So much shit, so little series.

I need to just get some steam out. I hate Gainax. I hate everything about them. I hate how they give series so many spin-offs and kill their anime to the ground. I hate how they don’t give series that NEED it like Kare Kano, a second season. There’s a difference between a bad studio, like say Bee Train, and Gainax is the sick need to kill your series. Mahoromatic is an example: cheesy ecchi anime. I completely understand it’s a appeal. Should have ended with the second series. It ended decently, nothing great. In comes in the OVA’s. What the hell is that? It has zero entertainment value. Just another ploy to make money.

Gurren Lagann. Another good series. I completely understood its appeal. My problem with it is it’s stupid spin-offs and music videos that don’t make any sense. I understand if you want your series to be successful and you want to get as much merchandise as you can out of your product, but god damn how many Yoko figures can there be? One for jacking off, one for display, one for ogling and one to make your waifu. God damn, otaku can’t you see the wool in your eyes? You, yes you Japanese fans who keep buying their damn products. At least Gonzo has the decency to know they make bad shows and stop there.

I have one more beef with Gainax and that is Hideaki Anno. A director like this should not be let direct. The man is so easily swayed by emotion and depression, it’s a wonder how he still finds work. I think people are assuming I’m talking about Evangelion. In a way, I sort of am. A guy should let his depression sway his work. Everyone goes through depression, especially anime directors, but I have yet to see one take it in such a stupid way he did. I have no problem with the End of Evangelion, my problem with the “OMG SHOCK VALUE” aspect of it. Not to mention Kare Kano. The guy just quit halfway because of some disputes.

Rant over. I should be done with my review of Great Teacher Onizuka tomorrow for those interested.

In an interview in the January issue of Rockin’On’s Cut magazine on Saturday, co-director Kazuya Tsurumaki indicated that he is working on retakes for the DVD release of the Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Ha) film. According to Tsurumaki, the producers are aiming to release the DVD next spring.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance is the second film in Hideaki Anno and Khara’s theatrical film remake of Anno and Gainax’s Neon Genesis Evangelion television anime series. It opened in Japan on June 27, and has since played in festivals in Spain, Canada, the United States, and France. The film continues the story of a group of 14-year-olds entrusted with giant biomechanical units to protect Earth from mysterious Angels. The second film goes farther in a different direction from the original television series than the first film did.

Funimation has released the first film in the remake, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Jo), in North America this year in theaters and on home video. Like the second film, the first film had multiple retakes in its DVD releases, culminating with the latest “Evangelion 1.11″ edition.

Source: Minna no Eva Fan

Here are the first two parts of a Japanese program which featured the director of Gunbuster and Evangelion Hideaki Anno. The show featured well-known people returning back to their home towns to teach a class at their old schools. This video is rather interesting as it is one of the only ‘interviews’ with Anno and shed some light on his work. There should be several more parts of the video, but I was only able to get a hold of the first two as I couldn’t use a link that was available for the entire 37-minute or so program. The first two sections are primarily an introduction to the program, but Anno mentions some interesting things in the second video above.

After seeing this, I have no idea how I have lived my life so far without an Evangelion-themed humidifier in my room.

The new movie Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance is definitely one of the biggest and most anticipated Anime movies of the year. When I heard that Singapore would be screening the movie, I couldn’t wait to see unadulterated EVA awesomeness on the big screen.

…and now that I have watched it, here are my thoughts, feelings and analysis of the movie.

Of course, there will be SPOILERS!!! For my spoiler free review click here.

So where do I begin? Well, instead of going for the chronological review, I’ll be organizing my review by the points that I would like to address instead. Masugu GO!

- Animation

First of all, the Animation. Fluid 2D animation combined flawlessly with gorgeous CGI really gave a whole new life to the series. The first movie already showed off the quality of the CGI, this movie really used it to its full potential, especially with the Angels and the fight scenes which I’ll talk about later. However, let me just say that the epic fight sequence at the beginning with Mari and the Angel just blew my mind and set the tone for the entire movie. Another thing that I thought was a nice touch that was also seen in the first movie is the usage of CGI models in the NERV displays.

With regards to the character designs, I’m not too fussy, so no complaints or comments about them.

