http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lt/rahxephon.jpg ''NeonGenesisEvangelion,'' as written by someone who ''isn't'' suffering from severe depression and quickly running out of budget.

It's 2015, and OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ayato Kamina lives in a sharply delimited world. Three years earlier, something happened that enclosed Tokyo in an impenetrable shell. As far as Ayato and the other inhabitants of the city are concerned, the rest of the world simply vanished, and they are all that is left. His painting, and getting by day-to-day while his widowed mother spends all her time on her secret job for the government are more important to him. At least, until mysterious invaders pass through the barrier and attack Tokyo with advanced fighters while strange, sculpture-like war machines protect the city.

In the midst of that attack, two women enter his life. The first, Haruka Shitow, claims to be there to "rescue" him and take him ''out'' of walled-in Tokyo. The second is Reika Mishima, a strange girl who looks like she just stepped out of the most recent painting Ayato has been working on. Reika approaches the boy and sets him on his way to discovering [=RahXephon=], a giant robot as sculptural as the weapons defending the skies above, encased in a giant "egg" deep below the city. But when Ayato awakens and bonds with [=RahXephon=], his life will never be the same again.

Based on the 1970s mecha show ''[[{{Raideen}} Brave Raideen]]'' and [[http://www.wattpad.com/121643 science fiction literature]], most Western audiences will compare it to ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Where ''Evangelion'' is about dysfunction and despair cloaked in Kaballah and Judeo-Christian religion, ''RahXephon'' is about transcendence and revelation, blending musical imagery and Mayan lore to produce a result that is thematically the total opposite to the bleakness of ''Evangelion'''s climax. Despite the two series having plot points which are [[FollowTheLeader suspiciously similar]], [=RahXephon=] stands in its own right as an excellent and thoughtful {{Super Robot}} series.

There is a [[{{Characters/RahXephon}} Character Sheet]] for this series, albeit under construction. See also EurekaSeven, another mecha production by StudioBONES
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!!This show provides examples of:

* AGodAmI - [[spoiler:Ayato, when he merges with the [=RahXephon=]]].
**[[spoiler:Bähbem]] considers himself a god by way of creating [[spoiler:the RahXephon system.]]
***Played for irony when [[spoiler:Futagami]] shoots him in the back right before the tuning.
* AlienBlood - Mulians have blue blood; some human characters have a "Mu phase" in their genes that turns their blood blue when it activates.
** FridgeBrilliance moment: the color is also used for symbolism. "Blue blood" is a metaphor indicating royal or noble status. Some Mulians ([[spoiler:Mamoru being the chief offender]]) have a very condescending attitude towards humans, not unlike nobility and peasants.
* AlternateContinuity - Manga, TV, movie and a game with 40 alternative endings; there is also a print novel series based on the TV version.
* AMechByAnyOtherName - "Dolems", "Xephon", "Vermilions".
* AncientConspiracy - [[spoiler:What the Mu and Bähbem have been planning for millennia.]]
* AnyoneCanDie - [[spoiler: By the time the tuning occurs, the only main cast members still alive are Futagami, Rikudoh, Megumi, Watari, Quon, and Ayato. Maya and Haruka are technically alive, but are both physically dead.]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence - The ultimate goal of the series is [[spoiler:to get Quon and Ayato to achieve Yolteotl, the Mayan equivalent of Nirvana.]]
** [[spoiler:Haruka and Maya both get there by dying during the tuning. Reika/Ixtli pretty much resides in that realm. Itsuki managed to get there too. How much of that was because Quon wanted to see him, and how much of it was his relation to Ayato is left to the audience.]]
* BeachEpisode - one subverted, one played straight.
* BeehiveBarrier - The [=RahXephon=]'s shields and the visuals from the cockpit appear as hexagonal grids.
* BigBad - Ernst[[spoiler:/Helena]] von Bähbem
* BookEnds- [[spoiler:Ayato's painting.]]
* BoringInvincibleHero - In twenty-six episodes, only once does the Rah Xephon suffer more than a scratch, and even then, the fight is barely more than a few seconds.
* BridgeBunnies - Subverted, an even gender mix and individuals have whole episodes dedicated to them.
* ButtMonkey / LoveHurts - Megumi Shitow can ''not'' catch a break in love. [[spoiler:Fellow coworker Souichi? Too bad, taken by coworker Kim (plus, Ayato later kills him accidentally). Ayato? Your sister's got you by a 15-year lead.]]
