Evangelion: 1.01 You Are [Not] Alone

Customer Reviews:

New graphics for parts, a tighter storyline, expanded in some areas. Worthy of purchasing? Maybe, if you're interested in seeing Evangelion get a new
lick of paint but (at least so far) not diverging from the original too much. Evangelion 1.01 brings together the first six episodes into a 90-minute
feature-length film. For me, Evangelion was the first major purchase of an anime series in the 90s (on VHS, dubbed) mostly from Michael at the Cartoon
Gallery when he was at QVB and imported to New Zealand . Seeing this version brought back a lot of memories about what was good about it in the first
instance: a "weak" main protagonist drawn in reluctantly - and not portraying himself as a hero. Plenty of conspiracy theories, religious
symbolism, a super-governmental organisation with giant robots. Must also mention the eye-candy from the female cast - not over-the-top, but mostly
attractive. The best way I can describe this release is similar to the Star Wars "Special Edition" releases where the story is more-or-less
maintained and the graphics/settings get a spruce-up; or maybe the distinctions between Escaflowne TV Series and the Escaflowne Movie (for an anime
context). That, essentially, sums up pretty much what I got out of Volume 1.01. The new footage in this release remains faithful to the original and
slots in seamlessly. The use of CGI in rendering the angels and Eva 01 gives a whole new look and feel (and menace) while not distracting the viewer
from the original designs. The most obvious change is the 6th angel (shown as an octahedron) is rendered with a changeable shape. This release comes
out with a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack for both Japanese and English audio tracks and good use of the surround channels is made for directionality in
various situations. No extras, other than Madman trailers, are provided on this disc (which is a pity as seeing a "making-of" would have
been good). Maybe those will come out in a future release. Did I get anything new or wildly interesting out of this version? Not really, but it's
early days yet. The next volume shows promise with Asuka coming onto the scene as well as other new characters. Can I recommend this to others? Yes,
as an interesting yet faithful re-telling of the Evangelion storyline. For those who have already seen Evangelion, your mileage will vary; while those
who haven't yet seen it, you may get some insight into why people have long been raving about this series.