- Characters

- Asuka

Asuka was the first character that I was really looking forward to seeing when I first heard about this new movie series. Being one of my favorite characters, hearing her say ‘Anta Baka?’ in the Cinema was simply too awesome for words. As for her character, she’s the same fiery red headed tsundere that we all know and love despite her change of name from Sohryu to Shikinami. Her characterization was really well done and I dare say much more well handled than the TV series, mainly because they hint in greater detail and display her ‘I don’t need anyone else’ more explicitly. This is best shown in the fight scene with the Eighth Angel (Sahaquiel). Her confidence in herself and stubbornness nearly backfires when her first shot at the Angel core misses its mark. She only makes it with the help of Unit 00.

Asuka’s relationship with Shinji was explored even further in the movie. We see her try to cook a meal for Shinji, getting jealous of Rei. Exceedingly moe/kawaii. Sadly she was MIA in the second half of the movie, but oh, well.

Yes, yes… I’m all for the TEST plug suit.

- Rei

What a big improvement. She actually has some personality this time! Keeping her cool, quiet and composed persona, Rei shows numerous instances of emotions and independence. Her attempts to make a meal for Shinji were cute and the little scenes where Shinji interacted with her really helped to bring out the best in Rei. Something that I loved was when we found out that Rei was a vegetarian. Although this was stated in her bio, I don’t think it was mentioned in the TV series. Once again, a nice detail that fleshed out her character even more. Whatever the case, her determination to make a bento for Shinji and to organize a dinner to get Shinji closer to his father showed off her caring and, dare I say, moe side that was seriously lacking in the TV series. One final touch that showed how much she cared for Shinji (‘loved’ as Asuka put it) was when she kept Shinji’s tape player by her side. Rei did sacrifice herself in the original TV series, but this time, it was so much more poignant and obvious that Rei felt something for Shinji. I actually felt for her. Had she been portrayed this way in the TV series, she might have become my favorite character instead of Asuka!

She even defended herself from Asuka’s slap this time round, instead of taking it face on like she did in episode 22. This little scene encapsulates her character change/evolution from the original series so well in such a short time.

- Shinji

…and that brings us to Shinji. Shinji is well known as the gutless, spineless and possibly most well known pussy in Anime history. NOT ANY MORE! It surprised me greatly to see that in the final battle, he decided to risk his life, and through his own determination and will, save Rei. Nice to see his character evolve and grow instead of staying the same. Once again, the relationship that Shinji and Rei have for each other is so much deeper and well fleshed out. Other than that, Shinji was pretty much Shinji in the rest of the movie.

- Mari

She’s the new character that everyone has been talking about. I found her to be a very amusing character that I suppose will play a bigger role in the future films. I felt that she was the happy go lucky genki girl. At first, I was slightly skeptical of her character, but at the end, she warmed up to me so much that I will even go as far as to say that she is now up there along with Asuka and Rei as an Honored Eva Girl. Her personality really shined at the end with her stepping in brazenly using Eva 02 and becoming all bestial. After that, I was all for Mari. Again, there hasn’t really been enough of her for me to fully get a grasp of her personality, though from what I’ve seen, Mari is definitely all right in my books and might be even my favorite new character from the movie series. (Yeah, well… She’s the only one so…) What really surprised me was how well she fit in with the rest of the characters. Knowing that Asuka, Rei and Shinji are characters from the 80s and Mari from the 21st century, she didn’t feel out of place at all.

More on her actual role in the plot. From what I gather, she’s from the US Nerv HQ going to Tokyo’s Nerv HQ for reasons still not revealed. The world of Evangelion was again expanded as we got to see the American Nerv HQ. This goes back to the whole basis of the movie, adapting and expanding the Evangelion Universe.

…and she says ‘Nyaa’. Come on. That’s epic.

- Kaworu

Last but not least, the mysterious Bishonen, Kaworu. Still, nothing much from him, except some shots of him on the moon, looking beautiful. I suppose he pilots Eva 06 as well. Can’t wait to see him play his part in the next movie.

- Side Characters

For the side characters llike Touiji, Misato, Ritsuko, Gendou, etc… I don’t really have much to say about them. To me, nothing really significant has changed with their characterization. However, it is possible that there are some details I have missed. I’ve only seen the movie once after all. (^.^;)

They also weren’t featured all that much in this movie either nor were any histories really explored or revealed, except for Misato’s past which was briefly shown and hinted at through an abstract interpretation of the Second impact. I don’t mind at all as I suppose more time will be devoted to them in the following movies, as did the original series.

