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Evangelion 1.01: You are (Not) Alone – Anime Review

Evangelion 1.01: You are (Not) Alone – Anime Review

The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion was probably the most interesting TV series that was shown on Australian TV when I was a kid. It was complex on many levels, the more you watched it the more you understood the complex world.  Then came the movies “Death and Rebirth” and “The End of Evangelion” creations that showed a parallel ending (because the first ending sucked and sparked death threats to its creator.).  Now that technology has increased and the mind of its writer Hideaki Anno is more warped and twisted… Hell, let’s start the series over again making it completely different and split into four movies.  Sure why not!

First thing I found myself saying was “Wow, that part is different”. You may also find yourself saying that throughout the first movie. The use of CG is good but not over the top and compared to the original series when it came out 10 years ago, the amount of detail you can now see in this film is amazing.  Unfortunately the product placement is a bit too obvious at times.  It’s not the UCC coffee and various Japanese beers that bug me, but the Doritos in Misato’s apartment.  It was one of those “Wow, that’s different” points that I didn’t like, but thanks Doritos for sponsoring this movie but guys… way too blatant.

The high school student Shinji Ikari arrives at the super fortress city Tokyo 3.  As soon as he arrives, a state of emergency is declared because a huge monster, called an Angel, appears.  Shinji then gets taken to the secret underground base, Nerv, where his distant father and Commander of Nerv, Gendou, orders Shinji to pilot a synthetic life
form known as Evangelion.  Without any prior knowledge, Shinji gets in and the first battle begins.

Because this is a remake of the series, kind of, first time Eva watchers can sit through it quite easily, well as easy as you can without knowing about the series.  For people who watched the series 10 years ago, this is a new kettle of fish!  Some of the things you remember will be different.  The changes are slight to start off with,
but after time you will start seeing that this movie is taking you in a whole new direction.  For example, the 3rd angel is now known as the 4th and we don’t know why.

I am not a fan of English dubs, and I am even less of a fan of dubs done by “FUNimation.”  That made me come to this dvd with a bit of prejudice, but that all went out the window when I heard the voice of Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari, it didn’t matter.  Some of the voices like Kensuke Aida were completely different, who cares, I don’t.
Spike Spencer is Shinji and it just would not be the same without him. But if you can tolerate subtitles or are gifted enough to understand fluent Japanese your much better watching it in Japanese.

One other thing cheesed me about this DVD, I don’t know who to blame but,  WHERE ARE MY SPECIAL FEATURES!!! NOWHERE, there are none! You think they could have made something!  The “End of Evangelion” came with trailers, and even a commentary from the English dub’s director! But they gave us nothing, just a movie and some previews of some other animes that were not Evangelion related.  Big down point.

So overall, not too bad.   The ending will leave you wanting more and lets hope that Evangelion 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 don’t disappoint us.

Trailer

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Feedback below and let the “Grass Master” know if its all in his head or are there really angels trying to get him?

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About The Author

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Grassy hosts a small Anime intrest group in Launceston, Tasmania and is involved in other groups around the state. He has previously worked as a cook in a Japanese cafe, aswell as in a comic book shop in Canberra. He currently works out of Launceston at a toy and gadget shop. He spends his days "testing" toys. By night he releases his frustration by gaming on his variety of consoles, or tinkering with the hardware of his computers. Grassy also enjoys reading manga and comparing the differences of plot and character development with the anime. Grassy is a bit of a sci-fi fan and enjoys watching his extensive collection of Doctor Who. To sum it up he is a nerd...

Article Information

  • Posted: Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
  • Author: Grassy
  • Filed Under: Film,Review,TV
Tags: , , , , ,

Comments

3 Responses to “Evangelion 1.01: You are (Not) Alone – Anime Review”
  1. avatar Rob says:

    Huh, interesting. My copy of this doesn’t have an English language track.

    March 31, 2010 at 5:05 pm
  2. avatar otakursed says:

    Here’s hoping we won’t all need walkers and IVs by the time this series wraps. Not to mention that it’s going on two freakin’ years since 2.0 was released in Japan, and not a sign of the domestic US release. Outside of that, gotta agree that while subs are preferable, Spike Spencer does an impressive job keeping one into the film. Just hope that he’s got a hefty amount of anti-depressants in stock, considering the wringer this title evidently put him through last decade.

    April 1, 2010 at 7:52 pm
  3. avatar Rob says:

    Yes, I felt almost slack getting Spike to sign an Evangelion DVD when he was last at Supanova, LOL.

    April 14, 2010 at 5:51 pm

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