Evangelion Movie 2: Ha

Every once in a while an anime movie is released to enormous widespread acclaim; the likes of Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Spirited Away were hailed as sublime, game-changing features. Evangelion 2.0 is no exception, a film perhaps not as innovative now as the original series was at the time of its release, but nevertheless an awe-inspiring work that raises the bar ever higher - an anime feature up there with the greats.

While the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie followed the series closely, events are drastically changed in 2.0. The plot vaguely follows episodes 8 to 19 of the series (and picks up from ... where the first Rebuild movie left off), but it's during this film that the 'remake' starts becoming the 'reimagining' Anno said the Rebuild tetralogy would be. A treat for fans new and old, the new canon material does not disappoint. Twists and turns - as expected - are ever present, new characters enter the fray and the plot takes fresh, astonishing directions while retaining its mysterious, engrossing aura. The pace is near flawless and both veteran fans and new audiences alike will be able to watch with wide-eyed excitement and suspense as the new plot unravels.

The animation and art are one of the absolute stand-out elements in Evangelion 2.0. As in the first film, the Angels have been given a make-over, along with the Evangelion units, the futuristic, ever wondrous city Tokyo-3 and even the characters. Between them, the animation staff for the Rebuild tetralogy have worked on a huge number of highly acclaimed works, which includes the original Evangelion series. The team create an alarmingly beautiful world among all the chaos and destruction, with such intricate attention to detail, stunningly complex designs and action set pieces unlike anything before it. The art style is bold, clean and dazzling, and the animation is dynamic, majestic, smooth and ever fluid. Studio Khara have set a frighteningly faultless example to other animation studios - they've outdone themselves.

The music was composed and arranged by Shiro Sagisu - who scored not only the first Rebuild film, but also the original series and The End of Evangelion - and recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios with the London Studio Orchestra. Music has always been a very innate part of Evangelion; as integral as the Evangelion units themselves, and it's no different in Rebuild. Sagisu creates a fine amount of stunning compositions that further bring to life Tokyo-3, the characters and the phenomenal action sequences. Rebuild 2.0 even has it's own 'Komm, süsser Tod' moment where an upbeat song is played in contrast to a brutal sequence, with the lyrics adding a welcomed sense of irony, which is what we've come to expect and delight over from the Evangelion franchise. The ending song is provided by Japanese sensation Utada Hikaru, who offers a beautiful acoustic rendition of her famous track 'Beautiful World', a perfect companion piece to the ending, again in contrast.

Rebuild 2.0 excels in its characterisation. The charismatic Asuka is introduced, who adds a whole different vibe to the film and there is yet more original material for fans of the series, as established characters such as Shinji and Rei develop significantly, the latter in directions you may not expect. A completely new character - Mari - also joins the fray. Much of her motivations are shrouded in mystery, which allows the film to stay at a consistent pace and prevents it from becoming bloated, considering the amount of characters and plot developments already at hand, but her presence adds yet another exciting new element, along with some comic relief. Despite a cast of characters that were established almost fifteen years ago, they come across in Rebuild as very fresh, very unpredictable. These aren't the same characters from the Evangelion series, they're new interpretations, new versions; with a clean slate comes new directions, new experiences - in areas the film becomes as fresh to long-time fans as it is to new audiences.

Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 is an absolute spectacle, as astonishing to the eyes as it is the ears. The second film is able to out-do the first installment in every aspect, all the while taking the story in thrilling new directions for fans both new and old. A remake would have been too easy for Anno and his team - instead they have gone above and beyond, recreating the Evangelion universe we've come to know and love, offering us new interpretations fifteen years on, proving - with some ferocity - that Evangelion is far from gone. Rebuild solidifies Evangelion as an absolutely exceptional franchise, continuing to awe-inspire fans the world over, reminding us all why we fell in love with it in the first place.

I've been trying to overcome the 'great depression 2.22' that came over me and lasted for over a week now after watching this movie and the only way I can do it is by writing this review. I hope you'll bear with me here, this is going to be a bit of a personal review, but I'll try to be fair. My anger has vanished in most parts although if someone says the words "sabisu sabisu" for a tease I still feel like kicking his butt delinquent-style.

There never was an anime series in my entire life as an anime-consumer that moved, influenced and fascinated me ... as much as Hideaki Anno's original NGE series. I can not describe every single detail about the original series' ingenuity for it would take too much space in these few lines (since this is a review about the second rebuild film). Let's just say that I have never encountered another anime series with more finely written, intelligent, charismatic, understandable and individual (probably the most important characteristic considering the whole bunch of archetypes today) characters combined with an exciting and cleverly told plot and a superb atmosphere from which we can learn a message that is important in all periods of our lives.

When I first heard about Anno and the old crew directing a series of Rebuild movies, I didn't really know what to say. He said that the old NGE series was not fit for newer generations and that he would have to update it for them. He probably meant problems that emerged in society nowadays, so I trusted him. I was quite happy after watching the first movie that stuck pretty much to the original first quarter of the series and was looking forward to the second movie which should integrate new elements (although I was REALLY afraid of that new character wearing a pink (!) plugsuit). Then I saw the ratings on MAL and my excitement grew. What did they change? The answer: everything.

- The Characters:
In general, we can say that every fascinating character from the original series just turned into some kind of stereotypical alternative version. There is not a single trace left of what once was a psychological profile given to them. Not only did they simplify the characters, but also gave away their backgroundstories in some kind of 'in-your-face!' manner, so that subtlety became a foreign word. Of course, you may say, this is a movie and you can not rebuild complex characters within such little screen time. It's not like they do not get any screentime in the movie, there's plenty of it around, but the creators don't use it at all (except for dull slice of life sequences and ecchi fanservice)!
I'd like to take a look at the changes from the original series and analyze what the new character's personality is like, so as for people who haven't watched the thing yet I'll write down a

[SPOILER TAG]

here, so I can go into detail:

Shinji Ikari:
Original: Lost boy who gains some confidence while working for NERV but always feels left alone, feels rejected by everyone, trying to find a personality on his own, craving for affection from anyone ----- 2.22 Version: your typical shounen hero and also a harem lord
'I wonder who of my love interests can cook better?'

Asuka Soryu Langley:
Original: Lost girl who strives for affection from anyone by any means necessary, is still haunted by past, inferiority complex ----- 2.22 Version: Violent tsundere archetype randomly in love with the harem lord while being exploited for lots of fan-service:
'Kyaah ecchi!'
(oh yeah, and she's talking to a sock puppet, now THAT's subtle)

Rei Ayanami:
Original: Scientific abuse incarnate, an artificial lifeform that is torn between substitutability and development of personal feelings towards society and her creator ------ 2.22 Version: Kuudere archetype who discovers her random love for the harem hero
'Whenever I think about him, my chest feels warm...'

Misato Katsuragi:
Original: Being left alone by her father's death, she has to encounter a harsh world after the second impact and makes her way to the top with discipline, although she hides an easy-going side inside which she only shows to people dear to her, craving for affection from anyone ------ 2.22 Version: Supporting cast who's just there to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the EVA mystery 'in-your-face!'-esque. Misato's fate is shared by every other character in this movie (except for Kaji, he's there to make you laugh with silly attempts to speak the english language, best scene in the whole movie), so I spare you the ranting here.

and finally, my 'favourite' 'character' from this 'movie' (ok, that last quotation mark was just for fun)

Mari Makinami Illustrious (yeah, that's her name, folks, I didn't know it either, but I read it on the package of the DVD after watching the movie):
well, Mari, she... she's... yeah, she has a nice rack... and... aaannnd... she wears glasses and... a pink plugsuit... and she is the most UNFITTING 'CHARACTER' FOR THE BLOODY DAMN NEON GENESIS EVANGELION FRANCHISE!!!!!
...
Ahem, sorry for that, but it's true, a 'character' who's there for the whole purpose of fanservice and hollywood action scenes has nothing to do with the (let's say) 'realistic' world of Evangelion. She's even enjoying the EVA fights, what's this?! they always depicted the war against the angels as a terrible burden for the youngsters (which it IS) and she's enjoying it?! And what about that parachute, ahh, nevermind, let's go on...-.-

[END OF SPOILERS]

- The Story:
Now, what I can say about the story in general is that they really tried to create something different and the way the movie ends, it really is possible they are going to change it into something else. But this doesn't mean it's going to be good, really.
The whole purpose of the background story in the original series was to be discovered by the audience bit by bit so that they could put all the pieces of the puzzle together and create their own interpretation of what's happening. Now, Hideaki Anno assumes that kids these days don't use their brains anymore so he presents the story with every bit and every little mystery directly in your face. You do not need to think about it, the characters will tell you everything you need to know. This simplification destroys everything the smartly presented plot of the original show stood for.

