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Evangelion 1.01...
2010-02-10 00:39:29
As most people know, the Neon Genesis Evangelion series is being remade into a series of movies. Fancy new animation. New plot twists. And maybe even a new ending! The first movie recently made its way onto DVD here in North America and I finally picked it up.
So what did I think?
Well to get straight to the point, I liked it.
For starters, the animation was amazing. I have both the Perfect and Platnium Collections, and I don't know if I could ever go back to it. The colour was so rich and vibrant. The character movement was so much more fluid and subtle. The second I started the movie, I knew I was in for a treat. Of course it's not exactly fair to compare a highly anticipated feature film to a tight budget television show, but since it's a remake, you'd got to compare the two.
Plot wise, they did a decent job. The movie moved at a rocket of a pace, which is the problem when squeezing the show into a movie, but they made some good choices of where to cut some fat. I think the first real jump was the class introduction. Good choice. Meeting Kensuke out while he was camping? Another good choice. It always did seem a little too unbelievable running into the guy in the middle of nowhere (this describing a show about monsters magically appearing and wanted to destroy the human race).
The first half of the movie was good, but it was the second half that really started to come into its own. They showed Central dogma. Good idea. I mean even I was questioning why the angels just kept showing up conveniently in Nerv's own backyard. What if one appeared in France? The Evas would be kind of useless then, wouldn't they? And they gave us that weird scene with Kaworu. It creates a lot more questions, but at least it sort of gives us an answer to the big question "Where in the freakin' world are these angels popping out of?!"
Voice cast. I watched it in English, the way I first watched Evangelion, and I was pretty happy with it. It was a little distracting with so many new cast members at first (especially Ritsuko), but with Shinji and Misato returning it definitely helped. I had heard that Asuka would not be the same in the movie, which could be a bit of an issue, but we'll just have to wait and see.
As for the dialogue, it was also good. Not great though. As with Evangelion, there was way too much "mankind's last hope" talk. Seriously, who actually talks like that? When dialogue doesn't feel realistic, I find it just takes you out of the experience. Anyways, like I said, it was good, but not great.
Favourite scenes? One that stuck in my mind was when Misato confronted Shinji after he disobeyed her orders while defeating the 5th angel (4th in the show). Their actions were great, the dialogue was good and the character expressions really hit it. I loved it. And the meeting before taking on the 6th angel. Now THAT added a bit of realism to the whole attack!
My final impressions are that this was a good movie. Could have been better, but it did a lot of things right. For fans of the series, it was a great trip down memory lane. It added a nice new coat of polish and even a few special treats. Unfortunately for newcomers to the series, this still ain't totally user friendly. It's better than taking an anime newbie and sitting them down for an Evangelion-a-thon, but don't expect Evangelion 1.01 to convert non-anime fans.
Well to finish off, let me just say that 1, I'm very happy that this is happening. The Rebuild of Evangelion has shown to be a great way to revitalize the series and is a total treat to fans like myself. I love Evangelion and the world it's created. Any reason to revisit it is good enough for me. And 2, it has proven to be so much more than just another cash grabbing remake. I own Evangelion VHS tapes. I own the Perfect Collection (with annoying jitter effect included). I own the Platnium Collection. I own the movies. And I even own the two Director's Cut discs, Ressurection and Genesis Reborn. I would have bought the Rebuild of Evangelion if it was nothing but new animation. But they're changing the story, and as a fan, I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Kevin (Anime Jedi) -
Even closer now...
2009-11-04 10:00:21
Just under a month, and I'll be back in Canada. Man is time flying by now!
I'm in Melbourne now. I've seen so much of Australia it's hard to believe. This last month will involve heading over to Tasmania, checking out Canberra, and finishing off back in Sydney. We'll have then circled the entire country, and having stopped in the red centre and Tasmania. Not too shabby for ten months. I have to admit, doing this trip has relaly made me want to check out my own country. It feels like I know so little of Canada now. lol Maybe one day, when I've built up my bank balance again. lol
While traveling I've seen plenty of anime in stores, but nothing I could buy. Obviously it's all in the region code for Australia (which I think is region 4), so it wouldn't work on my dvd player back at home. It's a shame, but I have to admit I haven't always been a fan of Madman's packaging. Some look great, but 7-disc sets in those single cases? I prefer full box sets personally. Anyways, can't wait to get home and see what's new. And not just in anime, but in gaming too!
