Rating: Summary: If you want philosophical elightenment.. Review: ..watch the anime, and then this movie. You either hate it with a passion (Don't get it) or recognize it as the wonderfull maddening masterpiece of storytelling it is. Only bad word is the defect sound menu on the dvd, but that is manga corp. 's fault, not the creators of the content.
Rating: Summary: One of the best anime movies Review: This movie is actually a replacement of the last two episodes in the original series (also if you heven't seen the original series, don't bother watching this, you wouldn't understand it well and it takes away from the shock value). This movie details the events occuring from the instrumentality project and happens after the movie, "Death and Rebirth". If you didn't understand the series well, then be warned because there's some pretty deep stuff in here, you'll really have to think after this.End of Eva is a must for Evangelion fans, most agree that this feature is a much more better ending than episodes 25 & 26 in the series. This movie is hard to describe in detail, though I can say Eva fans will not (and are not, so far) dissapointed with this. This movie will answer questions from the series, and brings about more questions. The animation is good, the movie itself may be very disturbing to some viewers but overall a must to have in any Eva fan's collection. I recommend you see the entire series and try to understand it well before watching this, then you'll be in for a real treat.
Rating: Summary: GREAT MOVIE! Review: As I read many reviews of this DVD, I can't help but feel that people seemed to have missed certain vital elements. NOTE: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS. As most fans should know, this movie is an ending to NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. It answers most of the questions left behind. Now, here is the thing. It is completely consistent with the last two episode of the series until the very end. Until then, it is a very nice external visualization of what's going on, while the last two episodes took place inside Shinji's mind. At the end of the movie, however, Shinji rejects the Instrumentality Project. While in the series, he accepts it, here, he just flat out says no. He was egged on by Rei.. and ended up dismembering her (thankfully so) to achieve his goal. At the end, he and Asuka (not some new chick.. it's just Asuka) are the only two living human beings on Earth. The rest are LCL, and can come back to life if they will themselves to do it (like Shinji did earlier). I don't remember if DEATH AND REBIRTH had all of the deleted scenes, but there were deleted scenes in the Japan that were integral. In Japan, when the DVDs came out, they were Director's Cut and had some extra scenes. Here, they were not. The only really important ones that I can think of are when: (1)Rei defeats the angel that takes over her body. In the extras, the angel started to take over Shinji's body when he came out (It lunged at him, he dodged, blocked, and grabbed it, but that was enough for the angel) and started taking on the appearance of Rei, so Rei pulled the whole thing toward herself.. thus, she saved Shinji's life. (2)The episode with Kaworu (the last angel) has several moments.. mainly when he talks to SEELE panels (sound only things) and Misato spies on him. He waves to her.. which really freaks her out. It's revealed that he was made from Adam, like Rei was made (partially) from Lilith. and (3)someone asks Gendo how the "Adam Project" was coming along, and he said "Right on time" or something and pulled off his glove to reveal Adam (The first angel.. the embryo thing) as embedded in his hand. This is why he sticks his hand into Rei in the movie.. and why she lopped it off. Also, as for the angels, Adam is the first. He is the embryo. Lilith is the second, she is the big white thing. While the numbering does not really matter, the distinction does. Lilith is identified by Kaworu. The union of another angel with Adam caused the Third Impact. The embryonization (or whatever) of Adam caused the Second Impact. This angel thing would have made more sense if they made Adam and Lilith the parents of the other angels. Referring to people as Lilum (offspring of Lilith) is just plain not nice to the mythology behind Lilith. Adam fathers humans with Eve. Adam fathers monsters with Lilith (at least one, anyway). There were just some things in the series that were misplaced.. fans should at least admit that (like when they showed Shinji's Eva suit in the cockpit when he turned into LCL.. despite the fact that he was wearing civilian clothes). Sorry about the rant.. but things just had to be set straight. As "artsy" and abstract as this whole Evangelion thing was, there are some things are just plain misunderstood.
Rating: Summary: TO SHORT!!!! a disgrace to the original Review: It deserved 5 stars but This was a good ending to the Anime series until they shortened it by almost 30 minutes. They cut out some very good parts that would of explained what was going on in a series Evangelion way. I suggest that you just buy the original Japanese version you get it all.