- The Design:
This is the most surprising thing about the whole movie. People tell me everywhere how great this thing looks and how smooth the 3D animations blend in. But you know what? It is not true, it's simply not true! The 3D evangelions look like ingame graphics from a poorly programmed ps3 game. Not only do the 'great' 3D effects make EVA02 blend in like Krauser II on a K-On concert, they also allow us to discover silly programming mistakes like transparent school desks (if you don't believe me, take a look at shinji's classroom). And for the design changes... sheesh, you shall see yourself... ('Test-Plugsuit' and 'Za biisuto' eh, gosh...-.-)
Of course the drawings and character designs are ok, it's Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the original designer, after all (he tends to go for the 'one piece' hip, but that's ok here).

- The Final Conclusion:
I am absolutely sad to say it, but 'Evangelion 2.22: You can (not) advance' is one of the worst pieces of celluloid anime movies I have ever seen, considering its predecessors. There is not a single shred of intelligence left in this bleak version of a once brilliant series. I trusted Hideaki Anno and his nakama, for I thought they were some of the few people left in the business taking their job seriously and trying to really give something to the audience instead of just taking their money for cheap entertainment. But that's what happened and that's what Evangelion 2.22 is, cheap entertainment. I still can't really believe it.
And what's even more important: What's up with all the people who love this movie and call it masterpiece? I really could understand it if there are people who don't know or don't care about the original work (archetypes substituting real characters is common today) or watched it for tits, they will have their cheap thrills with the hollywood action and the countless fanservice ecchi moments and maybe really like it as the Gurren Lagann it wants to be (hey, GL is great, but NOT NGE!). But for the Neon Genesis Evangelion fans who loved the series for everything it stood for, all the attributes I mentioned before, everything that EVA 2.22 destroyed and spat upon, I do not understand them at all...-.-

----

Oh yeah, and here's a little speculation to round out the review that requires a

[SPOILER TAG]

Just a little conspiracy theory, my only hope that keeps me from screaming 'zetsubou shita!':

All of this ridiculous nonsense could just be Shinji's first attempt of creating a new world, but based on his teenage dreams and thus filled with bullshit teenagers might find interesting and kakkoii. As a conclusion Hideaki Anno once again could draw the ace up his sleeve here and say: "This is nothing but fantasy bullshit, it doesn't have anything to do with reality! Get a life, kids!" kinda like he did in the original series. That wouldn't really make this movie much better, but it would not kill the whole franchise.
Until the next movie comes out, I'll just pray every night that "sabisu sabisu~" was just an ironic hint to that outcome!

[END OF SPOILERS]



Thanks for reading

Firstly, as if it needs to be pointed out, things in this movie have irrevocably changed from the TV Series. So different are the events in this movie, that, even with the 30 second preview at the end of the film, I have no clue what’s going to happen in the next movie (which will be called Evangelion Q, Quickening). Another thing is that things that were considered mysteries of the original TV series and movies are either gone altogether, changed, or spelled out.

A lot of the visuals were eye popping stunning. However, there were times that it looked a bit grainy, kind of like ... an image that had been upscaled. The music was a bit hit or miss, with some corny music playing at seemingly inappropriate times. But when it was hit, it was really good, especially the music that played at the end of the Bardiel and Zeruel fight.

The movie starts with pure action, and as expected from seeing the trailers, there was a good bit of action throughout this movie. To balance it all out, there is also some character interaction and development, enough to flesh out the characters like Asuka and Mari. I especially liked the cuts of Tokyo-3 bustling and filled with people doing their thing and living their lives. Asuka seemed much more likeable, probably closer to the definition of tsundere. Rei smiles a lot more and her caring of Shinji is made obvious. Asuka’s animosity towards Rei is, in no small part, due to Shinji. Mari is crazy, and she has a nice rack. Kaji got an unexpectedly large amount of screen time and seems to play a bigger role than in the TV series (whether this is true is yet to be seen). There’s also a good bit of Penpen, who does a bit of “almost” talking.

Overall, great movie, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Yup, that's a hot row of 10s right there, blatant and unabashed praise for the Evangelion Rebuild series, or as it should really be called; "Anno's Attack on Anime". Here's the truth: as an out-of-context standalone, this movie is a sack of shit. It's essentially harem-shonen-mecha-explosions with shallow characters all defined by their unexplained and nonsensical heart throbbings for Shinji, God of War. It doesn't present itself in this way, though: it's actually incredibly smart about it, sticking close to the original series in regards to content but constantly cutting and changing small things so that the end result is something that appears to be ... a blockbuster epic but is in actuality just a continuation of Sword Art Online with much subtler writing, fantastic pacing and directing, and a 30-billion dollar budget.

Luckily, Evangelion 2.0 is not an out-of-context standalone: it's part of a series with a legacy, and its connected to two other movies. The first movie is essentially just a gorgeous recap, so there's no real reason to talk about it. It's the hook of the series. Look how pretty Evangelion is now! These giant robot fight scenes have suddenly gone from 'dated' to 'the prettiest goddamn shit you've ever seen'. It's a little fast-paced, but it gets the job done.

Rebuild 2.0 is a whole lot more than that though. For starters, the original story gets scrapped. The movie vaguely follows the middle arc of the series, but by the end it's completely different. We have new characters, new character dynamics, new events, and a different ending. Some changes are subtle, others are not, but all of them work together to serve the story: and it sure is one hell of a brilliant story. It manages to juggle two different extremely contrasting goals at once and blend them together into something that works for both of them.

On the one hand, Rebuild 2.0 is trying to gather as much of an audience as possible. It wants people to watch it and love it and crave a sequel. It's extremely clever about it as well: it doesn't just go for the Transformers appeal, it constructs scenes that are intended to be legitimately moving and others that come off as psychological horror. The characters are actually pretty vacant, but with the help of the absolutely stunning soundtrack and writing that walks perfectly on the line between dramatic and cheesy. It doesn't fall into any of the pitfalls that action-packed pitfalls are so readily criticized for: Shinji is not constantly overpowered but he's not exactly wimpy either, female characters are not entirely dependent on their male counterparts, the plot and pacing are concise and readily understandable, and the conversation is seemingly meaningful even if upon closer observation it's just an empty shadow of the original Evangelion's Words of Truth. The result is a Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-type story that isn't really about anything but does an amazing job at filling out all those little MAL numbers on the quality checklist. It's "power of love" conclusion doesn't even seem cliche as it derives naturally as an interpretation of Shinji's character and his inability to make decisions for himself or make real connections with people. How inspiring! Shinji discovered that all he really needed was Rei Ayanami all along.

Now this is where it gets absolutely F8ckign brilliant.
Let's talk about anime for a moment.

At this point, anime is more than a medium of storytelling: it's a culture, it's a genre, and it's a lifestyle. There are massive amounts of people who LIVE anime. With dozens of industry giants churning out hundreds of shows each year there's never a shortage of things to watch, and the producers know their audience. They know what the appeal is: the ability to live in a fantasy world that makes you feel powerful, cared for, and free from reality. You can escape into a world that is completely unbound by any of the aspects of our world: unlike live-action television which still uses actors and settings that are shot in real places with real people, anime is an entirely-constructed world. It's a fully immersive experience. Don't get me wrong: this can be an incredible feature used to tell stories that are profoundly effective and engaging. I love the genre for what it CAN accomplish and the brilliant and insightful pieces that it often produces.

