Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection | ADV has done an unbelievable job

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection | Very good watch overall

DVDs:

Neon Genesis Evang...

	Neon Genesis Evangelion: Platinum Collection Adv Films, 2005 average customer review:based on 137 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

ADV has done an unbelievable job

I've already reviewed this show, but I am reviewing the way that ADV has put this package together. Put simply, it is amazing. Rather than putting the whole show on 8 discs, the regular run of the show is on 5 discs, plus a 6th disc with the 4 director's cut episodes. The picture and sound quality on these discs blows the old set's quality out of the water, and the convenient packaging saves a ton of space on my shelf (nothing really to do with the DVDs I know, but just a personal note there). Above all, the 4 director's cut episodes are actually quite well worth it with some very interesting footage (some flat-out creepy i might add!). Out of the 5 characters that were re-dubbed for this occasion, only 1 really needed it, but whatever. If you haven't watched Evangelion before, or if you want better sound and picture than the set you may currently own, then by all means you must pick this up! It only cost me 58 bucks brand new!

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Very good watch overall

Based on the reviews I've read so far it would seem that when one decides to delve into the world of anime they will eventually come upon this series. While I did not give this a full five stars, I can definitely see why it is praised highly. On the flip side I can also see why a few people disliked it, thanks to the way the series ended. Regardless, I personally found it a very enjoyable series, but I don't think it's the greatest thing ever made. Not to me at least. I'll admit that at first I had a little trouble getting into the characters, but once I did I was definitely into the whole series. Shinji is just such a hard guy to like watching sometimes.

Anyway, Neon Genesis Evangelion puts us in a world that is nearly destroyed. The reason this happened is because of these strange beings called "angels". The show takes us on quite an adventure centered on a boy named Shinji who has a destiny to fulfill. The series opens with an attack by one of these angels and Shinji is caught in the midst of it, but is due to be picked up by someone. She is charged to bring him back to the secret government base his father works at called Nerv. Needless to say she succeeds, since its episode one and we wouldn't have much of a series if the main character died there. Anyway, Shinji will prove to be instrumental in the defeat of these angels thanks to a machine his father built called the Eva. They are sort of like giant robots, which is why I would class this as a Mecha, but the Evas have an organic/genetic component in their designing (you find out more about this towards the end of the series and I won't ruin the full breadth of the revelation for you). Anyway, Shinji, never having piloted one of these machines before, refuses, but is sort of forced into it and thus his career as an Eva pilot started in the very first episode. Sounds like most everything is explained huh? Not in the least, there is SO much more to this series and that's one of the reasons it's so great. You see there's more than just one Eva in the world and thus more than one pilot because the Eva has to genetically mesh with its pilot so it's a lot more than driving the machines we see in other Mecha or what we find in things like Battletech. The other requirement is the pilot has to be fourteen. The other pilot already with us is Rei, but she really was too injured in a prior accident to pilot on that fateful day while seeing her so injured and his fathers immovable lack of compassion, Shinji felt the weight of the battle was on him.

As you can see Shinji's father is not a likeable person and we are shown this in the first episode as well. From there we are introduced to an array of varying characters, especially when Shinji gets entered into the school at Nerv headquarters. Shinji is sort of out of touch with reality, but still wants something out of it, so he's kind of in between. Rei on the other hand is completely removed and she's more like a robotic human just going through the motions. We see a couple hints of her humanity show up every now and again, but she does come across as incredibly bright and observant. Later we become introduced to the third pilot from Germany, Ayako. She was one of my favorites next to Rei and she's very in touch with the world. She's very engaged with the world around her and she's very motivated to be an Eva pilot, unlike Shinji who doesn't want to be and Rei who just does as she's told. Despite the action sequences where the Evas have to face the Angel enemies there is a major dramatic component to this series that focuses on how these children have to deal with their very intense responsibility. One wonders how the mind of someone so young can truly cope with what they're doing.

