Evangelion: 1.0 - You Are (Not) Alone

When I learn that there was a remake of the classic series, i asked myself, what kind of mess are they getting themselves into? After the opening few moments of the movie, i only said to myself, how wrong was i to underestimate the decision ... because easily this could be one of the best animes ever made in history.

First off, years ago, i was decently hooked on the TV series version. When i finished it, i was honestly quiet upset that the plot was going to heck at many points, not providing a decent link to things. I always liked the earlier episodes where Shinji and gang battle all the angels that attacked, but i didn't quite enjoy how things were towards the end ...

Death & Rebirth was a good attempt to try to provide a better ending to the series. But frankly i always felt it wasn't enough ... years later, thank god we may have the best version of the Evangelion saga in the making ... starting with "You Are (Not) Alone".

Not just additional artwork and more CG enhancements are added into the movie, the story summarizes the opening few episodes of the original series and (this is my own opinion) tweaked the script alittle. It's a lot easier to understand the plot and intention of the characters, and with all the plot making more sense than the original series, all you need next is the action.

The fights between the angels and the Eva 01 (and 00') are much more interesting to watch, as the fights seem much longer and more details are added into how the battles are fought. Remember the first time Shinji pilots the EVA01 into battle and it went berserk? I'm much more excited this time when i watched the fight scene! As for the cinematic experience, i don't think watching it on DVD does this movie any justice. If you can, do attempt to catch this in a CINEMA because the experience is very much rewarding! I'm thankful i didn't miss this movie version, it's worth every cent i paid! I don't need to go into the plot of the movie, you can easily pick it up from internet sites, just know that this isn't the end yet and business is going to pick up once the next one comes along. Shinji is still how everyone remembers him to be ... the hedgehog dilemma comes into mind when you talk about him and he's still like that in this movie! I hope this comment will send more people rushing into the cinema to catch this movie, after i was done, i felt sorry that so many seats in the cinema are empty ... everyone has missed out on this masterpiece edition of the Evangelion series!

While I knew a little about the Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion through the reading of various fan sites dedicated to it, I've never actually sat down and watched an episode of the series. So when opportunity came by to experience the Rebuild of Evangelion, why not start the slate clean?

Rebuild of Evangelion is actually a tetralogy based on the original anime series by the same creative team, but it's not exactly a shot-by-shot rehash in that it does include some extra scenes, and I guess the objective is to allow the tetralogy to encapsulate what worked in the original, while at the same time to perhaps make it the more definitive telling of the story. Kind of like how comic books like to do the various reboots and tweaking of origins to suit the times.

We're introduced to Shinji Ikari, the teenage kid whose father Gendo is commander of an organization called NERV, which developed the Evangelion mechas to fight against alien Angels who invade Earth. To a layman like me, it's something like Ultraman battling monsters, except that are certain constraints here that make Evangelions interesting. Firstly, they are dependent on launch pads and are wired to NERV control, and what more, piloting these sophisticated mechas involves some bio-fusion between children, and the bots. Imagine having the fate of the world resting on the shoulders of a child, and what more, a rookie one in Shinji, who has to learn the ropes on the job. To complicate matters, he's the reluctant hero who whines a lot, is indecisive, and seems like he could lose it all anytime.

But that's exactly what makes Evangelion a joy to watch. The flawed heroes, compounded by the fact that with every increasingly powerful Angel to battle, the Evangelions seem to be more patched and repaired after each encounter, you'd wonder how long it could hold up before actually crumbling. The battle sequences here are nothing less than spectacular to watch, as we discover along with the heroes, just how best to defeat the vastly different Angels. Animation wise there's nothing to specially shout out about, as it's quite standard 2D fair with the usual attention to details.

Being the introductory movie, this film begins quite unconventionally in the thick of the action to grip your attention and never let up. As it moves along, it does drop hints of previous incidents, while introducing us to new characters along the way, expanding its mythos and universe. And in all intents, it does leave many doors opened for questioning, and it's almost definite that these would (hopefully) be answered in the subsequent films. Oh, and for action junkies, I give the thumbs up for the final battle in this movie - the creative team really do know how to make everything look really bleak!

For those who are new to the series, I quite sure this will serve as an excellent starting platform into the Evangelion universe. For those who have already been in the loop (and probably hated the series ending), this could be interesting for you to see what changes were made, and whether you will prefer the tetralogy instead.

It's hard to imagine that fans of Evangelion won't be pleased with this leaner, gorgeous rebuild of the original anime series. And if you're new to Evangelion, this is a great place to start. 

You Are (Not) Alone is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the first six episodes of Evangelion. It's somewhat condensed but still containing all the major moments and plot points. While the next three movies promise new story additions and characters, this movie contents itself with mostly cosmetic changes, along with tightening up the story, a few extra scenes, and eliminating some filler. There wasn't a lot in the first six episodes that needed to be altered. 

That means slightly less whining from Shinji. SLIGHTLY.

The animation and visuals are outright beautiful, especially on blu-ray. I could recommend this on that aspect, alone. The re-designed Angels and action scenes are improvements over the original's (especially the sixth Angel), in my opinion and the voice work is great.

Does You Are (Not) Alone make the original series redundant and unnecessary (or vice-versa)? No, I don't think so. Both of them have merit, and both are worth watching. But, I'm very interested in seeing if the next three Rebuild of Evangelion movies rectify some of the mistakes that the latter portion of the series fell prey to.

This film is more like an abridged version of the first few episodes of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series. It doesn't contain much that's new or interesting but has a much more polished level of animation and sound. I would have preferred more points of difference from the original series but only if there was a purpose to it. Some of the additions seemed a bit tacked-on.

Rebuild of Evangelion has great animation. And I guess that's the best thing that can be said about it.

The original show was so full of ideas and emotion that even a 25 minutes episode could make you feel drained and confused. The first movie of the remake packs together about six episodes and this means that a lot of scenes had to be cut in order to fit the much shorter time frame and keep the story flowing. The result is that the characters have less depth and we are going too fast from one angel killing to another. It almost seems like a Hollywood remake with great computer-generated imagery and a lot of action. This is missing some of the spirit of the original.

The series was imperfect and highly uneven but in a bizarre way this was also one of the things that made it great. I think Anno should have Evangelion untouched – why remake something that is already as good as it can be? Rebuild of Evangelion is not a failure but it's kind of pointless.