However, there is a lot of stuff that is not so brilliant, insightful, or useful. It strives not to inspire or enlighten its audience but rather to appease them, to make them feel more attached to their own fantasies and less attached to the real world. It seeks to disconnect them from real people and replace them instead with fictional characters that they can understand easily and behave in ways that are desirable and predictable. In truth, it's an incredible toxic and empty lifestyle and it can only replace reality for so long. Eventually, the tried-and-true tricks begin to run dry and the loneliness and emptiness sinks in once more, except now when you open your eyes and look around at reality, you find that it has left it behind completely. It's not just exclusive to anime, either: the driving factors that can make people so addicted to anime manifest themselves in many forms, from video games to online forums. The emotions that drive this sort of behavior are not limited to such a specific community, though. The original Evangelion sought to show people that it understood them: Shinji's fear of rejection, his uncertainty in who he was, his loneliness, doubt, frustration and powerlessness resonated within so many people because everyone could relate to these deeply honest human emotions.

The Evangelion Rebuilds are more pointed than that though. They seek to attack anime itself. NGE could be universally appreciated, but the Rebuilds are designed and targeted at people who already have experience with the genre. These movies are anime that are about anime. And they are not happy with what the majority of the medium has become.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Shinji is actually shouting at the end of the movie about how he doesn't care about his own life or the fate of the world, just about saving Rei. It may come off as inspirational, but it's not. That's because Rei is one of the multiple symbols that represent anime itself in the franchise. In the original series, Rei never became humanized: she was always a lifeless doll, because no matter how much Shinji willed it he was unable to make his fantasies come true. He had to face the real world: face himself, and what he really was, and defy the human instrumentality project in order to make any progress with his deep-seated issues.

But now, there comes along a solution. An escape. Shinji no longer has to struggle with such difficulties as his hedgehog dilemma because there exists a way for him to live in his fantasies: he can turn to anime. Anime takes the form of Rei, it takes the form of his headphones, it takes the form of the Eva: each of them represents a different part of the phenomenon. His headphones show how he can use anime to tune out the real world, hearing only the soothing music of his own headset as opposed to the sounds of real people around him. The Eva itself shows how anime gives him the feeling of power: with anime, he feels special. Even if he's an unwanted child, the robot makes him feel needed and like he can make a difference. Rei demonstrates how anime gives him a simulated feeling of human warmth and connection, even though she's not actually human: she's an emotionless clone that he is breathing life into and treating as a real person, ignoring the actual people around him that want to get closer to him because Rei gives him what he wants: she unconditionally cares for him, loves him, will do anything for him. She's not real, but she allows him to live out his fantasy so he becomes obsessed with saving her and protecting her. In the movie, all of these different parts of the immersive anime experience keep bringing each other back to Shinji: the Eva robot helps him to protect Rei, Rei finds and returns his headphones to him when he tries to throw them away, and despite Shinji's attempts to leave altogether and reject this vacant and empty substitution for really living and true empathy, one or another piece of the anime experience keeps dragging him back into it, plugging in his headphones once more, getting in the Eva and going in search of Rei.

The movie plays this off perfectly: on the one hand, it's an addicting anime experience for the audience. On the other hand, it's an addicting anime experience for Shinji. It's simultaneously subjecting its protagonist to the repetitive appeal of his own fantasies and subjecting the audience to the same thing. What it's really waiting for is the third movie, 3.0, which is now going to have a massive audience of 2.0-adoring fans lining up to see more of "Epic Blockbuster Evangelion". Obviously this is a review for 2.0 so I won't get too much into it, but I will happily recommend the third movie here as well. 2.0 is a movie about getting lost inside of the fantasy, whereas 3.0 is a movie about the cruel awakening, the moment when one has to open their eyes to reality all those years later and how difficult it is to start putting your life back together and move on without getting lost in regret or turning once more to the Eva that is anime in order to fill the void. Together, the two make an amazing statement without ever breaking face: the plot remains tight, the fan-service real, and the ironically flashy mecha-mosh as vibrant and explosive as ever.

In summary, Eva Rebuild raises an extremely important question: WHY are you watching this movie, or anime in the first place? Is it because you appreciate good storytelling? seek to improve yourself as a person through the lessons of what you watch? Have some fun mindless entertainment at the end of a long week? Or is because you seek to escape from your real life and the who you actually are? In addition to this, it raises the question in the form of a piece of entertainment that is carefully constructed to appeal to the people who most need to ask themselves this question in the first place. It's certainly a question that I always want to keep in the back of my head lest I stray too far into the dangerous territory of escapism, and I will happily thank the Rebuild series for keeping that question grounded in my mind in the form of something tangible that I can refer back to.

I know the Evangelion World since i was 11, and watched the whole serie for over 10 times, and when i knew that 4 more movies were about to come out, i couldn't wait for watch them.

The only thing i have to say, is that this movies are PATHETIC. The real goal of the serie is to do a psychological analysis of the characters, ad in the movies that is simply ignored, the personalities changed, the music is simply awful, and the animation effects used are simply exaggerated.

This movies will be enyojed only by people who didn't understand the serie.

Somehow, NGE has been turned into a high school harem comedy with giant robots. There is pretty animation, but terrible direction, cinematography, music, and sound ruin that as well.

I liked Evangelion 1.0, the "cube" angel had a great development and made the movie worth.
Evangelion 2.0 was really poor...Introduced a new character, killed other...and repeated everything else...
When i watched Zeruel's episode in the anime series it was the series' high peak for me. But Zeruel in Evangelion 2.0 it's nearly unwatchable...it didn't excited me like before...it was like they grabbed the original concept and simply distorted into a freak crap.
This movie doesn't justify any high rating some ppl are giving it, if you rate this movie high than you're not a real fan of what Evangelion used to be.

I have waited for the opportunity to watch the new Evangelion for the long time. Today I have to admit that I am strongly surprised because of the enthusiastic reception of this movie. This is certainly a good position but it lacks a lot to be called a masterpiece.

The latest Evangelion is above all very chaotic project, which makes it difficult to watch at times. It has also some difficulties in creating the atmosphere that has enchanted me in the manga. It surprises me even more when I recall that You Are (Not) Alone has not had these kind of problems. In this case, there ... is a lack of binder, which would be a link between old school and the new Evangelion, which came to life in this century.

However I would like to admit that the sound saves a day. It is even better to say that it saves You Can (Not) Advance as a movie and fills the gaps in the moments that lead me to the teeth grind. The issue of the audio is in general a great showcase of the new series.

Finally I would like to draw attention to the “new” Asuka, who has a lot of problems in finding herself in the new environment. She is completely asexual and devoid of any sensibly shaped personality. She is rather a strange robot than a living human being.

Despite this, refreshing the Evangelion is a good idea and I am waiting for the next two films. Even the fact that I was a bit disappointed that day.

“Happiness doesn’t walk up to me,
so I have to walk there to make it mine.”



In 2007, Gainax treated fans of the 90’s anime with the release of Evangelion 1.0. The although the first film was enjoyable enough, it offered little more than crisper visuals compared to the original series, and understandably, some saw it as simply another attempt to further milk the franchise. Two years later, Hideaki Anno and Co. prove once again that they’ve still got their magic by unleashing the beast known as Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. With the premise of the show already (re)established in the previous movie, the second ... film now moves on to the more intriguing details.


Unlike the first film which was an updated carbon copy, Evangelion 2.0 has good reason to be called “Rebuild” rather than “Replay”. Here, we get a sense of the tension being built up with more questions being raised and juicy tidbits scattered throughout. Fans of the series are in for a surprise as even more deviations from the original story are introduced. Those expecting a trip down memory lane would undoubtedly recognize familiar scenes, but the journey gets even more interesting whenever the déjà vu comes where least expected.

Improvements are also evident in the method of delivery. The awkwardly long pauses and the navel-gazing have been cut down or cut out altogether, allowing more of the actual story to be covered in less than 2 hours. Events are more tightly woven together, resulting in a movie wherein every minute is worth paying attention to.


As for the characters themselves, they retain their distinctive personalities but are given a few tweaks. They still have their ups and downs, but also seem to be weaning off their habit of wallowing in misery. Besides enjoying more development than in the prequel, everybody’s acting more mature this time around. Gendo shows a moment of vulnerability, Rei’s starting to reach out to people, Asuka’s less abrasive, and Shiji grew a spine (as in “vertebra”, not “hedgehog”) somewhere along the way. Purists would undoubtedly RAAAGE at the reduction of teen angst, but seriously, who wants more of the same old sh*t?

