Essentially it is a recap of the original Genesis Evangelion which aired in Japan back in ’95. Though I haven’t watched the original series, this movie does a good job clearly telling its story and developing each character sufficiently.
With the latest graphics and CGI the animation and fight scenes excellent, and at moments just take your breath away – that is if you’re watching the movie with high quality. The amount of detail integrated in the foreground, mecha, and characters (not just the main characters) are tremendous. The sound does an effective job of enhancing each theme provoked by the series.
The characters, though a bit underdeveloped, are far from cliché and go through many self-conflicts as well as the obvious angels. Regarding the underdeveloped characters, this is okay, because there are three more movies to build and develop each character. You are (not) Alone serves as an introduction, but beyond that focuses on essential theme of loneliness.
Yes, loneliness, the world in You are (not) Alone is nearly lifeless in comparison to our present world, which has not undergone a Armageddon during the human era. Society is alone, but not alone, as there are far distant societies. Shinji the main character, suffers depression and feels worthless to his father. With these conditions we watch as he grows and for anyone that has ever battled the feeling a loneliness and/or worthlessness, then like me, you will greatly understand and appreciate Shinji the main character. Ayanami , another main character is slightly mysterious, but it is obvious we will learn more about her in the coming movies.
The story itself is quite simple, they are battling to stay alive, but it goes beyond this simple plot, into the lives of each and every character –what drives them to keep surviving, keep living and what has created who they are right now. It also explores futuristic features of society and often introduces confusingly psychological ideas – which are poorly developed and/or explained. This would be the one major flaw throught the Evangelion series, but at the same token it makes it somewhat of a mystery anime as well.
Overall: Excellent, definitely worth
watching. Amazing Graphics and sound. A storyline and characters with depth that leaves a different impression upon a vast array of viewers.
Weakness: Underdevoloped and/or poorly explained psychological concepts, or plot holes which are never addressed, may leave viewer confused.
Subtitles/Dub: Dub isn’t bad, but defiantly prefer subtitles.
