So... Evangelion:01 You Are (Not) Alone has hit the internet in its full form. No subs yet, but come on - it's Evangelion. I give it 2 weeks at most before a rush sub hits the depths of internet land. Of course the temptation to watch it right away was too much for me and I took a look at it last night. I couldn't help but be reminded of watching Evangelion: Death the first time and in a lot of ways (a lot of a lot of ways) that's what this is. 'Evangelion: Death Part II Episode 01 Truest (Fo Real Yo)[Orly?]{Srlsy!}'

I'll just come out and say it - Wow. I'm actually kind of excited about the whole Rebuild thing now.



SPOILERS FOLLOW









While I still feel the amount of frames that are being reused here is totally lame, the last 30 minutes seemed to be entirely comprised of new footage and the new 6th Angel is very well done (and kind of creepy). The changes in the old footage do help. Some awkward shots are fixed this time around... but, honestly, it's minute and doesn't cover the fact that the majority of this film is composed of old artwork. From 1995.

Still, the film does a pretty good job of cutting out all the fat from the first six episodes and pulling only what's important out (character, story and action wise). The newly animated scenes, in the first 60 minutes or so, are mostly combinations of scenes that were cut and are used to bridge those gaps in much less time. Some omissions are a little surprising though. For example, Eva-01 does not save Shinji from falling debris during the 3rd Angel attack. So either they're going to streamline things remove the whole soul aspect entirely, or they decided its superfluous. Either is possible I suppose.

Also, I think it's safe to say that this is somehow a post-EoE story. The very first shot is lifted from EoE which then crosses over into episode 1 with red oceans instead of blue, the outline of what really appears to have been a Mass Production Eva (might be thinking too hard on that one) and with Kaworu's comments to SEELE at the end of the film, they're definitely pushing that concept. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. The End of Evangelion is such a perfect film as it is and "resetting" everything seems as if it compromises the stark nature of the [real] ending. I'd much rather this be a telling of an alternate timeline than an official sequel.

The fact that I'm thinking about stuff like this means it hit a chord. The fact that I'm wondering how the new Adam and Lilith situation will develop, how Kaworu's early arrival will impact things and how closely the rest of these films will follow the TV series and films.. well, it means that You Are (Not) Alone did something that I didn't think was possible. It got me thinking about Evangelion again. So, to me, that alone makes You Are (Not) Alone a success. Now, instead of passively reading about these films and having only the faintest of interest in it as a remake of an important artifact in my past, I'm legitimately looking forward to the rest of the films in this series.

And not as a fan of anime, but as a fan of Evangelion.