I have never watched NGE, shoot me. However, after being linked to a comparison of two scenes through TVTropes, I became intrigued. It showed me the animation boost between the original show, and the 2007 Rebuild film.
I also know that people can be extremely touchy. In the comments section on the Youtube page, people were bitching about the use of CGI in Rebuild.
So I ask you this: Would you recommend I watch Rebuild as a first time viewer, or the original series? Does the CGI of the remake diminish the overall effect?
I've only watched the original personally, but after hearing about it being redone and everything, I am only going to assume this.
The rebuild is probably better than the original, and I am only assuming this because of one thing things.
The original fell flat on its face especially production wise. I lost track of what the hell was going on a little after halfway through. If you watch the original, you can see for yourself with what I mean by production. The thing literally falls down to crayon sketches.
But this is coming from someone who has only watched the original series. NGE is by no means a bad anime IMO, it was enjoyable to watch, especially at first.
I've only ever skimmed over the original but I have watched both movies. From what I can see the movies are more focused and they actually take their medicine, so the way I see it they win.
Rebuild is vastly improved over the original, especially the second one.
The first one was more of a alternative retread of the story, the second one was OMFG!!! What is this, Wow! They really changed the story up in that one, and mostly for the better.
The saddest thing is that it will be a very long time indeed until the third one comes out on dvd here in the UK, it isn't even finished yet, so it could be a few years.
It's like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Naked Lunch, sure it's a dissjointed, disturbing mess but that's the point. To go for rebuild is to choose the washed-out satized version and miss moments of perfect insanity the show gets to towards the end.
The remake gives you a good mecha with ugly animation. The original series gives you a work of avant-garde art being made by people with more ideas than money.
it,s different that,s all and it looks pretty,there is also a theory it,s a sequel instead of a remake.
although it did bother me Shinji still uses a SDAT player instead of a iPod or MP3 player.
I know SDAT player,s where the "next big thing" in the 90,s but Eva is set in the 2000,s not the 90,s.
PS
it,s a while back I have seen 1.0 but from what I remembered is that unlike the original Shinji wasn't whining all the time.
I do have plans to watch 2.0 and already know there is a new female pilot with glasses.
1. The anime series
2. End of Evangelion
3. Rebuild
Secret Option 4: Evangelion RE-Death
Secret Option 5: LittleKuriboh's One Shot [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0GpeXAsIKY]
Rebuild is VERY nice to look at and even fills in a few bits I didn't notice in the original series, but it takes leaps and bounds with the original canon(or as a theory is running, it might actually be a reset version of the canon IN UNIVERSE) so I think watching the original anime will help with context
Though the psycho breakdown of the Eva pilots every few episodes leads to some annoying scenes
Also another reason to watch Rebuild last is because they're taking foreeeeeeeeeeeeeever to put up the next one
The biggest reason one should probably watch the original series before Rebuild, assuming they want to watch the original at some point, is that the new films heavily play off of the series; not to mention it spoils a few things from the original. Probably the most notable offender of the latter is from 1.11:
The whole scene where Misato shows Shinji Lilith.
In the original, Misato herself didn't even know it was down there the whole time until about halfway through the series; it was actually treated as a fairly major reveal. Even then, she mistakenly identified the angel as Adam. It wasn't named Lilith until the third to last episode, and then it didn't even make sense until EoE.
But yes, the main reason is how much Rebuild plays off of the original. Many scenes show situations which can only be deliberate contradictions to what was shown in the original, the bit in the spoiler above being an example. The ocean shown being red and the blood stain on the moon from the first scene of 1.11? While they seem perfectly justified in Rebuild's particular mythos, the parallels to the events of EoE (the film, The End of Evangelion; yes, the name says it all) are staggering. Another key example of this shows up in 2.22:
Asuka playing with the doll.
Seems harmless to those who haven't seen the original.
... but in the original series, Asuka would NEVER play with dolls.
The reason why is a spoiler in and of itself, a big one at that.
Which makes those who have seen the original wonder what happened in Rebuild's mythos for this change.
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As for the argument over which version is better?
The animation is almost unquestionably better in Rebuild, even the CGI; heck, especially the CGI. It makes the Angels appear all the more alien and out of place, which is nothing short of fitting. The general increase in quality & fluidity across the board can't be disputed either.
