Evangelion 0.1: You Are (Not) Alone

Posted by tsubaki | Filed under Anime, Movie

I know this blog is as dusty and dead as hell, but if you’re still reading, here’s finally a post. I watched Evangelion 0.1 today and was mighty blown away. Now before I start talking about the film, let me talk about the crowd there. For a Monday 7.15pm show, the theater was rather packed. I occupied the best seats (B8) so I didn’t have to worry about people standing up during a Rei scene (I hear it’s becoming a meme). Most of the people I observed were either:

1. Couples
I kid you not. There was a serious number of couples in the theater, and I supposed these are the otakus that leveled up. There were a few couples dressed in office attire, obviously catching the show after knocking off from work and they look perfectly normal. Until when you realized the dude was banging his chest when Rei appears. Oh, and I swore his partner wet herself when Kaoru appear (HE’S TOO EARLY DAMNIT)

2. Otaku Groups
The typical expected crowd. I was lucky these groups were the tamer ones, as compared to groups like these and these. Nobody screamed MOE when Rei appeared or anything, but they did let out a big “WTF” when we all realized the trailer from 2.0 was cut from the movie. To be more accurate, they only said “What the…” while I continued the “FUCK” for them. They all turned and face the projectionist and you could see the fire burning in their eyes.

3. Lone Rangers
Not surprising, but there were quite a lot of solo watchers. I used to think that watching movies alone = pathetic, but lately, trying to get people to watch the films I want to watch becomes harder as my tastes are more sophisticated and thus I’ve also joined the Lone Ranger sect. But I watched it with my brother today, so hah! I’m not in this group.

4. Ang Moh with SPG
Probably here for just some albino mammaries.

And now, to the film itself. I’ve watched the original TV series thrice in my whole life, but sadly have not watched the two movies (Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion). Yet I consider myself a fan of the EVA series. I love Evangelion. I’m not sure whether it’s because I love my stash of Rei doujinshis more, but that’s debatable. I kid.

Generally as a whole, the film does not disappoint. It does a good job retelling the first six episodes of the series, with some changes which does not bother me (as long as they leave the legendary scenes inside, ie: Rei’s bedroom malfunction with Shinji). Shinji this time is less painful to watch, instead of stabbing myself with a fork whenever he goes into his state of angst, I sympathize with him and feel that they have done certainly added more depth to his character. You could read into his psychological scars and the complexities that exist within him even though much of the angst has been stripped down.

When the EVA 01 was launched for the first time in the movie, I shed manly tears.

Not because it was a moving scene or anything, but it was tears of happiness, as though I was reunited with a missing one after so many years. Experiencing Evangelion once again, in a theater environment and proper surround sound (ZOMFG DOLBY!) was like meeting the Pope. I’m also a sucker for shows with a long line of chain of command where everyone is simply calling out their urgent reports from their stations to, despite already pushing 40, a hot Misato Katsuragi.

Rei was awesome win, and when she spoke I realized SHNY’s Nagato Yuki was inferior. Bah, all of this lousy Rei clones. But there just wasn’t enough of her. When Asuka joins the fray in the next installment, Rei’s going to shafted even further. =(

However with all of that said, what I wasn’t impressive was the level of animation. While it’s awesome compared to the original series, it still pales behind the level of what Kyoto Animation or Studio Ghibli produces. That’s what happens when you outsource too much. WHERE’S THE NIPPON PRIDE? EVA BELONGS TO JAPAN, AND HAS TO BE DRAWN BY JAPANESE HANDS, NOT VIETS OR THAIS! (No offense to my fellow viets and thais, I love Vietnamese pho bo and Thailand’s bang cocks.)

And I think I know why the 2.0 trailer was cut from the film. I bet Cathy was just chancing with 0.1 to see the response to it. Despite minimal advertising, I bet it’s doing better than that The Leap Years (a local film). Correct me if I’m wrong, but Cathy brought in NANA but not NANA2 and also brought in the 2nd Umizaru movie but not the first. So with such a track record, I won’t be surprise if they didn’t bring the rest in. But hopefully, with the strong otaku dollar, Cathy will bring in 2.0 and the rest.

Lastly before I end, I must talk about the music. Utada Hikaru’s Beautiful World, is the perfect song to the Rebuild of Evangelion series. I had it on my PSP for months and I never got bored of it. It sticks to me because it truely encompasses the spirit of Evangelion. While I always thought 残酷な天使のテーゼ [Zankoku na Tenshi no Te-ze (Thesis of a Cruel Angel)] could never be replaced, Beautiful World actually steals the crown from it.

And that pretty much sums up my rather fragmented entry. I apologize, I haven been writing a lot of articles. Lack of practice.