ANIME: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン(1995)

新世紀エヴァンゲリオン
Neon Genesis Evangelion
1995
Direction: Hideaki Anno
Studio: Gainax

Quickie:
Post-apocalyptic, symbolic, psychoanalytic, philosophic…

General Impression:
I can’t help but like this show. It has defective people in dysfunctional relationships.

Lows:
Heavy, exhausting and might provoke too much thought for some people

Highs:
Spins several ideas, excellent soundtrack, sad people, sad situations, big purple robot, Megumi Oogata, mindfuck

Notes:
My favorite show. Expect bias.

I realize that Evangelion is another one of those love / hate things. Some people think it’s overrated, others think it’s the greatest anime ever created. I don’t believe that it’s the best anime ever created but it is one hell of a show.

With four new movies in production a decade after it first aired, Evangelion is far from dead. That can only point to two things: good show, big fanbase.

I have to affirm the buzz about it. It is a pretty solid show. Sure, it has fanservice and the last two episodes do have a tendency to drive people nuts. But let’s not forget how nice Hideaki Anno framed the shots. The beauty of the story and the script. The fucked up way the people are fucked up.

It sets the records straight on what it really means for young, emotionally unstable kids go through when ordered by their fathers (who love their wives too much) to man a big, purple robot. There’s a glimpse of lost opportunities between two people who could have been a wonderful couple but then this catastrophe struck and everything’s too fucked up for love to even exist.

The characters are all remarkable. Even the darned penguin. Perhaps I just liked screwed up, twisted things because truth is: that’s what people are. That’s what life is.

For the cynical in you: Evangelion!

FINAL RATING:
[5] out of [5]

SPECIAL: Death Note (Trilogy)

Death Note
2006
Death Note: The Last Name
2006
Direction: Shuusuke Kaneko

L: Change the World
2008
Direction: Hideo Nakata

Quickie:
There’s this notebook?

General Impression:
Good. Not impressive, story-wise. Some fans might be disappointed, others might like it. Pretty solid adaptation in my opinion.

Lows:
The thriller elements needs a little more kick, the supernatural elements are nearly forgotten

Highs:
It ends better than the canon manga story did, Ken’ichi Matsuyama as L isn’t that bad, Erika Toda is pretty (this counts), the material was handled well i.e. the kinks of the slightly amateur writing was worked out

Notes:
Perhaps it isn’t fair to roll up the review for three movies in one but I’d like to think of this trilogy as a complete whole.

I found the movie adequate and interesting enough. The manga and the anime are massively overrated, really. The material is very interesting because it is forever fun to debate about morals. Add the fact that it’s Japanese, which for some part of the population makes it twice as cool, and you have a winning combi.

As far as movies go, it isn’t bad at all. It’s several steps above average, actually. I think it was brilliant for them to set it apart from the manga and the anime. Sometimes it’s good to stick with the material but in this case, deviating made it better. The characters are still who you expect them to be and the theme is in place. The morality debate is not as forced as it is in the manga. The choices made were better motivated, the scenes made sense and all three movies fit together quite well.

Not a bad way to spend a few hours of your life. Might not be for people who take the morality debate way too seriously.

FINAL RATING:
[3] out of [5]