WHAT DO YOU MEAN SAKURA NAGASHI WAS MADE FOR STINKIN EVA!?!? THAT'S BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE UTADA HIKARU SONGS FOR YEARS AND IT WAS MADE TO BE THE CREDITS THEME TO A STINKIN EVA MOVIE!?!? UGGGGGGGGGGGH...............
Ok. Let's get the obvious outta the way, first. Evangelion is one of the most important, most influential franchises in all of anime. It's also one of the most infamously divisive. You either love it or you hate it. There's no in-between. For me... I stinkin hate this franchise. I hate it so much that back when I watched the Death and Rebirth film after drudging my way through the original series, I was still fairly new to anime and didn't know what recap movies were at the time. So the fact that I forced my way through one of the worst shows I've ever seen just to immediately then sit through a 2 hour movie that was shot for shot a massive recap of what I LITERALLY just watched, it made me completely give up on this franchise and I then proceeded to never touch anything Eva related with a 10 foot pole for over a decade, only just now finally seeing The End of Evangelion just TWO DAYS AGO... and ya, that movie was awful, too.
SO WHY THE FRUIT DID I WATCH THE REBUILD FILMS!?!? ....well, the animation was nicer. A LOT nicer. Like, Oh my god, these films are pretty. This honestly might be the biggest glow up in anime history. These films all look stinkin gorgeous. And as someone who absolutely despised the original show, getting a much prettier looking, much nicer sounding, and best of all MUCH SHORTER version of its load of baloney story is A-OK in my book! It still doesn't resolve any of the main issues I had with the original show. Shinji is still insufferable, Asuka is still one of the worst characters in all of anime, Rei is still... Rei. And the story, while taking itself in a completely different direction now that it isn't being restrained with budget issues (...I think) is still confusing and unsatisfying by the end of it.
I don't know what the general consensus on these films are. I'm sure a lot of purists or die-hard fans of the original hate it for all that they changed. I personally liked being thrown into this unknown territory once the new material started popping up. But at the same time, the new material is... just as confusing as the original ending. The new characters, especially the biggest new addition to the cast, Mari, have little to no development in any of the films to where I question why they were even added in the first pla- oh, it was to give Shinji some new boobs to accidentally fondle and to sell new posters and figures to a bunch of die-hard fans... ok... I mean, her introduction is literally falling on top of Shinji and suffocating him with her boobs. And then Shinji proceeds to never see her again or even KNOW HER STINKIN NAME until the end of the final film!?!?!? SERIOUSLY!?!?!?
I know this is just how this creator operates. A lot of this is meant to be not so clear. Meant to be interpreted in many different ways. Meant to symbolize different things for different people. Meant to represent the different stages of the creator's life at the time that each piece of this franchise was created. I can't say I necessarily enjoyed any of this. But it did what I truly never thought would be possible for me with this franchise. It made... Evangelion... NOT the worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It's still not good. Not for me, anyway. But it isn't a 1/10 this time, which is a crowning achievement. Soooooo congrats, Eva. You've achieved moderate mediocrity... or something...
If someone were to ask me which between the original series or the Rebuild films they should watch, I would be inclined to say the Rebuild films solely because I didn't enjoy the original series at all. But I can also see the lack of on-screen development for the main cast in the films can be confusing to people who aren't able to fill in the gaps with what they've seen in the original series. I don't know. If it seems like something you'd enjoy, just watch what you want and pull out when you've had enough. I really didn't think I'd ever end up watching all of it... but I did. And I am absolutely thrilled to say that I never have to watch anything related to Evangelion ever again... probably.
4/10