* CherryBlossoms - The "death" mythos is played with; one conversation jokingly mentions that if a human buried under the tree turns the petals red, would a Mulian (who have blue blood) turn the petals blue?
* CityInABottle - Tokyo Jupiter
* CloningBlues - Several characters; [[spoiler:Isshiki]] in particular.
** [[spoiler:Ayato]] in the manga.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience - Humans are red, Mulians are blue.
** Also, Elvy's squadron: her plane is vermilion, her wingmates are green. This carries over when they get their MidSeasonUpgrade mechs.
* ComboPlatterPowers - The Obligatto, in addition to the standard Dolem MagicMusic, also has a Disc-Dolem to carry it around, SuperSpeed extensible claws, and a third arm.
* CoolPlane - The Vermillions seem to straddle the line between this and mecha.
* CompilationMovie - YourMileageMayVary on whether it was good or not.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome - There are many in the latter half of the series, but the most spectacular ones are [[spoiler:Kunugi's long-awaited revenge against Kuki]], and [[spoiler:Isshiki being simultaneously {{Mind Screw}}ed and OutGambitted by Ixtli]].)
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - Par for YokoKanno [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xYzpSMEK84o]] SuperRobotWars [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=O9twgzKqCOg&feature=related noticed]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNHdbiZPdOo Here it is]] without the CrowningMomentOfAwesome action drowning it out.
** The entire sound track is a CrowningMusicOfAwesome.
** Yoko Kanno may have composed the opening theme, but the rest of the music was actually composed by IchikoHashimoto. Credit where credit is due, and all.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass - From his first appearance it was clear that Johji Futagami was more than just a nosey photo journalist. He goes on to solidify his badassness in the finale when he, of all people, [[spoiler:kills BigBad Ernst von Bähbem]].
* CrypticConversation - Quon speaks like this most of the time, and the Bähbem foundation isn't much better. Heck, everyone other than the protagonist has a bad habit of doing this until the plot threads start untangling.
* CurbStompBattle: Pretty much every single fight between the RahXephon and a Dolem ends in only a few seconds, not including fights where Ayato is being {{Mind Rape}}d.
* [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday Dangerous Seventeenth Birthday]] - "Instrumentalists" gain the ability to pilot a Dolem at a certain age.
* DerangedAnimation - Allegretto in particular is generally drawn against extremely realistic backgrounds that make it look incredibly eerie.
* DeusExMachina - Literally, and the episode is even named "Deus ex Machina". It also avoids being an AssPull and works well.
* DramaticWind
* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas - ...with an energy-absorbing Dolem invoked to justify it.
* EarnYourHappyEnding - And how!
* EndOfTheWorldSpecial - [[spoiler:Ayato essentially remakes the universe through the tuning.]]
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - [[spoiler: Tied in with a 2012 explanation, even!]]
* EroticDream - The surreal fantasy that Ayato gets trapped in -- he has a minor FreakOut when dream!Haruka starts making advances on him.
* EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage - TERRA is an Esperanto acronym: "Tereno Empireo Rapidmova Reakcii Armeo", which means "Earth Empire Rapid Response Army".
* TheEveryman - Ayato
* EvilAlbino - Makoto Isshiki
* EvolvingCredits - The [=RahXephon=] itself was shown as a silhouette with glowing eyes in the opening until a few episodes in. Later on the members of the Bähbem Foundation and the Vermillion work their way into the credits too.
* EyepatchOfPower - Shirow Watari has a rather unique one.
* FaceFault
* FallingIntoTheCockpit - Subverted -- Ayato was guided to the [=RahXephon=], and [[spoiler: before that, was being groomed to be its pilot. He just didn't know he was being led there.]]
* FantasticRomance - Probably one of the best-kept secrets of the show until half way through the series.
* FirstChurchOfMecha - Near the end of the series, as [[spoiler:Yolteotl]] approaches, the Mu start to devolve into a cult.
* FloatingContinent - The Mu's flying cities.
* FreezeSneeze
* FridgeLogic - Where does Tokyo Jupiter get its food and other supplies from? It looks prosperous and comfortable instead of the scarcity-ridden ruin you would expect a city to be if it had been cut off from the rest of the world for three years.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan - Elvy to Haruka.
* {{Golem}} - Most of the mechas in the show are made of clay, and the enemy ones are even called "Dolems".