Another notable change is the addition of the character Mari Makinami Illustrious. Her presence barely leaves a dent in the story so far, but I'm willing to cut her some slack since the new kid on the block may still play a larger role in future movies. Besides, I like her singing.


Moving on to technical aspects, Evangelion 2.0 is an visual feast. The more fluid animation combined with fine detail makes the battles of the titular “mecha” more awe-inspiring. The Angels have been redesigned to be more alien and more majestic than their previous incarnations. The literal blood baths have been upgraded with even larger volumes of the liquid being spilled, and the more impressive explosions may actually give Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann a run for its money. Details such as upturned earth, cars and trains scattered like pebbles, and buildings painted crimson add emphasis to the havoc being wrought. Simply put, everything is shown in much grander scale.

The audio, on the other hand, has more evident flaws. The voice actors are certainly skilled when speaking in their native language, but their embarrassingly clumsy English is painful to listen to. Those unfamiliar with Hideaki Anno’s... quirky... choice of song for crucial scenes would also find themselves raising an eyebrow once or twice throughout the movie. Thankfully, these don’t last too long and the rest of the soundtrack makes up for the rough spots.


Overall, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is a must-see for anime enthusiasts. It offers something more palatable for newcomers but throws in a couple of deviations and easter eggs to grab the interest of older fans. And in the unlikely chance that you actually hated the original series, go watch it anyway for the satisfaction of seeing things explode.

If you haven't seen the original Evangelion TV-series nor the first Rebuild-film, go watch them now. If you would like to read a potent critical view on the newest effort by Studio Khara and Gainax, read Liberal's rant a few reviews below. And if you feel like you're up to hearing another fanboy declaring his newfound love for this legendary mecha-anime, then read on.

As I'm sure you know since you're reading this, You Can (Not) Advance is a follow-up to 2007's You Are (Not) Alone, the first installment in a series of four films re-telling the original TV-anime from 1995. And whereas "Not Alone" was ... more about making the fans acquainted with the fact that Evangelion is back (yet again), it does so with a series of theatrical films, and that it will be more or less different from the original, the second piece entitled You Can (Not) Advance violently shoves the scale of "more or less" down to more - in almost every way imaginable.

Story, animation, character, sound, enjoyment - five categories at none of which does Evangelion: You Can (Not) Advance fail to reach downright or near excellence. To begin with the story itself, Evangelion 2.22 kicks off with the presentation of an entirely new character to the Eva-universe, an Evangelion pilot Mari Makinami. Such a start for the movie was a wise decision on the creators' part, for it emphasizes the two key words when comparing the second Rebuild film to the original: new and different.

The differences ain't over with the new pilot girl, mind you. I could go on endlessly about the numerous things mentioned by the previous reviewers many times, about the characters' personalities, the angels, the events themselves, but for the sake of pinning down the one point there'd be talking about them again, suffice it to say that it's new and different in a good way. To put it mildly. I was practically squirming in my seat as I sat watching the characters I'd grown familiar with return, different yet still distinguishable, and placed in a story so altered from their original surroundings.

Animation-wise, I was yet again stunned silent. All glory to the first Rebuild movie that set this wonderful new version of Evangelion in motion, but the eye-candy we're treated to in 2.22 makes the flavor of the previous film seem almost bland. Every color, every scenery and all motion - they're all so superb you can't help but stare on in awe, almost to the point where it threatened to compromise the attention I paid to the storyline. Many and more words of praise I could spew here to waste your time, but let's just say that I felt like I could've kept on taking screenshots of every scene in the movie for future admiration and leave it at that.

I rarely pay any attention to the music in any anime, but Evangelion 2.22 caught me off guard in this department as well. And I have a feeling the fact I was watching the movie with headphones has little to do with it. All the familiar sounds and notes from the original series are there, now more or less revamped to fit the idea of overall upgrade of the 1995 anime. And what a revamp indeed, for many times I found myself paying attention to little but the wonderful tunes filling my ears. Be it a revision of an old song or an entirely new piece it didn't matter, each piece of music fit their respective scenes just perfectly. Perhaps my only gripe in this area would be the song sung by a typical childlike female voice at the scene depicting the destruction of Unit 03, but as even that failed to truly irritate me, I can safely say the musical score of You Can (Not) Advance is near excellent.

An issue many fans seemed to have with the original show was that the characters were almost too desperate to identify with. Seeing that the new four-part movie series is only halfway through one cannot say for sure, but the characterization in the first two movies, and especially this one, seem like an answer to those fans' prayers. Asuka is still the egotistical and bitchy redhead we all know and adore, but in Rebuild number two she comes around fast enough to suggest she won't be all screaming at everything and everyone till the bitter end. Shinji still has his daddy issues and runs away at times, but his cheerful and determined moments in the movie just may be a sign of a different kind of youngster in the last two installments. And Rei, probably the most iconic female anime character ever created, is showing us here more of that subtle emotional side of hers so many missed in the first anime series. The rest of the cast, from Ritsuko to Misato to Kaji and the rest of the NERV operators, are like old friends; pleasantly distinguishable yet with a few unforeseen and refreshing quirks of their own.

The sum of all above factors combined with an overall feeling of change is what leads to the most important quality of the movie - its enjoyability. The response seen here and everywhere else you look for says that fans have watched the movie and very few have regretted even a second of it. A minority which I definitely am not part of. Most of the critique directed at the film centers around the point that this is too different from the original to hold any meaning as an Evangelion-anime. Which is a valid statement. The plot has a few extremely differing aspects comparing to the original, the characters act differently, everything is just too different. This is just a heap of fanservice in all its forms, they say.

And so it is. Evangelion: You (Can) Not Advance is almost everything many viewers longed the original anime to be: less about the characters wallowing in their psychological problems, less whiny Shinji, more awesome story, more epic battles, more visually breathtaking. To blame someone for enjoying an anime like that (i.e. 2.22) is to blame a cheese-lover for saying cheese is good. Or whatever else analog you wish to use, you get the point. And hey, it's not like the last two movies can't possibly turn out differently than this one, we're only halfway through here, folks. Maybe someone's gonna try to commit suicide. Maybe someone's gonna single-handedly destroy the world and then overturn their decision. Maybe someone's gonna go all spanking and wanking over a comatose girl and we're gonna see their cum-filled hand all over again. Maybe everything's gonna be just as fucked up as it used to be, and maybe then the haters gonna hate a bit less.

I, as one of the over 90000000000 fans though, hope we'll see another quality installment to the Rebuild-series that continues in the same vein as You Can (Not) Advance.

I literally hate reviewing Evangelion. It's one of those series that you have to fully understand to enjoy it the most. Many people fail to do it. They tend to see only the shallow part of this show - mecha battles and romance (?) between some characters. Wrong. But it's not my cup of tea (yet) to change your mind on that dear fellas ;].

The first series was... a success. That's what most would say about it. It sold itself well enough to earn for two more movies (Death and Rebirth/EoE). All fine and well, but GAINAX did not stop on that. They are the ... kind of developers who would keep on dwelling the same topic for decades, just because it's milky. And you know what? Thank God they do.

I've seen the first Rebuild movie (review soon) and was STAGGERED. That's the least word I can use at the moment. I saw my beloved Evangelion in CGI, with astonishing backgrounds, beautifully drawn characters and epic music. The story remained the same - it was seven heaven for me. Frankly, it still is.
The second movie, as I learned later, would have a different approach to the story. Some things were to be 'different'(yeah, we all love Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto for being so... talkative about their projects). Like a new character would appear, a different set of plot holes would appear, Shinji would be another person, this kind of stuff. Fabulous. They wanted to re-do MY BELOVED EVANGELION! ;.; Hence, I was *rather* sceptic when I went to see it the cinema. And *rather* is the most censored word I can come up with. Even today.

And then,...

