Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone

It was abundantly clear very early on that this was part of something much, much bigger than a simple feature film and that there was a history to Evangelion which I had missed out on. It turns out that there was a 26 episode anime series, plus two Evangelion movies that completely passed me by. This is a remake of the first six episodes of the anime series and is a extended cut of Evangelion 1.01.

Evangelion 1.11 takes place in the near future where a war has left the human race fearing another conflict which would wipe them out completely and the survivors, living in Tokyo-3 under the protection of huge biomechanical robots, known as Evangelions, willingly hide in underground shelters and do without such basics as electricity. For reasons that were completely unclear to me, Tokyo-3 is repeatedly attacked by enormous robots called Angels and they have an almost impenetrable defence mechanism which makes them impervious to conventional weaponry. The only chance for the residents is the Evangelion as they have enough armour and firepower to fight on a level playing field with the Angels but the problem is, they need a pilot.

This brings in a shy 14 year old boy, Shinji Ikari, who has spent many years away from his father due to his work for the government. Now that mankind has reached its precipice against the Angels, Shinji has been called for by his father to pilot an Evangelion as he has the correct mindset and DNA to work the huge robots.

Unfortunately, this is not exactly what Shinji had in mind and he is further traumatised by being uprooted and sent to NERV, the secret government department by his father works, even if he is treated as anyone else and there are no special favours because of who his dad is. This relocation means that he has to spend a lot of time with another worker in the Department, Misato Katsuragi, a feisty, hard drinking and gregarious woman who takes Shinji here under her wing.

Although I had almost no idea what was going on for the first 20 minutes or so, I found the film to be extremely well written, designed and animated. The characters are fully rounded and have so much depth that you really feel for them and understand how the relationships work. I imagine that, if you're reading this with a view to buying the Blu-ray, you already know something about Evangelion and have either watched the anime series, the previous film, or both so will have a working knowledge of the characters, places and the geopolitical situation in which the universe is set. I imagine the more you know, the more you will take out of a film like this, in which there is a great deal of back story that can be explored at great depth in a full 24 part series that simply can't be packed into a film.


As I was completely new to this, I was left wondering what the hell these Angels were, who or what the Japanese were at war with and how long the conflict had been going on. By the end of the film I didn't really mind not knowing only intricacies of the Evangelion universe as I took the film at face value and enjoyed it for what it was. The animation is absolutely superb, whether it is a small scene at someone's apartment or a huge battle sequence spanning hundreds of miles. This is animation on a grand scale with tower blocks being controlled by the authorities so they shrink into the ground when there is a battle taking place and rise up once the conflict is finished. The combat scenes are superbly done and it doesn't matter whether you are watching it from the outside or looking at the inside the cockpit, you still know that they are people at risk and become emotionally involved.

I don't think this will ever have that crossover appeal of something like Ghost in the Shell as there is a great deal of watching required before you even sit down to watch this disc, something that is not the case with Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue or Akira but that is why they are recognised as masterpieces of anime and just about the standard to which all other films are marked against. Evangelion 1.11 is fantastic film and I thought it was riveting watching, even without knowing much about the universe and what has happened previously.

The Disc

Extra Features
Sadly, the disc has a rather paltry selection of supplementary material including a developmental featurette showing how the sketches led to the finished animation, some previews for other films and a music video.

There are two different versions of this release: Standard and Collectors. The Standard Edition just has the film on one Blu-ray Disc whereas the Collector's Edition comes with the BD plus an extra DVD with Evangelion 1.01 and some specially commissioned packaging. As the price difference is nominal between the two (with the Collector's Edition having an RRP £2 higher than the Standard Edition), I would recommend the Collector's Edition but I can only comment on the Standard edition as that was all I was provided with.


The Picture
Without having seen the anime on DVD to compare this against, I don't know how much better this than the series or the previously released film; I can just say that this looks stunning in high definition with wonderfully crisp edges, vibrant colours and battle sequences that are better than any anime I've seen.


The Sound
Pretty much every anime that I've seen has given more prominence to the English dub track than the native Japanese soundtrack, normally giving a Dolby Digital 5.1 English track and a 2.0 stereo Japanese option. It is therefore all the more pleasing that both the Japanese and English tracks have Dolby TrueHD 6.1 tracks. Both of these are excellent, with clear dialogue, beautifully presented atmospherics and surrounds really come to life when the guns start firing.

I didn't watch this through twice, once for the soundtrack, but stuck largely to the Japanese was flicking to the English every so often. The dubbing is very good with most of the voices suiting the characters very well but, and this is a big but, but one voice that doesn't really work is Shinji's. In Japanese he is a more complex and likeable character of the English dub makes him annoying and whiney.

The subtitles are very good, well written and error-free, but it's a shame that you only have the choice of subtitles on or off with no option for a "signs only" subtitle. This means you miss out on some slight details in the film but, because the track wasn't there, I don't know whether I missed out on some big plot points or not.


Final Thoughts
Evangelion 1.11 is extremely good film and one of the best anime movies I've ever seen. Admittedly that list is short, but I know a good film when I see one and I know that this is top entertainment. Cleverly written, beautifully animated and with characters given real life and energy by the superb voice cast, this is a formidable animated film.

As I was only given the single disc Blu-ray for review, I can't comment on the Collector's Edition which apparently includes a DVD of Evangelion 1.01 and some other material including special packaging.