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"Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum 03" continues to show why the "Platinum Edition" is the only version of Evangelion you need.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion

Platinum: 03

Review by Matthew Anderson

26 Episode TV Series

Company: ADVision

Running Time: 100 minutes (4 Episodes)

Region: 1

Rating:PG-13 (Language and Violence)

EXTERNAL EXAM

In the year 2000, an event called the Second Impact, 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. Using an unknown technology, these gigantic robots are the only thing that can combat this new threat.

Angels are not the only problem that the members of Nerv must fight. An attack of a human nature pushes their abilities to the limits. When an angel attacks during the resulting chaos, all of NERV must work together to perform a manual launch of the Evangelions.

More human drama occurs when a newly promoted Misato has to not only stop an attacking angel, but deal with her unresolved feelings about her father. She comes up with yet another risky plan, but because of her desire for revenge, this operation may get her team killed.

Once again, the members of NERV must work together to stop an angel attack on the MAGI computer system. It's up to Ritsuko and her team of computer programmers to fight this new angel before all of NERV HQ is destroyed.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The DVD quality is excellent. On all three of our video systems, there was nary a pixel, color bleed, or wrinkle to be found. On our Samsung, I magnified it X4, and it still was flawless. The colors are stronger and you can see some of the little details that were missing on the original DVD release. Never has Evangelion looked this good, not even on Laser Disc!

AUDIO: Just like the improved video, the audio has been amped up as well. Both the Japanese and English 5.1 audio tracks are superb. Both have a full bodied sound, with splendid directionality. You feel like you are actually in the EVA, it's so good.

The audio commentary on episodes eleven and thirteen is pretty typical. The speakers are in the foreground, while the show barely eaks out from the back speakers.

EDITS: The Opening and closing themes use the "clean" versions, replacing the Japanese titles with English. Other than that, every single edit made in the original ADV DVD release has been restored. The original Japanese episode titles are back. The crappy overlays are gone. The original music for the next episode segment is back. In fact, in a reverse edit, they have re-recorded the "Next Episode" segments. Even Hideaki Anno's name has been restored to the opening animation.

Some additional dialogue on both versions have been added in.

EXTRAS: They are getting even better! We have the standard clean open and close, along with audio commentary by Tiffany Grant (Asuka) and Matt Greenfield on episode 11 and commentary with Matt Greenfield and Wade Shemwell, supervisor of the English 5.1 mix. Rounding off the disc is a brief English Remix feature. The booklet inside is chock full of interesting facts about the series, as well as angel info.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: One of the best written series of all time. Credit is due largely to series creator and director Hediaki Anno and his group of script writers. This series is hard core science fiction and tackles a wide range of topics. From nerve wracking fights, to X-Files paranoia, this series will keep you riveted to your seat.

ACTING: The English dub is absolutely wonderful. Every voice fits each character. They are distinctive, and easy to tell who is who. Amanda Winn is perfect as Rei Ayanami. She does a fantastic job at keeping the low, quite tone that is her character. Cheers for Spike Spencer for his awesome Shinji!

Every voice fits each character. They are distinctive, and easy to tell who is who. I absolutely love the team of Spike Spencer (Shinji), Joe Pisano (Toji) and Kurt Stoll (Kensuke), or the Three Stooges as they are called in the English dub. Their voices are perfectly matched with the characters, and they interact well with each other. When you throw Tiffany Grant into the mix, get ready to hold your sides laughing. Also, the supporting cast really gets a chance to shine in episode 13.

The Japanese cast is nothing to dismiss either. Since this is how we saw the series the first time around, they still can pack a wallop. It's a stitch hearing fan favorite Megumi Hayashibara, playing the very demure and quite Rei Ayanami. Well known for her "wild women" work in "Cowboy Bebop" and "Lost Universe" this series shows exactly why she is a fantastic voice actress.

FAN SERVICE: A fairly decent amount. We get some partial shots of Misato's breasts while you watch her put on her bra. You also get the titillation factor during episode 13 where Shinji, Asuka and Rei have to sit naked in their entry plugs during some tests. You also get to see the hot little Ritsuko Akagi in shots that almost, but not quite show her panties.

