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View Full Version : What are some of your favorite complex characters? (Spoilers)


TekkamanEvil
March 6th, 2007, 02:26 AM
Well after some of the spirited comments in another thread, I decided to see what I can do to help try and rev up this series specific section and keep the buzz you get from watching Rahxephon alive. To my surprise there are no threads currently about characters in Rahxephon so heres a shot at it.

So who are some of your favorite complex characters in Rahxephon? For those who haven't watched Rahxephon, first off WATCH IT NOW!!!! and second watch out for spoilers in this one. Its hard to talk about a complex character in any depth without revealing some spoliers.

For me, surprisingly I would actually have to put a vote for Makoto Isshiki. Yea for those who watched the series you would probably ask why that a-hole, but for some weird reason I can sympathize with the guy. While it seems from the beginning of the series he appeared to be a simple brown-noser type villian in the show, the writers did a wonderful job of making him more complex then just a guy who wanted to move up the ranks.

Think about it, his character found more empathy from a pseudo-dolem then practically any person in his life(except maybe Itsuki), yet he was willing to work for an organization that was trying to fight the Mulians. Granted he was apart of the Bahbem foundation, so it was not like he wanted a role in Terra that was righteous, but his constant need to prove himself was quite interesting because unlike most animes where characters need to prove themselves to show they are the mightiest or wisest, or heroic, Makoto did everything he did, betrayed all those who trusted him, and killed all those people most of who he didn't even know for the sake of establishing an identity that he could call his own.

I also love the irony that a clone of all things was able to exhibit such a distinct human emotion of self-doubt. Not the most pleasant character of the lot, but definitely one of the more surprising ones in the end in terms of development. Easily one of the more unforgettable villians or side characters I've seen in an anime in a long time.

Vir
March 6th, 2007, 06:33 AM
Being a clone doesn't make you less human. Ask identical twins which one of them is less of a person. Perhaps it applies to something like Star Wars, where the clones have growth accelleration.

There was plenty of symphaty towards Makoto from the teacher though. You see that the teacher knows exactly how Makoto feels when he complains about being a D.

I appreciate the irony of how Makoto hates the mulians and don't consider them human, when he is a(n altered) clone of mulian himself. His blood is still red though, so he might not know it.

By the way. Show of hands: How many of you thought RahXephon was heading into Yaoi territory with that boat scene? :)

I'm liking Itsuki more these days. He's really a good guy, but he envies Ayato a lot. And he has some of the best lines. ^_^
Why does he have to wear his lab coat almost all the time, though? To identify him as "the doctor"? We have a few guys like that here on campus. Looks a bit silly, if you ask me. At least he takes the coat off for parties and stuff.

Lord Timaeus
March 6th, 2007, 11:12 AM
If we're going for sympathetic characters, then yes, Makoto and Itsuki takes the cake. In Makoto's case, his desire to stand out above the rest causes his downfall in episode 22, and given the sort of madness he demonstrated afterwards, it ironically makes him one of the characters that stand out the most. Itsuki, however eccentric he may be, was envious of Ayato due to Haruka's love for him as well as his ability to pilot the RahXephon This envy, as well as his feelings for both Haruka and Quon, eventually led the equally envious Sayoko to kill him, although unlike in Makoto's case, Itsuki may still be alive after the tuning.

But if we're going for truly complex characters, my favorite would have to be Maya. She was envious of Haruka, since Ayato's love for her would have drifted the eventual tuning beyond her favor. In fact, the whole war that started the hatred of the Mulians, as well as the establishment of Tokyo Jupiter, was engineered so that Maya could have Ayato all for herself. It had to take Haruka rescuing him twice to eventually make Maya realize how wrong she was to toy with her son's heart.

DarkNataku
March 6th, 2007, 06:31 PM
I would have to say for me its Shirow Watari. When Ayato found out he was part Mu and went to the Jin Kunugi's office to complain and Shirow said he had a son once who always like to paint. I was like is he Ayato's dad? And on one of the last episode before Ayato is about to tune the world that investigator guy asked Shirow if his going to tell Ayato the truth about him being his dad.

TekkamanEvil
March 7th, 2007, 10:45 PM
3^
Itsuki is pretty cool, but for some reason I just couldn't dig him so much. I just couldn't get past how a character that acted so nice could be so cruel. Besides his obsession with Quon which was pretty disturbing despite its logical reasons, his cruelty to Sayoko was harsh. Alright the main reason I don't like him so much was that frilly robe he wore for that Christmas party or whatever. WTF WAS THAT?!!!!! Oh yea and definitely *raises hand" for that boat scene.

2^
Oh yea I forgot about Maya that was pretty complex there. For some reason i didn't get a real sense of closure for her character in the TV series as much. I think its because I saw the Movie first and they really developed her more there and I actually liked the movie and its certain twist on things like her relationship with the human. But definitely an interesting character none the less, too bad the pretty much shelved her after Ayato left TokyoJupiter for the second time.

^
Man I forgot all about that. Maybe I have to rewatch the series again. Was Shirow a biological father, or did he just engineer Ayato like they did for Itsuki? I know in the movie he was Maya's father right? But I forgot his relationship status in the TV series.

Vir
March 8th, 2007, 09:25 AM
3^
Was Shirow a biological father, or did he just engineer Ayato like they did for Itsuki? I know in the movie he was Maya's father right? But I forgot his relationship status in the TV series.

Yes, no and no.

TV series:

Shirow and Quon provided the genetic material. The Foundation provided the facilities. We don't know who provided the womb - it was at least not Quon (too young), nor Maya (she says that she would have wanted to give birth to him). Itsuki was created in the exact same way if I recall correctly - they are identical twins.

Movie:

Shirow and Maya got "accidentally" pregnant. Then Maya killed Shirow while she was escaping to join the Mu.

Manga:

Ayato is an in vitro clone of unknown origin.


I also like Shirow's funny side. He is so tormented, worried and responsible, but he jokes around a lot.

TekkamanEvil
March 8th, 2007, 11:09 AM
^
Lol I think I mixed up Shirow and Rikudoh, my bad. But I did genuinely forget the part about Shirow being Ayato's dad.

Thanks for the info though, that was really helpful.

DarkNataku
March 8th, 2007, 07:14 PM
Wish my boss always bought be gifts. lol

Vir
April 25th, 2007, 11:40 PM
Well, my boss sometimes buys me gifts.

Infrazael
April 28th, 2007, 01:45 AM
Isshuki is the man. Loved his character.

Vir
April 29th, 2007, 03:40 PM
Isshuki is the man. Loved his character.

Do you mean Itsuki or Isshiki? Both were pretty good though. :cool: