Evangelion Movie 2: Ha

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

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.

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.

Anno attempts to make the series better and reboot it for the teenagers who were not born around the time the old series came out. But this was a failed attempt to modify an already flawed series and making it worse by changing some of the characters and the animation while deciding to make a 2-hour long franchise of movies to try to squeeze in all the depth of the series.

Asuka has changed from a depressed kid with mommy issues to a wise-talking gossiper with an aloof personality. There is little depth to her and she is now more interested in puppets. All we get ... is that she is captain and her name has also changed. Misato is more tactful when it comes to arguments. Kaji is more boring as he seems to serve no purpose.

And that Spider Girl that is, Mari is not needed. There is some fanservice here which is probably going to please the boys. And Asuka has replaced Toji in being Eva 3.0's pilot. Which caused me to drop it and I had enough of seeing my favorite character tortured.

Shinji's face is too goofy-looking for me but other than that, the updated animation is kind of special to watch but the series is a little too old to be remaking so that we can use this style of animation. Unless they can try to find a way to use animation that's closer to the original series.

Now, I watched this before I watched Kare Kano but when I watched it, I noticed that its music has been copied onto here, making it unoriginal. The characters' voices are different from what they used to sound like.

Anno needs to stop giving this overrated series a new makeover just to please the fans of it.

It boggles my mind that anyone who watched the original Neon Genesis Evangelion + End of Evangelion could sit through this movie and enjoy it. My stomach was in knots by the end.

I can't believe the utter disaster that this movie is. I didn't mind the animation, sound, or fight scenes - NGE never does me wrong when it comes to those aspects of the story, I'm always sitting on the edge of my seat. However, I find myself coming away from this film in all other aspects bewildered and insulted.

The story... it reminds me of the sardonic depiction of an alternate anime universe Shinji ... sees in episode 26 of the original anime. So much of it is bogged down by cheerful slice of life content and nonsensical love triangles (which don't even make sense unless the characters are severely warped, which they are, but I'll get to that in a bit), when that space could be better put to use exploring the characters individually the way they're supposed to be. NGE is not a cheerful story - you're not supposed to enjoy it, you're supposed to be fascinated by it, disgusted by it, and entirely enthralled by it. Why am I smiling along as these characters go on field trips and cook for each other? This fits so many franchises and series and characters, but NGE is not one of them. I seriously can't wrap my head around the choices made for this movie.

However, more than anything that happened in the story, the most disappointing and again insulting part of this movie is the watered down, weak, pathetic characterizations of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Misato, Gendoh, and pretty much everyone else. A lot of people seemed happy that Shinji was "finally showing some backbone," but this only seems to demonstrate to me that some watchers of NGE have a fundamental misunderstanding of Shinji as a character (and Asuka, and Rei!)

Ikari Shinji is, fundamentally, pathetic. He is weak, cowardly, and all but wretched. He's a raging misogynist who views other people, especially women, as essentially things that are obligated, required, to heal and save and protect him with their love. He has no understanding of what love is, and no capability of giving it to others, and yet demands it from everyone around him to the utmost. And then, because of his ridiculously low self-esteem and ridiculously high self-hatred, even when he does receive love he doesn't believe in it and dismisses it (barring the love he receives from Kaworu) as a lie! He can't handle anything even marginally difficult and breaks down at the slam of a door. He's so incapable of both being a functioning human being with flaws and accepting the flaws/individuality of others that it takes the world literally ENDING before he's able to realize that maybe the world as it is is actually better than joining one super-conscious. And all of that is what makes him such a brilliant main character - all of his flaws and insecurities have strong ties to the death of his mother and the fact that his father abandoned him. Everything makes perfect sense. You're not supposed to like him or condone his actions, you're supposed to make the connections as to why he is the way he is and recognize the impossibility of all that he desires. He doesn't COOK for his friends, nor is he rushing to heroically Save The Girl at every opportunity. The Shinji of 2.0 is literally Just Some Guy - he has daddy issues, but it's something he just feels a little angry about, not a hugely detrimental crutch that's ruined the way he interacts with the world presumably forever. I can't BELIEVE anyone watched the original NGE and thought Shinji should be dumbed down to the most basic, boring main character stereotype ever. The fact that he's a hateful embarrassment of a character in the original anime is literally the point - whoever the jerk in 2.0 is is simply not Ikari Shinji.

Side note: I think it's ridiculous that in the original anime Shinji's mental breakdown is catapulted forwards by merely injuring Suzuhara, without even knowing that he's inside the Eva/Angel being fought, but when 2.0 Shinji knows he's fighting Asuka and pretty much makes her comatose he just... gets mad at his Dad? He's so infuriatingly calm about things that should make him lose his mind - again, this is not the right Ikari Shinji.

And then, to have the audacity to claim that Asuka or Rei could ever be in love with Shinji! It's outrageous! Asuka of the original NGE despises Shinji, full stop; she's not a tsundere, she sees all the flaws I've mentioned above and is disgusted by him because of that. At best, she uses him to quench her discomfort in situations such as when Misato and Kaji stay out late one night. She's straight up abusive to him sometimes. She is just as damaged as Shinji is and even shares some characteristics with him because of that, which repels her from him even further because his codependency upon whoever is available is, according to her and her unnecessary desire for total independence, an insult. She does not and never could love him, ever. The fact that he doesn't even have to do anything for her to get some stereotypical crush on him absolutely raises my hackles - Asuka deserves a thousand times better than this!

Rei, too, might care for Shinji in some capacity, but to make that the center of her growth is borderline grotesque. Rei wants individuality because she is literally Gendoh's doll from day one - why would she seek freedom for the sake of another man? She wants it for herself. She hates Gendoh, why should she care if he and his son are able to reconnect? It's totally ridiculous to have her original arc be so much about finding herself and knowing herself on her own terms, because she's never been allowed to have that, only to throw all of that completely under the bus for some ridiculous fanservice and a weak love plot (which, also, come on now - she shares traits with Shinji's mother nearly to a T, can we not have them be romantically interested in one another?).

I'm not here to harsh on the Rebuild series as a whole - I liked 1.0 okay and I'm still looking forward to 3.0 and 3.0+1.0. Nevertheless, it's really disheartening to see this film made by the original creators of the first NGE series and movies. I don't know why this is what they want an updated version of NGE to look like - this film is, at best, a weak, fanservice-packed action anime movie for people who want to numb their brain for a couple hours. It does not carry any of the weight, charm, nor impact of the original series. If you really want to watch this Rebuild series, I would recommend skipping this movie from it entirely.