'You can (not) advance' changed the way I perceive, everything. First and foremost - it's not THE Eva as you know it. It's nowhere even close. It's better, more up-to-date, more mature and far far more ... enjoyable? Yes, I think it's the best word. The original TV series was splendid, but it left no quarter for someone who just stopped by to enjoy the show. You don't enjoy EVA TV series, you try to understand it, comprehend the sets of images and sounds you see and hear, look for another explanation of things, get sucked in, forget about the reality... This is EVA TV, and this is NOT RoE 2.0.

Of course, you sit tight for 2hrs and look with blurry eyes at tremendous set of picturesque sceneries, epic battles and unforgettable soundtrack, but you never ever get sucked into the story. You're just a 3rd person looking from another perspective. Where EVA TV puts you into Shinji's shoes, dwells, swirls, crunches and finally spills when episode 24 reaches it's climax, (beyond that things are far more complicated than you can imagine), the movie is, in that aspect, a more enjoyable experience to my mind. You may be distant, but with that being said, you can easily follow the rest of the characters, hence the movie is less egocentric. As a consequence, you don't perceive Shinji as a whimp anymore, you don't think of Asuka as a 14-year-old distorted perv and Rei is far more approachable.

The other characters seem to be more open too. Misato, Kaji or even Gendou seem to be more humane then EVA now, but by the end of the movie, you'll know why you've been sorely trolled. Nevermind that, the character - Makinami Mari - she's gorgeous. Not only the way she looks, the way she pilots EVA or even the influence she has on Shinji, but most importantly, how deep she is. Because, you know, of all EVA pilots, Mari is the most distorted one :].

Most of the plot is completely redone. For the better I think. One or two things add to the drama factor, one or two to comedy parts. We can finally see a *real* love triangle between 3 main pilots. When things will get worse, this aspect will play it's key role.

Enough of it, the rest is up to you. Let's move on to the visuals. Eee, you HAVE TO SEE IT IN THE CINEMA. It's marvellous in EVERY aspect. I thought that the first movie was unbeatable, but here we go, 2.0 (heck for 2.0, 2.22 is a must!) is 50% better. Better music, smoother animation, more epic battles (EVA02 vs Zeruel - oh my dear God, please let me see that again in the cinema!! ;.;) and the way the movie ends- I was speechless and the audience finished the movie with loud clapping and cheering all over. Yoko Kanno does splendid job (I'm running adjectiveless right now ;D ) in making the score fitting and memorable.

Rewatch value? Gigantic imho. I've seen the movie 4 times and I want more! You will as well.

So here are final words from fan to fans - don't even try missing this one. It's the best you can get. If you cannot see it in your cinema, pick the blu-ray version 2.22 with added material and improved quality.

Amen.

So, I've heard that this film lost out to Summer Wars in many festivals. Now, if that was a fair assessment, then Summer Wars must be one of the greatest movies ever made, because Evangelion 2.0 has set a new bar. Never in my life have I seen such great animation, this beautiful mix of 2D and 3D by sheer technical prowess has left other anime in the dust. Also, it is still one of the greatest stories ever told in anime. The subtle reimagining of the characters is brilliant, although I think it went a bit too far in making the characters more likable. ... I'm not as big a fan of the music as all the other reviewers, but it was still really good. As far as enjoyment goes, let's just say that halfway through the movie I realized that I had forgotten to close my mouth, so in awe was I.

If you haven't seen the original series, watch that first. I'd actually seen the original series twice before watching these movies, and it really enhances the enjoyment factor, because half the joy is in seeing the subtle ways the movie has been changed. That comment applies more to this movie's prequel, since this movie has made plenty of not-so-subtle changes as well, but it's still true here. One of the subtle changes that irked me was the changes to Asuka. I preferred the Asuka of the series to the movie. Instead of the slow revealing of a wounded soul hidden beneath a bitchy personality, instead we have a "here I am, here's my problem, and now I solve it." Don't get me wrong, I still really liked Asuka in this movie, but by the end I felt like it had been lacking. I wasn't too worried by this at that point anyways, because I was too busy being amazed by everything else in the movie. It's only on reflection that I realize that I am unhappy with the changes.

So, we have a new character named Mari, and with her comes lots of fan service. Even the fan service is top-notch, very light-hearted and amusing whist giving glimpses into their personality. We don't know much about Mari, but that's okay, because she is clearly being saved for 3.0.

This movie, plot-wise, differs greatly from the original series. I can't give it away, but let's just say that if you wanted to see the series in movie form, then you shouldn't be watching this. This is a spin-off that is getting farther and farther from the original series the longer it goes on. I'm sorry, but you must watch the series first, and that's all there is to it.

I know many won't like this review, but I'm going to say my feelings anyway. However, I will point out that I'm looking at this in comparison to the TV series as I haven't read the manga.

Firstly, the story. Continuation of the first Eva movie, where we are introduced to Asuka and Mari (who I'll get onto later) and Angel's continue to attack Tokyo-3. However (without revealing spoilers), it gets very messy later, with Shinji having to save the day, although not as you'd expect.

The problem with this is that it doesn't go into nearly as much depth as the TV series. Yes, the ... series had longer to explain it all, but thats not an excuse to leave out some of the more important aspects. For example, character pyschological development in the TV series is pretty much it's biggest element, with the spectator witnessing Shinji's gradual mental breakdown, and Asuka's loneliness and lessening comfort in knowing that maybe her mother wasn't there for her and proud while she was alive after all, was driving her to mental breakdown. This was missing in the movie.

Sure, Shinji showed some depression, but not to the intensity of the TV series. You just have to compare the scene where EVA Unit 3 is destroyed between the both of them to see which showed more mental damage to him in both to highlight this (with Touji instead in the TV series). And while Asuka wasn't my favourite character in the TV series, the characterisation was so good that she still had some depth to her. She just seemed like a shallow being, feeling a bit by herself. She had pride, but just came across as a smug little brat in it.

The character relationship development was also much better in the TV series. To me, one of the defining moments in this in the TV series is when Asuka asks Shinji to kiss her. Unless I have miscalculated where in the story this is (im sure it's before the end of the film in the series), I feel cutting this scene was a big mistake.

Even my favourite character Misato seems to have been dumbed down, and is less of an influence in the movie. The TV series in my opinion made great by Misato's struggle to keep everyone exactly who they are, and she does this from very early on in the series. It's missing here, where only the part where she tries to stop Shinji the only part which matched up to the TV series. That 45 second or so sequence. I was understandably disappointed.

Mari's character also seemed to lack any meaning to what she was doing. She appears at the start, in the middle on the school rooftop, and the end in an EVA. Why? What is she there for? A US/SEELE spy that pilots one of their EVAs? Unless I've missed it, its never really explained, unless they intend on doing this in EVA 3.0, but why wait a whole movie to tell us who they even are?

It just feels like Hideaki Anno has adapted it for movie audiences to make it more watchable to those not willing to engaging in its Pyschological roots. Its Neo Genesis Evangelion Light, for those that said after every episode that its a 'mindf*%k' or 'confusing', whereas a little more focus may have pointed it out. I'm not in anyway implying that anyone who says that is stupid, but this film gives the impression that its bridging the gap between Casual Audiences and the Original series and caters for both. It succeeds, but thats from a casual POV, not a fan of the series.

Despite this, it's not to say its a bad film, far from it. The central story is still there (I.E. Second Impact, follows series relatively faithfully) and pretty well done and the action is impressive. If it was just a simple mecha anime, then I would imagine few would have complaints about its action. Rei is also one of the few characters that is also relatively faithful, with Shinji (unwittingly) giving her a helping hand to become more human-like (with emotions and gestures, like "Thank You" to Shinji, which the film highlights she has never done before).

Also, the visuals are pretty stunning. The original for its time was very pretty indeed, and EVA 2.0 is extremely well animated, even if every character seems to have tiny hips and legs. This is used to fullest effect in the final scene too, which is the only part of the film that did surpass the TV series and is worthy of being labeled a masterpiece moment, but then this film (I'd imagine) would have had a much larger budget to do this than the TV series (not to take anything away from it).

In conclusion, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance as a film and to those who haven't seen the original series will be an impressive action mecha anime at touches on morals and the aspects on humanity and stunning visuals. But for me, as a huge fan of the original, its a film that has been condensed to allow it to be watchable to the casual audiences (probably Western audiences), but many of its brilliant characters and pyschological elements either missing or emphasised less, which to me is a disappointment.

