Evangelion 1.11 - You Are (Not) Alone [DVD]

In Summer 2006, Hideaki Anno, one of Japan's finest animation directors, announced to the world that he was going back to his famous creation, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (1995-1996), and re-tell the story in THE REBUILD OF EVANGELION, a tetralogy of movies. The first three would be an alternative version of the series with new animation, settings and characters, while the fourth film would have an completely different end. The reaction was mixed - "why go back and re-tell an anime that is so beloved?"

Some people think EVANGELION has become a cash-cow. But that's not true. Anno is re-telling EVANGELION because he wants to make it look and sound better, and allow newcomers of anime to watch it with life-long fans. He also wants to present the EVANGELION in the way he couldn't back in the mid-1990's.

I'm going to get a major flak for saying this, although EVANGELION has a powerful and fantastic storyline, moments of pure genius and great characters (Rei Ayanami is my all-time favourite anime character, alongside Yuki Nagato from the HARUHI SUZUMIYA franchise), it's not a perfect series. Anno had a very ambitious vision for his creation. But GAINAX, who produced the anime, did not received much money nor time to make the episodes they wanted. When the episodes were failing to meet their deadlines, the budget began to decline, and eariler footage started to get re-use alot. The combination of increasing re-use footage and little new animation mid-way through the series was turning the production into a disaster, which was probably one of the reasons why Anno suffered a nervous breakdown.

EVANGELION then ended with two controversial endings, the final two TV episodes which had fans left either confused or enraged, and the theatrical version THE END OF EVANGELION (1997), in which it had the action-packed finale that the fans wanted but was still confusing and downright depressing.

EVA 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE (2007) is a partial remake of the first six episodes of the TV series. But Anno has not edited the footage together and give it a CGI makeover. Before production started, he formed a new anime studio called Studio Khara, reunited nearly all of the cast and crew from the TV series, and re-animated the scenes so it can not only look good on the big-screen, but also blend well with the new footage and 3DCG animation.

It's been about six years since I last saw the series, and I must say I was very impress with this film. The EVA vs. Angel battles truly do look epic and exciting. Some of the scenes from the first six episodes, like Shinji meeting his father before piloting the EVA for the first time, or his encounter with Rei at her apartment, are intact. There are some new scenes, of course. But you'll have to get the Blu-Ray or DVD to see what they are!

From what I heard, the next three films are going to be increasingly different, leading to a conclusion that will hopefully won't be as confusing as the TV series one, nor depressing as THE END OF EVA. All I can say is, roll on the next three REBUILD OF EVANGELION films, Anno and Khara!

Reviewer: Ben David W

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a manga and a animated TV-series made in Japan in the 1990s. The basic storyline is set in the future after the mysterious "second impact" which killed off a large part of the human population. Some time after the impact Earth was attacked by powerful monstrous beings known as "angels". Giant biological robots called Eavngelion (Evas) are defending the Earth against the angels. The Evas are piloted by children with nerve-systems compatible with the Evas. The story revolves around Shinji Ikari who is to pilot one of the Evas.

The story is complex and simple at the same time. The basic plot is a battle between humanity and aliens. But there are also many thing never fully explained like the mysterious organisation "Seele" and the "Human instrumentality project". And one of the charms is the use of gnostic/religious symbols ("The Golgatha Project", "Spear of Longinus", "angels" etc). This makes Evangelion re-watchable and gives it character. Also, the imaginative work is incredible with fantastic designs for robots and aliens, and a whole city called "Tokyo 3" with skyscrapers able to withdraw underground and form an inverted city. The battles between the angels and Evas usually take place in Tokyo 3. There are also references to older japanese pop-culture stuff. Like the "Super Robot" genre (Mazinger Z, Getter Robo etc). Just like in Mazinger, the robots need young people to pilot them. And just like in Mazinger the aliens attack one by one, one at a time, with the robots coming up from the underground to meet the challenge. There is also the usual anime mix of cuteness and violence, but beware because Evangelion is not for children.

"Evangelion 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone" is a movie version concentrating several episodes from the original, and giving them slightly other storylines. As I see it this is an improvement, not least in graphics. Evangelion 1.11 looks incredible and considerably better than the original (and on Blu ray!). The downside is that the story is now concentrated which means that certain aspects or details are missing. I think that without having seen the original series this movie can be a little confusing. (Sometimes things go a little fast, for example: it's not very clear thet Eva 00 is protecting 01 with a shield under the attack from the 3rd angel). If you like Evangelion 1.11 you should consider getting the sequel: Evangelion 2.22 (a third film is being made as well). And if you haven't seen the original series it can be recommended.

Highly recommended. If you haven't seen Evangelion you have missed something.

This new version of the Evangelion story is pretty much must a retelling of the story from scratch. While there probably wasn't a great need for this remake I did find this first instalment to be far better than I was expecting. At this point the story is pretty much the same as the original series and due to the length of this film there was some stuff left out which does give some of it a somewhat rushed feel but overall the result was quite good.

The English cast are all as good as in the original version of the series but the animation is far better than it once was. Of particular note was the animation of the Fifth Angel Ramiel which was surprisingly beautiful.

While this remake of Evangelion would probably be best for people who have yet to see the original series, I cannot se any reason why people who are already fans of the series shouldn't enjoy it too.