If you're really just in it for the action you might not get as into this because the dramatic sequences are just as necessary and on screen just as much. In fact, on some levels, I felt like there was sometimes too much action. From the way they present the story it seems like an Angel attack is a rare occurrence, but in almost every episode there's an attack. Our characters don't even get a rest to deal with their social problems or the problems they have to deal with in their job. Shinji clearly has the most mental stress because he's now under the command of a father who doesn't even seem to like him and favors Rei over his own son! Rei... who isn't even his daughter! As you can see there's a lot of strife and struggle for this, but Shinji's father has a lot to deal with as well, especially when it comes to those who control Nerv called Seele. This doesn't change the fact that he seems to be a very immoral person, especially when we see the background episodes.

That pretty much covers the premise for episodes one through twenty-four and if you like a dramatic based Mecha with some decent action sequences you'll love this. However, when we get to the last two episodes things make almost no sense... to the point where the creators have actually already tried to rewrite this ending twice! I will admit that the last two episodes are awesome, especially on a philosophical/psychological level. They are absolutely profound and they really moved me to think about things in a very strange and new light. You can get a lot out of those two episodes if you view them in their own right, however, if you try to put them in conjunction with the rest of the series it makes almost no sense. On the "Platinum" edition of the box set there are director's cut episodes and upon re-watching those I see hints of the "Human Instrumentality Project", which is where I think the last two episodes seem to culminate, but again, it really doesn't mesh with the rest at all. It just leaves us with no sensible conclusion to what was going on with the angels and Nerv in general. The built up such a mysterious world in the first twenty-four episodes that to have such an off key conclusion... we're just left feeling unsatisfied. Apparently I'm not the only one who thought these things made no sense, because I've talked to a few other people and they definitely agree. In the end, after watching these two, I'll call them "wtf episodes", I'm left wondering if Shinji just made up this whole thing in his head and it never really happened. Apparently that's a very real possibility.

The art and premise of the show is very well done. It just begins to fall apart towards the end and there's no major ending that really turns the light on in our heads to make us understand. I'm not looking for a blatant hand out, but at least a somewhat logical progression would be nice and this show never really ends that way. I think it's good for what it is, but I think it had so much potential that never got truly fulfilled. I realize everything has meaning, I mean they went to the lengths to name the angels and give them REAL angelic names so there must be some relational concept between apocalypse and angels. After the last two episodes I'm less sure of what that concept is, even though I felt like I was on to something to figuring it out at first. In the end if you enjoy Mecha's with very deep concepts and drama then you'll love this. If you like the philosophical aspects found in Anime you'll love the last episodes too, but treating them as separate works seems to make more sense. Both things are great in their own right, but together it just doesn't flow, if you know what I mean. It really is difficult to convey in words, especially if you've never seen it before. I still recommend watching it at least once.

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Very good

All in all a very good product. The discs are excellent quality, and the remastering of the old animation looks great. The story itself is very good until the last few episodes, that's why this collection gets only 4 stars. I'm sorry to all the die hard fans, but that last episode just plain sucks. Luckily, there is a movie called "End of Evangelion" that actually provides a decent ending to the series. Pick this up if you like mecha, phsycho-thrillers, or wimpy main characters.

Just short of everything I could have wanted

This box collection is an excellent addition to any fan of the Evangelion series. The four director's cut episodes make the series much easier to understand at times, showing scenes which add much more content to the plot. Only thing holding it back from a 5 star is the lack of the movie End of Evangelion with it, but really its no big deal.

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Brilliant series, but quite disturbing...

This series is very good, but it isnt something i would like to watch on a regular basis, like friends or family guy. The primary reason being it's so darn depressing, i would even go as far to say that watching this series too much could damage you mentaly, especially if your recovering from depresion. It makes the veiwer feel pointless, like theres no meaning to anything we do, it also projects the notion that life is just a lonley, hostile trudge to the grave...then again, some of you might like that kind of thing. I swear some people are only happy when thier miserable, if youre one then this is the show for you. On a more postive note, the show has several hilarious moments which will have you rolling around in stitches, plus it has some amazing fight sequences. I give it 4 stars for the artwork and originality of the story, plus the surreal effect it has on the veiwer, though it lacks the final star because its quite depresing.

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