Rebuild of Evangelion

[Claymore]

Изгледах 1.11 Evangelion You Are (Not) Alone.СТРАХОТЕН РИМЕЙК! С лек промени всичко е като в сериала.Въпреки че лично на мен ми харесва олдскуул и леко изтъркана анимация на сериала. 8/10
Сега е ред да видя как са осрали всичко във вторият филм.Чух някакви надявам се грешни слухове че във вторият филм Shinji is manly!!!!!!! Oh THE BLASPHEMY!!!!!
П.П.Поздрав за феновете на сериала.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQM1BOfB ... r_embedded
П.П.2 Новото лице на Лилит дразни.

[Claymore]

Дълго и много вярно сопред мен ревю на Evangelion 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

Spoiler: show

*This review contains spoilers for the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series*

Don’t be fooled by the large amounts of cash Gainax must’ve wasted to make Evangelion look this pretty, 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is clearly not aimed at the fans who loved Neon Genesis Evangelion for everything that it set out to be and WAS and made it such a phenomenon in Japan in the first place. That’s right, if you enjoyed Eva for its remarkable in depth character study and psychoanalysis set in a deconstruction of the popular mecha genre, then you can forget about this movie. It’s not for you and you’re definitely not who Hideaki Anno is trying to appeal to here.

Now, if you’re that viewer that all the while watching the Evangelion TV series just wanted to see more mecha action with lots of explosions and boobs, and throughout the whole experience was just wishing Shinji would “stop being whiny” and that he would “grow a pair” or better yet that he’d “become GAR!”, thus missing the entire fucking point of the whole series, then this movie is perfect for you.

Because that’s all 2.0 does. It hilariously and ironically becomes the exact kind of story that the original TV series was deconstructing in the first place. In other words, it rips out the very soul of Evangelion and everything that made it meaningful and that it stood for.

Now this kind of harsh criticism has a very typical half-assed counter which I’m sure I’ll see posted in my profile if anyone bothers to reply. They’ll that I’m just a hardcore and narrow-minded Evangelion fanboy who’s incapable of accepting anything new or different and that I’m just suffering from a case of “They Changed It Now It Sucks”.

But yeah, no. I was more than ready to see and enjoy the series take an alternate path. It might not have been as good as the original, and honestly I never expected it to be, but as long as it was strong enough to stand on its own, it would’ve been fine. I had faith in Anno and thought he’d be able to pull off something new, yet still remarkable.

Unfortunately it became obvious after watching 2.0 that now that he’s over his depression, easy money is all the man has on his mind. Because this movie is not an inspired alternate path or different take for the story. What Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is, and I won’t bother with euphemisms here, is dumbed down mediocrity that does nothing but service and pander to the most shallow and superficial portion of the audience.

Now I’m sure this is where most of the readers will click on the “Not Helpful” button and just hit back, but if you actually have an attention span and are willing to listen to a different view on things, then by all means read on as I explain why exactly Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is what I claim it to be.

You see, I've enjoyed my fair share of what you’d call typical “coming of age mech stories”. But turning Evangelion into one is going against everything that defined the series. And I guarantee you that if Eva truly had been one from the start then it would not have been the phenomenon it turned out to be and thus we wouldn’t even be seeing these remake movies take place.

Part of what made Evangelion Evangelion, or at least different and refreshing, was that for once the archetypal young mecha pilot wasn’t so archetypal anymore. Contrary to most of the popular mecha heroes before him, Shinji didn’t just get over things and his shitty reality in general in the blink of an eye. Au contraire, Shinji pretty much represented the revolution of the individual who’s been alienated, disoriented and estranged by society. The awakening to the fact that something’s wrong with the way people are taught to just “get over it”. Thus proposing the idea that the very society that’s supposed to integrate us together is the one dividing us in the first place. Which brings us to our problem: nothing of the sort is ever even implied or suggested if Shinji simply grows up and gets on with his life. Turning him into a positive character with a typical "growing up” character arc just makes him utterly generic and cliche and completely destroys what made Evangelion unique. Which is why 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance just makes me feel cheated. It’s like they’re telling us the conflicts represented in the TV series somehow aren't relevant to humanity anymore. Like we've managed to tread over those meager hurdles or something.

