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Neon Genesis Evangelion - Collection 0-4

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Collection 0-4

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The best of a bad series -
Review: - and that's condemning with faint praise. The only disc of the lot that's even worth renting as far as I'm concerned, because of the unique enemies this set of angels presents for a giant robot team. Otherwise, my reccomendations remain to look at Bubblegum Crisis (and not 2040, either - the original), Transformers, Macross Plus, or Vandread if you want mecha, or in the Drama and Art sections of the live-action movies if you want introspection and philosophical meaning. To put it another way, let me paraphrase one of the Adventures of Weeble and Bob webcomic/flash thingies:

Animefan sings to his Evangelion boxed set: I love Eva... Eva don't lie... I love Eva... almost as much as mecha!

CD enters and looks at the box set: What this?

Animefan: ... Is mecha.

CD: Does not look like mecha.

Animefan: Is GOOOD mecha.

CD watches the show and grimaces: This tastes of donkey poop!

Animefan: Must be bad end.

the boxset dumps a load of depression on CD

Animefan: How rare.

- CD

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This is becoming an awfully boring serie.
Review: And once again another volume in the Platinum series has been released but unfortunatly its beginning to look as if this series, which started of very promising, can't fullfil the expectations which were created over the past releases.

This is still the Platinum release which offers an enhanced release of the original Evangelion series. It features better picture and sound quality - the sound even has been remade to meet 5.1 surround requirements - but all the extra's which one can expect from such a release are beginning to look much less special than they once did.

At first the number of episodes has been reduced from 4 to 3 (featuring episodes 15, 16 and 17), thus its getting at the same level of the original release. But all the extra's themselves are becoming mere re-runs of things already seen in the past as well! I really expected much better from ADV, especially when you take a look at another release of an outstanding Anime series; Robotech. This too is undergoing a re-release right now but when comparing the original boxed release of Robotech - Macross saga (3 boxes containing 3 dvd's each (2 episode disks and one special contents disk)) with the current Evangelion Platinum series the winner would still be Robotech; won by variation in every account.

So; apart from the 3 episodes on this disk it has a 12 page booklet, features an animatic of episode 15 (the same thing we've seen on disk 2), a commentary with Tiffany Grant (we've already met her on the previous 2 releases) and Matt Greenfield (we've heard and seen him on the previous release as well) and a "documentary" about (what a surprise) "That little red haired girl" where Tiffany Grant shows us her Evangelion collection (toys, posters, etc.).

Now; don't get me wrong here. This is a decent release with 3 cool restored Evangelion episodes, lets not lose track and forget that in the end its all about the cartoon itself. But having said that I simply cannot deny that this release is starting to look like a product which centres around a company and a few persons and totally seems to ignore what this is all about. While I consider the documentary about Tiffany's collection not that bad it would have been more interesting to focus on where those toys came from, get more into the hype called Evangelion. And although its nice to listen to yet another commentary I think that an interview with the original Japanese artists of the serie would have been more interesting. Allthough its nice to have the clean opening and ending on every disk so far it would also have been interesting to get into the shock which Evangelion has managed to create with episode 16. Even if they would have gone into that little extra detail about how the show was almost cancelled; showing us the warnings which have been send back then...

To summarize: ADV is making a decent collection but I can't begin to wonder if all the extra's are meant to be about the Evangelion serie or are mere there for the fame and glory of ADV and its co-workers. I'm not denying that they're doing a very nice job when it comes to the DVD releases and creating extra dubs. But please let us not forget that this serie is originally Japanese, with Japanese voice actors and a very rich history which goes back much longer than the people of ADV.

