Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 – Random Thoughts (SPOILERS)

7Dec/0928

Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 – Random Thoughts (SPOILERS)

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EVA-01 and Lance of Longinus

Just saw the second part of Rebuild of Evangelion in the cinema yesterday.

If you ever had any negative impressions concerning how gloomy and pessimistic (as well as mindf*ckingly confusing) the original TV series was, you can throw that all away now.

For Anno Hideaki has kept true to his word and delivered a totally different and satisfying "reimagining" of the Evangelion story.

For starters, Shinji is actually less wimpy and more GAR. He seemed more in control of things than his pathetic TV counterpart ever could.

Rei is now showing more humanity and is assertive than before (arguably even more than Nagato Yuki, bar Yuki in Disappearance of course ).

And Asuka (now Shikinami Asuka Langley) is less angsty, making her less annoying and more likable.

And the new girl, Makinami Mari Illustrious, she's pretty much won over me now. (Being voiced by Sakamoto Maaya helped) Though her screentime was shorter than thought. Hopefully it'll increase next episode.

Pardon me on my random mumblings below as I try to recall what I just saw. Needless to say, IT'S FULL OF F*CKING SPOILERS.

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The story now focuses more on Shinji's issues with his old man. Most of the sideplots inevitably gets streamlined, but it certainly made the movie flow more smoothly as we're taken straight to the action.

Romantically, it's now leaning more on Shinji and Rei, Asuka may be jealous as usual, but is less b!tchy about it, and even made up with Rei before...

Ending up as the pilot of the Angel-corrupted Unit 03 instead of Toji. Anno decided to give that lucky b@stard a happy ending and have him reunited with his little sister out of hospital. So this time, it's Asuka getting her mindrape earlier than expected.

As with the TV series, Shinji refuses to fight, causing Gendo to use the "auto-pilot" like Dummy Plug to kill the Angel, with Asuka in it. (More on that below)

Later on, Mari infiltrates NERV and hijacks Unit 02 to fight the Angel with the insanely powerful AT-Fields. Rei joins in and, like in the TV series plans to do a suicide attack on it by shoving a N2 missile into it. The Angel is barely scratched, Mari gets knocked away despite her best efforts (but she still kicked @ss using the never before seen "Beast Mode") and Rei, along with Unit 00, gets EATEN, literally, by that Angel.

Next would come pure awesomeness, as Shinji snaps out of his sulking, goes back to Unit 01 (which refused to install the Dummy Plug system as it only recognizes Shinji as its pilot), and then goes into "Awakened Mode", which is just another word for "God-like pwnage" (not to be confused with "Berserk Mode", in which the pilot is out of control).

Shinji is very much in control here, and he even risks losing his humanity just to save Rei, trapped inside the Angel's core, and f*cking succeeds!

Of course, this ends up with the Angel turning into a giant Rei (as in End of Evangelion) and fusing with Unit 01, causing... THIRD IMPACT.

Credits roll. With Utada Hikaru's excellent acoustic remix of her theme song Beautiful World for the first movie playing.

Just when we thought, "Instrumentality ALREADY!?" Suddenly Unit 01 gets impaled by the Lance of Longinus, thrown by none other than Kaworu, in the never before seen EVA MARK 06. Saying "The time has come, Shinji-kun, I will give you true happiness."

OMFG! The entire cinema went berserk. (I suspect a few fangirls were screaming for entirely different reasons, if you know what I mean. :cool: )

At first, I thought that the image that I posted at the top was just some movie poster. Now it dawned on me that the friggin movie ending was staring at my face before I entered the bloody cinema.

Then came the preview for the next chapter: Evangelion 3.0: Q-Quickening, including a shot of:

Asuka still alive(?) with awesome eyepatch to boot.

The cinema erupted in applause.

Even my friend, who was only a casual watcher of the TV series ages ago, and so wasn't familiar with most of the stuff, thought this was a much better adaptation.