So, why is this even called Evangelion anymore? Well, it’s very simple actually. Gainax/Anno obviously had no artistic aspirations with this and it was clearly “all about the money”. And what better way to make money than to slap the ridiculously popular Gurren Lagann-esque formula into the ridiculously popular world and characters of Evangelion? Who cares if it just doesn’t fit or make sense and goes against everything we’ve stood for previously! Which brings us to the initial question. I mean with such an absurd combination it’s obvious Gainax should've just made a new unrelated series, even if it partially ripped off its own previous works (nothing they haven’t done before anyways). But you see, that way they would have no real guarantees that it’d sell… and they obviously just couldn’t have that. It’s nothing new, I’m sure you’ve noticed it before because we see it all the time. Titles that despite being ridiculously different and unrelated in nature and themes being named as an entry of a popular franchise because its creators didn’t have the balls to start an actual new series and would rather rely on the same old one that will sell for sure. That’s all the Evangelion of today is: a gigantic cash cow. It’s depressing, but it’s the undeniable truth.

Oh but I almost forgot, there IS another “small” reason as to why they just went with the Evangelion universe and characters all over. You see, the characters are all already immensely well-known, popular and appreciated so now they don’t even have to bother to establish and properly develop them at a natural pace again! Yes, ironically, this series called “Rebuild” isn't building shit. You absolutely have to already know the characters from the original series to feel the least bit of empathy for them. The events are so rushed that most of what made them interesting is lost and they have now become shells of their former selves. Just to give you an idea, 1.0 did 6 episodes in 1h40m and the characters already felt much less multi-dimensional, so 2.0 decided to do 13 episodes in 1h50m instead! Good job guys, you're totally not counting on people already knowing and caring about the characters from the TV series instead of trying to actually make them interesting and hold their own in this version! That’s right, instead of building their new Rebuild of Evangelion selves the movie seems to be much more inclined and focused on action sequences and fanservice. And that’s really all it offers. In fact, I snickered at the end when I heard Misato's trademark "service, service!" in the preview. Cause it hilariously defines Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance in its entirety.

Now you may ask “But dude, the original TV series had boobs too!” And yes, that is correct, it did. But there’s a huge difference. Two in fact. First, it actually complemented those lighter fanservice-y moments with actual substance when it wasn’t just showing boobs. And second and more importantly, in the original TV series those boobs actually had a fucking point. Shinji’s 14-year-old hormones and his consequent lusting for the three main females which resulted in a lot of sexual tension and anxiety was actually a very important part of his core character and emotional crises. Here, much like with the rest of the cast, Shinji’s issues have been drastically simplified to suit the new target audience and his daddy issues are basically all that he has left.

But enough Shinji, let’s talk about the rest of the characters.

*THIS PORTION CONTAINS STORY SPOILERS FOR EVANGELION 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE*

And why not start with the new star of Evangelion, Mari Makinami Illustrious? Boy her existence in this sure was worthy it eh? A female character who talks about her breasts in every other scene she's in, and even meets Shinji through the beyond cliche situation of suffocating him between them AND gets jigglier than a Dead or Alive girl by the end. She's basically a mindless offering from Anno to his series' faithful hentai artists who were craving for some fresh meat after all those years of depicting the already stale Rei and Asuka in every sexual situation possible. Now they have a new flirty and busty meganekko added to the mix and thus Mari’s purpose as a character is served.

But make no mistakes, she’s not the only victim of pandering to a ridiculous degree in this movie. That’s right, perhaps anime’s most famous tsundere, Asuka Langley is back and her character too seems to have little point besides pandering. Her in depth character study and complex personality disorders are apparently now reduced to simple and generic loneliness from which she's cured once she makes some buddies! Brilliant. Oh and to top it all off, she gets the great honor of being relegated to Toji's role as a sacrificial lamb! Now I can’t help but ask… How the hell did she make #1 in the Newtype popularity polls after the movie’s release in theaters again? *remembers her kicking Shinji in the face naked with her legs wide open, her panty crotch shots in bed and her wonderfully revealing new plugsuit* Oh yeah, that's why. Shallow fans for a shallow movie, I suppose.

What else. Another character who makes his debut in Rebuild in this, Kaji: No connection to Asuka, which was a considerably important part of her character, no real investigation of NERV and SEELE’s shady actions going on and even his role as a semblance of a parental figure to Shinji is screwed over when his arguably most memorable and important moment in the series of convincing Shinji to fight once more with his poignant speech is replaced by Mari of all people, who just babbles some mindless drivel and forces Shinji to go instead. So yeah, what exactly is the point of Kaji’s character here? God only knows. Oh wait, *remembers scene where he nearly kisses Shinji* Ah, of course, shout outs to the yaoi fangirls since Kaworu's too busy making cryptic comments on the moon. (yet still manages to penetrate Shinji in the end)

And right along with Kaji the rest of the adult trio, Misato and Ritsuko, are both are as flat it gets here too. The former is basically just a foil to Shinji now, not really mattering as a character of her own, and the latter is nothing but a background exposition character.