Is this disk worth it ? I suppose so. Still; if you don't care much about extra stuff like animatics, commentaties and such I'd seriously consider the orginal release. Although I think this collection is good fun, *nothing* can beat an original.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, the story starts to make some sense
Review: As others have said, this DVD marks the shift in the series. If you're like me, and are seeing this series painfully slowly with each new DVD release, you can still see the shift in the series. Episodes 12 and 13 are some of the most intense episodes in the series so far, but this intensity doesn't come from psychological things but from pure angel attacks. Still, they're pretty good watching. Episode 14 recaps and helps to explain the last 13 episodes. Unfortunately, it also hints at more, making the wait annoying for anyone who hates to not finish or understand a story, especially when a DVD ends like this one does.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A darker volume
Review: At this point, Evangelion really starts to get going. First, a little bit of Misato's past is explained as well as some more fan service for her. The second episode has the three pilots testing in their EVAs with no clothes. But that only part B. Part A of the story is the Angel which is a virus threatening to take over the MAGI system. This episode also gives fan service to Ritsuko and her past as well. The last episode has Shinji and Rei testing in opposite EVAs, but to know prevail. The majority of the episode is mostly spent on recapping all that has happend thus far. Overall, these episodes will leave many wanting more and more. But I guess thats what makes Evangelion so great. It gives you a small taste and keeps you coming back for more. And if you think there isn't any reason to buy the DVD if you have VHS, your wrong. There is still the nicely dubbed versions of Spanish and French dialoge. The DVD will definetely contain Bios on Angel #10 and #11. This is also the turning point in Evangelion where everything starts getting shown. So if you are a new comer to EVA, you must see this volume. And how about ADV speed up they're releasing on this. Come on, the Evangelion movie comes out this summer. Lets hustle.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: I've read people complain about the quality of the DVD menues, etc. Don't let that stop you from purchasing this DVD. This story is wonderfully written, and the animation is superb. It is definately worth your tie even if you don't like this particular genre. The characters are very in depth and well written. I enjoyed this series thuroughly. I bet you would too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: I've read people complain about the quality of the DVD menues, etc. Don't let that stop you from purchasing this DVD. This story is wonderfully written, and the animation is superb. It is definately worth your tie even if you don't like this particular genre. The characters are very in depth and well written. I enjoyed this series thuroughly. I bet you would too.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A relatively decent Evangelion DVD.
Review: My standard disclaimer applies. I am not reviewing the artistic merits of this release. I happen to like this series but that does not mean you will.

I am reviewing the technical merits of this release.

For the most part, the image is stable and clear. It still has the quasi-distracting "jumps" that the last two releases had. The compression seems OK -- but it's not great. There are visible artifacts and edge enhancement but they don't seem to be too distracting. Some more fine tuning on the compression would be much appreciated in the next release.

The sound is just as good as it has been throughout the new DVD releases. English and Japanese tracks both sound very respectable.

Overall, like most of the new ADV Evangelion DVD releases, this one has some minor problems that are mildly annoying. These problems, however, generally do not spoil watching this enjoyable series.

If you like the series, I think you will like this DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow!
Review: Now that was a truly awesome DVD. There may have only been three episodes, but they were excellent. A surprising amount of stuff happens in this short volume and it really has moved things along. I can't wait to find out more about the origins of the Evangelions and what Seele is really planning. Overall, it has solidified my interest in the series.

One of the things I thought was interesting was how there seem to be a lot of superlong episode names in the English version. I personally think the episode names should have stayed the same. I also would have prefered more episodes on this DVD. Only three, why? They can fit five without any trouble.

On the whole, while the DVD itself has some flaws, the episodes were awesome. I haven't seen all of Eva and that sets me apart from most anime fans, but I really want to see the rest.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Platinum Collection 4
Review: Platinum Collection 4 only contains 3 episodes. 15, 16 and 17. This strike me as odd since 01 and 02 contain 5 episodes each. 04 contained 4 episodes. It seems to me that there is no rime or reason to this box set. Just a another way to command more money from my wallet. However the 5.1 sound quality is excellent.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well, 3 and a half, really...
Review: The Episodes in this DVD are REALLY intense. A ncie touch is that they added the menu startup as linking to an Evangelion in an entry plug - its kinda cool and kinda stupid at the same time. The episodes themselves though - well, this has what I think is one of THE coolest eps. of Eva yet - the falling Angel! All 3 Evas are dispatched to catch a falling Angel with physical and AT field strength. Misato promises the pilots a steak dinner if they can pull it off, and the think she is crazy for asking them. They all go and cheer for the steak dinner, and then when Misato leaves they all look at one another and think: "Save the world for some steak? Err...." The other 2 Episodes are one about SEELE, the overseers of NERV, and one about a strange Angel. It's depicted as glowing Orange and Red spots in an Eva test chamber. It has an AT field impervious to maintenance lasers, and tries to invade Magi. This episode is all about Ritsuko. Not the greatest DVD I've ever seen, but I LOVE the Falling Angel Episode!


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