Apr 9, 2020
Bear in mind this is only my second review and the first one was for an anime about samurai reincarnated as dogs, therefore I don't have much experience, so I apologise if it is not excellent.
Context: I have watched the whole of the original series and the End of Evangelion, this review is being written after my first impression.
Differences to the original series:
This is the first time I have watched something Evangelion related in almost half a year, And whilst Having enjoyed the movie I still prefer the original series. This is supposedly a series that portrays an alternate timeline to both those of
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the 1995 series and The End of Evangelion. The start of the movie is more or less a shot-for-shot version of the first few episodes of the OG series but with a far greater animation budget, however ends up slowly diverging away and going in perhaps a more different direction, whilst the ending of this one is mostly faithful to the original series, it has some key differences that will probably be important in the later movies.
Characters: somehow the characters don't feel the same, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Shinji is less of an edgy little emo prick and instead comes across as someone who is clearly held back by there fears of (particularly of failing others as well as his perspective of the world. This ties into the theme of the world around completely changing based on perspective, that is explored in-depth in the original series, especially during the finale.
Rei has up until this movie been a more or less bland character (partly due to plot-based reasons). I personally enjoyed the fact that Shinji's relationship with her is explored more in-depth than the original. Towards the end, Shinji learns that she is actually going through a similar negative thought process. This is just speculation, but in the original series Rei was quite a cold character, perhaps this process will lead both of them into further understanding the nature of empathy.
Misato is my favourite character from the original, being fun at times yet stern at others. Being my favourite I could not help but dislike the changes. Misato quickly becomes far more authoritative and harsh throughout the duration of the film and turns from the big sister type dynamic from the original into more of a Strict teacher one. This obviously has a particular effect on Shinji.
Pen-Pen, the cute penguin mascot from the original series is back, he appears in one scene and then buggers off into the abyss never to be seen in this movie again. The only reason he appears is as a call back to the original. It would honestly annoy me less if he wasn't in the film, because he contributes quite literally nothing original, and is very clearly not a vital character at all. It would probably be a better idea to cut him out of the film, as it would probably suit the darker more cinematic tone anyway. I really hope these movies don't turn him into a Jar Jar Binks type character, as that is honestly the last thing this franchise needs.
Both Kaworu and Asuka are teased for the sequel.
The art and animation quality is amazing, well of course it is, this is a cinematic reboot of one of the most successful anime of all time, it would be a travesty if it wasn't, 10 for the art, 'Nuff said.
Overall this movie suffers mostly from being excessively unoriginal, being an almost shot by shot remake of the first few eps of the original, but I cannot really say this is the movie's fault, but more of the fault of the parallel timeline format itself.
Overall I gave it an 8, however, would recommend waiting at least 4 months after watching the original to watch this movie
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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