Rating: Summary: How Disgusting Review: I watched the Neon Genesis Evangelion series and was impressed with the writing. I'm not a huge anime fan, but I love good stories combined with good character development. So while Evengelion started out seeming like a typical mecha (giant robot) battle series, it quickly turned to deep, character stories while advancing the overall story arc. The final two episodes (#25 and #26) of the series were very bizare, confusing, depressing, extremely deep, and answered nothing much. Different people read different things into the ending causing endless debate. Since no questions were really answered, people demanded action! Thus, "End of Evangelion" is born. In this DVD, the action takes place after episode 24. Rather than look at this as a totally new ending, one should look at this as an extention of the original episodes 25 and 26. The mental trip that the main character Shinji takes is still here though shorter and more depressing (IMO). The fun part of this movie is when Asuka "wakes up" after coming to understand the EVA units. She then takes on a large number of production EVA units and kicks butt (to the joy of people who wanted to see her do this). The amazing thing is how Asuka's transformation comes off as believable (a tribute to the writers) and her character suddenly becomes...likeable! :-D Ah, but the messing with the mind is still here as that is the point of the story -- very deep and disturbing concepts of humanity and the end of the world. It's not the way I would have gone, but it is the way the series creator wanted to go. So that's that and we'll go on. Ultimately, I think this whole series and the movies are about a couple of things. First, I get the feeling of resentment over the introduction of the Jesuites to Japan (and thus an attack or destruction of culture). Second is the quest of the 14-year old hero Shinji's quest to score! Shinji has three babes in his life. First, there's Misato Katsuragi. She's Shinji's immediate supervisor as well as his guardian whom he lives with. She's a hottie, yet because she's a mother figure (as well as the age difference), he can do nothing to hook up with her. Then there's Asuka. She's another 14-year old & pilot of EVA-02. She's very cute and sexy, but because she's always putting him down, he can't hook up with her. Finally, there's Rei whom we learn at the end of the series is a clone of Sinji's mother. Before he knows this, he is also attracted to her as she is cute yet very quiet and distant. However, since she is a clone of his mother, he can't hook up with her. If you don't believe me, watch the series then the movie. You'd have to be pretty blind not to see it since they make sure to put it "in your face" (pardon the expression) to make you get the point. In the end, it is my belief that Shinji combines all three into the "reborn" Asuka. But that's just my thoughts. I wonder what her last words as the movie ended mean -- "How disgusting". As to the DVD itself, the English dub is well done, but if you want to hear the Japanese audio, that's there as well. The best part of the DVD is the audio commentary by the English dub director (and voice of Rei) Amanda Winn Lee. With her are Jason Lee and Tailesin Jaffe who do voices on the series. Jason Lee's knowledge of occult and Catholic religion is very helpful to explaining things in the movie. Amanda also explains why they did certain things in the translations for those who wanted an exact translation of the Japanese. While they are very faithful, the tiny liberties they took did not offend me. Bottom line: This movie left me extremely depressed. While I'm not Catholic, I am a Christian and some of the imagery bothered me. Plus, the strong sexual undertones as well as the gratuitous nudity was a put off for me, even though it is just animated nudity. However, if you've seen the series, I think you just have to see this movie so you get a couple of questions answered, especially listening to the audio commentary.
Rating: Summary: Better than the original, but... Review: Okay, I got this back when it was a fansubbed import; I've since thought about buying the DVD, but my review is based solely on the fansub I saw. The action in this film (for lack of a better term) is excellent, and it really provides a great redemption for many characters in the story, not the least of which is the oft-irritating Asuka. But once you get into episode 26, "A Pure Heart for You", everything gets way too confusing. I mean, Eva was confusing to begin with, but this is just nuts. It makes even less sense than the Episode 26 that ADV released (the [pooy] ending), despite having an excellent score ("Komm, Susser Tod" was the single behind the montage). I'd say that if you're a big Eva fan, or if you were seriously disappointed by the first ending, buy this. If you're a casual fan and you've got some extra cash, buy this. But if you don't really care, don't waste your money. You really have to put your mind into this one. And what the hell happened at the very end? I still don't get it! *shrug*
Rating: Summary: Why would people call this confusing? Review: There is one important thing that you must realize that many people don't, this isn't really an alternate ending...this is an extended ending to the original one. The series' original ending only took place in the world of the main characters minds. You want confusing? How about going from Shinji talking with Misato to all of a sudden Shinji suddenly getting ripped apart by the other characters in his mind. Well, that's what happens between eps 24 and 25. End of Evangelion is a gift from heaven. Not only does it put the series' ending into context, but it creates the continuity needed before the mind sequencesand afterwards. If you know a lot about psychological manners and aren't too afraid to delve into the story, you will find all the answers you had about Evangelion. People complain that there's still no closure. What? Are you kidding? Just because it doesn't hand the character's fates to you on a silver platter means there's no closure. Come on, people, think for yourselves. Oh yea, and Asuka gets to kick some major ...
Rating: Summary: No closure... Review: From reading other fan's reviews, I feel that I am one of the few who actually felt closure at the end of the original series. Then when I heard of this release, I was curious on the actual events that occured, not the thought processes of Shinji's mind (although I enjoyed that). What is given is Episodes 25 and 26 again. Ep 25 provides gorey entertainment and the continuation of the story. I liked it. Then Episode 26 comes up and it is basically the original Episode 26 involving Shinji's mind but this time it extends (a little) to other people's thoughts while providing the viewer with strange apocalyptic images of what is happening to the world. However, it is so strange and bizarre that it is difficult to separate the "dream images" from the reality ones (which, ironically, is a concept Shinji himself was struggling with). At the end of the original you were left to decide the outcome of the characters. Yet with this, Episode 25 gives the unthinkable outcomes for them and 26 just leaves you confused. This movie is disappointing because it claims to tell what happens to everyone, but the finale is not only a redone version of 26, but leaves the viewer even more confused.
Rating: Summary: The way it should have ended in 1995 Review: The original series was begging for an ending like this only to have an hour of insanity as the answer to the call. I felt betrayed. This movie made everything better. Closure at last... (sigh of relief)...
Rating: Summary: This is something very odd indeed. Review: I should give this less but because for the last half I laughed my way through it I am being kind. THis is the supposed end to the series and quite frankly it ends in a very depressing manner. The story takes place after the final episode of probably the best anime series ever and it starts off with the humans attacking the Evangellion HQ. For the first half it is grueling battle with lots of explosions and gore. However after wards it revolves around SHinji and his choice to either save the world or destroy it. Keep in mind that for the first half he was sniviling like a little baby because of what appears to be the fact that he killed his buddy at the end of the series. However as the last half plays out you find out that he is not upset over the fact that he killed his friend (although it might have something to do with it), no his problem is that he works with three very hot ladies and he can't "get it on" with any of them. Yes, Shinjis problem is that he can't get laid. That's it. The story is supposed to represent life and death but instead is about SHinji being upset over the fact that he can't get laid, primarily at the main point of his effection Oska. SO overall if you are looking for closure to the series, good luck because this doesn't cut it. However if you want an excuse to laugh at this poor smucks depression because he can't get laid, as well as typical anime gore, than hop on board. OVerall, this was so stupid that I have to laugh.
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