This is just too weird to escape mention. On June 6th, Bandai Namco Games will be providing a program for PS3 owners in Japan that will create a live real time updated news channel, hosted by one Misato Katsuragi. Using the voice synthesis from the Cellius software, and some quantum magic, it will even talk to you in Misato's voice. You can even customize the set and her attire. How's that for a crazy promo?
Just as before, our first real look at Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 is from a cellphone camera. This time, we don't even have sound, and I think the quality is actually less. If I could pick apart everything that happens in this movie, it would amount to a mind boggling amount of stuff. Bardiel, Zeruel, Sahaquiel, Ireul, Leliel, Matarael, Sandalphon... just how many episodes and Angels do they plan to cram into this movie? Furthermore, how long is this movie? I am pleased to see that this movie has almost entirely new animation from what I can tell. That may just be the trailer for all we know, we'll just have to wait until July 27th, when the film is released to know for sure.
So, the entry plug one is apparently kind of big, comes in Eva 01 and Eva 00 varieties, and is only 2GB. But the Rei Ayanami drive on the other hand, is like an over sized Lego person that poops up to 4GB of data onto your computer. Isn't that brilliant? And who doesn't want their favorite anime character hanging off the side of their computer? Also comes in new school outfit version. Both based off of that Petit Eva thing.
Posted: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
Seventh Annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Anime Marathon Date(s): Mar 28, 2009 - Mar 28, 2009 Time: 11:00 AM - Marathon finishes Location: Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art - 1050 Independence Avenue, SW
Description: In celebration of this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival, the Freer, in conjunction with the Japan Information and Cultural Center and Otakorp, Inc., presents a day-long festival of four Japanese Anime films:
Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone 1:30 PM This sci-fi tale co-directed by Hideaki Anno, Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki is set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, where the population defends itself from alien invaders with the help of human/mechanical hybrid battle robots. Its hero, Shinji, is a shy 14-year-old boy mysteriously chosen to save the planet from the aliens for good. Rated PG. (2007, 98 min., Japanese with English subtitles, video)
This won't be the first time Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0 will screened in the US, but it's the first time it will be screened in my own backyard, so I'm going to make the effort to make the trip down to DC. Who knows, maybe an Evangelion fans meetup will transpire?
Posted: Saturday, February 28, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
I don't have too much to say about this piece of art by Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, in which he mashes up Penny Arcade and Evangelion. According to his post, the image is for a poster that they'll be selling exclusively at Sakura-Con in April.
His comments about the image are limited, however a quick cross-reference will show some very distinctive similarities in the robot, and especially in the suit in the upper body and collar area. It's kind of neat to see two of my long time favorites cross over, even if it's just in a single image.
References to Evangelion are not a new thing, I've posted a few others over the years, like fan art by Bruce Timm of Batman: The Animated Series, or when the characters of Chugworth Academy headed to Otakon, or references in full-fledged productions like Invader Zim or One Hour Photo with Robin Williams. There's lots of cool stuff floating around out there to find.
Posted: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
Hey, remember when you could spend like $400 on an Evangelion ipod? Well now you can spend just $2-3 on your iPhone or iPod Touch to make it Evangelion-ish. Appliya Inc. has developed an application for the Apple iPhone and iPod to give it a clock and countdown time reminiscent of the activation timer in Evangelion. There's also a goofy picture stamp application that... puts Angels, Evas, and Rei Ayanami's hair into your pictures. And if that sounds kind of silly, that's because it is silly. If you'd like to see just how silly it is, click here to see a picture of the application in action.
Posted: Saturday, February 21, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
Dengeki PlayStation Online has posted quite a few images from AOU2009 Amusement Expo of Sega's Rebuild of Evangelion figures due out between June and September. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be especially noteworthy, but as it turns out, one of the figures on display was a design illustration of the figure for the new character Mari, who we have not gotten many good glimpses of. Check out the post on Dengeki Playstation Online for more images.
Posted: Friday, February 20, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
It's official, we now have a release date for Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0: You can (not) advance. According to the official Evangelion website, the film will be in Japanese theaters starting June 27th, 2009. When a fansub of that will become available is anyone's guess. Keep in mind that it took a considerable amount of time for the initial fansub of Rebuild 0.1 to be made available. I wouldn't be surprised if the fansub of 2.0 doesn't come around until 1.0 is available on domestic DVD in November.
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
From crab meat to windshield visors, Gainax has put Evangelion on everything you could possibly imagine. So Evangelion tarot cards are not that unusual once you stop to think about it. In fact, I recall a time on the former Eva Monkey Forums when we mused over producing an Evangelion tarot deck. Ultimately, nothing came of it, but it's interesting going back and comparing the old list to the set that Gainax produced. With the exception of Gendo as The Emperor, the lists are totally different. I know very little about Tarot, so I can't say whether Gainax put sufficient thought into which characters would best represent the meanings associated with each card.
These cards are a limited edition set of 22 cards, slated for release on March 19th for a price of 2,940 yen. The set comes with a case and guide.
The Cards:
O - The Fool - Rei I, II, and III I - The Magician - Ritsuko Akagi II - The High Priestess - Yui Ikari III - The Empress - Asuka Langley Soryu IV - The Emperor - Gendo Ikari V - The Hierophant - Kaworu Nagisa VI - The Lovers - Hikari Horaki and Toji Suzuhara VII - The Chariot - Eva Unit 01 with Sniper Rifle VIII - Strength - Lilith IX - The Hermit - Seele X - Wheel of fortune - Systema Sephiroticum
XI - Justice - Shinji Ikari XII - The Hanged Man - Ryoji Kaji XIII - Death - Kaworu/Tabris XIV - Temperance - Maya Ibuki XV - The Devil - Eva Unit 01 XVI - The Tower - Tokyo-3/Geofront (?) XVII - The Star - Rei Ayanami (?) XVIII - The Moon - Kaworu Nagisa XIX - The Sun - Misato Katsuragi XX - Judgement - The Magi XXI - The World - Rei/Lilith
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Author:Aaron Clark
So I was minding my own business, listening to the Future Synthpop channel on Digitally Imported, an internet radio station that I've been listening to for a number of years, and this song comes on, and at some point, I hear a female voice cut in saying "We are the eighteenth angel, the other angels are just different possibilities...". With cat-like reflexes, I hit the volume key on my keyboard repeatedly to hear Allison Keith's Misato from The End of Evangelion more clearly. The song in question is Love As Blood (Implant Remix) by Icon of Coil, an EBM band from Norway. And as I said in another entry recently, it's peculiar and wonderful how Evangelion connects things together, and how you find it in the most unlikely and unexpected places. I obviously cannot put the song up in its entirety, but here's an excerpt for your edification. If you want to hear the whole thing, you'll have to buy it or steal it. Either way, I won't judge.