P.S. Best comedic scene goes to Pen Pen the penguin (together with the straw), for causing Asuka to go through what Shinji went through in the first movie. You'll get what I mean when you see it.

I now declare myself a "Born Again Evangelion-ist".

Needless to say, some basic knowledge of Evangelion is still needed before watching this, at the very least, watch Rebuild 1.0. Or else you'll most certainly end up like a blind nun in a fish market. (Whatever that meant, but I know this blogger that liked using these ridiculously nonsensical metaphors )

For you guys in North America and Europe, when the DVD comes out, GET IT. 8)

Posted by Kinny Riddle

Tagged as: big robots, Bricks Shat, Movies Leave a comment

Comments (28) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Di Gi Kazune
December 7th, 2009 - 22:04

I just think Gainax is milking it because they have run out of ideas. Must like how Star Trek got rebooted.
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phossil
December 8th, 2009 - 01:42

I think with the introduction of new characters and different presonalities this time was a good choice.
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Kinny Riddle
December 8th, 2009 - 03:13

Technically, it’s not Gainax anymore, at least not the main studio. The four Rebuild movies are now mainly produced by Studio Khara, another company Anno founded. (He left Gainax many moons ago for personal reasons. )

While I agree this is another shameless attempt by Anno to rob us of our cash, I find it quite condescending to have Evangelion compared with Star Trek. But that’s just me.

If he can remake something which fans find even more satisfying than the original, than that cash is gladly parted with.

It was speculated that the depressing outlook of the original series was based on Anno’s personal 4-year depression and his views on life. Though now, it seems that over 10 years of making quite a fortune on the series must have made Anno a much happier man, to compel him to want to give Shinji & Co a happy ending after all.

(Even George Orwell once said that if he weren’t so ill when writing 1984, the ending would have certainly been more optimistic. )
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- Di Gi Kazune
  December 10th, 2009 - 02:08
  
  @Kinny Riddle – @Kinny Riddle –
  
  Okay, comparison with Star Trek is condescending, though you have to admit, it IS a reboot of the franchise. This is more like… say Battlestar Galactica – The re-imagining. Or Batman – rebooted.
  
  The original stuff is what started my anisong addiction but not what captured my anime fandom (which incidentally is dying a horrible death for the past 2 years+). That honour goes to something else which did indeed result from webcrawler’ing EVANGELION.
  
  If people want to part with their cash for it is fine. Afterall it is their cash to do as they please. So all you fans out there, remember – don’t download it!
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  - Myssa Rei
    December 10th, 2009 - 05:12
    
    My order for the R1 English dub for Rebuild 1.0 pretty much arrived as expected, and the return of the English VAs pretty much sealed the deal for me (as it’s really the only way to get the rest of the family to watch too), so yeah, I’m willing to put down money for the subsequent iterations. My only real complaint with it is the fact that Funimation used 1.01, which was dark as heck.
    
    It’s pretty annoying that there’s not even a word on the DVD/BluRay releases for Rebuild 2.0.
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  - Kinny Riddle
    December 10th, 2009 - 05:30
    
    My “condescending” remark was meant as a jestful remark, not as a malicious retort. So I apologize for any misunderstanding.
    
    But seriously, you really have issues with reboots, don’t you? XD (Just kidding)
    
    Surely you must recognize that there’s good reboots and there’s bad reboots. And after watching Rebuild 2.0, I can say it’s heading for the “good” rating.
    
    As for DVDs, I’m waiting for all four parts to come out so I can get the boxset in one go. (Maybe I’ll even be patient and wait for Blu-Ray. )
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    - Di Gi Kazune
      December 10th, 2009 - 23:35
      
      I will wait for the fourth movie to watch the ending first, then make the decision
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Cokematic
December 8th, 2009 - 04:33

Hrmm.. while I was originally against the addition of Marie, she does kinda rub off on you (though they can never, ever, replace my Asuka). I actually kinda like it when Asuka was more of a bitch too, but that’s just me.