Evangelion 2.0 is the second part of the rewrite of the popular NGE series, dubbed the "Reubuild" of Eva. It picks up after 1.0 and episode 8 or so of the original series. Now I remember watching 1.0 and I wasn't particularly impressed with it. Sure it had new shiny animation, soundtrack and so on, but it didn't really bring anything new to the table. In fact it followed the original series painstakingly to the mark, so it made me kinda skeptical about the whole rewrite aspect of this 4-part series. In hindsight, it was probably for the best since 1.0 slowly eases us back ... into Eva universe only for 2.0 to throw a bucket of cold water on us. In a good way.

The story is a departure from the original series and is much more focused in many ways. It starts off explosively with the introduction of the new pilot, Mari. Unfortunately, not much is actually revealed about her asides from piloting Eva units for the lulz. In that regard, her appeal is geared towards the all newcomers to the series, yet much of her character is still shrouded in mystery. Despite all that, she's a welcome addition to the cast and all of her scenes are very poignant and fun to watch. There's at least one more big deviation from the beaten path, but I won't spoil that here. Never the less, that change is extremely welcome and actually brings much more to the table, its better for all the newbies and pretty shocking for the old-timers. The story is also much less vague and some lingering mysteries from the original series are subtly answered or at least hinted at. The experience is much more clear-cut: it knows where it wants to go unlike the original which had a lot of fat around the edges.

All the major characters we all know and love are the same yet have a distinct feel of difference about them. Perhaps the most notable one is Rei, who is more of an endearing character this time around. Another noticeable change is Asuka, but its not one I personally liked. She takes a backseat to Rei but is still involved in some of the plot heavy sequences. She's also more tsun and less dere if that was even possible. Though the best change lies in Shinji and his reactions to everything especially in the second half. He is LEAGUES better than his previous iteration, sure he's still a whiny little runt but if the climax taught me anything, its that even people like Shinji can be incredibly awesome given the right circumstances. To all those who hated him in the original, you'd probably want to watch this just for the end, his moment is just THAT amazing.

The animation...well damn its easily the best I've seen in an animated movie, right up there with Miyazaki and the likes. I never been an avid fan of the implementation of CG in 2D animation, but it works really well in this case. The mix of 2D and 3D animation manages to pull off a very distinct, and clean look. The mecha action is amazing, just as visceral and brutal as we've all come to expect from this series, but 2.0 sets the bar even higher with some of the fights. Outside of all that, the art is pretty much the same as the rest, albeit extremely well drawn and colored. The Evas and Angels still have that very alien look to them which is what makes them so visually appealing. Outside of the action, character movements and expressions are very fluid. All in all, the animation is excellent, truly a sight to behold.

The soundtrack is also got the same level of attention as the animation, there are some truly wonderful pieces in there that complement the movie incredibly well. The orchestrated ones that come at the end really gets your blood flowing and amplifies the tension a lot. Besides the music, all the voice acting is top notch and the sound effects and cues are great. Hearing the Evas otherworldly growls and grunts with explosions plus epic music going on in the background makes a hell of a memorable experience.

In my opinion, the rewrite's quality even exceeds that of the original. Sure some of the more ambiguous symbolism is lost but the entire experience is streamlined and everything is just a lot more tight. Everything from the plot, characters, and animation is more consistent, its obvious that the staff is in more control. The original suffered from not knowing what to do with some of the plot elements and themes it brought up, essentially "biting off more than it could chew". 2.0 does away with this problem and everything just flows really well, the pacing is excellent. However I still think the original series should be watched first before tackling Rebuild to reap the most enjoyment out of it. A lot of the fun comes from picking apart the subtle differences. This is fantastic addition to the series, doesn't feel half-assed or like a cash-in at all. A must see for all Eva fans, and even those of you who disliked it. This movie is basically everything good about Eva minus a lot of the flaws that dragged it down. Truly a remarkable achievement in many ways.

Some people may already know this, but the original Evangelion series is my favorite anime of all time. I often consider it and End of Evangelion (yeah, screw the original TV ending) to be landmarks in anime story-telling and character development. When I first saw the first movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, I thought it was a great movie, but I thought this new series would never reach the peaks that the original series did. Having watched this second film, You Can (Not) Advance, I revoke that statement. This new series has proved to be just as thought provoking ... and amazing as the original series.

The story picks up right after You Are (Not) Alone, introducing us to a new EVA pilot Mari, a somewhat maniacal and scary pilot who will do absolutely anything to defeat the angels and has fun piloting the EVAs (wow...I mean just wow...). The other pilot fans are a lot more familiar with, Asuka finally makes her debut here, and she's just as self-important and egotistical as you remember. This new film covers the events between episodes 8-20, and that's where I'm going to stop telling you the plot. Seriously, don't ask me about the plot or else I'll be tempted to spill the beans and ruin every surprise and holy crap moment in the movie (there are a lot, let's just say that).

There are drastic changes to the events that you remember that would ruin the experience if I told you. None of these changes are arbitrary though, they feel very natural for the characters and story that you know, and in some ways drastically alter how characters interact with each other. The ending really demonstrates how well these changes work as the romantic relationship between two characters that never got together in the original series takes front stage. There is so much emotion in this scene I'm at a loss of words to describe it. The changes are all very well thought out and most important, all work incredibly well. The writing is some of the best in anime I've seen in quite some time. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels unnecessary, and nothing feels unnatural. In essence, its almost perfect.

Everything about this film is so close to perfection its hard to even write about. The visuals are incredible, using CG effects that blend seamlessly into the more traditional 2D character designs. The evoke the appropriate amount of dread and apocalyptic imagery that Evangelion and overall serve to make the audience fascinated by what's going on. The visuals are all polished to perfection and leave you with some of the best visuals and special effects in anime for quite some time.

The soundtrack is also great, composed by Shiro Saigusu, the composer from the original series and End of Evangelion. Though it is different from those, it is still perfect for this movie. It brings the right emotions to every moment and brings the right sense of ironic dread you saw in End of Evangelion in all the right moments.

I really wish I could tell you guys more about why this film and this story is so amazing. But know this, Hideaki Anno has really outdone himself this time. I was skeptical about whether he could make make lightning strike twice, and he absolutely did. All the changes to the story and characters really make this reboot something special that should be viewed on the same level as the original series and End of Evangelion. This is as close to perfection in anime as you will likely get this year. Even if you hated the original series, I suggest trying the Rebuild series, its that amazing. The wait for Evangelion 3.0 has now officially begun for me, and with a movie like You Can (Not) Advance preceding it, it's going to be hard.

I give Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0- You Can (Not) Advance, A+

There are many English idioms about third attempts. Third time lucky, third time's the charm, and I'm sure there's a third one. The first time you try something, you inevitably screw up because you've never done it before. The second time you have a better grasp of what you're doing but perhaps haven't developed the expertise yet. Surely this next time around, you'll be able to get it right?

"Evangelion 2.0: You Can(not) Advance" is the second part of Hideaki Anno's third attempt at cracking his popular magnum opus, and he'd better get it right this time. Particularly since he already managed to get it right ... the first time, and the second time as well for that matter. Indeed, so there's quite a bit of pressure for him not to screw it up completely.

The start of the movie comes out in its stride, largely because it is virtually an aesthetic improvement on the Television series. In fact, throughout the film there are a number of scenes which are lifted directly from the original television series, given a quick once over with digital animation and then presented as they were. Of course, and old car with a new paintjob isn't going to run any better unless you mess with the engine too. The most obvious change introduced is a new character, the ridiculously named Mari Makinami Illustrious, or deus ex machina for short. Her key role in the film is increase the merchandising potential by pandering to people who like crazy girls who wear glasses, and to show up for one major scene because of one plot revision. Yes, I am serious.

And even this plot revision is merely a substitution of one character with another. The same thing still happened in the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, it merely happened to someone else. Granted, this change does have rather major implications for the rest of the story and does allow the film to take a different course at the conclusion, but does this end justify the means? Introducing an entirely new character just to make a slight change in the character development of Shinji Ikari?

