Neon Genesis Evangelion Highly recommended

Publisher
ADV
Director
Hideaki Anno
Production
GAINAX, NAS, TV Tokyo
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
1995

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Collection 0:4

By John Huxley
20th May 04

The plot thickens as we reach the halfway point of this landmark series.

Opening with a flashback to Misato's troubled past, we finally learn why she harbours a personal hatred of the Angels. Later, in the same episode, Shinji and the other evangelion pilots are rewarded for their brave actions during yet another defence of Tokyo-3. The praise from Gendo is particularly satisfying for Shinji as he so rarely gets any attention, especially praise, from his stoney-faced father.

The next Angel attacks NERV headquarters directly, infecting the all-important MAGI computers as if it were a virus. Thankfully Ritsuko, NERV's resident computer whizz, is on hand to prevent a total system shut-down. As she attempts to defeat the Angel, Ritsuko reveals the MAGI's secrets and their connection to her mother, Dr. Akagi.

The final episode on this disc is a recap of events so far. After a summary of all the Angel attacks from the beginning of the series up to the latest attacks on NERV headquarters itself, Shinji and Rei swap evangelions for training purposes. Everything is moving along nicely until Shinji loses control of Unit 00, and the frenzied mecha launches an attack on its masters: Ritsuko, Misato and Rei.

Three episodes full of flashbacks an revelations. They're hardly comparable to the devastating revelations to come, yet they do offer some explanation to a few of the show's less important mysteries. Primarily, you'll find out a little about Misato and Ritsuko's past and what motivates them to be who they are, at the top of their profession. These side stories are no substitute for the central Shinji/Rei story, but they are entertaining asides that lay some important foundations for future events.

The final episode, a dreaded recap episode is typical of this well-worn anime tradition. Unless you've missed a few episodes somewhere down the line, this recap won't hold much in the way of excitement for you. The only thing holding back the temptation of pressing the fast-forward button is the promise of a some new scenes. Sure enough, there are a few new scenes towards the end of the episode, but even these reuse animation from earlier episodes with new voice-overs. A poor way to end the disc.

The only saving grace of the recap episode is the excellent presentation. This is true of Evangelion as a whole, especially the latter half of the series. Normally I wouldn't regard presentation as an important factor; the quality of the animation and artwork alone is usually enough give a series visual appeal. Evangelion, however, treats us to some unusual presentation with bold, black-on-white captions and split-second editing. It reminded me of the scenes in Akira where Tetsuo is first beginning to feel the effects of his newfound powers and struggles to control his own mind, which is represented onscreen by a series of quick-fire images and horrific hallucinations. Nothing so gruesome ever appears in Evangelion (arguably not the case), though the effect is very similar on several occasions with added use of text. All very graphic design and all very alluring.

Despite the shift of focus from the main protagonists to secondary characters, this remains one of the finest examples of animation available today. I would have liked to see a more imaginative recap episode (check out Martian Successor Nadesico for the best recap yet) which does leave something of a sour taste in your mouth. Still, it's nothing too detrimental and I'm sure it won't deter Evangelion fans from buying this volume to sit right alongside volumes three and five.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English, Spanish and Japanese audio, English subtitles, character bios, clean open/close, ADV previews

Release information: UK release date: 21st July 2003, ADV

Notes: Really, don't go expecting a sudden improvement over the previous three discs. This is much the same, with decent picture and audio quality and very few features to speak of. It's disappointing that more couldn't be made of one of the greatest anime series ever.

-- John Huxley 20th May 04

Neon Genesis Evangelion Images