- The Evangelion Units

The titular cyborgs of the movie, the Evangelion units never looked this good… Or kicked that much ASS! Let’s go through them one by one:

- Unit 00

Well, nothing much to say regarding 00, except that it gets EATEN. Its blue color scheme was never used either. In my opinion, this is for the better as that translates to one less figure I’ll have to buy. (^.^;)

- Unit 01

The star Evangelion unit of the movie. One of my first observations when it came to Eva 01 was that Yui was never mentioned explicitly to be residing in the Evangelion unit. While it was hinted at by Ritsuko, in the final battle, instead of Yui saving Shinji, he enabled Eva 01’s Awakened State by himself, though his seat did turn into blue flame. I kinda liked the original’s idea of ‘Yui is protecting Shinji’ but I like the movie’s portrayal as well. Hopefully, this will be discussed and explored further in the later movies.

A parallel to to Episode 19’s Beserk Mode (Synchro Ratio 400%), the Awakened State = Neo’s awakening from the Matrix. Invincibility (super powerful AT Field), the power to fly and project energy blasts from its eyes. Unit 01 even had the ability to generate an arm out of pure energy and materialize energy blocks. All this coupled together with a sweet neon orange highlights and Angel Halo and you’ve got the definition of epic staring you in the face. I absolutely love the whole Awakened State and believe that it did the original Berserk mode justice and kept the feeling of ‘Eva’s Awakened. Pwnage now’. However, this time, since Shinji was in control, the Eva’s actions were more controlled as well. Gone is the bestial carnage of the original. That brings us to Unit 02.

- Unit 02

The updated look of Unit 02 is great. Some people didn’t like the ornamental piece on its head, but I do. To me, the head piece gives Unit 02 a more regal and menacing look that enhances and improves on the original design. It was great to see the Unit 02’s new weapons and tech such as the dual Progressive Knives, Jet Pack and Cross Bow, but what really left the greatest impression on me, and I suppose everyone else, is the introduction of Eva 02’s Beast Mode.

Completely out of left field, I’d say that 02’s Beast mode is the closest thing to Eva 01’s Synchro Ratio 400% Beserk Mode from the original series. As said above, Unit 01’s Awakened mode was far more controlled. In contrast, Eva 02’s beast mode was well, beastly. Great job by the animators/director in conveying the raw, unbridled fury of Eva 02 through the limiter pylons exploding from its body and the whole Venom (Marvel) esque mouth & teeth.

One other thing that I absolutely adored about the whole beast mode was that it showed the closeness of the bond that the Evangelion unit and its pilot shares. In the original series, sure we knew that the Nerve Clips, LCL and plug suit made the pilot synchronize with the Eva unit to enable the pilot to control and execute fine movements through the Evas. This connection is so close that the pilots feel the pain of the Evas. However, in this whole scene, Mari’s every movement was mirrored by the Eva. We could also see the corruption of Mari through the fantastic little tweaks to her facial expression. Great scene that was wonderfully executed.

…and just because this picture is so cute.

- Unit 03

Eva 03 served exactly the same role it did in the original TV series, however, this time, it was piloted by Asuka. I’ll get into that later on, but the only major difference is that it’s ‘corruption’ nature was expanded with it growing extra appendages to make it look more inhuman and alien than it already was. Of course, it also started to corrupt Eva 01, which it didn’t do in the original series (It only corrupted Eva 00’s Arm).

- Unit 05

The provisional unit with the most unique look out of all the Eva Units. Ever since I saw it in Revoltech form, I was pretty curious. While the movie did do the Evangelion Unit justice in terms of action sequences, it was destroyed and never seen again after the first battle, ala Demolishor from Transformers ROTF. Not really sure how I feel about its destruction, but I didn’t care much for it from the start anyways.

- Unit 06

First seen in the trailer at the end of Evangelion 1.0, it’s appearance was just as brief. Seeing only glimpses of it as it was being built on the moon, Eva 06 made a full appearance only after the credits rolled to stop the third impact by impaling Eva 01 with the Lance of Longinus.

- The Angels

Following in the footsteps of the Evangelions, the Angels themselves received a significant overhaul in terms of design, function and bad-assery.

