Does RahXephon copy Evangelion?

EvaXephon · Post by **EvaXephon** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:25 am

If you're a fan of either Evangelion or RahXephon, or if you hate one of the abovementioned shows, I'd really like to show you this website.

http://evaxephon.com

Yes, it's my own website, but I'm not just here to plug it, I want it to spark a healthy debate about Evangelion and RahXephon. What I want you to discuss is whether or not RahXephon copied Evangelion.

In my opinion, RahXephon is a very entertaining show, but it is a clone of Evangelion, scene-for-scene, word-for-word, character-for-character. Don't believe me? Seen both shows, and disagree? Then please take a look at my site. I've composed a 17-page gallery of 165 similarities between Evangelion and RahXephon that I think proves that RahXephon copies Evangelion from beginning to end. I only hesitate to use the term 'rip-off' because it's so negative and because I still like RahXephon anyway.

Please take a look at the 'Similarities' section of my website, browse the galleries, and then come back here and tell me what you think. I'm really interested in hearing someone try to tell me that RahXephon is not a complete clone of Evangelion.

ayoto-kun · Post by **ayoto-kun** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:53 am

ok i see what you are talking about but...and i list my disagreements:
"A Military Vehicle Explodes" in this you are insinuating that the explotions are a major part of the storyline that really doesnt make a difference to...well anything

"Girl In Long Yellow Dress" in this you are trying to make the emphasis on the yellow dress, but you have to remember that asuka never wheres that yellow dress after that episode (except the movie; which doesnt count). in the case of reika, the yellow dress is her calling card...yellow dress = reika (btw in the caption under eva you have it saying "Reika wears a long yellow dress..." you might want to fix that)

"Bloody Hands" in this the point that eva is trying to get across is the pain the rei is going through and that shinji can help her by piloting the eva, but in rahxephon they want you to see the color of the blood which you are to compare to the blue blood of the Mu...not simple the fact that asahina is bleeding

well i guess that is it for the first page...fell free to argue my points

(btw could you put a "next" button for the next page...the links are small and hard to press...)

EvaXephon · Post by **EvaXephon** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 2:12 am

ayoto-kun wrote:"A Military Vehicle Explodes" in this you are insinuating that the explotions are a major part of the storyline

I certainly wasn't. I was showing that the same events that occur in Evangelion also occur in RahXephon, and in the exact same order, too. This is a far more important point than what is and isn't a major part of the storyline.

ayoto-kun wrote:Asuka never wheres that yellow dress after that episode

Yes, she does. She wears it during the scene when she threatens the other boys not to peek as she changes, and wears it in many pieces of official character art. That dress is her calling card.

I think it would be better if you looked through the entire gallery and tried to explain how RahXephon doesn't copy Evangelion. My goal wasn't to make people nitpick individual comparisons that they disagree with. You're free to discuss those with me over AIM if you want to, though.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 2:36 am

OMG conspiracy! Hide!

Heero_Yuy84 · Post by **Heero_Yuy84** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:48 am

Do yourself a favor...

Look up the 1970s super robot series 'Yuusha Raideen'

The director of Rah has even gone on record as saying that Rah owed to Raideen...

(and frankly, EVA can't exactly point fingers on shot-for-shot either...several of the moments in it are actually classic mecha moments (things like the moment where Shinji first sees 01 docked...they've had scenes like that going back to the days of Mazinger Z and Combattler V))

Frankly, this whole debates prettymuch out of steam now, both sides have really said all there is to say on it, and, unless the directors make any statement otherwise, there's really not gonna be any budging on the matter...

AthenAltena · Post by **AthenAltena** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:36 am

I think it's an interesting theory, and having seen both shows I can say that they are similar but not carbon copies of each other. Rahxephon initially looks similar but as the story delves deeper it became its own story with even more twists than Eva, arguably.

By the way, Rei from Eva and Reika's names are spelled with different kanji, with Reika as "玲香" and Rei as "レイ" giving the names two completely different meanings, and other than phonetically no similarities. It is interesting to compare the two, but I think many of the similarities weren't intended or perhaps even are in jokes on the animator's part.

AthenAltena · Post by **AthenAltena** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:45 am

I'm also a bit dubious about some of the similarities that you pointed out in terms of already existing aspects of Japanese culture. Drinking parties and saying "Tadaima" and "Okairi" are very standard bits of Japanese culture, as well as portraying redheads as stubborn. Also, some of the "recreated dialogue" actually sounds quite different compared to each other in Japanese than the translation. I think there are genuine comparisons to be made, but too many of them seem to rely on things taken out of context and not in the wider scope of Japanese culture as a whole.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:54 pm

AthenAltena wrote:I think there are genuine comparisons to be made, but too many of them seem to rely on things taken out of context and not in the wider scope of Japanese culture as a whole.

You've discovered how conspiricy theories work. Congrats!

Mroni · Post by **Mroni** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:08 pm

No but Mao chan does! I swear kids with mechs!

Mr Oni

EvaXephon · Post by **EvaXephon** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:37 pm

Heero_Yuy84 wrote:Look up the 1970s super robot series 'Yuusha Raideen'

The director of Rah has even gone on record as saying that Rah owed to Raideen...

(and frankly, EVA can't exactly point fingers on shot-for-shot either...several of the moments in it are actually classic mecha moments

All of that may be true, but I can't help but find it insignificant. If Rah owed to Raideen, that doesn't change its similarities to Evangelion. If Eva copied other series, that doesn't change Rah's similarities to Evangelion. Whether or not Rah or Eva copied anything else is irrelevant.

I'm sorry if that sounded hostile, but I didn't want the topic to be derailed by posts about Rah and Eva copying other things, since that's not a part of this discussion.