* GrandTheftMe - [[spoiler:this is how Bähbem manages to stay alive for so long]].
* [[GratuitousForeignLanguage Gratuitous Nahuatl]] - ...particularly in terminology relating to the [=RahXephon=].
** As noted elsewhere, there's a bit of Italian (the [[ThemeNaming Dolem names]]) and [[EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]] as well.
* HeroicBSOD - Ayato has one after [[spoiler:he learns about Asahina's death. We aren't shown what happens, but it's noted that he was found with her body, "in a state of extreme emotional distress", and had to be physically restrained by the TERRA personnel sent to recover him.]]
* HotScientist - One of each gender.
* HotShounenMom - [[spoiler: Lady Maya and Quon]].
* HumongousMecha - Goes without saying...
* IKnowMortalKombat - In reverse: Ayato does well in a dogfight game because he has learned to fly with the [=RahXephon=].
* JigsawPuzzlePlot - ...of the good variety, not the AssPull variety.
* KillEmAll - [[spoiler:Subverted at the last second]].
* KillTheCutie - [[spoiler:Asahina. Jesus Christ on a Jacob's Cream Cracker, ''Asahina.'')]]
* LargeHam - Masayoshi Kuki. It's debatable whether he destroys more scenery by chewing or by BeamSpam.
* LatexSpaceSuit - Ayato's pilot suit.
* LoveTriangle - Several of them; if you include non-romantic love it becomes a LoveDodecahedron.
* LukeIAmYourFather - [[spoiler:Nearly ''everyone'' is related to each other by blood or adoption]].
* MagicMusic - Used by Dolems and the Xephon to send messages or attack.
* MakeMeWannaShout - See MagicMusic above.
* MayDecemberRomance - After a certain point, it ''seems'' like this for [[spoiler: Ayato and Haruka]]. Turns out to be ''much'' more complicated.
* {{MIB}} - The generic Mulian agents in Tokyo Jupiter.
* MidSeasonUpgrade - The [=RahXephon=] gains access to a vast array of new weapons and abilities and Elvy's squadron's planes are replaced with Vermillions, human-made mechas designed to imitate Dolems.
* MindScrew - If you don't pay attention, you'll probably end up feeling this way about the GrandFinale. It's even worse in the movie version.
* MoCapMecha - The [=RahXephon's=] upper body moves in sync with Ayato's upper body.
* MonogenderMonsters - The Dolems are all feminine except for two, and have women instrumentalists.
* MonsterOfTheWeek - Though most of them make repeat appearances.
* MultinationalTeam - TERRA
* MyGrandsonMyself - An interesting take on this; [[spoiler:technically the "new" Bähbems are descendants of the original, but he overwrites their personality with his own when his current body gets too old. When Isshiki turned out to be a dud, Ernst {{BodySurf}}ed into a female clone, Helena.]]
* NaiveNewcomer - Ayato
* {{Narm}} - Sometimes, Ayato shouting "Rah Xephoooon!" at the top of his lungs isn't as impressive as it should be. Makoto ordering "Deploy resonance field!" is pretty hammy, too.
* NaughtyTentacles - Subverted, Quon simply takes a single step back and they miss.
* NotADate - Ayato and Megumi. They even scream this at people if asked.
* NuclearWeaponsTaboo - Averted. A hydrogen bomb was used in the first Mu-Human war.
* ObfuscatingStupidity - Johji Futagami
* OhCrap - [[spoiler:Isshiki gets one when he brings down the Tokyo Jupiter barrier, only to find things...not going to plan.]]
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness - Two of them.
* OracularUrchin - Quon
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent - Anyone in the cast under twenty.
* ParentalAbandonment
* PerpetualMolt - One of the series's dominant images is a storm of feathers every time the [=RahXephon=] unfurls its wings.
* PhenotypeStereotype - Cathy, the hot-tempered, rock-and-roll playing American.
* PoseOfSupplication - The [=RahXephon=] in episode 3. Justified somewhat in that it's on a large ship at sea, which would make standing a bit of an issue.
* PowerCrystal - And how! Just about any Dolem of importance has a few on it. One whole episode revolves around one and what it can do in the wrong hands.
* ThePowerOfLove - Pretty much the entire point of [[spoiler:the series, and the RahXephon is explicitly powered by it.]]
