There will be many questions broached on the subject of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. My nieces were forthcoming on what was on the set. My colleagues were quizzical on the series design and flow. My best friend was concerned that the features were truncated and the whole thing was substandard due to compression issues. Then of course, you dear reader asked what did I really think of the series? I can understand that some of these will be unanswerable. For instance, my opinion of the series as a whole (its bolder than I remember but suffers a lot early on from pacing issues and an over reliance on ‘cliff hangers’. But as it ages, it gets better and better). What I really wanted to answer for you in truth was the question that always troubles me. With Xmas and other holidays on the near horizon, is this the time to buy the series and the features now they are in their complete form? Is this the moment and the time to invest in the set for the holiday period? At £54.99 that is a very good question.
The answer is this. 90% yes. The sets contain 5 discs the 26-episode of the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series over 4 discs. They come in English dubbed in 5.1 and 2.0 (alongside the Japanese that adds a little nuance for the purist). They also are screened in 4:3 ration, which suits a smaller screen over the larger projected or widescreen entities. Now these discs all have bonuses to add to the mix, with the best stuff over discs 3 and 4. These include the voice auditions that are compelling for the simple reason of artistry, and the a feature that explores the beginning of the series. Then the two films Evangelion: Death (True)2 and The End of Evangelion on the fifth disc. Now they need a word. Where the TV series are in standard format and they peak at this, the films are or at least should be in HD. They are 16:9 ratio which is good but they need some upscaling please! This is not a be all and end all though, it is more a sad, why didn’t you do this! You see this set is the completion of a dream for many. The whole story, so to speak. Underserved by a slight, very slight that is, lack of attention to the details of quality. This said, it is a fantastic set and worth the price of admission.
