Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

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“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” will surprise you because it doesn’t follow the original anime or manga series. It’s a thrilling third film with plenty of action, but also setting things up for the fourth and final film. This is a must-buy EVA release! Highly recommended!

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TITLE: Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo

DURATION: 112 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9),English and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 6.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: NTV/FUNimation Entertainment

Release Date: February 2, 2016


Originally Created by Hideaki Anno

Chief Director: Hideaki Anno

Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Masayuki

Co-Director: Kobun Shizuno

Screenplay by Hideaki Anno

Storyboard by Shinji Higuchi and Tomoki Kyoda

Music by Shiro Sagisu

Character Design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

Art Director: Hiroshi Kato, Tatsuya Kushida

Chief Animation Director: Shunji Suzuki

Mechanical Design: Ikuto Yamashita

Director of Photography: Toru Fukushi

Executive Producer: Toshimichi Ootsuki

Animation Production by GAINAX


Featuring the following voice talent:

Kotono Mitsuishi/Allison Keith as Misato Katsuragi

Megumi Hayashibara/Brina Palencia as Rei Ayanami

Megumi Ogata/Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari

Yuko Miyamura/Tiffany Grant as Asuka Langley Shikinami

Maaya Sakamoto/Trina Nishimura as Mari Makinami

Akira Ishida/Jerry Jewell as Kaworu Nagisa

Fumihiko Tachiki/John Swasey as Gendou Ikari

Motomu Kiyokawa/Kent Williams as Kouzou Fuyutsuki

Yuriko Yamaguchi/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Ritsuko Akagi

Hiro Yuuki as Makoto Hyuuga

Megumi Hayashibara/Monica Rial/Stephanie Young as Pen Pen and Yui Ikari

Mugihito/Bell Jenkins as Keel Lorentz

Takehito Koyasu/Phil Parsons as Shigero Aoba

Tetsuya Iwanaga/Greg Ayres as Kensuke Aida

Tomokazu Seki/Justin Cook as Touji Suzuhara


Fourteen years after third impact, Shinji Ikari awakens to a world he does not remember. He hasn’t aged. Much of Earth is in ruins, Nerv has been dismantled, and people who he once protected have turned against him. Befriending the enigmatic Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji continues the fight against the angels and realizes the fighting is far from over, even when it could be against his former allies.

The characters’ struggles continue amid the battles against the angels and each other, spiraling down to what could inevitably be the end of the world.


“Evangelion 2.22 – You Can (Not) Advance” is fantastic! I was awestruck from beginning to end and I have no doubt in my mind that this title will rank high in my top 5 anime on Blu-ray releases for 2011. This anime film is AWESOME! I absolutely loved every minute of it! Highly recommended!

In 2006, Japanese fans and anime fans of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” received exciting news that in the Summer of 2007, the first of four Evangelion films based on the anime television series would be released in theaters. According to news reports, Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno watched the series from beginning to end and wanted to fix up a lot of questions and debates that fans had over the television series and most importantly, incorporate today’s new CG technology for the film versions. Even furthering the excitement is that the original crew and cast have signed on to work on the new film.

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, the first film did tremendously well and what made things much more exciting for the promotion of the second film is the introduction of a new Evangelion pilot named Mari Illustrious Makinami, the confident pilot of the Provisional Evangelion Unit-05 and also a teaser for Unit-06. The full trailer was released on April 2, 2009 and fans of the series and films had a chance to see a dark Eva, Mari, a new Eva-02 design, new designs of Angels and more.

“Evangelion: 2.0 – You Can (Not) Advance” was released in Japan on June 27, 2009 and similar to the first film, was #1 in the box office earning over $40 million (US) in Japan and also received a US theatrical release in January 2011.

And for “Evangelion: 3.0 – You Can (Not) Redo” was released in Japanese theaters on November 17, 2012.  And was the second-highest weekend box office of 2012 and earned the equivalent of $60 million (US) at the box office.

And now “Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” is available on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation.

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” opens with Evangelion pilots Asuka Langley Shikinami and Mari Illustrious Makinami are both sent into space to retrieve a container in which the Evangelion Unit 01 and Shinji Ikari are sealed.

As the Evangelion Unit 01 and Shinji  are brought back to Earth, he wakes up to find a collar bomb on his neck.  Courtesy of WILLE, an organization formed by ex-personnel of NERV, led by Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi.

The organization’s primary goal is to destroy NERV and the Evangelion units.

Shinji learns that his collar bomb will go off if he ever attempts to pilot the Evangelion 01 ever again.  He also learns from Asuka that he has been sealed for 14 years inside the Unit 01 and none of the Evangelion pilots have aged.  He also finds out that Rei Ayanami was never found.

But as the group is riding on the flying battleship Wunder, which is powered by Unit 01, out of nowhere comes Rei Ayanami piloting the Mark.09 and head back to NERV headquarters.   He is told by his father Gendo that he will be piloting the new Evangelion, Unit 13 with Kaworu.

And Shinji learns the truth of who is responsible for causing the Third Impact, the apocalyptic event on Earth and Gendo’s true project is revealed.


VIDEO:

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” is featured in 1080p High Definition. The detail is fantastic and the vibrant colors of the film literally pop onscreen. The CG animation is top notch and overall, Gainax definitely went all out in creating a fantastic anime full of detail, vibrant colors and staying faithful to the anime series but making sure everything is updated and looks amazing.

