Eva fans rejoice, it's finally here!

I saw Res last night, and it's pretty amazing. There's actually several minutes of new footage, including some pretty fucking unbelievable Akira-esque Angel death scenes, and some new character interaction stuff. It seems like most of it is stuff that Anno wanted in the original series but couldn't afford. On top of the new animation, though, there's also new subtitles, which add to the insight, "clean" versions of the opening and end credits, and a "sneak preview" of the production designs for the new Eva movie.

For those of you who are not familiar with Neon Genesis Evangelion, it's a Japanese animated series that ran in 1996-97. Operating on many levels, the series tells the story of an Earth faced with certain destruction, and mankind's plight to stop this catastrophe. More centrally, the series focuses on a group of characters and their struggle to survive emotionally in a world where no one really knows each other, and people hurt one another without scruples...essentialy, the real world we all inhabit. The series ran 26 episodes, but stopped rather abruptly, as time and budget constraints prevented the creative staff from telling the story they wanted to relate in the alloted 26 epidodes. As a result, the end of the series is murky and nebulous. Hadieki Anno, the series' creator, recieved hate mail and death threats after the series ended...many fans demanded that the series end with a huge "giant robot" battle sequence and resolve the fates of the main characters and the world they lived in. He obliged in the theatrical movie, but only in the worst way possible: The characters meet horrible ends and the world dies, a broken sphere devoid of life (in harsh contrast to the end of the series, which is relatively happy). Many, including employees of Eva's distributor, ADV Films, say that this was Anno's vengance on his unappreciative and violent fans for their lack of support.

The Resurrection Project, for newbies or fans who haven't been paying attention (the series has been over for 7 years, after all) is a new DVD release, consisting of two discs, which contain both the original and "director's cut" versions of episodes 21-23 and 24-26 respectively. The director's cuts are the way the series was intended to end, with new, elaborate animation, more footage, more mysteries solved and questions answered, and subtitles that have been updated for accuracy. Anyone who's into Evangelion should definately pick up volume one, and volume 2 when it comes out in March.

Volume One, as I said, includes an interview/images with the team from WETA Workshop who are in charge of designing the Evangelion live action movie.

Any idea qwhen itll be out in the UK? ANd its a while since i saw EVA, I remember the problems with Death:rebirth and "the end of Evangelion" so where do these two come on it. I cant remember which one was the ultra violent nasty ending one, and which was the better ending one.

Okay, here's a quick rundown of the endings and where they take place in the timeline.

The series is 26 episodes long, and self-contained. The final two-part episode is the end of the series.

Death:Rebirth is a theatrical movie in two parts. The first part, Death, recaps the whole series, with some new footage, just to get you up to speed and prepare you for the new ending. Rebirth is an all-new animated feature, roughly an hour long, that segues into The End of Evangelion.

The End of Evangelion is another theatrical movie, also in two parts. The first part, entitled Air, is actually the same footage as Rebirth. The second half of the film is all-new, and features the extreme violence and apocolyptic imagery you are no doubt referring to. It is a new or "alternate" ending to the series: The two do not coexist.

The director's cuts are updated versions of the last six episodes of the series, designed to give the show a more satisfying and "complete" feeling. Gainax didn't have the time or money to do the last few episodes exactly as Anno wanted them to, and now they do, so we are basically getting to see the final six episodes (the ending of the TV series, and the Evangelion epic) as they were originally intended.

Word.

All I can say is it's about time. Eva is easily one of the most influencial animes out there. It is only fitting and right that they complete the series as was intended.