But hey, let’s talk about a character who actually gets MORE attention here when compared to the original series! That’s right, Rei, who much like in the manga, actually serves as Shinji’s main love interest here, going against the TV series’ version where that role belonged to Asuka, who is conveniently and forcibly pushed into the background here thanks to her taking over Toji’s role as mentioned before. Now some might say that your mileage may vary as to whether or not that is a good decision and perhaps that it all depends on which Eva girl you prefer, Rei or Asuka. Now I do like them both as characters, but as I see it, as far as who makes for the more interesting and intricate relationship with Shinji, there’s just no comparison between the two. In the TV series, Shinji and Asuka are two kids who mirror each other with the similar ways that both have been hurt by life and their progenitors, but contrasting in the completely different ways they chose of coping with it. That results in a mutually destructive emotional relationship where both parties, due to their partial lack of understanding, keep hurting each other more as they try to get closer to one another. Now I don’t know about you, but to me that makes for a hundred times more interesting story than Shinji and Rei’s little “kind timid boy teaches the stoic emotionless girl how to love”. I mean, aww totally hadn't seen that one before, right? There’s a twist in Rei’s character this time around however, in that she’s not quite as apathetic as before and actually talks about how being around Shinji makes her all “warm and fuzzy”. I can only guess that they realize how most of the movie’s fanservice was of the conventional type, so they picked Rei to embody the new and much more popular these days “moe” version of it.

*END STORY SPOILERS FOR EVANGELION 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE*

And well, that’s pretty much it. All that’s left is to talk about the good points of 2.0! Like, uh… oh yeah, it’s pretty! Incredibly pretty actually, some of the greatest eye candy I’ve seen in anime for sure. There’s also the voice acting, which is still just as solid as in the original series. All the seiyuu definitely deserve a round of applause for keeping the character’s voices nigh unchanged even after 13 years.

And then there’s the soundtrack. Oh yes the soundtrack. And all I can say is that it’s incredibly fitting, because it’s as commercial as it gets. All of the tracks can basically be divided into two groups: the elevator music used for the lighter scenes and the typical epic choir music used for the battle ones. But commercial though as it might be, it’s still fun to listen to and considerably effective in some of the scenes as well. With one painful exception of course, where in one of the most shocking and intense scenes in the movie, where in the TV series we had a grandiose track appropriately named The Beast II playing, here we have kindergarten kids singing. Clearly they were trying to replicate the success of Kom Susser Todd in End of Evangelion by putting an upbeat sounding song in a downer scene, only this time they got it REALLY wrong. And last but not least, I hope for your sake you haven’t watched Bleach before, because the movie’s composer, Sagisu Shiro, apparently has a penchant for ripping off his own work, so if you have, let’s just say that some of those epic choir songs will sound disturbingly similar.

And that’s it. To sum it up with a reference to a similarly popular and milked to the death franchise, 2.0 is basically Evangelion: Advent Children. You’re only in it for the visuals and not for the actual content, which is naught but mindless fanservice. Only Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children still managed to be mildly entertaining despite its faults and it was an actual direct sequel so it had an excuse for not reestablishing the characters. With Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, the whole package is just so pathetically shallow, stupid and insulting to the fans of what truly made Evangelion what it is today, that there’s simply no fun to be had with it. Even if you try and “enjoy it for what it is”, the experience won’t be any less painful, as even “for what it is”, it’s still damn mediocre.

I can only look forward to the remaining movies with dread. We’re already at the halfway point, and the direction the Rebuild series is taking is quite clear and not one I can afford to be hopeful about. From an artistic standpoint, Rebuild of Evangelion has no business in existing. If they wanted a dumbed down version of the show they could've just animated the manga. And hell if they wanted a sequel, then they should've done the world a favor and animated Studio Kimigabuchi’s RE-TAKE instead. Cause yes, even a doujin artist has more writing talent than the current non-depressed Anno it seems.

[Roland]

Ми аз съм от тия, да, дето искаха Шинджи да спре да уайнва, да гроуне пеър и да почне да киква малко ass. Не знам дали съм пропуснал поантата на сериала, мисля, че по-скоро не ми беше достатъчно интересна...

[armageddon]

Like I said on one of the previous pages, Ева 2.22 ми хареса именно защото прави остър завой спрямо сериала. Ако исках да гледам още един път сериала rehash-нат(и да изтърпя още 20 и кусур серии Шинджи), щях да си взема някой от 10те хиляди различни боксета рилийзнати след излизането му, всеки с различни 10 секунди допълнителен материал спрямо предния.

