CITAZIONE
First, this is an absolute visual feast. Truly, Studio Khara and directors Tsurumaki Kazuya and Anno Hideaki have done an amazing job. Every individual frame is a work of art, a complete composition full of symbolism, and the dense frames work together to create breathtakingly fluid motion. The action is blistering and visceral. Some standout examples are the opening scene where Mari chases and battles an Angel at high speed inside the corridors of her base, the showdown between Unit 01 and 04 and the climatic confrontation with the fourteenth Angel, Zeruel. With these visuals, the music is a real let down. There is no new theme song (Utada Hikaru does an acoustic rendition of “Beautiful World”), and BGM is a mix of nostalgic sounds from the series and wonky stuff you would expect to find in a Japanese TV drama from the 1990s. This often doesn’t gel. Classic music is replaced by old-fashioned songs sung by kids. One such innocent song is used to great effect in when juxtaposed with the newfound brutality of the tragic end of Unit 04. A similar song is used later, however, and it just seems cheap.
The world in which the horrible violence of Eva and Angel battles takes place is on the whole a lot more cheerful (perhaps the reason for some of that cheesy BGM). Scenes of daily life, for example people commuting in the city or the protagonists in a regular school setting, are more common and warm. The inclusion of settings outside Japan, and simple scenes like Kaji farming, create a more balanced worldview. People are less twisted and disturbed; after promoting from Ayanami, Commander Ikari actually considers his son, Shinji’s well being and agrees to have dinner with him (it doesn’t happen, but it’s the thought that counts). The students all go to see an aquarium where sea creatures that were wild before Second Impact are kept. The story is, as with the first movie, streamlined and simplified. Ikari explains key plot points like the conflict of interest with SEELE, and what will happen with Unit 01 and Ayanami. There aren’t the superfluous Angel attacks, or painful human relationships, for that matter. For example, the center of the narrative is clearly Shinji and Ayanami, and the pattern of their attraction is simplified to classroom settings and making food for each other. Asuka and Kaji do not come to Japan together, and actually have little connection. Kaji and Misato’s attraction (and Misato and Shinji’s for that matter) is similarly downplayed to keep the focus on Shinji and Ayanami. (Kaji does sexually harass Shinji, though!)
Asuka does in her usual way tsundere way express feelings for Shinji, for example feeling lonely and coming to sleep in his room (this is not sleep walking as in the TV series) and confronting Ayanami about her feelings for him (this is after she calls Ayanami a doll in the infamous elevator scene, and it is masterfully played here). She is a compelling character here, maybe even more so than in the original series, and her drive to excel, lack of social skills and loneliness really shine through. She also has some great fan service moments in shimapan and bursting naked from the shower. But instead of pursuing Shinji, she volunteers to test pilot Eva Unit 04 from the United States. Yes, Asuka, not Toji. It is infected by an Angel, Shinji refuses to fight and the dummy plug system takes control of Eva Unit 01, which horribly destroys Unit 04 – and crushes the entry plug containing Asuka in its mouth. Thankfully, the dummy plug system in this theatrical version does not make Shinji watch this. Not soon after this, Mari sneaks into NERV headquarters and takes Asuka’s Unit 02 to fight Zeruel. I am grateful that she is not a copy of Asuka, but a very Earthy, even bestial character unique in her own right (nice balance to all these ethereal characters). She drives Unit 02 berserk and has a knock down brawl, but gets cruelly dismembered.
In that same Angel battle, Ayanami does her suicide attack with the N2 bomb. It fails, and the badass Zeruel bites her Eva in half and swallows it, including her. Shinji quit NERV after the death of Asuka, but snaps out of his funk after seeing the heroics of Mari and the death of Ayanami. He flips out, and goes berserk (very “Gurren Lagann” here). He gains so much power that Eva 01 becomes a god able to rip a hole in the Angel and extract Ayanami. Shinji insists on doing this, even though Ayanami tells him she “has spares,” because he says there is only one Ayanami. (Cue the romantic violins… This burns my ass, because face it, she is a clone, and Asuka was sure replaced fast enough…). The reborn Ayanami merges with Unit 01 and sets into motion Third Impact. Luckily Kaworu, who has been waiting shirtless on the face of the moon, descends and impales Unit 01, stopping the process. He says he will make “only Shinji find happiness.”
The trailer for the next film, “Quickening,” offers many intriguing info bites, including the return of all the characters, including Asuka in an eye-patch, and Unit 08. Guess I will be in line two years from now, too.
Se quello che leggo è vero...... sono colpito......
