Evangelion
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Reviewed by: Grendel
Neon Genesis Evangelion TV:
(or a Japanese boy and his biomechanical god substitute that likes to bleed on people and break things. BIG things.)
reviewed by Grendel (who mustn't run away)
This is it. Eva is the anime with a hundered imitators and a million fanfics about it. Yeah, I guess being an obsessed fan who
wants to write fanfic about this show makes me just a smidge biased, but I feel I can be just a little objective tonight. ^_^
However, to any of you looking for an insightful discussion on how Asuka represents the primal fears of the modern woman or
how Pen-Pen the beer-drinking penguin is Hideaki Anno's cry for help, look to the message boards. Why? Cause that's why they're
there, dumkoff! (sorry, couldn't resist). Now, on with my unbiased showing of joy!
Story: 5/5
Well, Duh! You've got a trio of fourteen year old kids with clinical depression trying to save humanity from angels in giant
robots that bleed more than Jackie Chan after he's done filming a movie, so what's not to love? But seriously, if I went into
detail about all the character's little quirks and idiosynchrosies, what the Evas really are, what the Angels are, what SEELE
is up to, and what the hell is going on in Shinji Ikari's little head, the vein in my forehead would get a lot bigger. So
watch it. And don't forget your Introduction to Psychology texts.
Localization: 4/5
What can I say, the English dub has no obvious flaws except for the occasional miscast here and there. Fuyutsuki sounds
eternally bored while the members of SEELE sound like South Park characters, Mr. Garrisson specifically. Chairman Keel Lorentz
also sounds like somebody's grandmother, something I'm pretty sure is not supposed to add to his dark and shady character. It
still makes him damn creepy though. With these minor little nitpicks, the rest of the voices are perfect and fit with their
characters. Shinji's still whiny, Asuka's still a brat, Rei's still quite the quiet type, and Misato is still quite herself
drinking at 7 am. Hopefully, the dub for the movies from Manga will be half as good as ADV's take on the TV series.
Animation: 3/5
Yeah, everyone knows how notoriously under-budget Evangelion was when it was produced, because of the little things. Characters
stand fixed in place when they talk, clipboards and beer cans cover their mouths, and entire conversations take place with
someone's back turned. The Eva battles are beautiful and bloody though, taking up most of Gainax's budget for production.
I should nitpick a little more, but no one watches Eva just for the animation alone. Actually, the re-usage of animation in
the "Shinji's having a mindjob" episodes from previous ones but with different dialogue is quite appropriate. It creates
a very cool effect as scenes are revisited and changed a little in Shinji's head. Besides, if you think the animation in
Evangelion gets stiff, you should watch Black Heaven. At least the Eva's don't slide accross the screen like they're on wires.
Presentation: 4/5
With the exception of the muddled-looking and overlay-overkilled first volume, the video quality on the DVDs has been
excellent. The sound is great, with all the explosions, Eva roars, and flesh tearing expected from NGE coming through loud
and clear. But there's still no clean opening and ending animations!!! Hopefully they'll be on the last volume of the series.
There are four language tracks on the disk, but only one set of subtitles which doesn't really make sense. With all the
trailers crammed on the disk they probably ran out of room for subtitles in French and Spanish.
Overall: 5/5
Eva deserves every bit of praise it gets as the founder of modern anime style. It proves that something doesn't
have to explode in every episode of a mecha anime for it to be great. However, with every great anime comes the great deluge
of imitators such as Brain Powerd, from the creator of Gundam. Check out my next review for a rant on that dungheap.
Catch you later,
Grendel
NEXT TIME! BRAIN POWERD!
(OR I GOT BRAIND BY CRAPPY ANIME!)