outside attack, and Tokyo is engulfed in the fires of war. And as Ayato runs about in confusion, a woman appears before him. The woman says her name is Haruka Shitow and tries to take Ayato outside the Absolute Barrier, saying, "I'll tell you the truth."
The truth is, her identity is his former girlfriend, Haruka Mishima. But now, she is 12 years his senior...The power of the Absolute Barrier had delayed the advancement of time inside. That was something Ayato's mother, Maya Kamina, had plotted solely for the purpose of his awakening. Maya was in fact the leader of the Mu. And as Ayato was the tuner of time, who held the fate of the world in his hands...a person who had the ability to reform the world that had been torn apart into the Mu and Earth.
Ayato awakens during his escape with Haruka. He is drawn to the giant in the image of a God, "RahXephon", and ends up aboard it. After the RahXephon detroys the Mu super-weapon, "Dolem", it escapes Tokyo with Haruka. Having the Mu's Dolem with the RahXephon. Haruka can only support Ayato in his battles, not even being able to bring herself to tell him who she is.
There was an even more cruel fate awaiting the two. When Ayato achieves true awakening and become one with the RahXephon, the world stands upon the brink of destruction. In order to prevent this from happening, Haruka must kill Ayato, whom she has finally found once again. Will Haruka be able to tell him how she feels and save Ayato and the world?
The film is directed by Tomoki Kyoda, who had directed three episodes of the TV series and acted as assistant director with Soichi Masui. Izubuchi acted as Chief Director on this movie, but was not heavily involved in its production. Most of the staff members involved with the TV series worked on the movie, and it was distributed by Shochiku. The producers were Masahiko Minami, Shiro Sasaki, Maki Horiuchi, Kenji Shimizu and Tatsuji Yamazaki.
The movie quickly reveals mysteries that were developed slowly in the TV series[1] and makes changes to the plot. It begins with a prologue showing previously un-shown events, followed by a couple of expository scenes. The final 30 minutes have the most plot changes and new scenes, and they end with a new epilogue. The rest of the movie consists mainly of abridged scenes from the original series, sometimes with characters replaced or with different motivations and dialogue. The plot establishes the link between the Kamina and Mishima families and other storylines that were prominent in the original TV series were reduced or removed. One prominent distributor promoted the movie as an "encore" — an extra performance at the end of the series, rather than as a replacement.[2]
Pluralitas Concentio had a more mixed reception than the TV series. Christian Nutt was not excited about the TV series but found the movie to be better: Despite "too much cutting and chopping", he wrote that "the creators have done the best they can with the material." He added: "the last scene is very touching. It's a big improvement over the TV show."[3] Efrain Diaz Jr. of IGN called the movie a "valiant effort", but preferred the TV series and asked, "Why even bother with the movie?"[4]
Carlo Santos, writing for Anime News Network, recommended the movie both as an "endcap to a remarkable series" and as a sample for those yet to watch it.[5] While Chris Beveridge also recommended the movie as an addition to the series, he did not recommend it as a sample for newcomers, "since some of the best revelations are given away so quickly..."[1]
Indeed, reviewers who were not familiar with the series complained about the movie's lack of coherence. Mitchell Hattaway of DVD Verdict "got lost about ten minutes in", considered the movie a waste of money for anybody but RahXephon completists and wrote that "Bones Animation Studio is guilty of contempt for its audience."[6] Janet Crocker of Animefringe was confused by the plot as well, but was less confused on the second viewing and looked forward to watching the TV series. She called the movie "intellectually refreshing and visually beautiful" and recommended it "even to non-mecha people like me".[7]
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