Hello,
Many thanks for letting me register. I am afraid I lost my sister Holly at only twenty-two in December, on the 19th. She loved Japanese anime and manga and always encouraged me to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion as a programme which was very deep and had a lot of interesting psychological and esoteric material.

I cannot now share it with her (hence the username, Ilex crenata is Japanese Holly) but as a tribute I have decided to watch the programme. Unfortunately for me she left her copy to an old penfriend and in all the strain I can't remember much more than packing it up. I think there have been lots of remasterings, it would be nice to watch the original first.

What edition should I begin with? I am going to university this Autumn to study German literature, so I am quite well used to non-English works with subtitles - is it better to watch a Japanese edition with English subtitles? Japanese would be my first non Indo-European language and I hope to learn at least a little.

Best wishes,
Patrick, Dornoch.

Any fandom has its fanatics for this or that version - but actually, there is no reason not to go straight to Netflix and watch it there. The subs and the (English) dub, which ever you choose, are pretty good - probably the best you can get without poring over fan versions, many of which are distinctly dubious.

Thank you, Mr. Hodges, most sincerely - I have seen advertisements for handsome, expensive sets of D.V.D.s (Platinum Edition, I think). If I enjoy Netflix, are these useful future investments?

Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry for your loss.

Like pwhodges said Netflix is mostly a great way of seeing the show. There was some controversy - all instances the song "Fly Me to the Moon" shows up, it was removed. And some consider the subtitles to be too literal in places. But it is still a good way to watch it.
And yes, I would recommend the Japanese dub. I consider it the best voice acting I ever heard.

I can't speak for that DVD set, since I'm from Spain/Germany.

If you have any questions come back to the forum. I hope you enjoy the show. :)

Be cautious of advertisements for Platinum DVDs and the like. They are long out of print, and while second-hand copies do crop up, there are many bootleg fakes of varying accuracy (you can find whole threads on the matter in the older parts of this forum, including hints for telling the difference). In any case, I'd say you don't gain a lot; the loss of "Fly me to the Moon" in the Netflix version was a shame, but honestly, it's as much a matter of nostalgia as relevance.

Watch the series and associated films first, then decide whether your enthusiasm is such as to justify starting to collect things.

Many thanks to you both for your kind condolences and practical advice - at the minute I am three episodes in and very much enjoying it so far.

Ilex crenata (aka ssevangelion1995) wrote: have seen advertisements for handsome, expensive sets of D.V.D.s

Out of print + cult classic does that -- especially for the accompanying films (Death & Rebirth, and End of...).

If you're watching with Netflix, the main differences are that the original English language dub for the home-video release was rather of its time, whereas, due to differences in how the translation was managed, the subtitles in Platinum are slightly more natural English, though differing somewhat in nuance in a few key places.

The definitive editions on optical disk are the Japanese editions from a few years back, a DVD set of archival as-aired video (in a red perspex case), and a BD set of remastered HD video (in a blue perspex case), though these only have Japanese audio, and no subtitles.

Thank you so much. By the by, before I rack up too many posts, may I change my username? I can just imagine Holly hitting me for being so sentimental , she hated memorials.

I suggest shinseikievangelion1995 - stylised romanisation plus a meaningful date.

@ Mr. Tines - warm thanks for the username change, it was simply too personal. I have copied down the information you have given, extremely useful.

@ pwhodges - many thanks for much practical advice! I have the NetFlix version at present.

@kuribo-04 - the condolences are deeply touching, thank you. Also warm thanks for the good advice.

I will 'drop off' for a little while as I work my way through all the episodes and the online resources, including your own database, but please believe me sincerely grateful and glad to have met such a friendly community.

Patrick Joseph Gray (Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, Scotland - Golfopolis!)

Pleased to have you as a new member. :)

Es freut mich sehr, Sie kennenzulernen!

Ten episodes in and counting - this is fascinating, vastly superior to anything I have seen previously. I have already filled a small notebook with allegories and dense speculation!

Please no spoilers, but my thanks once again - at present, Sandalphon notes. Sandalphon is, according to the 'Dictionary of Angels', Ezekiel the prophet ascended to angelic form (his brother Metatron, in angelology, was Enoch). He remind me very much of Haeckel's recapitulation hypothesis, that an embryo might reflect evolutionary origin = ''ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny'' - the consequences are too horrid to contemplate easily, but seem to agree with, for instance, the similarity in the wave-signatures of the Angels and human DNA.

Please don't tell me if I am right or wrong, but it is a great relief to think deeply about something other than recent events.

It only gets more complex from here on. :)
A lot to dive into.

Thank you - by the by, Sandalphon is of course Elias, Elijah, not Ezekiel

I have just finished the series and the two films (Death/Rebirth and End of Evangelion). Surreal, beautiful and horrible, often all three at the same time. More than a few tears on my part.

So, are you now ready to start talking about it here as well, or do you need a wind-down first?

ssevangelion1995 wrote:Surreal, beautiful and horrible, often all three at the same time.

A very succinct way of putting it.

pwhodges wrote:So, are you now ready to start talking about it here as well, or do you need a wind-down first?

An interesting question with two answers. I want to watch it at least twice more before making an ass of myself by making howlers on a subject I am a complete beginner at! There's also a part of me that wants to try and find out more on my own before consulting other resources.

As you've replied, thank you for recommending NetFlix, it has been a fascinating journey. I've managed to find some of the Platinum discs in the house so will be watching those subtitles for my second time out of sheer interest.

Mr. Tines wrote:A very succinct way of putting it.

Thank you.

I second what Tines said. :)