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Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone”
Okay, it probably goes without saying that anime (outside of Hayao Miyazaki’s work) is a very specific and possibly an acquired taste. I’m sure people probably snub it for its campy over-the-top action and violence, fan service, English dubbing, wacky humor, etc. But there are many strong gems to be found among anime, and the 90s show “Neon Genesis Evangelion” is widely considered one of the best. It quickly became one of my top favorites among all TV shows, due to its impressive large-scale action, strong storytelling, and deep philosophical basis. The show in itself is an easy 5/5 and is recommended to all, regardless of whether or not you’re into anime.
Remaking such a classic series would seem like folly, for the bar is set extremely high. As a live-action Americanize film series, it probably would have sucked bad. But sticking to the realms of genuine Japanese animation, the rebuilt film series is in good hands. The story’s still being treated with care and respect, the production value has been ramped up significantly, and the action is still completely badass!
At first glance, I was surprised (and perhaps a little dismayed) that this first film is almost exactly shot-by-shot the same as the original series’ first five episodes. Despite my initial reservations, the film is still extremely fun; the action is big, intense, and imaginative. Just like the show, it starts off explosively, plopping the audience in the middle of the apocalyptic war zone before gradually unveiling the layers of the environment, its background, the characters, and the various aspects of the story. The film suffers from a little drag, due mostly to Shinji’s god-awful whining.
In between the large-scale action, there are big helpings of character-driven drama and conspiracies that’ll keep the audience interested and raise some intriguing questions. Even a seasoned Eva fan will find new mysteries, thanks to a few well-chosen story changes.
The story, as mentioned above, is an exact copy of the show’s first five episodes, so all its strengths and weaknesses remain. The story does suffer a little from over-dramatization, but otherwise shows exceptional character strength and depth, decent structuring, and shedloads of brilliant concepts and ideas.
The film has excellent animation quality; with new technology and techniques, the animation is smooth, everything looks extraordinarily detailed and textured, and the CGI effects are extremely slick. Production designs show very strong props, costumes, settings, vehicles, weapons, creatures, and the like; attention to detail is immaculate, and helps make the entire Eva lore jive the way it should. I especially love how some things are made better than the original series; the Angels get an impressive makeover, among other specific things. Voice-acting is good (I believe a lot of the actors from the original series returned for this one, so the voices are quite familiar). Music is smashing (mostly the same as the original series, with some good new orchestrations).
4.5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 4.5/5, film: 4.5/5, intellectual/emotional impact: 3/5)
Recommendation:
Yes! Fans of the original show should dig it, but everybody else should check it out too for a solid intro to the Evangelion franchise.
This Blu-Ray looks and sounds darn near perfect. Video may have some extremely slight banding, but I otherwise see no problems worth reporting. It’s made in native HD, so it is perfectly sharp and detailed, with good color/contrast.
PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5
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Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance”
Following the first Eva rebooted film, which was about 90% the exact same as the original Eva series, this film immediately asserts itself as something fresh and new. After the opening scenes (which are surprisingly exciting and present a lot of new stuff to the franchise), the film enters familiar territory, covering just about everything in the original show from episodes 6 – 24 (yes, pretty much the whole thing). A lot of the original story (all that filler, subplots, drama, and confusing-as-hell psychobabble) has been scooped out and replaced with all new parts; new characters (holy crap, who’s the new girl?!!
), new Evangelions (more than 3, WTF?!!
), new concepts (is that a freaking NERV base…on the MOON?!!
), and ultimately, a new story overall. For this film, it’s now more like 60% old material and 40% brand-new stuff.
And the new material delivers significantly. The action is still big and intense, and reaches critical levels that touch upon the same awe-inspiring scale and imagery that made “The End of Evangelion” so invoking. Some of the action scenes take elements of multiple original episodes and splice them together, churning out something more serviceable for a theatrical presentation. There’s also some interesting new battles. And with strong character-driven drama in between (without so much whining from Shinji
), the film is at least as entertaining as the previous one, if not moreso.
The story is deviating a lot, but hangs onto all the elements and essences of the original series that made it strong. The characters are still strong; some of the drama might grate a little (especially with Shinji’s omnipresent daddy issues
), but it all reaches an intense climax toward the end. The plot has solid structuring (using the original series as a skeleton for some fresh new meat). The direction is gearing up for bigger and broader concepts; not only do we get a bigger glimpse of the world and the organizations involved, but the philosophical and theological aspects are explored a little deeper. The film is still left open for sequels, but by the end so much has happened, and I was left wondering what the heck can happen next!
[Show spoiler]Most of the main characters are abruptly incapacitated, HQ is halfway-destroyed, Central Dogma is exposed, Eva Unit 1 started to become some kind of God-like thing…WTF is going on?!!! 
When movies #3 and 4 hit, anything pretty much goes. It’ll be a blast…
Once again, this film shows strong animation quality; it’s very smooth and detailed, with some nice CGI work. Production value is still strong, and the designs are still brilliant and intricately detailed. Voice acting is good. The music is interesting; the pop songs might be a little too out-of-place, but the score is good. It’s especially interesting hearing the original show’s music remixed with some rockin’ guitar.
5/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 5/5, film: 4.5/5, intellectual/emotional impact: 4/5)
Recommendation:
Yes! A must-see after the first film!
This Blu-Ray looks and sounds darn near perfect!
PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
) and was thinking of picking this up along with Psycho (not a blind buy). but we'll see when the time comes 
Linear Mode
