Forum - View topicREVIEW: Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance
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ArthurFrDent
 Posts: 466 |
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Justin, you're a bastard {in a good way}. taunting us with what we have to wait for...
this makes me more hopeful, even though it's to be more painful. Ultimately for me, what misfired on the original was that I didn't end up caring much for the whole cast. I was very sad for Rei, and hurt for Misato, but the rest? Bah. However. If you really want to make people throw things at the screen, to love and loath you as a storyteller? You make flawed people real, with complexity and sympathy. Then you let them react to an existance bent on their destruction. Sounds like Anno maybe worked this out... As to when we get it? OI! can't hardly wait. Though this time I think they should skip the big screenings and just put out the discs. Unless they get their advertizing funded correctly. Eva1.0 in theatres was a debacle, I'm thinkin' |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Doesn't it, though?
Yeah, this was a big "wtf?" moment for me. Furthermore, given the scene during which the change was apparently caused, I am very excited to see how this plays. Of course, many of track 27's implications are already becoming evident, as you noted regarding the characters. Vast improvements abound in the characterization of the big three (Rei's change for the better is difficult to overstate, in my opinion), not to mention the supporting cast. Mari is absolutely fascinating as the only newcomer--no regards for the limit of her own strength, indeed. I think in many ways she is the ideal Evangelion pilot; spoiler[a shame hers was the only sync rate that wasn't shown,] but again, suggestive. The tone of the work is much more evenly spread, allowing comic and tender moments to shine brighter than in the original work. The transition from the first half into the second is essentially seamless, making the subsequent battles all the more devastating in their ferocity; their narration is truly cinematic in scope, and they look just great. Literally every battle has a "wow" moment--nay, every battle is one; though for the record, spoiler[EVA-05's death stuggle, EVA-02's totally Asuka entrance, EVA-01 exceeding the speed of sound, the snapping of EVA-03's neck, and... well, hard to pick one moment from the battle with the Tenth Angel...] were all sensational images for me.
Yes, this is an achievement that needs to be mentioned. Khara and Anno could so easily have taken the familiar road, undoubtedly to the detriment of the finished product (although, I imagine such a product still could have been quite enjoyable); instead, 2.0 is an unmistakable refinement of the original in this regard, distilling the original's crude mish-mash into something which I think is shaping up to have real, tangible meaning. Speaking of meaning...
I've got to say, the twist worked perfectly for me. spoiler[Kaoru genuinely feels like the Harbinger this time around. Largely, this is because of what little he has said over these two films has been fraught with meaning, in my opinion, especially considering track 27. His entrance (finally!) was the perfect epilogue... Or should I say prologue? ] Irrespective of one's opinion of the story and characters though, 2.0 looks and sounds incredible. The detailed level at which Tokyo III has been illustrated is almost silly, spoiler[given its tendency to be razed to the ground.] The cast looks even better now than they used to thanks to a feature-length budget and animation techniques 14 years advanced, and Mari fits right in. Again, I can't say enough for the battle scenes (though the battle with the 6th angel still stands as my favorite), nor every moment of calm that contrasts them. Oh, yeah, and the Evangelions look pretty nifty, too. 
The musical score is, in short, rousing, and simply works wherever it is used. Every time a battle hits its climax and you think that the fate of the world hangs in the balance, the music kicks in and reminds you that yes, the fate of the world really does hang in the balance. And I loved the remix of the ED song. On to the voice acting. Now, I've only watched the original in English, and I have to admit I was a little reticent going into 1.0 in theaters, knowing that I was getting the Japanese cast instead (obviously I wasn't going to let such a thing get in the way of seeing 1.0 on the big screen). I came out of that being blown away. Fast forward to 2.0, and I think it's safe to say that the Japanese track will remain my favorite even after checking out the new redub, which I will soon. Yuko Miyamura and Maaya Sakamoto both give tour de force performances as Asuka and Mari, in particular. Speaking of Mari, I've got to give a shout out to the movie's first scene, which is not only awesome in its own right, but also makes EVA-05 look far cooler than it deserves to. I've got to credit the music, the choreography of the scene, and most of all Sakamoto's acting for that. What else... Oh, yeah, Lightning Kick 2.0. spoiler[The Seventh Angel got its ass kicked.] And now... yes, the long wait begins again; but man, was it worth it this first time. My hopes are high for Quickening. Add: Also, most of the English lines in the movie were also well done, albeit with weird accents. Mari's lines were all fine. The only god-awful English dialogue was Kaji's, which I barely managed to parse half of; the rest didn't make sense at all. Last edited by Big Hed on Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:47 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Kyogissun
 Posts: 676 |
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My eyes went wide with amazement when I saw this post.
That's pretty much all I have to say besides I cannot wait for this movie. |
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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These comments worry me. In contrast to most of you american fans or distractors of the original franchise, I actually did like the "navel-gazing" and the art cinema-line narrative structure of the original series. That is probably the major thing which made Evangelion interesting to me (not really exciting, of course, but at least interesting) and that was missing in the first remake movie of 2007 which was very polished and ended being entertaining to me but didn't challenged my intellectual mind. I guess I'll have to see Evangelion 2.0 with my own eyes to see if it's actually an "achievement", for my taste, over the original franchise or not. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1327 |
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All those A's, wow!
