Anything in violet =my personal comments/thoughts
Back to Basics: Last Year's shocking announcement that four new Evangelion movies were under development threw the anime community into an uproar. (O RLY? :?) As we speculate on what roles our favorite characters will play in the new production, producer Toshimichi Otsuki discusses the current state of the project and what fans can expect from the film series.
Shinji Ikari: In the original series, the 14-year-old Shinji was the Third Child and the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01. The first installment of the new movie series will focus on how he meets Rei and Misato. Just like in the TV series, his mental state will have a significant impact on the storyline.
(*cue twitching, bugged-eye, Post-3I Shinji :twisted: )
Misato Katsuragi: Misato is in charge of tactical operations at the NERV command center, but in private, the 29 year old is a total slacker who loves beer more than anything else. Her cheerful antics are expected to give the new movies a touch of lighthearted fun. (Huh?! So does this mean no EoE type angsty-seriousness? At least, not until the final film??)
Ryoji Kaji: On the surface, the suave Ryoji looks like a nice, normal thirty-something office worker, but in the original storyline he was actually a spy who was triple-crossing the Japanese government, NERV (the international organization that builds and operates the Eva units), and SEELE (a secret underground group that holds the true power behind NERV). Ryoji is determined to uncover NERV and SEELE's secret plans. His romantic relationship with Misato will be prominently featured in the films. (Ooh, baby!)
Asuka Langely Sohryu: Fans of the TV Series remember the Second Child as the brass and fiery pilot of the Evangelion Unit 02. She bullied Shinji around, but her cutesy energy earned her many fans who eagerly anticipate her return. Let's pray she has an easier go of it this time around. (Asuka, cutesy? She's cute-looking and certainly determined when she sets out to do something, but I don't know if I'd call her cutesy... ^^; )
One of the original series' biggest attractions was the juxtaposition of intense battles and normal school life, so fans should be delighted to learn that Shinji's classmates Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari are all expected to return in the new films. NERV staff members Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru, will also make appearances. Word is their personalities will remain unchanged. ~Shinji has a troubled life, but his goofball friends Toji and Kensuke help him relax. ~Shigeru Aoba (front) and Makoto Hyuga (back) both work at the NERV command center. They constantly butt heads, but deep down, they're good friends. Am I the only one who remembers no such thing of them "butting heads"??
A new direction after 12 years
Production is proceeding apace on the new Evangelion movies, with promo material and storyboards for the first installment all ready to go. Producer Toshimichi Otsuki points out that some of the show's main themes can be inferred from the promo posters that have been released so far. "There are two main posters," Otsuki explains. "The first is by character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who also did the TV series, and it makes the show look like a school drama. In fact, it's so cheerful and campus-y, it's hard to believe it's really Eva! All of Shinji's classmates are there and you could say it represents the central theme of the new series. The other poster uses live-action sci-fi shows as a visual motif. It was done by Makoto Kamiya, a special effects director who's worked on films like Bokoku no aegis (2005) and Sinking of Japan (2006). The art looks very realistic, but it feels like something out of a dream--the Unit 01 standing tall amid a retro cityscape that looks like Japan sometime around 1970, when the World's Fair was held in Osaka. Both posters show a scorching summer day." It's been more than 12 years since the original TV series hit Japanese airwaves, and we've heard over and over that they're taking a very different approach with the story. How will that carry over into the visuals? "They'll be pretty crazy," Otsuki laughs. "Anno is completely absorbed in the project. We're taking full advantage of 3D CG technology that wasn't available 12 years ago. The amount of visual information in each frame will be enormous--our staff members are almost overwhelmed. You might have to watch the climax of the first installment three or more times to catch all of it. It'll be out in Japan this summer."
Ah, yes, the world of endless summer that lets a boy grow, mentioned in the Refrain of Evangelion booklet. Wonder if pics of said posters are online anywhere? And I thought GAINAX said the first film will actually be released this fall instead of this summer??
The storyboards for the first movie have already been finished and sent off to the animators, so show director Hideaki Anno is already plotting out the scenario for the second film. Other names from the first series, including Masayuki, and Kazuya Tsurumaki, are also busily working away.
"Masayuki managed to come on board earlier than expected. He's on a tight schedule, so we weren't sure if he'd be able to join us. But he's already attending the script meetings, and the studio atmosphere is pretty lively overall. Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki are co-directing the first installment, which makes the staff roster for the new movies almost identical to that of the series. That makes me very happy." The Evangelion TV series instantly transformed the GAINAX staff into some of the most famous anime creators of all time, and Otsuki isn't the only one who's delighted to see them reunited and returning to their roots. Fans around the world are looking forward to their fresh interpretation of one of the most popular and controversial anime series ever produced.
Again, WHAT controversy? The supposed EoTV vs EoE debate (despite the fact it IS the same ending??) I really don't understand what people say when they mean Eva=controversial. Somebody please fill me in here!
