Neon Genesis Evangelion

Directors' Cut: Resurrection

Review by Matthew Anderson

26 Episode TV Series

Company: ADVision

Running Time: 150 (6 episodes)

Region: 1

Rating:PG-13 (Language and Violence)

EXTERNAL EXAM

In the year 2000, a meteor crashes into the Antarctic. Called the Second Impact, this causes massive flooding and environmental disasters all across the globe. In the resulting chaos, a new United Nations was formed, under the auspices of a group called Seele. Using information from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Seele knows that strange creatures called Angels are coming. According to the scrolls, if the angels succeed in their mission, the Earth will be destroyed.

Fifteen years later, the organization known as NERV has been created. It's purpose is to defeat the Angels by any means necessary.

Their leader, Gendo Ikari, has assembled some of the finest scientific and military minds to work on creating and maintaining the Evangelions, gigantic robots created with unknown technology to combat this new threat.

Commander Fuyutsuki has been kidnapped. While NERV believes that Kaji is the abductor, it is actually Seele. They want an accounting of past events, with out Gendo's input. Forced to remember the past, Fuyutsuki tells the story about how NERV was formed. Misato and Ritsuko also reflect about their involvement.

After Fuyutsuki's return two more angels attack. One goes for Asuka, with a psychic attack. It brings forth her repressed memories about her mothers death, and her inability to surpass Shinji. The other attacks Rei, forcing her to make a fateful decision.

Sinji is now the only one left who can stop the angels.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Frankly, I was expecting more. I figured with this release, they would have improved the quality of the video, brighten the colors, and clear up some of the left over film grain. Alas, it's exactly the same as the original ADV release of Collection 0:7. Not that it's bad mind you. It's just not what I was hoping for.

AUDIO: The English is a very good mix of the voice actors, music, and background noise for the most part. There are times when the music blasts out and overpowers the voices, but it is manageable with some equalization adjustments.

Japanese: Since it was a TV series, the sound is the same as the laser disc, only quieter. No real surround sound elements. The voices were always low in the Japanese version, so no real surprise there. This is as close to the broadcast version as you will get, so you anime purists will be happy.

EDITS: The Opening and closing themes use the "clean" versions and so replace the Japanese titles with English.

On the original release, the episode titles have been removed and replaced with English as have any flashes of Japanese on black screens. Only when the Japanese is on animated portions, are the titles left on. Some of the eye catches have also been altered. Also, on the English version, the background music for the "Next Episode" segment is different from the Japanese version. For the "directors" cut, all of these edits have been restored.

With the "Directors' Cut" episodes on this disc, they go more in-depth on Fuyutsuki's interrogation. They also cover what he did during the years after the second impact, and redo the battle between Rei and the 16th angel.

EXTRAS: Interesting, if not plentiful. We have the clean open and close which is typical for most DVD releases. Noticeably missing are the character/angel data files.

To make up for it, they have given us a 20 minute special interview with Ben Wootten and Richard Taylor of WETA workshop, the people who are working on the design for the live action Evangelion movie.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: One of the best written series of all time. Credit is due largely to series creator and director Hediaki Anno (who also worked on the movie) and his group of script writers. This series is hard core science fiction. The scripts tackle a wide range of topics, and they pull no punches. From nerve wracking fights, to X-Files paranoia, this series will keep you riveted to your seat.

ACTING: Peoples opinion about the voice acting varies. The hard-core "sub or die" folks will say that Japanese is the only way to watch this series. Some say that the English dub is better than the Japanese language version. As you may know, I found the English dub was quite good. Yet, don't discount the Japanese cast. They pack quite an emotional punch into their reading. This one will truly depend on what you prefer, sub or dub.

The English Dub on the directors cut has been completely redone. Unfortunately, some of the English cast has been replaced, most noticeably the voice actor for Gendo Ikari. Fortunately, the dub is still excellent, unlike the dub for the Evangelion movies.

FAN SERVICE: I don't know about you, but I would consider a the release of a "Directors' Cut" fan service a plenty. You also have a nice butt shot of Ritsuko and one of Askua as well.

FINAL EXAM

Like many, I became an instant fan of Evangelion. Its intensity, mind bending plots, and willingness to take chances made it easy to embrace. Being such a big fan, I borrowed the Japanese laser disc release of Evangelion from a friend . Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the last few episodes of Evangelion had been redone! To make things even more interesting, the laserdisc included the "End of Evangelion" movie broken up on two discs, with their own "next episode" segments.

Yet, when ADV released the series in the United States, they did not include directors cut. While I was disappointed, I figured that the deal with the license holder prevented ADV from doing so. Now, ADV has done us fans right by giving us the "holy grail" of Evangelion.

The Directors' Cuts was made to help fill in some of the narrative gaps that plagued the original broadcast version. You also get background and emotional details on Asuka, Fuyutsuki, Rei and even Kaiji. By exploring what makes them tick, it makes the traumatic events that happen to them carry more of an emotional impact.

Along with the extended episodes, you have new animation to go with it. My favorite bit of new animation is the big battle between Rei and the 13th angel. By upping the action, it really kicks ass and makes her last scene memorable.

I like that ADV included the original "broadcast" versions along with the "Director's Cut". Not forgetting the otaku, they allow us to see the differences between the two, with out having to switch discs. They go a step further by leaving the original Japanese text and eye catches alone for the Directors' Cut.

With all the press this Directors' Cut was given, I was expecting improvements in all areas. While the interview with the folks at WETA is cool, they didn't do anything to improve the video or audio. No 5.1 audio track, no cleaned up video to trumpet about. I suppose I'm being petty.

Let's talk about the interview with the WETA project team Ben Wootten and Richard Taylor. They cram quite a bit of information into this interview. There is a lot of pre-production artwork that shows you the over all style of this movie. Taking the original designs and updating them is no easy task, but they did it. From the EVA's, to the suits, to the angels, everything looks great. The only problem is that majority of the interview is two guys in a theater, talking. It can get a little boring watching this static view for almost 20 minutes. Nevertheless, the information contained here is very interesting, and gives you a tiny peek into a very exciting future. I think it's worth sitting through.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Directors' Cut: Resurrection is a worthy addition to your Evangelion collection. Finally, we get to see the end of Evangelion the way it was meant to be. Even if you have Collection 0:7, it's worth getting this one!

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