Всмисъл 2.22 получи + бая само заради това че за разлика от 1.11 не просто претупа серии 1-6 (което си беше голям лет даун) а че показва една коренно история тук-там имаща допирни точки с действието от епизодите. И + още бая че направи от Шинджи гледаем герой.

[Claymore]

Нямам против Шинджи да гроуне пеър стига да не е толкова ръшнато.ФФС 15 епизода за 2 часа? И все пак прекалено контрастира с атмосферата на сериала.За мен това просто не е Евангелион,трябвало е да сложат друго заглавие.Като 2.22 Shinji (Does Not) Grow A Pair.БТВ,някой гледал първо ЕВА да драсне две думи за РаЗефон че по Коледа бях гледал там 1 и 2 епизод и се отказах.Не знам дали просто не съм бил с подходящ майндсет но искам да кажа че почти никога не дропвам така след 1 или 2 епизода. Бих му дал втори шанс ама всичко ми беше прекалено мудно.

[Amelia]

Аз гледах първо Ева и след нея Зефона ми се видя меко казано посредствен. Гледала съм го два пъти - и двата пъти с клизма. Единия от тея два пъти - по задължение, щото за кеф нивгаш няма да го гледам отново.

Иначе Шинджи си беше екстра такъв къвто беше, щото така сериала имаше няква идея и психология в него. Сега не знам кво са направили, ма ако са ми спретнали поредната рандъм мека със Смело Самопожертвователно Пуберче, Което Отива Да Громи Враговете На Човечеството Напук На Собствените Си Страхове и Драми, ще съм натъжена и омерзена някак...

[Claymore]

Ти си ясновидка! о.О ТОЧНО ТОВА СА НАПРАВИЛИ!

[Roland]

Ужас, осквернили са ИКОНАТА! Поругали са БАЩИЦАТА!! МАХНАЛИ СА ТОМ БОМБАДИЛ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Amelia]

Е то тва по-скоро мяза на "МАХНАЛИ СА ПРЪСТЕНА!!!" честно казано.

[Roland]

Героите същите ли са? Същите са. Светът същият ли е? Същият е. Историята подобна ли е? Подобна е. Сори, мацка, пръстенът си е тука, само елфическите песни и Том Бомбадил ги няма.

Баси, ТОЛКОВА е добро тва сравнение И Толкинистчетата точно от това смърдяха, че им направили дълбоката литература на екшън...

[Amelia]

Ъм, не. Героите не са същите, ако Шинджи е направен диаметрално противоположен на предишния Шинджи. И когато основната идея и сюжета на анимето се въртят около психологията на въпросния Шинджи и тая психология е премахната, получаваме ситуация като маането на гащи към Мордор, без пръстен, който да трябва да бъде хвърлен в лавата на сътворението му. Мое да е измислена друга причина за маане на гащи към Мордор. Мое дори да не маат гащи към Мордор. Тогава за Властелина ли си говорим изобщо или за странен преразказ в АУ сетинг?

[Roland]

Искаш ли много да ти знае устата СЛЕД като изгледаш филмите все пак?

Основната идея и сюжетът се въртяли около психологията на Шинджи. Рофлфест

[Amelia]

Посмей да ми държиш тоя тон още веднъж. Ако не си способен да водиш цивилизована дискусия, когато стане дума за Евангелион, ще се наложи да почна да ти изтривам постовете с простотиите.

Шинджи ТРЯБВАШЕ да се срине психически, за да се задвижи human instrumentality project. Затова и Гендо се държеше като изрод с него. Този така дребен детайл обяснява как психическото състояние на Шинджи е център на сериала и сюжетен двигател на цялата Енд ъф Ева.

Относно това, че не съм гледала втория филм още - всичко, което казвам по тази тема е в условно наклонение - ако така и така, значи така и така. Ти в този ред на мисли гледал ли си ги, че правиш уверени сравнения?

[Roland]

Аз сравнявам реакциите, не филма и сериала. Всичкото е до indignant fanboyism

Апропо, що съм го пропуснал това с трябването на психическия срив на Шинджи в две гледания? А да, щото реалният сюжет се случва в четири епизода и няма време да стане ясно квото и да е.

[Amelia]

На мен веднага ми стана ясно. Казва се в прав текст в Енда, мисля. Ти що си го пропуснал - не знам.

Кат не си гледал филмите, никъв фенбоизъм не можеш да сравняваш. Ако нямаш какво да допринесеш повече по темата, викам да я приключваме. Ако има още някой, който иска да сподели експириънс със Зефона след изгледана Ева - да си каже.