Reviews for Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Jo (7.54) 2z1p6r

Compilation/Alternative Version Review
This material is a movie/OVA compilation or alternative version of an original work that was previously aired in TV format. The review will only comment on the differences between those works, therefore those who want a full analysis of the show must read the original review before this. I won't be reducing the scores solely because the work is a retelling, my scores will reflect the work as a standalone as far as I can.

Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Jo (Evangelion 1.11) presents itself as an Evangelion Rebuild as shown in the first seconds of the movie. It's the first of a tetraology of movies that will try to reinvent the original show, one of the best works of japanese animation of all time regardless you like it or not. The original Evangelion (NGE) brought a new way of presenting animes, giving the audience a grand debate inside the character's mind as well as showing giant mechas fighting giant monsters in a semi-futuristic Tokyo like most shows did back then. It also brought to screen references to real-life elements like psychology, religion, bits of politic, and others that weren't used until then. It was a groundbreaking show that created a love-hate between fans that even today generates lots of debates.

For those who don't know, NGE is a tale about humanity facing its final threat in the hand of divine-like beings called "angels". After a catasthrophic event in the south pole, mankind started to act to prevent their doom. Their most powerful weapons and the only mean to survive are the Evangelion units, giant human-like creatures piloted by teenagers to face the angels. Behind the scenes there is far more than just a fight for survival, as NERV and SEELE play their cards to take the world in the direction they want to. Anyway, read my original review to more details on everything else. I'll be only commenting the differences from now.

Differences
So, Anno Hideaki and the guys behind Studio Kara managed a superb feat to reassemble the original cast 14 years after NGE was released. What we have here in this movie is about one-fourth of the TV series, going from the initial events to the cube-shaped angel. Mostly we'll see the very same string of episodes, without a bit of unimportant scenes and a few other changes.

1. Production Values
   NGE was a behemoth back in 1995. Gainax put so much effort in making it nicely animated and detailed, as well as giving a quite unique touch in the artstyle that even today that show manages to keep up with the rest of the competition. Evangelion 1.11 does a great job in maintaining the original style, from character to mecha designs, and enhances everything a lot. Studio Kara give us freshly animated Eva units with fluid motion, more frames per second, lots of nicely merged CG elements like airships, trains, the Geofront interior, etc. Sadly, most of the non-combat scenes simply look like a HD version of the original TV series, meaning we have sharp visuals, but the animation is quite static for today's standard, especially for a movie.
   
   The Cast
   One of the most important things here is how the show managed to keep the same voice-actors for the vast majority of its cast. This means we still have one of the best works in voice-acting and also means we have a very powerful nostalgic value attached to the movie. To further make things better for old fans, many background themes remain the same, so you can expect a great work here too. It's amazing how these classic elements managed to keep the show fresh and make it look new while still leaving a good nostagic value.
   
   Enhancing the Combat
   NGE's start was not that exciting. It was the show worst part after the bizarre normal ending. We had lots of characters, many daily-life episodes to develop Shinji's problem, tons of and backdrop story thrown at you. It was confusing in the sidelines and very simple in the narrative: Shinji walks around town/school, angel appears, he gets in and kick their butts. So, how could they manage to make this first movie better than the first part? The answer Studio Kara found was making the scenes with the angels something more exciting to the eyes. What we have here are redesigned angels and combats that aren't different from the original work, but are certainly absurdly more beautifully and dramatically animated. The cube-shaped angel received more care to be worth of a ending sequence to this movie. So those who like action may find this more pleasant than the original first episodes.
   
   The Good/The Bad
   Evangelion 1.11 offers no new scenes. It's basically a compilation of the first 6 episodes from NGE using top-quality animation and new CG elements. That alone is superb and the show is still definetely awesome. But that takes us to two very different conclusions: first, those who were expecting just a reanimated version of the show will be thrilled and enjoy the show greatly; second, those who expected a different plotline from the start (or those who hated the original) will be disappointed to see the same things as NGE again.
   

Comments
When I first watched this movie I was quite amazed with the quality, but was disapointed because it didn't brought any differences in the plotline from the original. Lots of other fans also shared this complain and many even threw rocks on the show because of it. But hell, it was still Evangelion and one of the best things we have in the animation world. I kept my movies around to watch again and was eager to see the next ones.

So I've rewatched the first movie two more times, both times not expecting something new. And well, that makes much of a difference. The top-quality animation in combat, the classic sound direction, voice-acting, new CG elements, and the high definition visuals of everything is simply the ultimate experience of the first quarter of NGE. Watching it expecting something different can harm the experience, but if you know it's just NGE again than this can certainly live up to the classic show.

Fans of NGE can certainly give this a shot. And be warned that from the second movie onward the plot takes a very different sequence. For NGE haters, you may try to watch this in order to keep up with the changes that are coming in the next movies, but I doubt it'll change your minds.

Average Scores of the Movies