It may seem harmless enough, but the new character also detracts from the charm of the series. The ladies of Neon Genesis Evangelion had always been stereotypes, with Asuka the 'tsundere' and Rei the 'Kuudere', but in both cases this wasn't taken to excesses. Both characters retained a resemblance to real human behaviour, and their fan-pandering quirks only subtle. With the introduction of the Yandere 'Mari' this illusion is completely blown. Her weird behaviour becomes a distraction, and because one is clued up to know the reason behind it, it is also irritating. Mercifully she only appears a few times throughout the film before she conveniently arrives to intervene at just the right moment. All the same, the film is far less appealing than the television series simply for having her in it.

She's not the only thing spoiling the happy memories: the use of digital animation instead of traditional cell animation is, for anyone who is fond of older anime, a slightly disappointing change. That's not to say that either the art or animation is bad, because they're both excellent. But no matter how good it is, it simply lacks the charm of the more old-fashioned cell animation that appeared in the original series. But taking into consideration that the original Neon Genesis Evangelion also had very high quality artwork and was well animated, even this feels like an unnecessary perversion of an old masterpiece.

Unfortunately, the problem of remakes is insoluble. No matter how many changes or improvements you make, you will always end up being compared unfavourably with the predecessor. I am quite certain that, no matter how good this film might have been, it would never have been able to eclipse my fondness for the original. Even though the change in the story makes the same gesture more powerful, it still feels like a bastardisation. Even though the new character only appears a few times, her mere invention feels like an abomination. Even though the new digital artwork is smoother and integrates more cleanly with the digital effects, it still feels less appealing to my eyes. It's not the same, and yet it is the same.

Third time's the charm? No, if anything, three's a crowd.

What is the worst anime of all times? What is the criteria to even consider, a piece of fiction to such an infamous title? Those are questions I hopefully can end up answering, while giving insight to the colossal mess, that is eva 2.0. Many will take certain approach with some reserves, a worst anime of all times discussion usually is only warranted to a certain type of titles. You probably know them by now, those ultra-trashy, low budget ovas, the likes of mars of destruction, skelter heaven, garzeys wing (at least that is because everybody flipped their shit, whenever I tried to argue shows ... like charlotte were the worst thing I have seen). And while those unanimous bad shows certainly are awful, I would never call them insulting. No one in the production of those were under the impression of making a great show, neither did anyone put any real effort to make it so, so why would I get mad over how bad the final product ended up being. There is no passion, no ambition on such projects, they are just lazily made projects, made in the hopes of getting a laugh or two, because of how bad they are. And those usually succeed on those low ambitions only. There is nothing to grab here, nothing to get really angry or mad about. Such forgettable anime, no matter technically bad they can be, or how a lot of their individual’s elements are way worse than anything else, will never stand as a worst anime of all times list for me.

And here I brought the discussion back to evangelion 2.0. I was not laughing, when watching, because of how awful all its aspects were. Like there are lots of things even I can admit where incredibly well made, this is a gorgeously well animated, greatly directed,with cool soundtrack, film. The action set pieces are completely stunning, the shot composition (as with anything hideaki anno makes) is superb.

Neverthless the act of watching this was pure agony, I ended up scratching my face, facepallming and even screaming angrily at everything that was happening on screen. A this is not how this is supposed to be thought, crossing my mind at every moment and scene of the movie. Anyone that is reading this can probably guess by now, I am a diehard fan of the old neon genesis evangelion series, the old series and eoe, being my favorite piece of fiction ever created. It is such a personally important anime, for reasons, I hope I can in write in the future in a pretty fucking long essay. And after finishing those two, the most inspirational and important thing for me, I went and watched all 3 rebuilds that are out. However before anyone gets any funny ideas, no I do not dislike these movies simply for they are different(I am sorry, NGE is just so perfect doing things another way is usually wrong). I do not want these movies to simply be a scene by scene copy of the series, that would be completely pointless, Eva 1.0 was almost a carbon copy of the series original episodes, and that only made it passable at best. So let’s get into some specifics of why I loathe this movie.

For starters, the characters are not that interesting or fleshed out, especially when compared to its older series counterparts. Sure, in order to streamline this and make the material work as a movie, changes were inevitably going to be made considering, how unlike 1.0, this one actually, complicates the plot (a lot) and brings a lot new aspects that were absent in the original (surprise, none of that shit actually worked to its advantage). But really sacrificing a lot of the character depth in eva, in order to make room for more mecha action and plot oriented series? That is a low blown. Remember when we had this superbly made episode 4 of nge, that great such great insight to shinji’s character, and weight to his relation with Misato? FORGET ABOUT SUCH SHIT, because let me tell you, not only the characters on screen are not that interesting, their interactions are also shafted, there is not enough time dispensed to properly stablishes how every character reacts and affects each other, no relation feels organical or well developed. It all fells so artificial, like these are the works of a checklist, of the minimal things to do, in order to make the audience remotely care and understand the characters. For example, Asuka is on screen for a total of 8 minutes before falling in love with shinji, talk about contrived character writing. Again a lot of people will not agree on how serious of an issue this ends up being, having a more action heavy, almost blockbuster like formula of this movies is bound to appeal to a lot of people.

But no, for me most of the appeal of eva was not in the mecha battle, even if those were undoubtedly entertaining to watch, nor in its cheese save the world plot. But in its flawed characters, that had to face not only a lot of pressure from the duty as pilots, but a lot of more universal and relatable personal issues. Like the pains and joys of human interactions, how said interactions may come to define us, our world views, how we see ourselves, how important it is to come on our own as an individual, make your own decisions and take responsibility for their consequences. And to be fair it is not like those ideas are absent in the movie, there is definitely an effort to allude and portray a lot of the same ideas. Though this ends up being mostly wasted effort, the protagonist we see on screen right now, is no longer that complex individual desperately struggling with his fear of rejection, and the fact he never acted upon any of his desires. Now all we end up having is a generic harem lead, that has chicks literally fighting to be his girlfriend. Asuka also really changed, long are gone the days where she was that self-centered bitch, that really needed confirmation from others, while at the same time isolating herself, a person that only defined her value in life for how good she was as a pilot. Currentely she is a generic tsundere, that only cares about the great Shinji Ikari. Anno even had the audacity of changing the iconic evangelion elevator scene, and change the dialogue, from rei’s view of herself, asuka's trauma with her mother and need of confirmation, to a literal fight about who should be shinji’s number 1 girl. Why would I care, or how could I relate to the themes in display , no matter how personally important they may be? How the fuck I am supposed to really relate to these characters? To make matters simpler, I did not like what they did to my Shinji, my misato, hated what they did to my gendo, and my god, Asuka, what did they do to you?

Wish fulfillment and escapism are not terms of criticism I really like using against fiction. Those are so overused, because of the way how everything is labelled as such, the terms have lost a lot of their meaning over time. I will have to use those here, because very rarely I have seen something that was so transparent, about its intent of being a wish fulfillment fantasy. If you have any better way, to describe a show where our protagonist literally says, I do not care about the world, I just want to save this cute idealized version of human being, a perfect waifu, please let me know. The tone in here reminded me more of a school comedy if anything, with lots of its aspects, like the constant ecchi fanservice moment being awfully self-indulgent. Eva always had some of that shit, but 2.0 capitalizes on that by tenfold. And like I get it, presenting this perfect fantasy, of the average male being called out to save the world, and having lots of chick fall in love with him has a lot of thematic purpose in this story. It is that escapism tale, that eva questioned and "deconstructed", in its later half, by applying psychology and real world logic to a lot of its clichés. To what degree that is so innovative in mecha (if at all) is very debatable. It turns on its head such fantasy, and in turn brings back important questions of how the audience deals with reality (Are we running away from our problems?) and what purpose fiction has in your lives. So yeah I get what Anno was attempting, it is very deliberate how pandering this ends up feeling, maybe the escalation of those aspects serve to show how bolder, escapism has become in the decades after NGE's release. But it does not change how not worth, the final product ends up becoming, especially for someone that already got a lot of the same ideas, in a way more potent way before. I might end up giving it a pass for the whole rebuild saga, if the meta, franchise angle was well done in 3.0, but that sadly was not the case.

