Rating: 
Summary: The beginning to an excellent, if over-hyped, series
Review: Evangelion. The very word will bring masses of screaming otakus (anime fans) to their knees, as this 26-episode series is one of the most popular anime of all time. Often labelled as "the best anime series of all time" (often by unobjective fanboys), Neon Genesis Evangelion shoulders more than its fair share of hype but largely deserves its acclaim.For those unacquainted with the series, "Evangelion" centers around a trio of precocious high school students blessed (or cursed) with the ability to pilot deadly bio-mechs assembled to prevent the destruction of Earth by mysterious "Angels". Shinji Ikari, the main character, has issues and initially refuses to pilot the so-called EVA unit assigned to him; Asuka Langley, a brash German girl who dons an air of superiority, doesn't make an appearance in this collection of four episodes; and Rei, an engimatic albino girl... well, it's safe to say that she has problems as well. Generally speaking, "Evangelion" is an outstanding sci-fi series which defines the genre. Rather than devolving into the standard "mecha-action" cycle, it injects a number of unexpected, conspiratorial twists into an already original plot. This overriding conspiracy theme does grow out of hand at times, as the story becomes incomprehensibly complex with references to Lilith, Adam, and other biblical-inspired terms tossed into a muddy salad-- all I can recommend is searching the web for more detailed explanations. In addition, the casual viewer may question the overwhelmingly "angsty" nature of the characters as the series inexplicably takes a darker turn in its second half--I know I did. And the ending(s) can only be described as a head-scratcher. Evangelion has some serious problems (which few fans will admit) that prevent it from rising to the absolute peak of the medium. However, few of these issues arise in the first four episodes, which begin to provide the layout for the series and take a decidedly lighter tone. Evangelion certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of originality, and its unique philosophical takes on life, no matter how outrageous they may seem, will make you think. This collection is certainly worth a look, even if it's just to see what everyone is talking about.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story. What tech problems?
Review: This is the opening of what is a really good story. As for the technical problems that people are talking about, they are either the most picky people I've ever heard, or they have much better equipment than I do. I never noticed any problems. There is of course, the digital editing of on-screen text that has seemed to be what all the otaku are crying about on this DVD, but it'll only bother you if you want it to.
Rating:
Summary: Don't regret not seeing this anime after life
Review: This is quite possibly the best fantasy ever devised on the face of the planet. It has large unique mecca, nifty technology, emotional byplay, philosophical questions, great characters, unique music, great artwork... you name it it's got it. If you love anime watch it! If you hate anime watch it! Be warned though it looks deceptively simple at first. To get its full effect you must be willing to watch the entire series.
Rating:
Summary: It is EVA
Review: An above average start for an average series. The plot follows several 14 year old kids that were conceived on the date of the second impact, the second attack of the Angels, the villains of this story. These Angels, do represent conventional western Christian religion and also as villains, so you decide for yourself. 5 of these children are discovered in the story, though only 2 are introduced on this DVD. The series as a whole, suffered from budget troubles and the ending was changed rather quickly, though later, the End of Evangelion movie showed the true ending to the series. If you like giant robots and mecha busting up big cities, then you will love this. Gundam Wing fans may be put off by the primitive animation in places, but this holds true for everyone. Just sit back, switch off your brain and enjoy it. You will understand it better as things are explained as the story progresses.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible Mess!!
Review: I'm a HUGE fan of Evangelion and I like to think it's the best fictional material I have ever seen, real or cartoon!! The Collection 0:1 DVD is simply horrible to watch!! It's the worst picture quality I have ever seen on a DVD. What the hell was ADV thinking?? And why on earth did Gainax Studios approve of this releas? It's beyond me... I have to agree with another reviewer on this page; I was shocked to see the previews of other ADV titles were of far greater picture quality than the program material of the disk. The Evangelion DVD looks far worse than the VHS release. And that is almost unbelievable, and most certainly unforgivable. Very, very dissapointing indeed. Collection 0:2 looks slightly better but not good enough. I expect some heads to roll at ADV Films for this horrible looking DVD! Releasing Evangelion -or any title for that matter, in this poor quality should almost be considered a crime punishable by law.
Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to Anime
Review: This was the first anime that I watched and is my favorite, unlike a lot of people I really enjoyed the simple menus that the disc had and felt that it was well concieved. If you are interested in anime and have never watched one then this is probably your best bet to start with.
Rating:
Summary: The beast within
Review: What do you get when you mix science and religion? Evangelion is what you get.This series is by far the most bold anime of all time because it challenges the very thought of God himself. The creators of this series are either geniuses or just plain crazy.The ideas they come up with are outstanding.I just recently imported the "final" episodes, which are ironically called "The death and rebirth of Evangelion" which cleared up a few of the many questions I have. To make a long story short, Evangelion cannot be explained,it must be experienced first hand.
Rating:
Summary: How bummed am I that there are only two on DVD
Review: Great series. I grew up as a Robotech fan and have always been dissapointed that there weren't more of them available. This show captures a similar feeling to that series and combines greate suspense as well. There is the hint of behind the scenes evil that pervades the episodes similar to Madeline and Operations in La Femme Nikita. Unfortunately, new releases are excruciatingly slow.
Rating: 
Summary: AD Vision - You can do better.
Review: It is a crying shame that such a great show would get this shabby DVD treatment. Where shall I start? The annoying loop intro menu? The horrible smudgy colors? The fuzzy outlines? The excruciating dubbing? Lacking extras? Oh, and the visual "pops" - where the DVD skips at a given moment from frame x to frame x+10 - is inexcusable. The only anime DVD that I've seen worse in quality than this is the Urusei Yatsura Disk 5 from AnimEigo. But then again, they have an excuse: limited edition run, small company. AT LEAST THEY TRY TO CORRECT THEIR MISTAKES. God, I hope the rest of the collection are better. I give this DVD 3 stars because of the story, not the transfer. This is a hedging recommendation to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Great show, somewhat disappointing DVD
Review: Assuming you've already seen this show (the best japanese animated TV show ever), I'll just cut right to the DVD details. The sound quality is good. Nothing special. The image quality is so-so for DVD. ADV did a nice job, considering this was a VHS-transfer (Gainax did not allow ADV to use a better quality source for the DVD production). So, in a sense, this is a VHS-quality DVD. Even though excessive care was put into eliminating VHS noise and artifacts, it's still rather blurry compared to other DVDs, as distorted colors sometimes bleed beyond the cell lines. There are nice little details however, as japanese street signs and such were re-drawn into english. The overall image quality is not bad, but it could've been better if it weren't for Gainax. You'll have to buy the import DVD's (60 to 70 bucks per DVD) if you want full-quality. This DVD comes in four languages! Japanese, English-dub, French-dub, and Spanish-dub. There's only one subtitle setting (which is sufficient), English. As for extras, there aren't really any, other than some ADV anime trailers. The best thing about this DVD is the price. 4 episodes (in four language settings) for 26 bucks. The tapes (2 episodes per tape) are, in comparison, much more expensive and contain less [languages]. The DVD is a better buy.
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