OK, I'm Lost...
You ever start watching something, and realize that you have no idea what's going on? The feeling that you missed a whole lot of the story? That's how I felt when I started watching my DVD choice of the day, earlier this afternoon.
A number of months back, I made the mistake of purchasing Neon Genesis: Evangelion - Death & Rebirth. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure this is quality work, but it is not, allow to repeat NOT for the uninitiated. I got it because I had heard so many good things about the series. This was a new disk release at the time, so I figured why not?
I wish I had started at an earlier point in the series. The first time I popped this in the player was shortly after I purchased it. I go through about 10 minutes before I gave up. I had no idea what was going on, there were no character introductions, I couldn't tell who the bad guys were, the timeline was continuously jumping around. It was enough to induce a migraine.
Fast forward to today. I decide to try it again. This time, I made it all the way through, although it was just images strung along in front of me. I was as lost as I was that first time I tried it. I have to assume that if I was familiar with the series, this would have made sense to me. I apologize to all Eva fans out there, but this was a bad introduction for me, and I have decided not to pursue the series, at least at this point...
As for the DVD released by Manga Entertainment. The image is a bit soft and lacking detail, but it is adequate enough. I watched using the English dub, it did not seem to bad, as far as dubs go, but I was hurt by lack of knowledge regarding the show. Now if I had known this before watching I would have used it, one of the extras is called Mokuji(translates as Contents) Interactive, which, when activated gives side links within the movie to content that explains characters and various things about it. Sounds like a good feature. Other than that, there is also a commentary trailers, and various behind the scenes info.
I hate to say it, but I regret this purchase, after looking very much forward to it. I recommend that any newcomers to Eva avoid this like the plague, at least at first! Maybe one day I will explore the series but there are many others that I would prefer go through first.
Recommended for fans only.
Article comments
1 - Phillies64
The EVA movies (as they're mistakingly called) just serve as an ending to the series. It cannot be watched without it. Otherwise it's like watching the last four episodes of a 24 episode series. You'll be totally lost.