The Evangelion Omnibus is a real thing.
By The Eva Monkey on Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
As I said previously, Viz reissued volumes 1-3 of the Evangelion manga in an omnibus format which many retailers are referring to as “3-in-1”. Previously, I couldn’t find a photo of the book, or the book itself for that matter, so I was kind of weary. It’s an odd philosophical thing (like the tree falling in the woods) but if I can’t get my hands on it, or at least see a photo of the thing, I can’t really verify its existence as a tangible thing. However I did manage to get a copy myself this evening, and I’d like to share some details and observations.
First off, for the cover, it uses the illustration they used for the cover of the second edition of volume 2. It should be noted that this illustration was not originally used for that volume. It was an editorial decision that was made to better fit the overall tone of that volume, if I remember correctly. Clean versions of the actual covers of volumes 1-3 are printed in the front of the collection. Right off the bat, you’ll notice two main things, the page size is a little bit bigger than the second edition, and just a tad bigger than the first edition (yeah, the one from ten years ago). Not nearly as big as one of those monthly Shonen Ace magazines, but it’s getting there. Surprisingly enough, the spine width is just a tad thinner than two of the second edition volumes, so it would seem they used a lighter paper stock. The other noticeable difference is that all of the color artwork has been preserved and has been printed on nice glossy paper, much like in the original Japanese releases, which is a nice touch. Other than that, all of the additional materials and translation appears to remain the same. I’m not curious enough to go panel by panel, but I imagine it’s one to one aside from a minor edit or two.
If you’re a newer fan of Evangelion, or if you’ve just never taken the plunge with the manga, this may be a great opportunity for you. It looks like Amazon and Barnes & Noble are cheapest at the moment, even after domestic shipping. According to Amazon, volume 2 is due for release March 12th, and volume 3 is due May 14th. And again, if you like reading your manga digitally, you might want to check out the Evangelion manga on Viz’s Manga app.