* RefusalOfTheCall - Ayato refusing to pilot the RahXephon in episode 5 and telling [[spoiler:Ixtli]] to go shove it when [[spoiler:she later tells him about his role in the tuning.]] He comes around both times though.
* ReplacementGoldfish - After losing Ayato to Tokyo Jupiter, Haruka beings dating Itsuki because [[spoiler:he's actually Ayato's twin brother and looks exactly like him]]. Their relationship implodes because, well, he's not Ayato.
** Ayato does the same thing (inadvertently) with Ixtli, [[spoiler:[[AFormYouAreComfortableWith who takes on Haruka's appearance]] in order to guide Ayato to the [=RahXephon=] and to protect him once he starts piloting it]].
* ResetButtonEnding - Ayato [[spoiler:remakes the world, erasing the Mu from existence and preventing the Tokyo Jupiter incident from ever happening. This allows him and Haruka to stay together in the same timeframe, get married and have a family]].
* SayMyName - "Ayato!" Haruka shouts this quite a bit.
* ScaryShinyGlasses
* SecondEpisodeMorning
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong - [[spoiler:The ultimate purpose of the [=RahXephon=]]]
* ShoutOut - ...to Japanese science fiction movies, and at least one each to ''SailorMoon'' and ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
** Haruka Shitow is a defender of love and justice!
* ShowerOfAngst - Elvy, [[spoiler: after Donny gets sliced to pieces by Obbligato]].
* SmugSnake - Makoto Isshiki. [[spoiler: It seems to run in the family]].
* SpannerInTheWorks - [[spoiler:Haruka Shitow]]
* SpiritualSuccessor - ...to the 70's SuperRobot series ''BraveRaideen''.
* StandingInTheHall - Kisaragi jokingly threatens Ayato and Kim with this when they're bickering like school children.
* StrangerInAFamiliarLand - Ayato has this happen to him several times.
* SummersFamilyTree - Just trying to diagram [[spoiler:Ayato]]'s family tree is sure to induce a headache.
** It made even worse by the whole YearInsideHourOutside effect.
*** Even worse: it completely changes with each iteration (series, manga, and movie).
* {{Synchronization}} - Definitely the case with the Dolems; seems to be the case with the Xephon, though it's not clear.
** To be more specific, the Dolems are synchronized with their instrumentalists but also with humans who effectively "anchor" them into the human world. This is rather horribly demonstrated in episode 19, when [[spoiler:Ayato kills Asahina while trying to protect her from the Dolem linked to her. [[TearJerker As if that wasn't bad enough, we get shots of her desperately trying to finish a goodbye note to him, while receiving the same injuries he's inflicting on the Dolem.]]]]
* SuperRobotWars - MX. Includes a truly demented PlayerPunch: [[spoiler: the player is ''forced'' to reenact Ayato killing Asahina.]]
* TakeFive
* TearJerker - Episode 19. That is all.
* TheAtoner - Kunugi's motivation for joining TERRA.
* ThemeNaming - Almost all Dolems are named after music terms.
* TimeTravel - Sorta...
* TomatoInTheMirror - [[spoiler:No less than three of them, including Ayato himself]].
* TheUmbridge - Makoto Isshiki
* TrippyFinaleSyndrome
* UniverseCompendium - ''RahXephon Bible'', although it only covers the first half of the series.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend
* VillainousBreakdown - Isshiki gets one towards the end after one of his plans backfires spectacularly.
* WaifProphet - Quon
* WhatTheHellHero - [[spoiler: Near the end of the series, Ayato accidentally kills Souichi and Elvy in a moment of PowerIncontinence as the new [=RahXephon=]. Souichi's lover, Kim, calls him out on this and actively tries to shoot him, to no effect.]]
* XanatosSucker - [[spoiler:Isshiki's]] need to prove himself turns him into one of these.
* XMeetsY - ''Raideen'' meets ''Evangelion'' while replacing all Freudian elements with musical ones.
* YearInsideHourOutside - Time passes six times faster in the outside world than it does inside Tokyo Jupiter.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair - Mostly averted, and then you see Quon...
**[[spoiler: Flashback Lady Maya, too.]] Megumi isn't exactly normal either, but to be fair she is a teenager and possibly dyed it.
* YourMileageMayVary - To some it's just an ''Evangelion'' rip-off, to some it's ''Evangelion'' but better, to some it's not ''Evangelion'' at all. Beware InternetBackdraft!
* ZipMeUp - Done between Ayato and Quon in the fourth episode.

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