News &: Updates
Rebuild of Evangelion 1:0 Licensed
Posted: Thursday, January 01, 2009
Author: Aaron Clark
It's no longer speculative, Rebuild of Evangelion 1:0 has indeed been licensed by Funimation, and now has a page on their official website. According to Funimation's website, the release date has been set for November 10th, 2009. Details about English dub casting have not yet been released, but it has been suggested to me that part of the decision behind it being licensed by Funimation is that Anno/Khara wanted a new company to handle the property and provide a fresh voice cast, which makes sense. I imaging the process of tracking down actors from upwards of twelve years back could pose a special challenge. Those familiar with the dubbing for Manga's release of the movies, as well as ADV's release of the "director's cuts" are well aware of the differences amongst the three phases of Evangelion's dubbing, so whatever the case, it should prove interesting.
Rebuild of Evangelion Licensed by Funimation?
Posted: Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Author: Aaron Clark
Back in late November, Funimation roused suspicions by issuing cease and desists to various fansubbers and hosts of video content from Rebuild of Evangelion. It was good indication at the time that Funimation had licensed, or was in the process of licensing Rebuild. However, it was not conclusive, as it is not uncommon for companies that are merely interested in a particular title to send cease and desists in order to protect their interests.A month has passed, and someone ingenious has found the following images stored on Funimation's server:
http://www4.funimation.com/video/images/shows/evangelion.jpg
http://www4.funimation.com/video/images/shows/_thumbs/evangelion.jpg
I think this is fairly good indication that Rebuild has been licensed. However I'm keeping in mind that it's not official until it's official. Licenses fall through at the last minute, it's been known to happen. The question remains, when will the official word drop, and when will we get our grubby hands on a domestic copy? Considering how long it took for Manga to distribute Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, and how long it took for the video versions of 21-24 to make it over, it really is anyone's guess.
Labels: Funimation, Rebuild of Evangelion
Limited Edition Holiday Special
Posted: Monday, December 22, 2008
Author: Aaron Clark
The other night, my girlfriend and I hosted a German-themed Christmas party, and amongst the guests was none other than Drinian. While we dorked out a bit about Eva, I showed him some of my collection, and he asked me if I had the holiday edition of Evangelion. And I swear, I must be living under a rock these days, because in my prime of Evangelion geekery, something as peculiar as this wouldn't escape my attention. I don't know too much, just that it appears to be yet another repackaging of Evangelion, specific to this holiday season. How is it a "Holiday Special"? Well, from what I can tell, the fact that they're only selling it this holiday season. I'm not even certain if it's a repackaging of the Platinum Thinpak, or the full-sized Platinum release, or even if it has anything unique that we haven't seen yet that would interest those who already have Evangelion amongst their collection. In all likelihood, this is just a title update aimed at interesting new and holiday buyers. Even so, why do I want to buy it?
Evangelion ReDeath on YouTube
Posted: Sunday, December 07, 2008
Author: Aaron Clark
Having been part of the test camp for Studio Sokodei's DVD remastering process, I was expecting to see their parodies served up as a direct download, or via bittorrent or a peer to peer method of file sharing. I was surprised to see that Andrew Hosking instead chose to serve up the parodies on YouTube. I think this comes as a pleasant surprise, considering how large the site has become, and it is nice to know that they're available, on demand, to anyone who wants to see them. So in that respect, their work is more available now than it has ever been. And that's a good thing. While I do agree with Andrew, that the best (and most preferable) way of experiencing the parodies is at a convention screening with hundreds of others, I must acknowledge that not everyone has that freedom, and it is time to open up to new viewers. This is of particular interest to Eva fans, because their (perhaps) best known work is Evangelion ReDeath.I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that not everyone out there is familiar with Evangelion ReDeath, so let's get up to speed. Evangelion ReDeath is a fan parody, using re-edited footage and original voice work. The plot surrounds Gendo Ikari attempting to use the song 1999 by Prince to disrupt the space-time continuum in order to become... the uber pimp. Beyond that, not too much is drastically different. The characters are not too far removed from the series, and the humor isn't too heavily ingrained in Evangelion, so even casual fans can enjoy, even if they're not into Evangelion. It's a bit over a half hour, so it's not a huge time investment. Regardless of whether you've seen it or not, be sure to give Studio Sokodei a visit, and check out their other works as well.
Evangelion Manga Volume 11 Released
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008
Author: Aaron Clark
Volume 11 of the Evangelion manga made it's way into stores two weeks ago, and I made sure to add it to my big shelf of Eva-ness. The volume contains stages 71 through 76, which were published from April 2006 through December 2006. It seems like an awful long time since stage 76 came out two years ago this month. And the horrible realization is that Sadamoto has not produced a new stage in that two year period. Lazy manga-ka is lazy.This volume is an interesting mix. Without revealing too much, I'll say that it covers the beginning of episode 24 into the beginning of The End of Evangelion. That's right, we're into movie territory now, and so far, Sadamoto has not pulled an abstract Anno "WTF?" on us like he did with the TV episodes 25 & 26.
Like the previous two volumes, this installment offers a considerably different account of events, due to the introduction of Kaworu back in volume nine. He's been around during the events of episodes 22 & 23, and as such, he's had more time to interact with Shinji, Rei, and even Asuka, which makes his final moments with Shinji all the more interesting. Fans of Kaworu's character will either love or hate this volume, as some have lovingly dubbed him "Evil Manga Kaworu", or "EMK" for short. Some will love it because it's a new take on the character, and some will hate it because of the difference between the manga and anime Kaworu. And I imagine some will just love to see "EMK" get what's coming to him for being a cold hearted kitten killer.
Supplemental materials include the usual fare, plus a postscript by Sadamoto that kinda sorta borders on homo-erotic. Don't ask, just give it a read. It's about Kaworu after all. Also included is a lengthy postscript by all around cool guy Carl Horn. It address a handful of things, like the differences and merits between the anime and the manga, as well as anime and (evil) manga Kaworu. And for good measure, it makes mention of Rebuild of Evangelion, EvaMonkey, EvaGeeks, and touches on the post-second impact conflict between India and Pakistan that, considering recent events, borders on eerie. Check it out!
Have something cool that's Evangelion related?
Email Aaron about it at theevamonkey@evamonkey.com.