Neon Genesis Evangelion

[Avaitor]

I've recently taken the time to watch the Rebuild movies, which I've been meaning to for a while but have been holding off on for some reason. While it took me a while to get into the first one, since it starts off with a straight adaptation of the first episode, I became sold by the end, and 2.22 was by just about all means an improvement on that.

I think so far the movies have done well in developing certain character aspects the series tried to touch upon but got to a little too late in the show's run to really get some emotional satisfaction out of. 1.11 was mostly about Shinji and Misato and only got to Rei by the end, but did very well with Misato's character. We're already getting a better idea of her personal struggles than we did on the show at that point, and her relationship with Shinji feels a little more natural. Shinji and Rei's development were mostly kept at around the same level as in the show, but they still nailed that as well.

The second one got more into Gendo and Rei's relationship, which I think was a nice touch in the movies. One aspect that I got from the series but wasn't defined as well as it could have been was that Gendo felt disappointed with Shinji and considered Rei to be his alpha child. That was touched upon a little in 1.11, but was explored even more in 2.22, and helps to delve into his character more. Meanwhile, they humanize Rei a little too, giving her the the need to care for others. Another addition that works, and I think is even a little sweet. Hell, Asuka gets softened a little too, but doesn't lose her edge.

The movies are good for character development so far, and the little changes in story that they use work too. If this is what Anno originally wanted to do with the show, I approve. I think if anything can be faulted by them however, it's that the movies flow a little less naturally than the show. Maybe it's because I'm so used to the series, but I never really felt that there was too much filler in the show. The quieter moments were mostly used for character and emotion-challenging sequences and worked a lot of the time, while obviously you couldn't take out too much of the action. It kind of feels like some of the smaller moments should have stuck in. For example, I thought it was kind of weird that they skipped over Shinji's first day of school and cut straight to Kaji punching him. That just felt a little awkward to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the movies quite fine. I still love the series to death, faults aside, and I'd probably still recommend watching that in full then going over to the movies. We still have 2 more to come though, so my opinion could change after seeing those.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I liked the punch cut, since it was a pretty good sum up at the time of the public's feelings on NERV. That might just be me, though.

But yeah, I like the execution of the movies way better than the show in what they changed and altered. For example, no Rei III as that was lame as hell, not using Toji as the berserk Eva's pilot (which made Shinji's snapping work a LOT better, IMO) tying in better with Asuka, needless filler getting removed but character development still making the cut, and putting the end of the world aspect more upfront to help it feel more than just a monster of the week thing.

I've been saying that every adaption of this story has been better than the last, and this looks to be the best one so far. I honestly really want to see how it all ends because with all of the things that bugged me about the story pretty much ironed out and newfound focus, the end should truly be what everyone has been expecting since episode 25 and 26 rolled around oh so long ago.

Though after 1 stuck so closely to the script of the first chunk of the series (this was a good thing) I was really surprised at the turn the follow up made which pretty much ensures the last movie will be entirely different from the series' ending (and EoE) and how different events played out. So far, I think this is easily the best version of NGE and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys anime.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So far, my only gripe is how long it's taking for the films to come out. Does Quickening even have a release date yet?

[Avaitor]

Nope. If the releases between 1 and 2 are any indication, it should at least be announced this year, but we haven't heard a thing about it since the TV version of 2 aired in Japan.

[Angus]

I wish I had saved that Evangelion Debriefing thread.

Has anyone watched the Rebuild movies without the TV series? Just curious how much the characters could develop without the biases from that. I was listening to the actor commentary, and Tiffany Grant said Asuka didn't have that relationship with Kaji that was partly backgrounded in the series.

I haven't seen as much of the gimmicks that Anno would love to use from the TV series. Stuff like the Silent Captions flashing by and having 30 seconds of dead time while the girls are in the elevator.

Animation is awesome. It's nice to have a budget fit for the big screen. Plot so far is decent. I guess I prefer to have things slower paced to absorb its depth. The second movie also had the feeling like it could have ended the series right then and there.

[Angus]

Watching 2.22 in Japanese now; there's some Engrish! 

[Avaitor]

Watching 2.22 in Japanese now; there's some Engrish! 

Haha, yeah. I found that fun to laugh at while watching it myself.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I saw it at a Con, the audience reaction was pretty funny.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I'm currently 17 episodes into NGE. Its pretty good overall, so far, though the quality varies more by episode than by any specific portion of the series (at least, IMO), and I still don't feel that it is that philosophical or psychology-heavy as of yet, but I assume that all comes into play in the final third of the series.

I'll also be honest, based on the huge amount of hate that the character Shinji gets, I honestly don't find him to be a bad or annoying character, as of yet. I'm once again assuming that if his hate is indeed well-deserved since a lot of people complain about him whining too much and being annoying or whatever, it must be mostly restricted to the last third of the series, since from what I've seen so far he doesn't whine nearly as much as I was led to believe that he does and when he does start complaining or whining it usually feels fairly justified since he's an otherwise normal kid being forced to fight in life-or-death situations against his will, so I'd say that entitles him to the honestly pretty modest amount of complaining that he has done so far, but then again maybe my point of view is a bit skewed since I was expecting to hate this character from the get-go and probably was surprised to see that up until now he hasn't really bothered me that much. At the very least I have seen FAR worse anime characters than Shinji, in this regard.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not praising him as a character or anything, but honestly I don't find him to be all that unlikable at all.

[Avaitor]

It's funny, Josh is talking about Gundam Zeta on the AIM chat now, and I'm reminded of how whiny Kamille was in those first few episodes. He becomes a better character later on, but he still maintains that level of bitch throughout, even if it's decreased significantly. The point is that from what I remember, Shinji was nowhere near as bad as say Kamille was in Zeta, and he went through about as much as he did. I honestly think that Shinji had a right to act like the way he did, at least during that part of the show.

[Foggle]

I quite liked Shinji, to be honest. It was really easy for me to see where he was coming from.

Make sure to watch End of Evangelion when you're done, as it's by far the best part of the series. You can (and should) skip Death and Rebirth, though.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, there's really no need to watch Death & Rebirth. Even if you watch the last 6 episodes as originally shown then see the directors cuts of 21-24 and EOE, you can compare and contrast how they differ, but Death is just a clip show and Rebirth is the first half of EOE.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Shinji gets a bad wrap because of the characters that ripped off his archetype and pushed the 'scared' aspect of his character even further into full on bitchfest.

I like him in the movies more because he's more assertive about his problems which not even the most avid NGE hater can misconstrue as whining or being 'emo'.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I finished watching the TV series. I'll wait a little while before I watch the movie. I may also try to new films at some point, as well, which I hear are basically just a remake of the TV series but with better animation and certain aspects being changed for either better or worse.

[Avaitor]

If you liked the series but thought that there were certain aspects that could have been improved on, mostly in terms of character, the manga and/or movies are for you. They're supposed to be what Anno envisioned the show to be, but wasn't able to complete due to budget restrains and increasing insanity.

I'd recommend them, but if you haven't seen End of Evangelion yet, I strongly suggest you watch that soon.