Evangelion 1.01: You Are Not Alone

Words can merely describe the excitement I get, when it was first announced that the anime series neon genesis evangelion would be made into a feature length movie. This ambitious project (by the original anime studio that released the series back in 1995, Studio Gainax and helmed by the visionary director, Hideaki Anno) is called Rebuild Of Evangelion, a tetralogy of films, beginning with the movie, ” Evengelion 1.0: You Are Not Alone”. This project remakes and compiles all 26 episodes from the original anime series and releases it as a 4-parter. The first movie covers the first 6 episodes of the movie right before the introduction of EVA-O2 and its pilot Asuka Langley.

The movie finally reached this part of the world early this year when it was screened in Singapore. It took another 6 months before announcements were made that this movie will be screened in this country. Unfortunately though, this movie will only be screened for a very limited time and suprisingly by a single location in this country i.e. Cathay Cineplex Damansara for the whole month of July. As I was making plans to travel all the way to KL to catch a glimpse of this long-awaited movie, getting more and more frustrated along the way as my busy schedule and bouts of flu keep getting in the way, I was lucky one day, to chance upon a DVD copy of this movie in one of the DVD stores I use to frequent.

After making almost daily visits to DVD stores all over penang and KL (when I had the chance) for almost 6 months (returning everytime frustrated and almost loosing hope of ever watching this movie), I was elated (to the point of ecstasy) to come across this dvd all of a sudden. I caught me off balance that I could’t resist buying another dvd just as a show of appreciation to the store for finally having the dvd in their store. I was so excited that as soon as I reached home, I slipped the dvd into the player and started watching till the end of the movie. Only one word can describe this movie: PERFECT.

The movie kept to its original storyline, from the arrival of the main protagonist, the tormented and neurotic Shinji Ikari to NERV headquarters, his first experience piloting the humanoid fighting machine Evangelion or better known as Eva and ends with his epic battle with the shape-shifting, 6th. Angel with the support of Eva-OO and its pilot Ayanami Rei. Well ,that sums up the movie in a very simplistic manner. This movie however, is far from being just simple.

Through the genius mind of the director Hideaki Anno, the remake of this movie is a masterpiece of its own. It doesn’t take a fan of the original series to understand and enjoy the movie. The seamless art direction takes this movie to a different level, advances in animation technology enables him to recreate the fight sequences into something incredible and fantastic. The monstrous angels looks even more splendid especially the shape-shifting 6th angel. Even the agility of the humanoid Eva is better demonstrated this time, the movement almost fluid, its like watching a beatifully choreographed dance even when the eva goes berserk.

Given the time constraint, the emotion felt from this movie is suprisingly vivid. The plight of the neurotic Shinji Ikari was perfectly fleshed out in this movie. His reluctance of piloting Eva, having to fight countless alien, gigantic creatures and almost losing his mind after each fight is just too much for a simple 13 year old seemingly normal boy without any special abilities except the special bond he shares with the eva (without him really knowing it). This movie also teaches us that in such bleak, desperate times, its not worth running away. All we need to do is take our stand and fight our way through the most difficult times.

At the end of the movie we finally understand the movie’s theme: You Are Not Alone. When he puts on his suit and pilot the Eva, he is not alone. He holds the fate of all humanity in his hands. He even has the support of so many people including his class mates, his superior Major Misato Katsuragi, his fellow pilot, the mysterious blue-haired, ayanami rei and even his estranged farther, Gendo Ikari eventhough he never shows it directly. In the words of Major Katsuragi, ” Shinji, you are not alone”.