The First 8 Minutes of the Evangelion Movie Is Just the First 8 Minutes of Evangelion

I’m an Evangelion fan. I do not think the original TV series is overrated. I think it’s absolutely brilliant, and I’m one of the few who think the original TV ending is far superior to the End of Evangelion movie. I think if you’re one of the people who refuse to watch it because it’s anime, you’re missing out just as much as people who won’t read Watchmen because it’s an American comic series.

That said, I’ve not been excited about these four Evangelion movies at all. First off, as you can see by this 8-minute preview of the first flick, You Are (Not) Alone (due out tomorrow on DVD), it’s exactly the same thing as the TV series. At the moment, it looks exactly like a cash grab by Gainax — which strikes me as eminently possible given that Gainax has been whoring out the Evangelion license for merchandise and games and porn and porn games and porn merchandise as hard as it possible could for the last 14 years (I’m also not digging this new English dub either [although I also hated the original English dub, too]).

I know that eventually the movies diverge from the TV series and add new characters and EVA Units and so forth, and — although I admit it’s wildly hypocritical — I’m not wild about that, either. I’m inclined to believe that it’s just a way to generate more/new merchandise, although I will do my damnedest to reserve my judgment until I see it. It’s just that the original Evangelion is so good, I have a very hard time believing they’ll be able to actually improve the story much, if at all. again, it’d be like if Alan Moore decided to re-do Watchmen. Could it possibly have the same impact as it did originally? If this Evangelion preview is any indication, the answer is very much “no.” (Via Japanator)