meteordust: (Default)
I didn't get the big deal about Netflix acquiring Neon Genesis Evangelion, until the articles pointed out that it's been out of distribution since ADV went under. That surprised me. It's a classic. And for ages no one could see it? So I guess it's about time. It's been (literally) 20 years since it first aired. And now it can be discovered by (literally) a new generation.

(The cataclysmic event in the backstory is Second Impact in 2000. The present day of the story is 2015. It must have seemed like forever away when the show started in 1995.)

It's been fascinating to read other reactions online. One forum commenter said, "It's the most pretentious and overhyped anime I've ever seen." I laughed, because the thing is, they're not wrong. It's just that, being pretentious and overhyped doesn't stop it from being awesome.

(The thing is, I don't think it has aged badly? What I mean is, its flaws today - fanservicey, indulgent, inexplicable - were flaws we complained about back then. It hasn't gotten suddenly worse in retrospect.)

And the music! One of my favourite anime soundtracks of all time. Pulse pounding, adrenalin spiking, and occasionally wistful. I still get shivers when I hear those opening notes to "Cruel Angel's Thesis". And to this day, "Ode to Joy" makes me think of Evangelion. The music takes me right back across the years, to that hushed theatre, everyone riveted to the screen, not knowing what would unfold. Enthralled by what did.
meteordust: (Default)
It's been over ten years since I first saw Eva, and it blew me away, like it did many other people. And now Gainax is retelling it - for the nth time - for a new audience.

So a couple of days back I went to see Evangelion 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone at the Japanese Film Festival, along with [livejournal.com profile] leenabeans, [livejournal.com profile] hopexd, [livejournal.com profile] kawak, Sempai and friend. It was weird to settle back in the cinema and realise that this was how I first saw Eva too - not on TV, but huge on the screen of a darkened theatre, surrounded by countless other fans.

And how was this new incarnation?

I liked it. I'd recommend it, to both old fans and new viewers. (Unless you didn't like Eva the first time around. In which case, there's nothing to change your mind.) The plot is largely the same, but effectively streamlined, with enough new material added to make it worth seeing. All the drama and comedy of the original series, and the character moments interspersed with the action sequences, and Shinji reminding us why he got a rep for being whiny ("I must not run away. I must not run away."), and the full bloody primal fury of an Eva unleashed. And the music, damn, it still gets me right there, each track triggering a memory. And the animation is all bright and shiny with the last decade of advances and a budget that hopefully ensures the last movie won't be some random photomontage again.

I couldn't help laughing at the appearance of [spoiler] at the end of the movie, because way to go Gainax, that's not opportunistic fanservice at all. But I am looking forward to the next few movies, [spoiler] or not, and to see where this path takes us.
meteordust: (Default)
Heads up, it's on again, in a couple of the Australian capital cities:

http://12thjff.jpf-sydney.org/

The one movie I definitely want to see is:

Evangelion 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone
Tuesday 9 December 2008, 6:00 PM
Greater Union, George Street, Sydney


Anyone else interested? If so, please let me know. I'll be buying tickets on Monday.

(Note: The movie is described in the brochure as "the first installment in a planned quadrilogy". ARGH! QUADRILOGY IS NOT A #&@% WORD!)

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