Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum 01 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

1. Angel Attack
Wow. What an amazing episode! Angel Attack will convert the unconverted in a second. Funny, dramatic, intense...there aren't enough adjectives to describe how good this episode is. It introduces us to the main character Shinji Ikari and NERV, all introduced with confidence. I especially like Misato. Great stuff all round.

2. The Beast
As good as, if not better than Angel Attack and boasting an absolutely stunning Eva/Angel fight that will leave your jaw hanging open in amazement. There's a lot of character development in this one, and it doesn't disappoint once. The beer in Misato's fridge is great!

3. A Transfer
More of an angsty episode, but that's no bad thing as Shinji goes back to school and gets beaten up. We meet more characters in this and see just how unstable Shinji actually is in the climatic Angel fight. The Angel is slightly disappointing, but don't let that detract from the awesome action scene as Shinji goes beserk in Eva 01 with Toji and Kensuke inside with him! An excellent episode by all means.

4. The Hedgehog's Dilemma
A much more quiet and subdued episode that focues mainly on Shinji. No action, but that hardly matters because this introspective piece is really very good indeed and the perfect counter-point to the three that proceeded it.

As excellent as these four episodes are, the DVD transfer isn't terribly good. The picture jumps at each cut, but this calms down and isn't really noticeable, so don't let that put you off buying this DVD because by episode eight it's totally gone. The picture quality and sound are great though. Yes, the extras are rubbish but it should be the episode you're buying this for.

A most worthwhile purchase all in all. Neon Genesis Evangelion Collection 1 is definately recommended.

Well for a start episodes 1 - 4 of the excellent series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Specifically "Angel Attack", "The Beast", "A transfer" and "Hedgehog's Dilemma".

The series can be summed up as "young boy must use big robot to destroy big aliens". However this is really really unfair. Big robots fighting each other does play a part in the same way war plays a part in a film like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. Yes its there and plays a part but it is only a fraction of the story. The episodes on the disk are character driven focusing around Shinji Ikari, the main character.

The video can only be viewed in 4:3 i.e. not wide screen and the soundtracks are Dolby Digital Stereo only so no surround sound. However since this was originally a T.V. show this is understandable but I would have preferred the option of surround sound. You do get a choice of soundtrack though either English, Spanish or Japanese. There are optional English subtitles.

The episodes themselves serve as a nice introduction to the series with almost all the main characters introduced and some of the major plot themes started. If you are unfamiliar with the series its helpful to see these early episodes as the plot does get quite sophisticated later on. If you are familiar with the story then you might skip this one as a lot of introductions happen however there is a lot of other things going on that make it worthwhile if you have not seen it.

All the episodes on the disk are nicely drawn and the voice acting, in English, is good and gets better.

The disk also contains a few extras. A sort of postcard with an advert on the back is included in the box. On the disk there is character bios section with 6 entries. A bunch of trailers for "Sin : The Movie", "Samurai X", "Gasaraki" and "Martian Successor Nadesico". It also includes the opening and closing credits without subtitles. Once you have flicked though theses once you probably will never look at them again.

On the whole I give Evangelion 5 stars despite the poor extras and limited video an audio. If you have a home cinema setup you might want to take off a star for this but what you do get is great and more than makes up for these minor niggles.

These opening episodes introduce usa to the world of EVA. The story is set in the year 2015AD. Mankind is under threat from the Angels, mammoth creatures posessing both incredible combat power and impenetrable defences. They can only be stopped by the Evangelions massive weapons that must be piloted by young children. In these opening episodes we are introduced to Shinji Ikari, the young pilot of EVA Unit-1, as he is foced into his first battle with an Angel.

These first episodes are much lighter in tone than the rest of the series as there are comic moments in the second and third episodes.

To the people who have never seen anime I say this, Buy It Now! You will not regret this decision.