Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion: anime review

Title: Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion

Genre: mecha, sci-fi, drama
Released date: March 15, 1997 and July 19, 1997 respectively
Running Time: 115 and 87 minutes respectively
Director: Hideaki Anno
Animated by: Gainax
Comment: Both titles were the movie spin-off of the successful NGE TV series. The first part named Death was the re-edit version of the TV series which focused on character exploration. The second part called Rebirth and The End of Evangelion was the continuation and more detailed ending of the TV series. The way Death repeated the story from the series was quite interesting for about 10 minutes but the remaining 50 minutes bored me immensely because it was mostly the same thing. Rebirth was actually the first half hour of The End of Evangelion so I’ll discuss the latter only. The first half of The End of Evangelion when SEELE attacked NERV was very disturbing with many civilians cruelly killed, gruesome EVA02 versus SEELE’s Evas action, Shinji breaking down, Asuka going berserk and many deaths of the familiar characters. Nevertheless this first half was so good, intense and thrilling that I almost forgot to breath. But the second haft was totally different because it was unnecessarily long and quite boring. It was like trying to explain what had already been explained so well. It was too much and the abrupt change of general mood and pace of the movie almost ruined the entire film. Conclusion: Despite the disappointing ending, the movie was well done in general and a must have for those who enjoy the TV series.
Rating: B

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Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV series): anime review

Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV series)
Genre: mecha, sci-fi, drama
Released date: October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996
Episodes: 26
Director: Hideaki Anno
Animated by: Gainax
Comment: The larger part of the series was typical crowd pleasers such as a teenage boy, Ikari Shinji, who was involuntarily chosen to pilot the Eva01, the invading monsters (angels) with various exotic powers and many exciting action sequences. But beneath these typical things was an incredibly dark and adult theme including internal conflicts, extreme violence, death, sex and many mentally disturbing events. The minds of the characters were the most distinctive component of the show. The best example was Ikari Shinji, the main protagonist, who suffered from depression, feeling of worthlessness, lack of self confidence and fear of making friends which made it impossible to call him the hero of the series. The other characters like Asuka Langley, Ayanami Rei, Ikari Gendo, Misato or Ritsuko were also mentally sick or had some personality disorder or had been through traumatic events in the past. The psychological (e.g. the hedgehog’s dilemma, mother is the first other) and religious concepts (e.g. Adam and Eve, Lance of Longinus, Lilith, the Tree of Life) were also very interesting and induced the viewers to interpret the anime further. The animation was topnotch and the soundtrack was great partly due to the extensive use of classical music. Conclusion: Neon Genesis Evangelion was a brilliant and intriguing anime whether you take it seriously or just want to be entertained.
Rating: A

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The Place Promised in Our Early Days: anime review

Title: The Place Promised in Our Early Days
Genre: sci-fi, drama, romance
Released date: 20 November 2004
Running Time: 91 minutes
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Animated by: CoMix Wave Inc.
Comment: After Voices of a Distant Star, Makoto Shinkai’s The Place Promised in Our Early Days confirmed me that the director’s huge success from his previous film was not a fluke. Similar to his previous work, this anime was mainly a love story with science fiction as a background. It set in an alternate universe in which Japan was separated into Northern and Southern part. The northern Japan was controlled by the Union and, using advanced technology, the Union built the mysterious tower which could bridge this universe with other parallel ones. The story followed three teenagers, Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri. Sayuri was granddaughter of the tower’s creator and she was somehow connected to the parallel universe. As a result, Sayuri fell into prolonged sleep. The two boys (Hiroki and Takuya) who had romantic feelings for Sayuki planned to save her by flying her to the tower. The anime was a feast to the eyes with richly illustrated background and characters. There were enough widescreen shots and landscapes to make an art gallery. The anime took long time to slowly establish the relationships between the three main characters which gradually changed and developed throughout the film. The pace, consequently, was slow but no scene or dialogue was without meaning. The climax in which Sayuri revealed her true feeling to Hiroki knowing that she would soon lost her memory was, at least for me , heart breaking. The music was sad and sweet. Conclusion: The Place Promised in Our Early Days was overwhelmingly beautiful both on the surface and from deep within.
Rating: A

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Millennium Actress: anime review

Title: Millennium Actress
Genre: drama, fantasy, romance
Released date: September 14, 2002
Running Time: 87 minutes
Director: Satoshi Kon
Comment: Millennium Actress was one woman’s quest to find her true love. When she was a school girl, Chiyoko met a mysterious man who was a government rebel. She sheltered him and soon learned that he was a painter. One day the police found him and he ran away while Chiyoko wasn’t home. She tried to chase him but found only his key which was dropped behind. Since then she never stopped looking for the man and return the key to him even after she became a famous actress. The whole movie was about Chiyoko’s live, career and her quest to find her lost love. The real events were told parallel to the various scenes in Chiyoko’s movies which ranged from historical Japan to space traveling era. It was very exciting to see Chiyoko in many different rolls e.g. ninja, princess, war survivor and astronaut. Another important character was Tachibana. He held the key to Chiyoko’s past and the fate of the man she loved. He also served as a comic relief for the anime. I like how Tachibana participated in all the scenes from Chiyiko’s movies because he helped connect the past to the present, the fantasy to reality and represented his intimacy with Chiyoko’s works. The production was superb and the music was great. Millennium Actress differed from other Satoshi Kon’s works because not only it had unique style of story telling that combined reality with fantasy but it was also a heart warming anime. Conclusion: This kind of anime is the reason I love anime so much.
Rating: A+

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Tsukihime, Lunar Legend: anime review

Title: Tsukihime, Lunar Legend
Genre: drama, horror, supernatural, romance
Released date: 9 October 2003 – 25 December 2003
Episodes: 12
Director: Katsushi Sakurabi
Animated by: J.C.Staff
Comment: In Tsukihime, there were vampires, wolf like monsters, lots of blood and gore and deaths but it was actually the story of a lonely vampire princess who had spent 800 years hunting monsters and a young man who hated and feared himself because he possessed deadly powers. For horror fans, this anime would disappoint them. For action fans, this would not satisfy them. But for those who enjoyed drama and character driven anime, this one might be unexpectedly good. Not only Tohno Shiki and Arcueid Brunestud had secrets, other characters did too; Akiha inherited non-human blood, Ciel was working for the Vatican, Yumizuka was secretly in love with Shiki. These characters and their interactions were the most interesting element of this anime. Although the ending was really sad, it was memorable and wrapped up all the loose ends well.The soundtrack was nice. What would displease many viewers was its slow pace and long boring dialogues which were always left incomplete and did not take the story anywhere. After I finished the series, I could not help feel that the screenplay had too little to tell for a 12 episode long anime. Conclusion: Tsukihime was a decent and interesting drama anime but it was very slow that many people might fall asleep before they reach half of the series.
Rating: C+

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