Everything else is a little bit different however, because the original series is actually extremely dense in terms of content (particularly towards the end). Pretty much the only character to benefit any additional character development in the Rebuild films is Rei (who got very little in the original, which added to her mysterious nature), which most of the other cast has lost some depth; the series had a borderline-ensemble cast (even if Shinji, Asuka, and Misato were the focus), just about every named character got some development. Most egrerious is Ritsuko and the bridge bunnies, who have gotten next to no development and have effectively been demoted to side characters in Rebuild; Asuka remains an important character, but still has received significantly less development than before. The thing is that the amount of character development is probably mostly a limitation of the format; quite simply, there's a lot more time to develop the cast in 26 episodes (plus one film) than there is in four films.
Another notable change for the worse (debatably) is how much more straight-forward the storyline is. While not a particularly bad quality for many, part of the appeal of the original was how thought-provoking it was (both thematically and narratively). The more accessible approach taken in Rebuild might make it more entertaining at first, but for many fans it was (and still is) a lot of fun making sense out of the series.
The last topic is largely a matter of taste, but goes a bit hand-in-hand with the accessibility of the storyline -- the accessibility of the tone & themes. The original series is very well known for being heavy-handed with the angst, which is one of the biggest reasons why many passionately dislike it; but it's also one of the biggest reasons why many passionately praise it. Rebuild isn't completely without the angst, but doesn't dwell on it anywhere near as much as the original; that doesn't make it objectively better, just less angsty. As such, the tone in Rebuild is more light-hearted and hopeful... though the series didn't get dark until after the events paralleled by the end of 2.22, so this could easily be subject to change.
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What's important to rembember is that the original series was a rather brutal satire and/or deconstruction of the mecha genre (if not anime in general) at the time of its release, it pulled no punches and was praised for it; to say it's different is an understatement. Despite how influential and popular it was, very few pieces of entertainment dare to be as avant-garde and atypical as NGE was...
... including the Rebuild films, for better or for worse.
They're still fairly different from the norm, but nowhere near the extent that the original was.
I've not seen the rebuilds yet, so I can't comment on them aside from the fact that the animation looks pretty. But.. I am sure that the rebuilds are probably pretty good. For now... I stick with the originals until all the rebuilds are released.
For the first movie, the original series is better. There's so much story for the movie to cram in that much of it is rushed, or skipped entirely. You're better off with the original series for story purposes in this case. For the second movie, it's almost a moot point. So much in the second movie wasn't even in the original series, they're almost two different things.
The quality of the animation shouldn't make a difference, the original series had very good animation, and much of the animation in Rebuild looks just like the original animation, minus the 3D CG and slightly sharper colors (due to the original being done on cels and the remake with digital ink). Really, you should watch the original series since it's got more time to tell the story properly.
I personally never liked the original much- the animation wasn't as good, and the characters were all too... dysfunctional to like. I'll explain: The amount of mental issues they all had was beyond rediculous. Rebuild toned it down just enough for it to be believable for me, and I loved it. I'd go for the movies.
Watch the original series first, followed by End of Evangelion, then watch the Rebuild movies.
Personally, the original series kicks the Rebuild's ass.
First off it's a story that benefits from an episodic structure. The first Rebuild movie proved how inadequate it was to lump the first 5 episodes of the show in to a movie. What we got was a movie that was totally fucking boring, horribly paced, and rather lazy too with scenes that included virtually identical animation from the series.
The second movie is way better since it has actual surprises and things happening, but I hate what they did to Asuka and Rei. I won't spoil it, but I will say that the whole "boxed lunch" idiocy was a detriment to especially Asuka's character.
The ending to Rebuild 2 however looks absolutely stunning.
The Abhorrent said:
The biggest reason one should probably watch the original series before Rebuild, assuming they want to watch the original at some point, is that the new films heavily play off of the series; not to mention it spoils a few things from the original. Probably the most notable offender of the latter is from 1.11:
In the series there was this incredible looming sense of threat to that place. And the rather direct red warning sign of "trespassers will be shot on sight" only added to this. Then in the first Rebuild Misato just walks right in there only to prove a point to Shinji. Way to destroy the mystery as well as the threat surrounding that mystery in one fell swoop.
I guess I loved the series so much for the very reason other people hate it; The characters are self-centered headcases. Especially Shinji and Asuka, I love those fucking lunatics. Every, and I mean every character apart from maybe Kaji and Pen Pen are out for their own selfish happiness and peace of mind, other people be damned. And that's something you never see in other anime shows.
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