Evangelion 1.0 - Anime Review
June 18th 2010 15:31
Evangelion Shin Gekijouban - Evangelion 1.0 - Anime Review
Alternate title: Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
Studio: Studio Khara
Length: 1 Movies
Year: 2007
Genre: Mecha, Action
Synopsis:
In a Japan that is constantly under attack by mysterious creatures known as the Angels, an organization called NERV is working frantically to try to combat them. Teenage boy Shinji Yukari is summoned to see his father, the head of this organization, after being estranged from him for eight years. Upon arriving, Shinji discovers that he has been called upon to fight the Angels using a battle unit named Evangelion-01, because the other Evangelion pilot, Rei Ayanami has been brutally injured.
Note: An alternate retelling of the first six episodes of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series.
Review:
A take on the first of four movies. More or less a replica of the first six episodes of the 1995 classic. Evangelion, quite possibly the most influential and important anime ever created (in terms of global anime awareness, fandom, and the ability to polarize an audience), has been remade. It begs the question, why? Well, aside from the obvious money-making and fan creating aspect of redux-ing a multi-billion dollar franchise (akin to if/when SquareEnix remakes FF7 for the PS3), there's really no good reason to do so. For the hardcore fans, it's impossible to please them with a shortened and watered down remake such as this (hell, Anno even got death threats for making Death and Rebirth, one of the previous remakes), and for the casual... well, let's just say I watched the original nearly a decade ago, wasn't overly impressed with it, and promptly moved on to the next series. And seriously, what anime fan hasn't seen Eva? In fact, no anime fan can rightfully call themselves a true fan of the medium if they haven't gone through the crucible of watching the '95 Evangelion in all of its glory. And whether they hated or loved it, no one who watched it can deny the fact that Evangelion quantified everything good and bad about modern anime. An overly angsty protagonist, giant robots, an indecipherable philosophical/religious plot, tsundere girls, boisterous but capable side characters, fanservice, and sex; we can't even go two series without seeing these exact same elements, and Evangelion had it all. It made these issues popular and expected, and arguably, made anime relevant in places not Japan. To animedom, this is our Catcher in the Rye, our Crime and Punishment, our 1984; in other words, required watching, a classic so well-known that it would be a crime and display of ignorance if left unwatched. And like those novels, you either love it or you hate it; the way it's made disallows an indifferent opinion that lies in the middle.That, or you didn't pay enough attention. And to be completely truthful, I wasn't a big fan. The angst was overdone and annoying, the characters too hyped up by the time I saw it, and the story... well, I still don't understand the majority of it, even after living with an Eva freak for two years and debating rigorously regarding what exactly happened during the End of Eva. So if fans of anime who watched it as a requirement and hardcore fans who hate remakes both won't be appealed to this, what exactly was this for? Being that Gainax is only partially involved, they're supporting it mostly for the royalties (and why not, considering how bleak the industry looks). For Studio Khara, this is an enormous cashcow with the capability to single handedly fill their coffers to the point where the financial aspect of anime creation will not be a problem, just like how it brought Gainax out of near bankruptcy a decade ago and made it one of the solid pillars of the anime industry. And hey, the movie itself isn't bad either, despite being a Infernal Affairs/The Departed-esque replica of the original.In some ways, this Rebuild is slightly better than the original. The angst is still there, but cut to a minimum due to time constraints; the art is legions better and detailed, although done in the same recognizable style; the story is streamlined and even retconned slightly to eliminate the random ravings of a depressed maniac which unraveled by the end of the original. It's still Eva; the spirit is there, and so are the characters, filling anyone who saw the classic series with a distinct sense of nostalgia. Very little is removed and very little is added. Most importantly though, is the fact that this movie was entertaining. The slow parts that bogged down the original are gone in this one, and for casual fans like me, that is an angel in disguise. It was definitely a positive experience, and leaves me waiting for the next one with a sense of optimism and suspense. One word of advice to the few still uninitiated; it's better to watch the original series before watching this, because it's unknown when the movie series will finish and because the ending will supposedly be drastically different. The original Evangelion is not exactly the greatest series of all time in my opinion, but I respect it highly and credit it with popularizing anime in a country where all we had were watered down versions of Cardcaptor Sakura, Escaflowne, and Pokemon (as if that needed to be censored). This isn't a good place to start, in other words, and with the series easily obtainable, there's no good reason to wait for the movies. Still , there's something here even for the older generation of anime fans that has beaten this dead horse of a franchise into the ground, and that is surprising (although it could be the nostalgia talking). I'm not overly impressed by it due to its unsubstantial nature (as all remakes are just retellings of a story and not the progenitor), but this is quality anime and shouldn't be dismissed on account of it being a semi-rehash.
Grade: B (plus) - Nevertheless, You Are (Not) Alone is still able to maintain the core spirit of the anime, triumphantly affirming that the heart and soul of Evangelion lives on.
| 81 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
