The fourth volume of RahXephon begins with somewhat of a climax of viewer frustration, where one would be prone to yelling "What the HECK is going on with this show?" And then it decides to give up a little information for us to feel better about our intelligence. Add that to the fact that the various discoveries about the characters continues to be interesting, and we have a series that's beginning to mature into something good.

The first thing that becomes apparent during the fourth volume is that the reporter who's investigating TERRA seems to know an awful lot about the way the organization operates, its members, and past events surrounding the Mulians. He gets the "Just who are you?" look from each of the TERRA members he chats with. The second thing that becomes apparent is that nobody is telling the truth to anyone. But hey, finding that out is actual progress, so I'm all for it.

The dynamic duo, of EVIL.	Giant robot = nest of love?

Aside from the above, the major development in this volume is the arrival of the Vermillion unit, which seems to be strong enough to go up against the enemy dolems. As an added bonus, it doesn't have to be piloted by a paranoid angsty teenager. The pilots who transfered into TERRA are quite ecstatic about this. Also, we're treated to a flashback to the childhood of Isshiki Makoto, Itsuki Kisaragi, and Helena Bähbem, who were all raised and educated in the same household. The final bit of the fourth volume features Quon getting ready to go someplace she doesn't want to go, and Ayato getting fed up with various things and deciding to grow a spine.

The fourth volume features a shot of the Vermillion on its launching platform on the cover. The extras included on the disc are clean opening and closing sequences, production artwork, and a second round of interviews with the English dub cast. The case insert contains character and mecha information, as well as the informative liner notes and cast interviews that have been present in each of the releases.

The story progression of this volume is very satisfying, which improves the overall product quite a bit over what the last couple volumes had to offer. There are still a lot of questions to be answered, but what has been offered up to this point is enough bait to keep me watching.

Video Quality: A+
Audio Quality: B+
Presentation: A+
Content: B+
Overall: B+