One more thing about Evangelion 2.0, then I’ll shut the fuck up
Between that review I wrote a year ago and those podcasts I just put out, I should hope that this is the last I have to say about Eva 2.0. For now.
This isn’t going to be long, either. I simply want to say one thing that I’ve neglected to mention thus far, and that is: What happened to movies like these? Like, anime movies. Upon multiple viewings, I can say with some certainty now that Eva 2.0 isn’t the perfect, polished gem that I thought it was walking out of that theater in Ikebukuro on opening day, but it’s still an excellent film. It’s excellent because it is exactly what got me into anime in the first place. Yeah, I was one of those 10-year-olds in the late-90s/early 2000s who got into anime via Pokemon and Dragonball, but it was the big spectacles secured my interest in the medium. You know, them big crazy anime movies they used to make. While my tastes have matured to the point where I enjoy works that may be a touch more laid back, a movie like Evangelion 2.0 really does well to ignite a fire in my soul.
I mean, it doesn’t really take much. When I break it down, the things that blow me away in this movie are purely on a directorial and technical level. Take the final scene for example, which is really what drove it all home for me. It’s a wonderful mix of extreme, creative and beautiful imagery, along with a really acute attention to establishing tone through acting and music. Shinji hacking his way through various planes of existence while his skin gets torn off, NERV personnel spouting off exposition dramatically while looking on in horror, and the Eva doing her best Devilman impression, all matched to a rousing rendition of Tsubasa wo Kudasai. The way everything just culminates in that final scene is really mind blowing, especially the first time around.
But while I say it doesn’t really take much, I seem to remember seeing a number of other works trying their hardest to nail scenes like this, but they all fall flat. Maybe it’s just my imagination. But what I’m trying to say here–in hopefully under 500 words–is that this movie owns hard, and why don’t other anime movies own this hard? I mean, Tokikake owns really hard, but not in the same way. Is there just no market for crazy movies like these? Does the next masterpiece on the level of End of Evangelion just have to be Evangelion again? I mean, I guess there’s Gundam Unicorn… but wait, that’s Gundam.
Maybe the strengths of those franchises enables these works to occupy the godly realm that they do. I don’t know. But what do know is that I want crazy, big-budget action movies again. Actually, not even action. What I want is more super natural.
I mean, I guess I can just watch End of Evangelion again. I do finally have this lovely R2 rip, after all.
My sediments exactly.
Maybe Mamoru Nagano’s upcoming Gothic Made can be of that level. We’ll see.
Can’t really say I crave for that kind of anime (and I certainly don’t think of Eva as godly), but still:
Nanoha the movie 1st
(period).
But… that’s still tied to a franchise!
To pull off something like the climactic scene in Rebuild 2, you need a good director with vision and control, a big enough budget to animate it well, and the talented artists to provide the right visuals and music. I think GAINAX is definitely special among anime studios in being able to consistently provide all that with works like Evangelion, FLCL, Gunbuster, Diebuster, and Gurren Lagann.
It’s just not something that’s easy to do. It’s easy to look back at it and to explain why it worked well, but replicating that kind of success requires more than that.
Generally speaking, I’ll agree with Ivlln Gainax is perhaps the only studio that can make amazing crap like it does. Kyoto Anime perhaps has the potential, seeing what they’ve done with Haruhi (Season 2 excluded.) Sunrise can too, though being owned by the over commerical Bandai gets in the way of that.
Really, WAH, the thing you have to remember is Sturgeon’s Law: 90 percent of everything is crap. But I like to think the remaining 10 percent is worth dying for. Yeah, there might be like nine Naruto’s for every Eva, but does that detract from the awesome of Eva?
Personally, movies like this work on 2 completely different levels for me. On one hand, I can appreciate the well crafted nature and near flawless execution of the various scenes and do sometimes get into the nuances of why a scene is great.
However, on the other hand, I simply enjoy Anime movies for what they are without thinking too much into it. A great story that is told through a visual medium that is able to bring across awesome characters, epic emotional content and exhilarating action sequences. Not to mention, getting all fan-boy like and buying all the merchandise that Eva, the cash-cow that it is, has to offer.
“Yeah, I was one of those 10-year-olds in the late-90s/early 2000s who got into anime via Pokemon and Dragonball, but it was the big spectacles secured my interest in the medium.”
LOL, if you think you have it bad, think how bad it is for those of us that grew up in the 80s and early 90s, where anime movies were way more commonplace. Nowadays, movies won’t be made unless its proven that the preceding series was profitable, and if it’s not, then say goodbye to any sequel movies.
That’s not to say we are totally devoid of good movie productions these days. Satoshi Kon seems to be doing just fine.
If you want something fun to do, Put the K-ON! version of Tsubasa wo Kudasai on instead and prepare your self for something that is actually kinda funny