- Third Angel – Skeleton Thing

The first completely new Angel we see. Since it appeared in the first scene of the movie, it really set the tone for the rest of the film, assuring the viewers that they were in for a completely new ride, while keeping elements same as the original. This is definitely more evident with the later Angels, but it was really refreshing to see a new Angel. Great design that complements the other-worldly and bizarre look of the other Angels of the series. Do note that Sachiel, the Third Angel of the original series, is now the fourth, as mentioned in the first movie.

- Seventh Angel – Spider Clock Thing

The spider like look is definitely carried over from the Ninth Angel, Matariel, of the original series. Other than that, it is once again a completely new angel that seems to have a very mechanical, clockwork design, what with it’s ticking bird mask and pendulum bob. The addition of the bird like mask was another nice touch. Destruction wise, it did a great job of being very imposing and threatening mainly due to the expressionless and emotionless nature of the Angel. CGI wise, there’s nothing more to say other than, good. The mechanical structure was presented very well, especially when it reconstructed itself.

- Eighth Angel – Space Bomb Thing

Based on the tenth Angel, Sahaquiel, the movie’s interpretation of Sahaquiel has it become more menacing and imposing than it was, as hard as that is to believe. This was helped tremendously by the CGI, adding a level of intricacy, bizarreness and mystique to the Angel that the original lacked. Talking about intricacy, the entire scene also had much more detail and fuss as to how they were going to ‘catch’ the Angel. Overall, this contributed to the sense of scale that was lacking in the original. Other than changing its design, a face with hands was added to make Shinji’s/Eva Unit 01’s job of holding the Angel up harder than it already was. Turning in to Lance of Longinus esque things, the Angel really did a number on Unit 01’s hands. I do believe that because it was made of a mystical weapon the Angel was able to hurt the pilot physically, instead of just causing pain (ala Asuka’s injuries in the End of Evangelion).

- Ninth Angel – Corruption Type Thing

Everything I said about Eva 03 applies here as well, as they are pretty much one and the same.

- Tenth Angel – Thing of Utter Pwnage

My absolute favorite Angel of the series, I’m happy to say, get’s the best movie treatment. Zeruel’s original design was great and I’m so glad that it was the Angel in this movie that most closely resembled its original counterpart, the changes that were made to its design only added to its awesomeness. It now has entire body made out of steel fiber arms, allowing it to be more ghostly, deathly and soulless. In terms of powers, aside from the eye blasts and steel body, it now has the ability to project super-strong AT Fields. Yup, not just one, but layers upon layers of them. One’s not enough for the Angel of Pwnage. Elements of End of Evangelion’s Lilith were incorporated into its design as well, but I’ll talk more about that later on in this review.

- Action Scenes

What more can I say that hasn’t been already conveyed in words in the previous sections? Amazing, magnificent, outstandingly, well done action scene after scene that kept me on the edge of my seat. Again, scale is the key word here. What the original series had, this movie kicked up 10 notches. Well, also, since they are action scenes, you really have to see them for yourself. It is a visual media after all.

- Interesting Observations

Now, I would like to take some time to talk a little about some of the plot points of the movie. While I have already discussed some of these above in previous sections, there are some really interesting little observations that I would like to point out and bring up for discussion, especially with regards to the differences between the movie and the original TV series.

- Improvements and Homages

The first movie was, frankly speaking, nothing more than a re-do of the first. Sure it was flashy, pretty and a fantastic fan-wank that got everyone interested in Evangelion again. This movie, however, delivered on director Hideaki Anno’s promise of being a bold new re-imagining of the franchise. Indeed a re-imagining. Many things from the original series were re-used, but aspects were changed and new elements were brought in to keep the most ardent Evangelion fan delighted.

- Asuka X Beer Cans

A nice little scene that had absolutely no need to be included, but I’m so glad they did. Remember how in the original series and the first movie, we had the little comedic scent where Misato removed the beer can that was covering Shinji’s privates? Well, the same scene was repeated, this time with a straw covering Asuka’s naughty bits. EPIC WIN.

Will it be Mari’s turn next movie?

- Re-Shuffled Scenes

Many other scenes were straight from the TV series, such as Misato overlooking a flirting KajiXRitsuko and Gendou and Shinji visiting Yui’s grave were in the movie as well, but they were shuffled around. For instance, the Gendou and Shinji scene was in Episode 15 of the original series, but was one of the first scenes in the movie.