In therms of the movie itself, I don’t really think its milking like Di Gi is saying, since the original honestly didn’t feel complete to me. Of course I’m totally biased because the original Evangelion was what really pulled me into the Anime fandom, so 2.0 not only revitalized my love for the series, it totally re-energized my passion for anime.

How big was this movie for me? I watched it three times (twice w/ Eng subs and once with Canto subs that I can’t read) with plans to watch it one more time later this week….
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- Di Gi Kazune
  December 10th, 2009 - 02:17
  
  Yes Cokematic-jiji, your name rings out from fansubbing years past. It’s not you only that prefers Asuka to be more of a bitch. Her personality is the result of her traumatic life experiences.
  
  @shin – if we took away all your lolis and ranka and lolipr0n etc2 and instead replaced them with say, bishounen and shotas looking for your ass, wouldn’t you turn into a twisted and demented person like Asuka?
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Canne
December 8th, 2009 - 04:53

Revisiting Evangelion is always welcomed for me as long as it does not ruin the original series. As far as I’ve seen, this rebuilding seems to be doing great.
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NanoPulp
December 8th, 2009 - 23:20

Holy shit, I understood the metaphor. Very fitting one too.

Implying my soul is ruined.

щ(ﾟДﾟщ)(屮ﾟДﾟ)屮
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Myssa Rei
December 9th, 2009 - 10:45

I’m waiting for the DVD for Rebuild 2.0 to be released, though I’m hoping that it won’t be as GODDAWFULLY DARK as Rebuild 1.0, which forced me to buy the BluRay of 1.11.

That said, the Rebuild movies are an awesome addition to the franchise, and it indeed has had the positive effect of bringing back old fans. It didn’t feel like Studio Khara was milking it at all, really… It’s more like looking at the story with a newer — and more positive — perspective. Looking forward to Rebuild 3.0, then onward to the new ending in Rebuild 4.0!
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LDC
December 9th, 2009 - 14:47

@Di Gi Kazune – Fuck you. I hate you for a long time now.
though I agree Gainax is shitty.
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- Myssa Rei
  December 9th, 2009 - 16:12
  
  If you’re going to be angry (which I don’t see any reason for), then get things right. Studio Khara. It is GAINAX’s franchise though.
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- Di Gi Kazune
  December 10th, 2009 - 01:47
  
  Yes, give in to your anger and hate. Then your journey to the Dark Side will be complete!
  
  I stand corrected. Hideki Anno and Gainax wants to milk your cash just like Kadokawa. Let’s put it this way, is there any need to have seethrough buttplugs, I mean plugsuits apart from the fanservice factor? Why not have NO plugsuits and shaved heads instead which will increase the conductivity in LCL.
  
  FYI, I used to watch it religiously on SBS when it aired in the early 2000s. 25 & 26 supposedly ended up like that because some people exhausted their budget early on. Hence the movie with clarified things.
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Yi
December 9th, 2009 - 18:11

“For starters, Shinji is actually less wimpy and more GAR. He seemed more in control of things than his pathetic TV counterpart ever could.”

I was never a fan of Eva because of Shinji. Actually, I was not just not a fan; I hated the whole franchise because of him.
If 2.0 did indeed fix that terrible annoying personality of his, I will watch this.
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- Myssa Rei
  December 10th, 2009 - 05:07
  
  Do note Rebuild 2.0 is where the movies completely diverge from the timeline. While some stuff are still familiar enough for people who watched the TV series, on some levels it’s quite different.
  
  Rebuild’s Shinji is less of a wuss (and more emotionally stable), but it still took EVA-00 getting EATEN by Zeruel for him to man up completely.
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- Kinny Riddle
  December 10th, 2009 - 05:23
  
  Well, same here actually.
  
  I originally paid to watch just for the sake of the hype and the promise of a different ending, fully expecting Shinji to act the wimp that he is infamous for.
  
  So I was delightfully surprised Anno actually manned him up big time. (OK, he’s still many miles away from the GARness of many badass characters out there, but still, an improvement. )
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Myssa Rei
December 10th, 2009 - 05:16

26 supposedly ended up like that because some people exhausted their budget early on. Hence the movie with clarified things.