New Trials: The original band of Evangelion creators have reunited in the hope of bringing about the next revolution in anime. Producer Toshimichi Otsuki promises top-notch animation and interesting twists that will impress fans old and new. I'm getting scared now...that sounds a bit too much like the promise of the official manga.
Ritsuko Akagi
Misato's longtime friend, Ritsuko is a technical engineer at NERV. She's bright and always composed, so it's easy to see why she was chosen to lead the Eva developmental team. However, Ritsuko has a darker side--something to do with the relationship between her, her mother and Gendo.
Rei Ayanami
The mysterious Rei pilots the Evangelion Unit 00. Highlights in the new movies are likely to be her first encounter with Shinji and the honest smile of relief she displays after competing the exhausting Operation Yashima.
Kaworu Nagisa
In the original TV series, the Fifth Child, Kaworu, was sent by SEELE to infiltrate NERV headquarters. Despite only appearing in one episode (episode 24), he left a lasting impression on viewers. He'll be a very important figure in the new film series, and is expected to show up at the beginning of the first installment. Rumor has it his appearance will turn heads! ZOMG, Female Kaworu theory at work?! :shock: :twisted:
Gendo Ikari
Gendo is the commander of NERV, and comes across as a bad father because of the unreasonable orders he gave to his son Shinji. He's supposed to know all the secrets surrounding NERV and the Evas, but he never revealed them in the original TV series. It's unlikely that has cold-fish attitude will be any different in the new movies.
Operation Yashima
Operation Yashima was one of the many memorable combat scenes in the original Evangelion.
In it, Misato planned a sneak attack on the fifth Angel, Rammiel, using a long-range electronic sniper rifle powered by all (yes, all) of the electricity in Japan. We can't wait to see how this will play out with today's cutting edge technology.
~NERV's Magi supercomputer estimated that Shinji and Rei's probability of success was only 8.7%, but their superb collaboration successfully closed the book on Rammiel.
~After the close of the intense battle against the fifth Angel, Rei tells Shinji she doesn't know what to do or feel.
Not just a remake
Toshimichi Otsuki and his staff seem to know exactly where they're going with the new Evangelion movies, but the rest of us are still in the dark. Luckily, he was willing to describe some of the changes we can look forward to. "Apparently Hideaki Anno, the director, wasn't satisfied with how the original episode 6--"Showdown in Tokyo-3"--turned out," Otsuki comments. "There were technical limitations that bothered him back then, and for the new movies he wants to reanimate all of the Operation Yashima scenes from scratch. He's already appointed Shinji Higuchi to do the storyboards. Their position rifle used there has been modified--there are new Self Defense Force markings, and it's not exactly combat-ready. The operation is just one of the many fight scenes in the TV series, but it'll be the climax of the first movie." Shinji Higuchi recently directed the live-action film Sinking of Japan, famous for it's incredible depiction of earthquakes leveling city after city throughout Japan. If we dare expect to see animation on that scale, it might be fair to dub the first movie. "The Blackout of Japan"! After all, in the TV version, Operation Yashima drained electricity from every single generator in the country and left the nation enveloped in darkness. But Otsuki stresses that the new movies are much more than technically advanced versions of the same old story. "They are most certainly not merely scaled-up versions of the TV series.," he says. "Anno already had many of the basic ideas and images in mind 12 years ago. We're just realizing his vision more thoroughly. At least that's our plan for the first installment." Their new movies are supposed to introduce a new character, but it look's like that character's identity won't be revealed until the second installment. But if hearsay is anything to go by, various other subtle yet conceptually significant design changes will become obvious much earlier. "The basic uniform designs are the same, but the NERV and SEELE emblems are different," Otsuki explains. "Ikuto Yamashita came up with the new designs, which use an apple motif." The new NERV emblem will be a partially eaten Apple, while the SEELE one is composed of an apple and a serpent--a clear reference to Adam and Eve's exile from paradise. Religious symbols played a significant role in the original TV series, and they were responsible for much of the buzz surrounding it. Noo! Pointless religious symbolism=bad! Please please please let Anno be fucking with our minds!
So will the story of the serpent tricking Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil tie into the plot somehow? Apparently, we'll just have to wait and see. But lucky for us, the first installment is well on it's way, and production of the second installment is already going full-force, with Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon, Sgt. Frog) drawing up the storyboards. The new movies have been significantly modified from their 1990s-era counterparts, but they're expected to appeal to hardcore devotees of the original TV series and new generation of anime fans alike, so expectations of it are running across the board. It won't be long before this classic masterpiece comes back to life! Yay for Sato working on this (believe he did the storyboards for the series, too
) but boo if the new character's a love interest for Shinji. I really hope it WON'T be Mana or Mayumi, because while that worked for games, I don't see how it would work for this movies. Besides, Rei and Asuka being his potential love interests worked out great because it wasn't cliché (more on my POV about that in a later post.) Who knows, maybe the new character will be Kaji's killer! lol ^^;This issue of Newtype also mentions Eva At Work and this month's release of Gunbuster. (Shit, I sound like I'm making a sales pitch here, and I don't even really like Newtype that much! ^^; )
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