A long while ago I bought the special edition soundtrack to Eva 2.0, and the one musical theme that caught my ear was the first, At the Very Beginning. I had no idea in what scene or context this music was used, but it sounded so cool and awesome, that alone made me excited to see the movie at the time. When I heard the remix version of the ending song online, I was very bummed it wasn’t included on the soundtrack, and it doesn’t even seem like there are plans of even releasing it as a single. Then I finally watched the first movie on its official DVD release (dubbed). Of course it felt a little truncated especially if you saw the series first, but I thought it was well done and standalone enough, that after seeing the 30-second preview at the end, I suddenly felt teased and impatient for the second movie, like it can’t come fast enough. Thanks to you, Justin (by the way, glad to read you had a great trip)and fellow forumites (how could so many of you have seen it already? Surely there aren't fansubs available?), I’m really getting that feeling now, and it’s taunting me. All the character changes alone make me really want to see it. I’ve always been more of an Asuka fan, although it sounds like this time around Rei is trying to be more human which would of course make me actually like her as a character this time around, and Mari sounds interesting. But I also liked Kaworu, so I’m just as curious about his part in the story as well. I can only hope that there may be a subbed showing at this year's Otakon (if Anime Expo screened the first film, why now?), and we can only wait until there’s any news of its DVD release in Japan before we hear any licensing news. Last edited by pachy_boy on Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:45 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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I recall Zac saying very much the same thing at some point last year. I'm afraid you will find that aspect mostly lacking in 2.0, as well (although there are still a few well-placed scenes which remain true to the original in that sense). Nevertheless, this lowly American fan is very pleased with the Rebuild project thus far (I did greatly enjoy the original work, by the way). If I want to see well-executed intellectual mecha, I'll watch RahXephon again. |
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tmsidr
 Posts: 26 Location: Germany |
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The movie was screened in Berlin at the Asia Filmfest 2009 and I watched it there. It's really a masterpeice and for me the changes in the characters make really sense if you take a look at the first series.
The new Asuka is adorable *_*. By the way the movie (2.01) will be available in Germany in May 2010 on Blu-ray, so the Japanese release should be available before. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2338 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Yes, this movie is like The Dark Knight of Eva. I got a good look at this a while back, it was incredible. The ending itself was very exceptional, to say the least.
I love this whole new direction they went with the story. It has a feel of spoiler[Higurashi] to it, and I'll be looking forward to seeing what comes up next. I imagine if Asuka's voice actress isn't Tiffany Grant, I'll be hearing a giant "WTF!" echo from all across the west, shivering along my spine. Has Tiffany done anything lately? |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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First off, I don't think it has anything to do with being American. Second, I have to say I too liked the attempts at self-awareness and originality that Evangelion brought to to anime; if there have been better series since, that owes much to Evangelion being a forerunner. That said, one of my biggest complaints was that the "message" it presented in the end felt more intellectual; Shinji comes to his realization but never lives it out, because the series ends right after it. From this review it sounds like the new movies try to show engaged examples of the search for meaning that the first series explored rather than simply talking about it for extended periods of time. I agree that this is a more mature narrative approach. Integrating a message into the story is better than having long lectures on it (see Arjuna for one of the worst examples of doing the latter rather than the former, though I did like parts of it). For the first time, reading this review, I am very excited to see this remake. I was actually putting off watching the first until I can watch these two together, since the first was mostly a reshoot. Now I think I may watch 1.0 with a feeling of confidence that when 2.0 comes out, I'll be thrilled. |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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She was supposed to play Yoko in TTGL. Ah, what could have been  ...
[/GurrenLagannADVdubfanboy] I too would have a hard time imagining another English voice for Asuka; but, since Tiffany Grant is probably one of the biggest Asuka fangirls there is, and she is based near Funimation's dubbing studios, I don't think people need to worry about her being replaced. 
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animefan1238
 Posts: 299 Location: Ma |
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i was skeptical of the first movie but reading how this takes a slight turn in the story i'm sold. now i just have to see the first movie. Eva was the first series i bought. (on the white VHS tapes LOL!)
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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As an ex movie studies minor I do like to be intellectually challenged by narrative structures which attract the viewers attention on themselves by not blending into conventional storytelling techniques. I'm glad you mention that there's still some scenes left in this sense.
I never felt RahXephon intellectual challenging concerning narrative structures and it was more of a love story than existential struggle, but I digress.
I read usenet groups like rec.arts.anime and forums for over a decade now and I never have met such strong animosity toward unusual narrative storytelling and self-awareness of the original series and also towards Anno Hideaki among european anime fans as in raam or english speaking anime forums like in ANN. So yeah, for me this must be an american thing, something like being on the right or wrong (political) side. An "either - or" thing with little or no place for middle ground opinions. |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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I concede that the American fan may be more predisposed towards favoring conventional narrative structures (myself being one such, frankly), but to claim a black/white relationship regarding the appreciation for Anno's work on opposite sides of the pond is excessive. There are tons of Americans on ANN alone who love NGE (I can't speak for other forums; this is the only one I use for anime). |
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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Like I said, this is my observation, I can't speak for other people's experience. Feel free to point me to moderate english/american discussion threads or opinions about the original series' self-awareness as I'm a person who's always willing to learn new things. |
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_V_
 Posts: 619 |
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(they call it "Bethany Base" but that's just a codename: it's not actually in "Israel", it's a joint British-Russian base built on the permafrost. And episode 22, not 20, was the mind-rape Angel)
So suddenly, my proclamations that "Rebuild of Evangelion is the literal Second Coming of the Eva Franchise" don't seem so crazy, eh? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMNAMIzGm_w&featuret#t=3m40s[/b] |
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