I saw no banding issues or artifacts.  Black levels were great and colors were vibrant. But the animation and the overall look of the film is fantastic in HD!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English and Japanese lossless soundtrack and there is good use of all channels. From hearing the music and main character vocal coming from the center and front channels, you will then hear the loudspeakers through the surround channels and then the rear surround channels carry audio that is different.

There is so much action and destruction featured in this third film that there is good use of LFE. Personally, the lossless audio is just phenomenal, how it is so immersive and envelops the soundscape from all directions was fantastic. And I am so happy to find out that the Japanese audio track is lossless as well. Something that fans have wanted from anime on Blu-ray!

As for the dubbing, both soundtracks are well-done and it’s great that FUNimation used the majority of the original cast for the film. While I do feel that the Japanese soundtrack is able to capture the more desperate emotions quite well, the English voice actors did a wonderful job in this release as well. Personally, it all comes to preference and whichever lossless soundtrack that you choose, they are both excellent.

As for subtitles, the subtitles on the Blu-ray are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not)Redo” contains the following special features:

  • Teaser – (1:14) Teaser trailer for “Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo”.
  • EVA-EXTRA 08 – (3:02) An animated extra with music featuring scenes from Evangelion: 3.33.
  • Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33 – (10:56) A montage of pre-production sketches, renders and final renders.
  • TRAILER – Featuring a 15 sec. Type and D, Teaser for TV and TV Spot 15 sec.
  • Additional Trailers – Featuring a 15 sec. Type B and E, Trailer for nicofarre, Promotion Reel Type A and Previews, 15 sec. for Type C and F, trailer for niconico, Promotion Reel Type -B, 30 sec. spot, Type B trailer, TV spot for Kinro.

EXTRAS:

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Advance” comes with a slipcover and a 52-page guidebook which includes exclusive artwork and behind-the-scenes details of “rebuild of evangelion: 3.33”.


When I first heard that the rebuild of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” would take place and that these new films would be based on the television series, I wasn’t so surprised because the series is so popular that it would definitely generate an extreme amount of money for GAINAX. But one thing that I was not looking forward and what drove me crazy about the TV series was the character of Shinji Ikari. Back in the mid-90’s, I can easily remember how his whining really tested my patience and looking back, he was such an anti-hero, mainly because he was “emo” most of the time. Always negative, always in a bit of depression and funk as he always felt people didn’t care about him (and yes, I know that Hideaki Anno was clinically depressed when he was creating this film and parts of show was based on his depression) but it did get on my nerves at the time.

But here we are in 2016 and here I am watching “Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” and loving every minute of it.  First, let me just say that with this third film, everything you watched in the original anime series, what you have read from the manga, this storyline literally throws everything out the window as this film starts off 14-years in the future and Shinji did something very bad to the planet, which he is unaware of what had happened during those last 14 years and being sealed in the Unit 01.

While in the previous two films, I prased that Shinji was not as whiny as the TV series.  But with “Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo”, whiny Shinji has returned.  I don’t want to spoil the film of why all the angst but Shinji did something terrible and now there is a war going on with former NERV staff, known as WILLE who are taking on NERV.

The film is structured a bit differently from the anime TV series and I had to watch the film a second time to understand what is going on because it’s different from the anime and manga series. Aside from the characters having the same name and characteristics and the Eva units they pilot, everything in this film is much different that I’m surprised and in awe of the direction this film went and now, I’m not even sure how the fourth film will end.

But call it an alternate storyline or whatever, this is a new direction for the characters and it’s leading to a fresh and unique storyline that we definitely can not predict.  So, there is high anticipation for the fourth film and I can’t wait.

As the previous Blu-ray volumes, the quality of the animation and artistic backgrounds and the music all worked together fantastically. I found myself happy and content with this sequel and even enjoyed it much more than the first film (which was awesome) and I look forward to seeing how Anno and the GAINAX crew tweaks the next film.

As for the Blu-ray release, this release was just fantastic. Not entirely perfect as there is slight banding but for the majority of the film, picture quality was awesome and I love the 5.1 lossless soundtrack, considering the number of action sequences in this film.

The soundtrack was much better this time around for both vocal tracks and I loved how the channels, including the surround, rear surround and LFE were used for this film. Dialogue and musical score are both crystal clear!

And while the film doesn’t come with a 6.1 soundtrack or audio commentary special feature, the Blu-ray does come with a special 52-page booklet.

Fifteen years later, it was definitely great to see Evangelion sporting newer animation, CG, artwork and a solid screenplay and soundtrack. But most importantly, done in the way that the director Hideaki Anno had wanted and so far, the majority of fans have been supportive of the storyline thus far. And after I watched this second film, I can tell you that I loved every minute of it!

The third film definitely set the storyline on a different course, so none of us can really predict how the series will be.  It’s an entirely different situation for the characters, so I can’t wait for the fourth film!  But I can understand if purists who were hoping for the films to be faithful to the manga and original anime series, may be a little disappointed.  I actually welcome the divergence of its storyline.

“Evangelion: 3.33 – You Can (Not) Redo” will surprise you because it doesn’t follow the original anime or manga series. It’s a thrilling third film with plenty of action, but also setting things up for the fourth and final film.  This is a must-buy EVA release! Highly recommended!