Kevin (Anime Jedi) -
Nearing the end of the trip...
2009-10-17 14:00:59
As mentioned before, I'm in Australia right now. Land of poisonous snakes and killer spiders. Haha
It's been a great trip. Hard to believe that I'm coming up to 9 months in this country. We've definitely seen a lot. We're in Perth right now, and will be moving on to Adelaide next. We've done a lot of busing. I think we passed the 11,000 km mark not too long ago. That's from Sydney to Cairns to Alice Springs to Darwin to Broome to Perth to Pemberton and back to Perth. What really bites is that I have a tendency to get moition sick. [sigh] What a pain.
Another pain is the fact that Geocities is closing down. No more free web hosting! To be honest, you didn't get very much with their free service, but it was nice to have my very own little website on the internet. You know, something I had put together in my spare time using what little knowledge of HTML I had acquired over the past few years. It was starting to come together. The site made for a nice showcase for the posters, paintings and drawings I had collected in my portfolio. Anywyas, I finally finished backing everything up. Looks like there's nothing left but let the old site close down on October 26, 2009. Maybe when I get back to Canada I'll try looking for another web host and try making another site again. We'll see. And my count is at 14756.
Kevin (Anime Jedi) -
Australia
2009-05-03 02:26:24
I guess I never really followed up on this, but I am indeed in Australia right now! Myself and my girlfriend are backpacking around the country, and trying to see as much as we can in about a year. We started in Sydney, and bus'd it all the way up to Cairns. From there, we took a trip to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, then northwards again up to Darwin. We're staying in Darwin for a bit to work a bit and rebuild our bank balance. lol We just got here about a week ago, and will be here around half a year. If we're successful at building a good chunk of change, we'll travel the west coast down to Perth. Then we'll travel to Adelaide, Melbourne and if we have some time, Tasmania. It was difficult to imagine this trip actually happening, but now that we've seen about half of Australia, it's becoming quite the reality. lol
Not too long ago I got an e-mail that the org now has streaming video. If that's true, that would be awesome! I rarely have the capacity to be able to download new vids while traveling, but maybe streaming will be a solution for that!
Anyways, got to run. I have a travel blog that I've been working on, and I'm a little behind. lol It's almost like having homework while on vacation.
Oh ya, and as a frame of reference, I'm at 14409.
Kevin (Anime Jedi) -
Reliving the past...
2009-01-15 00:44:36
I've basically spent the day re-reading through a bunch of my old Journal entries. Wow, there's really no better way to remember the past than to read/listen to your very own words. This was back years ago when I was writing mutiple entries a day. I can't believe I always made so much time for writing. lol I'm thankful for it now because it's actually quite fun to read.
I'll be heading to bed soon, much sooner than my recent 4am bedtimes. But I think it's time I started waking up at a decent hour. Still have plenty to get ready for for our trip to Australia!
Movies. I have been watching a LOT of them recently. I go to the movie theatre every week on Tuesday (the cheap day). Not to mention I've been buying lots of DVDs since they've been really cheap. Today, I watched The Happening with my father. He's been buying movies too, though his choices seem to be at random. lol Anyways, this one's starring one of biggest crushes right now, Zooey Deschanel! So cute and adorable!! The movie was bad, but I sat through it just to watch her. I recently saw Yes Man as well. Pretty decent movie. And Zooey was awesome in it! If you've seen the movie, my favourite part was in the airport when they were getting in line and Jim Carrey was trying carrying her to the teller. Her coat (one of those full length coats that if you wore a mini skirt under, you probably couldn't see the skirt) was amazing for her. I just gasped, tapped my girlfriend beside me in the movie theatre and told her I was in love. lmao! Ya, she rolled her eyes at that one. lol!
Anyways, had to get that out of my system. Incase you don't think so, go to Youtube and find a clip that is a compilation Zooey Deschanel's scenes from the show Weeds. Hilarious! You know what, I might as well just post the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-S2z55tI6w&feature=channel_page
This one's good too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01CF6w9L754
Kevin (Anime Jedi)
JOURNAL: Anime Jedi
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