After looking at the review Tom Pinchuk put up of Evangelion 2.0 over at Screened.com. I decided to give Neon Genesis another chance. In one of my previous blogs, I gave my thoughts on the anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and let's just say that I sorta borderline hated it. I never understood the appeal beyond anything than just giant robots fighting giant monsters or "angels" as they are called in the show. Hearing that the anime is now being retold but in movie form, I decided to give that universe another chance and see how it turned out.
Evangelion 1.0
I'M SORRY, BUT WE NEEDED TO FILL OUR STEREOTYPICAL ANIME MOMENT QUOTA!!! Robots!So this first movie is supposed to contain the first 6 episodes of the anime. First off, I must say that the animation and just the visual aesthetics of the movie are quite nice. The fights with the angels are definitely the areas where you see the benefits of having a bigger budget. The story definitely moves at a faster pace because it's a movie now and I think this is a real benefit. I found the anime to be mostly boring at times and the drama parts just made my eyes roll. At least here in movie form, you don't have to deal with a bad part for too long. Speaking of which, the one dumb part I have to mention is the one that also occurred in the anime, that is, where Shinji accidentally falls onto a naked Ayanami and his hand lands on her tit. I really don't see why that had to carry over to the movie. I also should point out that I watched the dub version of this, and it was much better than the dubbing of the anime. Shinji sounds somewhat less bitchy and I find to be much more tolerable than before. Overall, I enjoyed the movie. It moved the story along at a decent pace and the action scenes were actually entertaining.
Evangelion 2.0
I almost got an erection picturing Asuka getting crushed in this thing. Nope, still hate you. Now this movie continues right after 1.0 and because the dubbed version hasn't been released yet, I obviously just watched the subbed version. So we are introduced to the other Eva pilot, which is the one character who I hated the most with a passion, Asuka. In the anime, she was absolutely fucking annoying and I just could not stand her. In the movie, well, she's still annoying but no where near as bad as in the anime. I think that's just because you see less of her. Now this brings me to one of the high points for me in this movie and that is the part where the third Eva essentially turns into an Angel. So, why would I like this part so much? Well, instead of having that one dude as the pilot of Eva 3, the movie changes this up by having Asuka as the pilot. So let's just say that watching that Eva get torn apart was one of the most happiest moments for me in that entire series.
Ok, beyond that sadistic pleasure, I ended up liking the movie. 2.0 did a great job of providing better information on how the city functioned and it actually gave the city life, unlike in the anime. Also, I appreciated them changing up the personality of one the characters, Ayanami. Instead of constantly being some lifeless doll, like in the anime, the movie did a better job of making her more human. Not having her being a blank slate is a huge plus. As for the story, well I still have a hard time grasping the finer details. Despite having seen the anime, I still find the plot hard to follow, but I'm just surprised that I'm enjoying the movie.
You would, Japan, you would. Now there are some flaws of course, besides the hard to follow plot. There is a noticeable increase in catering to people's inner pedophiles. There are a number of lingering panty shots that are stupid and for some reason they gave Asuka a redesigned suit that is more revealing. I don't get how I'm supposed to take this stuff seriously when stupid shit like this happens. Oh and I guess I forgot to mention the addition of the new girl......and.....wow...I completely forgot her name.....ya their is barely enough information given on her that I'm not going to bother forming an opinion of her.
So, in short, I'm pleasantly surprised. I think Evangelion benefits more from being told in a series of movies than as an anime series. I really didn't care for the anime, but I was definitely entertained by the movies. I may not have a great grasp on what the hell is happening but it's a big plus that in the end, I'm not pissed at what I just watched.
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