Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth Review – 69/100

Ah, my exams are finally over and what better way to start the Christmas Holiday than with the conclusion of Neon Genesis Evangelion? ^^; Those who watched the original series probably already know that it went way over-budget, resulting in the two infamous final episodes, which caused a public outrage. In response, Gainax came with two movies: Death and Rebirth and the End of Evangelion. I myself saw the original Evangelion a few years ago, but I never had the chance to watch these movies until now. It’s no news that Evangelion has turned into a cash-cow. Therefore, it isn’t such a big surprise to me that Death and Rebirth wasn’t really meant to be a movie. Its only role is to fix a few mistakes of the final episodes of the series, and put the chess-pieces in the right place for the End of Evangelion. A TV-special, like with Code Geass, would have been enough. Because of this, the creators had to fill up time for the rest of the movie. The result? A giant recap-sequence that takes up around two-thirds of the entire airtime. While I admit that it was nice to see the characters back and all, I can’t really imagine how this is better than any recap-episode to someone who just saw the series, where the sequences are still fresh on his or her mind. The only new thing in this part is some added classical music, a very few new frames where characters are playing various instruments and a bit of angsty dialogue. The latter is the only positive thing I can say about the glorified-recap-episode part. Luckily, there is enough new content once the recap is done, and it becomes clear that Gainax is going for the shock-value. Still, it works, and I can say that I’m eager to see what’s in store for the End of Evangelion, so at least the movie served its purpose. The massive slaughter that went on in the process may have been a bit too much, though, and I’m also a bit disappointed how we never saw any of the intentions of the bad guys, and why they chose such a bloody method to get their way. I hope that the End of Evangelion will clear this up, but this really should have been the purpose of Death and Rebirth. Obviously, if you haven’t seen the series, then don’t even bother to try and watch this one. Even with the recap, it’s way too confusing, and you need the knowledge of the first 24 episodes. And obviously, making this one into a movie was a bit too much. Still, it does serve as a nice build-up, but on its own, it’s nothing special.]]>