FINAL EXAM

When Evangelion hit the scene in both Japan and the U.S., it was the re-birth of the giant robot genre. Taking the standard plot devices of the brave hero, philanthropic father figure, and sexy assistant, Evangelion added a dysfunctional twist. The hero was not brave, the father was a jerk, and the sexy assistant had her own demons to exorcise. This tale of complex human emotion, combined with hard hitting robot combat, guaranteed it's place in the anime history books.

Familial relationships is the unofficial theme of this volume. Both Shinji and Misato have father issues, mostly because their parents were so busy with their work, they had no time for them. Misato's father was a week willed man, whose only act of "manhood" was ensuring that Misato escaped the Second Impact. For the most part, she hated him, yet she was there with him right before he died. Shinji, as we already know, was pushed away by Gendo, and is treated as a mere annoyance. When Shinji manages to save the day in episode 12, his father bestows upon the young boy his first words of praise. It's obvious that Shinji hopes that by doing what his father wants, it will be good enough to mend the rift . It won't, but don't begrudge him his hope.

Episode 11 is the tail end of what we at DVJ call the "Asuka Strikes" story arc. Starting off with an "attack" of NERV's power supply, the three children are unable to reach NERV headquarters. Askua once again tries to show her dominance by leading the way. Naturally, Rei is truly the competent one, but Asuka is so convinced that Rei wants to get ahead, she challenges her all the way. Yet, Asuka does have some good points, and tactical planning is one of them. The ending is the perfect end of her own personal story arc.

This volume also brings most of the secondary cast to the forefront. Episode 12 is a Misato episode, focusing on her issues, and her personal vendetta against the angles. With episode 13, Ritsuko, Maya, and the NERV command staff wind up being the heroes, while the Eva pilots are out of commission. Not since "War Games" has a story about computer hacking been so intense.

Part of the reason why episode 13 works so well is the outstanding voice work of Jason Lee, Brian Granveldt, and Kendra Benham as Aoba, Kyuga, and Maya. The intensity and the importance of the angel computer attack is heightened because they really sound panicked. When Brian Granveld yells "We can't shut it down!" I could feel the terror! Add in the new 5.1 audio mix, and the powerful musical score, and you have the best episode of the entire series!

Episode 14, the mid point of the series, is the traditional flash back episode. Forget what you know about these type of episodes, this version is nothing like anything you have seen before. Presented a first as a series of reports, it then takes a turn to deep introspection, then jumps to the middle of the episode. Episode 14 will require some attention.

More back story continues to trickle in. We do get to see the Second Impact, through Misato's eyes. With us being with her at ground zero, you understand why the government covered it up.

The Magi and its relationship with Ritsuko is also explored. Reminding us of the works of Isaac Asimov, the Magi contains the brain of Ritsuko's dead mother, whose "personality" is very much a part of it's operating system.

The writers have also started to reveal the true nature of Seele and the Human Instrumentality Project. We discover that Gendo and his vice commander , Fuyutsuki, have their own plan for NERV and the Angles while at the same time, pretending to work for Seele. Despite Gendo's superior position, you wonder if the game he is playing is truly that easy.

The transfer is gorgeous. Better than VHS! Better than Laser Disc! Better than any DVD that came before it. The colors are bright, not washed out at all. The details are fine, with no noticeable edge enhancement. There are no pixels or artifacts that were noticeable. The picture is a little darker than the original release, but it helps add to the dire tone of the series. I really need to get a plasma screen TV so I can really experience the beauty of this transfer.

The audio is also fantastic. Both the English and Japanese 5.1 will knock you to the back of the room. Considering that these are the same audio tracks from the original 2.0 versions mixed with new audio tracks, you have to give the recording engineers credit for all their hard work.

My favorite extra continues to be the audio commentary. Hearing Tiffany Grant and Matt Greenfield banter on like husband and wife (because they are) is funny as hell. The commentary between Matt Greenfield and Wade Shemwell is informative, but a little dry. If you think doing the audio on a DVD is easy, wait until you hear these guys.

"Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum 03" continues to show why the "Platinum Edition" is the only version of Evangelion you need. Thanks to the sublime writing, outstanding voice acting, and technical presentation, it doesn't get any better than this.

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