Do recall, two of the studio’s founders were actually charged with both fraud and tax evasion afterwards… And EoE was still done with Anno hip-deep in his depression, aggravated by the negative reaction to the TV series ending.
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Kinny Riddle
December 10th, 2009 - 05:39

BTW, just bought the OST to Rebuild 2.0, and just like it’s movie counterpart, the tracks just sounded even better. (I took the trouble to listening the the OST of Rebuild 1.0 back to back with 2.0 on my iPod just to compare. )

Two songs sung by Hayashibara Megumi (Rei) stands out. Both are very gentle lullabies, and when you think of the context of the movie when those songs were played, it forms a great contrast… I’ll not spoil anymore than I have in my post above.

The reason the credits theme song is an acoustic remix of Beautiful World (not that I’m complaining) was because Utada Hikaru had an illness just prior to recording any new song, and couldn’t make it in time for the deadline, so they had to make do with a remix for now. Hopefully it’ll be a brand new song next movie.
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- Myssa Rei
  December 10th, 2009 - 16:01
  
  Really? Lucky! I’ve been trying to get it for months, but for some reason it always seemed to be sold out. Even PalletWeb doesn’t have it (at least the last time I looked).
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Rakuen
December 10th, 2009 - 16:52

And I thought it’ll just be a plain remake, but how can I say that with Anno?!!!! It’s GAINAX goddamnit! I should’ve seen this coming. Anyway, I’ll try to watch Eva 1.0 and 2.0 later when I get home. Darn, my schedule’s a shitfest!
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- Myssa Rei
  December 11th, 2009 - 03:11
  
  I’d suggest Rebuild 1.11 if you’re planning on watching the first movie, as the initial DVD (1.00) was as dark as heck. Which is kind of sad, as Funimation’s English-dub release (with almost all of the original TV-series VAs back!) was based on it.
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Myssa Rei
December 11th, 2009 - 03:15

@Di Gi Kazune – You’d watch the ending first? Where’s the fun in that?

Not a knock at you, but you must have serious issues with GAINAX. :) Or maybe just burnt out from anime in general? Or did you take the Colony Drop review at face value? :D

Either way, it’s too negative a mindset. The Rebuild movies are fun, so forget the financial context behind them.
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- Di Gi Kazune
  December 11th, 2009 - 22:35
  
  Always read the summary first!
  
  Yes, let’s burn all the anime! An Anime BURNout fest! MWHAHAHAA!
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  - Myssa Rei
    December 12th, 2009 - 07:06
    
    Reminds me too much of the subset of Warhammer 40k critics who say they hate the tabletop game/universe but wait with baited breath for every release. It’s a paradox, I say.
    
    And summaries first? Where the heck is the fun in that? I… Well it’s your way of looking at things.
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Suzumiya Yuki 188.141.22.76
January 15th, 2010 - 12:43

Great stuff dude!

As for EVA, great to know how it all ends.

As an Asuka fan I was kinda pissed at the first poilers I read.

But these facts made be a re-borner as well!

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1. Eye patch Asuka = AWESOMNESS!
2. Asuka eats Rei?!!! I just came!

Again, great blog man!
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JesusMcAllah
June 10th, 2010 - 21:00

Just a thought

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Kaworu says “kondo koso (this time), i will bring you happiness” at the end. The use of “THIS TIME” is very strange. This is VERY STRANGE, as after rewatching this scene multiple times, i thought it could refer to the Instrumentality of the original series. As you all Know, Shinji enters his own world for the final 2 eps, and in that IT WOULD make sense that this rebuild is another world he is imagining where Kaworu hasn’t died and instrumentality isnt complete. In fact (i’m not sure) I remeber Kaworu saying how he will merge with lilith to make shinji happy in the original series.

If this were true, The Whole Rebuild of Evangelion could infact be a sequel!! Mind is blown.
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