The worst past of all of that is not even present in the movie. The fan reaction to it manages to even more annoying than the movie itself. Like whenever I see someone saying that they like this, because shinji finally acts like a man, I just want to lower my score for it even more. But that, and facts like how this lost that darker and depressive edge of the older series, how more prevalent the action scenes are, all seem to be hailed as great positives. Many even start to argue to just skip the older series, which is pretty ironical, since there are lots of aspects specially in the next movie that will not make much sense if you skip the older series (you will still not get it even, with the context of both).

Those opinions, I simply cannot stand that, like I know evangelion is a highly divisive series, but having this being put as a definitive version, something that makes NGE obsolete, is just so unacceptable Really, I get why people like this, but every minute watching is nothing but a slog of seemling endless torture. Something feels very wrong in every scene, and by that fact alone I can easily say I find the so hated eva 3.0 to be a superior work. Sure 3.0 is in a lot of ways a clusterfuck, with a fairly incomprehensible plot, however I never got the same feeling. It feels like eva, it had concepts like Shinji facing alone the consequences of his actions, having to face the weight of killing the person he cared the most, that I could easily get behind, unlike anything in 2.0 or 1.0. So well done 3.0, for being the first competent imitation of the original's ideias and mindfucks, that actually had enough bold choices to add anything to EVA as a whole.
I could keep complaining about every change this movie makes in the original plotline, But for someone who does not want a comparisson series, I sure talk a lot about those. Instead I want to argue, what is the point of this story. While 1.0 is somewhat understandable, as a new introduction for newer audiences that did not grow up with eva, and 3.0 brings up an entire new direction for the franchise, 2.0 is sadly lacking. Sure you could say the purpose was simply to make easily digestible self-indulgent nonsense, that bridges the gap between those two, but outside of that I got nothing. This is such pointless and mostly derivative nonsense.

In the middle of all of this, a silver line of hope exists. I am talking about the sequel theory of course, the controversial fan theory, that the rebuilds are actually sequels to the original. It may give an entirely new way to approach these characters, and story. Like the more extreme ways the character’s act in 2.0 could be seen as a natural development of their personalities, it may also give an in series importance to how pedantic a lot of it feels, representing Shinji falling even further into escapism after failing to accept reality after EOE. It retroactively may give some value to some of the things I am complaining about. As for me I would be really surprised if that was not the case, there are way too many fucking hints at the rebuilds actually being a sequel, to the point it will be kind of a surprising twist for me, if that ends up not being the case. Regardless I will wait for 4.0 to make any form of final judgement on that. And of course this will never redeem 2.0 in my eyes, but hey, It will become better than what we have right now.

So those are the reasons for me thinking of this as my worst anime of all times. I am of strong belief, that the individual aspects of a series have no value in, and of themselves. It is how they add up to create the enjoyment, the experience is how I rate and judge fiction, so no, I do not believe this should be rated at least a 5 for its fantastic technical aspects, or soundtrack. Animation is completely worthless without a great story, a vision, passion and a desire to express ideas. Maybe even all of that alone may not add up to a good show, since with some ideas I have this inherit prejudice with. And maybe that is all there is towards my hate of 2.0, but hopefully, I could be more insightful than that. Lastly I would like to add that yes I do recommend 2.0. Despite my eternal grievances with it, if you did not like, or just did not care much about NGE, definitely give this is a watch. I hope you end up having a better time.

Ok let me just say right off the bat this is by far one of the most amazing anime movies I have ever seen. Normally, I do not like anime movies. There are very few exceptions to this rule for example Howl's moving castle, Girl who leaps through time etc, but this movie got me more hyped up than I have ever been in a very long time.

The story is fantastic, it kept me engaged through out the entire movie.

The are is simply amazing, all of the characters look awesome and the details in the backgrounds, evas, and cities are top notch. ... The animation is breathtaking, this movie has some of the most amazing animation I have seen in a long while. All of the fights are incredibly well animated.

The score for this movie is perfect. Every song fits in its respective place. I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of this OST.

As you can see I really really really enjoyed this movie, I don't care who you are or what you feel about evangelion, or anime for that matter I think anyone can find enjoyment in this movie.

Evangelion 2.0 is where the descent of the Evangelion brand begins. The plot is nonsensical from beginning to end. The movie appears to have no sense of purpose or direction other than exhaust all of its budget in a few select fight scenes and spend the rest of its time haphazardly trying to be a standard slice of life anime. It's honestly hard to stomach. The only redeeming factor is the ending, which is a complete rip off of episode 18 from the series. To its credit, it is better done here than in episode 18. However, this does not make up for the other ... 90% of the movie being completely worthless.

The biggest problem in this is how little it does to develop its characters as compared to the series. Don't expect any character to even resemble its predecessor in terms of depth and conviction. They're all now lifeless, more generic stock versions of the character archetypes they created. It's almost shameful, but I almost feel like they were at least trying to do something good. They simply didn't have the same level of inspiration.

Even though I gave this a high score, I wouldn't recommend it. It is a shell of a disillusioned dream of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The first movie brings your hopes up and this one slowly tears them to shreds. This is nothing other than a generic action movie that grabs some pointers from the series near the end.

Let's get one thing straight. Evangelion was the first anime I ever watched (talk about jumping in at the deep end), and so the element of bias is gonna be there. That said, I gave Eva (The original series and End of Eva) an 8, so while I do like it, I don't LOVE it. My problems were three-fold with the original show: The ending sucked (both of them), the animation is dated and shinji was an absolute LOSER. Seriously, that kid needed a slap! 2.0, however, both fixes my problems with the original show, and builds upon the solid base 1.0 set down. Boy, ... does it Build. . . .

STORY
You know the score if you've been watching anime for more than 5 minutes! Angels attacking, giant robots piloted by kids are the only hope of stopping them, cue big-ass fight scenes. BUT WAIT! All the characters are messed up, and so a psycho-emotional roller-coaster ensues! Now, the big difference between the rebuild movies and the original series is the plot changes, which are pretty big, and to be honest, a welcome change. The bad ending(s) I mentioned aren't present, instead the creator chose to branch off the plot into new (and better) territory. And I can't say much without spoilers, but DAMN that ending is good *shivers*.

ART
Probably the best thing about this movie. Seriously, the animation in 2.0 is crisp, colourful and all the Eva's and Angels look absolutely incredible, especially as the film reaches it's climax. None of the shoddy animation that plagued the series near the end is visible here, just 100 minutes of absolutely incredible animation. Oh, and all the angels are super colourful, which I thought would be stupid, but is super nice to look at. "A feast for the eyes" is not an under statement!

SOUND
I have this soundtrack on my ipod. Shiro Sagisu's orchestral genius shines, adding the much needed score to really give this movie it's force, and making each battle really feel like losing could mean the fall of humanity. Best recommendation goes to the song "In my spirit", which is the best song to play when your faced with absolute destruction, and "Give me wings", which plays in the movies climax and hits you right in the feels.
The dub is also extremely good, and I will confess haven't watched the sub, but I can only assume it's good!

CHARACTER
Remember how I said that Shinji was a problem with the original show? Well the film finally gave him what he always needed to become a great hero, and a great character in general: A pair of balls. Seriously, I had complete respect for him after what he did at the end of the movie, and it almost made up for the End of Evangelion Jerk off scene.
Everyone one else is their usual great self: Rei doesn't talk, Asuka's a badass, Misato is oddly humanizing, and Kaji brings the much needed banter to an otherwise dark film. Good times!

ENJOYMENT
In my opinion, enjoyment is the most important aspect, and if watching 3 kids in giant mech's get the living hell beaten out of them by equally big monsters, be it with lasers, tentacles, more lasers, claws or even more lasers, I don't know what is. More action, drama, and just plain EPIC happens in this 100 minute film then happens in most full series, and that's a promise. And if THAT'S not enough, you see Rei's boobs! No nipples though. . .?

OVERALL
If you see one anime film this year, see Evangelion 2.0. Well, and 1.0 and 3.0, but most definitely 2.0. Because if you're like me, it's instinct to want to go watch giant robots beat each other up. Or, in this case, Angels! And that's the most important thing of all!