‘…Tsurumaki said of the series, “”But when all is said and done, Hideaki Anno’s comments on ‘Evangelion’ + ‘Evangelion’ are that it is a message aimed at anime fans including himself, and of course, me too. If a person who can already live and communicate normally watches it, they won’t learn anything.”‘

Now that Anno has gotten over himself, he probably looks back at the television series with mixed feelings. Rebuild of Evangelion is his revision.

@Tamashii
When I do finally review 2.0, my biggest complaint would be how they simplified both Asuka and Rei. They teetered dangerously towards dating sim girl archetypes rather than unusual but believable individuals. Then again, I found that a good deal of the movie focused on Shinji essentially “courting” Ayanami by finding about more about her and trying to be kind as possible.

Interestingly enough, by the plot point reached at the end of the movie, Asuka was a complete train-wreck in the original series. By removing her temporarily with the Unit 3 incident, she retains her spunk well into the final stretch of the series. So, we’ll almost certainly see an even larger departure from the source material in 3.0.

As for the Kare Kano music, I was fine with the use of Miyazawa Yukino (Nocturne) playing while Kaji described second impact, but the later usages did draw my attention away from the movie unnecessarily as I thought to myself “wait a second.”

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The changes to the characters’ personalities is welcomed. It is much more streamlined and accessible, which fits the format of a film. However, Rebuild of Evangelion will supposedly consist of four movies, each about 90-100 minutes, equaling out to about 20 TV episodes. Now bear with me; I don’t think anyone who watches any Rebuild of Evangelion film will not watch the rest of the films… I think 20~ 25 minute episodes is sufficient time to develop four (originally three) characters: Rei, Shinji, Asuka, and Mari. What I missed then was Asuka’s strong characterization, apparently in the TV series. Here, she is reduced to a Bicycle playing card, two-dimensional and predictable. Personally, if Mari’s screentime was completely swiped, or postponed until 3.0, Asuka would have had a little more breathing room. This is essential in order for the EVA angel invasion scene and her subsequent “death” to be effective. With her demise, I cannot believe that someone unfamiliar with the series would be as “stricken” as I was. Aside from screaming in my head, “Wait, wait, this isn’t Asuka!”, I was in disbelief: “She can’t be dead. That’s Toji. C’mon.” (On a side note, the switch is perfect for this reductive film format… it would have been odd to have Toji… while in the series he was given enough elaboration) But that’s not to say that I was affected, rather I was confused as to why she had to die so early. Regardless, for the film format, Asuka was an interesting character.

I enjoy the new Shinji, though I didn’t mind the old one. The new Rei is somewhat difficult for me. Her subtlety is still there, but it has been drastically simplified by making her “more human.” The point of Evangelion was to have “unlikeable” characters–different and interesting characters. At the least they were not one-dimensional, so I have no right to complain. This different take on the love triangle has me intrigued. Was this really Anno’s original intention? I thoroughly enjoyed the complex and difficult relationship between Asuka and Shinji in the series. It’s hard to swallow this “new” Rei and Shinji connection, especially with the “DMMYS” (Dummy System) in mind and that she is Yui’s (Shinji’s mother) reincarnation–a clone, basically. Will all of those details and background be dropped in light of the format? So no Rei III? Just Rei I?

The music pisses me off. Whenever the Kare Kano pieces played, I frowned. This is just lazy work, Anno/Sagisu! The score probably works for those who have not seen Kare Kano, but it’s a huge bomb for myself and others: the Kare Kano soundtrack is very dear to me. Additionally, who likes the vocalized ‘new song’ that replaced Beast II? Pretty bad. Didn’t work for me. Perhaps I was just thrown off that Asuka was in there instead of Toji. But wait, they played the song again when Shinji reached for Rei inside that angel! …Yeah, it’s bad. They used Namida decently, however.

Nonetheless, I’d have to say that the third act was pretty freaking awesome. It’s not the Evangelion I knew, which is good–it is more exciting and compelling. So is this what Anno wanted? The pacing isn’t as neck-breaking as 1.0 and gives just enough pause for those special moments. I like all of the small changes (instead of visiting Antartica and the Second Impact ground zero on a boat, they use an air/spacecraft; the ocean being red/blood, and the juxtaposing aquarium visit; etc.). Mari is a hot character, and I wonder where she’s going in 3.0. She did seem superfluous in 2.0, likely intentional as a setup for 3.0–who can resist a girl who presents herself in fleeting images, with extravagant entries and exits.

it’s unfair to judge the animation based on a cam-rip (conflicting recording settings like framerates, autocontrast, etc.). But it does seem fluid and movie-quality, though we don’t get the tiny, tiny details like threads of hair shaking or clothes wrinkling. Studio Khara did a great job re-inventing the angels, indeed. But I still wonder how Production IG would have handled the animation.

SPOILER ENDS

I enjoyed the film and am looking forward to a clean DVD rip with subtitles!