just a little bit of a contrast on a fave topic of mine.
I am not a HUGE fan of anime, but the few that i do like, I am enamored with. Neon Genesis Evangelion sits squarely at the top of my list, hands down. nothing else shall replace it. Everything else is feuding over second and third place.
If you are not familiar with Neon Genesis Evangelion...it can be a touchy subject with some people. Most (at least the ones I've run into) that know of it are at one end of the spectrum or the other. Love it or hate it. I am on the love end.
To give a little bit of history on Neon Genesis Evangelion (from here on out, i'm just gonna call it EVA) started waaaaaaaay back in the distant time of 1995. The anime aired with a new perspective on giant mecha designs, new story telling and being just plain awesome! After the series ended fans were ravenous for more, mostly so they could have a real ending (which I thought the original ending was fine, but hey, whatev). Two movies followed with the last aptly named - The End of Evangelion.
That's it, no more for about eleven years. Sure it still lived on in manga form with various plots and such, but it never really felt the same. (except the original manga that is dare i say it...BETTER than the anime)
Now after all these years, a new telling of the original series is upon us! Now, I am part of the "Ravenous" fan base for eva. I loves it sooooo much. to quote Gir - "I loves dis shooow" lol
anyway... When I heard that a new series was in the works I was immediately excited. The original series was 26 episodes long. The new series is going to be split up into four movies, roughly an hour and a half a piece. Hmmm...okay that's not so bad. 6 hours, down from nearly 10. This first volume, Rebuild of Evangelion, covers roughly the first 5-6 episodes.
Well now that I have it in my hands, I am left with a sense of wonder. Finally, more eva! Animated! *Happy*
>.>" sorry. Back on track here. Okay so. After having watched it, I am still left with that sense of wonder...but I'm not sure it's a good thing...
First off, the animation is superb. Very clean and smooth. Very...animated...something the original show lacked in places. Nearly every scene is identical to the original. Every now and then, however there are new side scenes with brand new animation. Most of the new animation though is in the little details. Such as the villain regrowing a head. Rather than "Oh look he now has a second head" it's more like "Whoa, look at that creature growing another head!" My favorite little bit though has to be with the updated computer screens. Now rendered with CGI, it looks very crisp and even more believable. Eva really has undergone some pretty radical changes. Though unless you have seen the original several times, you really won't appreciate these details quite as much.
The next thing is the voice acting. Now the main rule when trying to write a sequel or revision is to keep the same actors, writers that sort of thing. It's no different when it comes to anime. To make the characters recognizable to old timey fans, keep it familliar. I realize that this can't always be done for one reason or another. Sometimes though....oh wow...
A quick search of IMDB for both versions reveals that the two real main characters, Shinji Ikari and Misato Katsuragi were reprized by their original actors. YAY!!!!! But that's it. Everyone else is different. and for the most part, quite different indeed. Rei Ayanami is sadly one of the many casualties here (T_T). Her voice is similar enough that it ALMOST makes it alright, but it's lost that edge, that REI edge...However the rest of the cast is so wildly unfit, it makes it hard for me to accept it. the top three worst voices for the roles they play are Gendo Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi, and Kensuke Aida*. everytime they are on screen, I want to take a rusty fork to my ears... T_T which is really sad, because as much as I disliked Gendo and Ritsuko, their voices were perfect in the original EVA. oh yeah and Kensuke too.
(*in rebuild of Evangelion, Kensuke is voiced by Greg Ayres. He is a great actor and I love his voice, but not for Kensuke)
This is the most disapointing thing for me.
Plot wise it remains nearly identical as well. All the key plot points are there, though I feel slightly confused. I don't want to give away too much in this respect. We are shown several key scenes but with no lead up or follow up. It's just kinda...there... But I guess that is part of the 4 hours that were cut...still...
It's not really till the end though that stuff starts to get shaken up. We are treated to several (okay really only two) MAJOR Plot points. Okay so what? Well the thing is, is that these were details that were not learned until nearly the end of the series. They were learned through some pretty involved methods too. Not true here, just "Oh hey, look at this thing over here! That's what it's all about
Go have fun now!" again not gonna say what but those that know eva like i do, probably know what I mean.
Overall, it's pretty good. I am hard pressed to move past the voicing issue, but visually it is simply remarkable. I am more interested to know how the rest of the series develops now with several late game elements thrown in this early, as well as the addition of new characters/Evangelion Mechs.
Oh yeah, the other thing I forgot to talk about was the actual DVD case. Internet pics can't do it justice. It's just so damn pretty! the sky in the background almost gives the case a holographic quality with out actually being holographic.
Grand knowledge of all things Transformers
[{o}] Till all are One
