Fanedit idea - Rebuild of Yashima?

[Zenithfleet]

NB:This is an idea; it's not a project I'm working on myself - I know less than zero about video editing. I'm not quite sure if it's OK to post requesty sort of things here, so mods, zap me if I'm being bad, but maybe it will inspire somebody...

Also, REBUILD 1.11 SPOILERS (in case I still need to say that)


Anyway, hey everyone - long time no lurk! A thought occurs...

I reckon the last half hour of Rebuild 1.11 (from Ramiel's arrival till the end) would work well as a replacement for TV episode 6. If someone's already made one, please shut me up now and point me in their general direction! If not, read on...

As everyone knows, NGE TV's episode 6 suffers from an annoying drop in animation quality. On the other hand, the version of Operation Yashima in Rebuild 1.11 is utterly spectacular, while sticking closely to the TV storyline. (In fact I've heard it's how GAINAX originally wanted the battle to play out, but don't quote me on that.)

Seems to me it would be possible to create a 'Rebuild of Yashima' replacement episode, with TV title and ending credits, using the last half-hour of 1.11. It could start when Ramiel appears over the hills and end with the shot of the moon above Eva-01 and Eva-00.

I think only three small scenes would need snipping:

-Gendo and Fuyutsuki discussing the dummy plugs and moving Shinji/Rei closer together
-Misato showing Shinji that he's an overworked servant of the Thing Downstairs
-Kaworu on the moon at the end.

Of course, there are things in the TV episode I'd be sad to lose (e.g. no balloon!Eva or traincannon testing out Ramiel's AT field, no space shuttle joke) but nothing major.

On plotholes, cutting Lilith might cause a problem regarding Shinji's motivation to pilot. I think this could be fixed by also cutting the Shinji/Misato balcony scene beforehand, so the conversation never happens. That way he's purely motivated to pilot so Rei doesn't have to, as in Episode 6. (Hope I'm getting the details right here - somebody else has my 1.11 DVD at the moment.)

Also, I'd probably snip that one gratuitous Rebuild shot of naked Rei stepping into her plugsuit, as it's always irritated me, but that's just personal taste.

Again, this is just me throwing out an idea - I tried to figure out how to do it myself and ended up confusticated and bebothered (not to mention discombobulated).

However, I did try out the general concept, with the help of some hasty DVD swapping, on my newbie cousins. We held an impromptu NGE marathon (whole series plus EoE in the space of a weekend - I have no idea what it did to their brains but it certainly melted mine). One of the cousins hates watching 'old anime' and I knew she'd never cope with the drop in animation quality at Episode 6, so we switched to Rebuild at that point (with me carefully skipping the scenes mentioned above). Seemed to work.

What do you think? Would it be worth doing?

[Stryker]

It's a cool idea, but it would be a very strange transition from the quality of NGE to NME.

[Zenithfleet]

Oops, totally forgot I'd created this thread...

Yep, the visual upgrade would be a bit jarring, but then so is the drop in quality in the existing episode 6 compared to the rest of the show. (I never used to notice it when all I had were VHS tapes recorded from fuzzy SBS, but with Platinum it's glaringly obvious.)

Actually I find the contrast in animation quality after watching Rebuild isn't quite as jarring if you're in the habit of skipping Jet Alone and proceeding straight to Asuka's introduction in ep 8 - that's a good-looking episode.

Anyway, to continue with the random hypothetical wishful thinking:

-Do Gendo or Fuyutsuki call Ramiel the 'sixth Angel' in Rebuild? That might need trimming...

-Any scenes with red ocean visible would need cutting (I think there's just one, as the VTOL jets zoom over to pick up the positron cannon).

-The fact that Ramiel completely disintegrates in 1.11 presents a bit of a continuity problem given that they spend a few episodes dismantling it in the TV show. Don't think anything can be done about this...

-Black and white Evangelion eyecatch for title credits!

[esselfortium]

Why would you skip Jet Alone, though?

[Zenithfleet]

esselfortium: I often skip episode 7 when I rewatch NGE. It's hardly the most thrilling episode, after all. First-time viewers shouldn't skip it, obviously, but having seen NGE too many times to count, I just find it dull and would rather get to Asuka's arrival quick smart.

The thing is, I'm imagining this 'Rebuild of Yashima' as a sort of Director's Cut episode 6 for those who've seen the original before and would just like a snazzier Ramiel battle. The change in visual quality wouldn't matter so much (in theory at least) because it's not a first-time viewing.

(I should explain that the only part of Rebuild 1.11 and 2.22 I've actually rewatched repeatedly is the excellent bit that corresponds to episode 6. I'm not too keen on the rest of NME, but I often fire up the disc just to see that amazing half-hour of glittery geometric goodness one more time.)

This is all whimsical fantasy anyway, since my video editing skills haven't progressed beyond slapping random MPEGs together in Windows Movie Maker. Carry on, folks. Don't mind my crazed ramblings.

...mumble mutter and then a slightly rejigged Episode 23' in which EVA-00 just explodes like in the OA might be cool mumble mumble muhahaha...