- Notable Scenes

I did mention this above in Rei’s section, but the slapping scene between Asuka and Rei in the lift was perfect as while being a scene taken straight from the original series, it changed it slightly. But this change was great in illustrating the differences and bold steps that the movie takes away from the TV series.

The last improved scene I would like to mention is Shinji’s temper tantrum after the battle with Unit 03. Instead of sitting idly in the cage, Shinji actually takes the Evangelion unit and stomps on the GeoFront, King Kong style. Originally, Shinji didn’t feel like much of a threat, but in this movie, he actually used the Eva to stomp on the building, increasing his credibility and the overall tension and seriousness of the moment. I do believe that this is one of the few times that we see any of the Children do what they want to do with the Eva and not for the sake of Nerv.

Continuing on, Unit 01 was actually seen physically resisting the Dummy Plug as it strained in the holding cage. Just another little touch that had so much more visual impact.

- Original Music

Another thing that the movie didn’t disappoint in was re-using the kick-ass music from the original movie. Imagine my delight when ‘Normal Blood’ (you know, Dum dum, dum dum dum, dum dum, dum dummmmm…) was used when Evangelion Unit 01 Awakened. The buzz that came off me was simply immense. Not only was ‘Normal Blood’ my absolute favorite BGM from the original, the fact that they used it at the climax instead of during all of the instances the Evangelion went beserk heightened the awesomness, impact and anticipation. I shed a tear. Seriously. A MANLY TEAR.

During Asuka’s introduction, music that sounded like ‘Both of You Dance Like You Want To Win’ played in the background. Very apt.

- Battles

The battles, especially the one with the Bomb Angel, again was a great homage to the battles in the original series. As discussed above, nothing was really completely changed, but simply improved and expanded.

However, this movie knew when to be nostalgic. The battle with the Tenth Angel was kept, nearly frame by frame, identical to the original series including the Eva 01 heroically stepping in to save everyone and Gendou getting sprayed with the blood of Unit 01.

- The Red Sea

A huge addition to the new movie series that was only hinted on, but blatantly pointed out in this one, is the Red Sea. Having read a number of opinions and discussions about the Red Sea, I’m inclined to agree with the theory of the ‘Circle of Life’ in that life repeats itself.

We’ve seen this before in shows like Megazone Part 3, but it would be really interesting to see how it is all tied together. If you are still unsure as to what I’m talking about, let me explain:

This whole Movie-Verse could be a continuation or ‘re-set’ of the Evangelion world after the events of ‘The End of Evangelion’.

Red Sea from 'End of Evangelion'

Not only does the Red Sea hint of this, but other things do as well. For instance this outline in the ground:

could possibly be one of the MP Evas that fell back to earth, judging from the elongated head and posture. What do you think?

MP Evas from 'End of Evangelion'

- Asuka, Unit 03, Mind Rape and The Dummy System

A whole new spin was taken on the battle with Unit 03. Instead of going out together with Asuka and Rei, Shinji is all that stands between Nerv and Unit 03. Speaking of Asuka, she’s the pilot of Unit 03 this time. Many details from the original were re-worked into this one particular battle. Eva 01 gets corrupted instead of 00 and Asuka’s mind rape happens during the corruption of Eva 03 instead of later on in the series. It was a clever way to rework Asuka’s mind rape earlier into the series, but boy was I surprised.

The Dummy System was modified as well to physically ‘take over’ the pilot in the more literal sense of the word. A device covers Shinji and obscures his view and ‘hands’ take the controls. This adds more to the visual aesthetic of the Dummy System and intensifies the inhuman nature of the system. However, the one thing that I kept wondering about is how did Shinji know what was going on?

Green and black is a great new look for the Dummy Plug.

- Elements of ‘The End of Evangelion’ (Rei, The Tenth Angel, Unit 01’s Awakening and the Third Impact)

I’ve talked about how elements were reworked and scenes combined with other scenes for the new movie. Well, the end of the final battle was one big homage to the End of Evangelion, what with the Tenth Angel’s Lilith-like assimilation of Rei and Unit 01’s Awakening. Did I forget to mention that Unit 01’s Awakening was the beginning of the Third Impact? It really perplexed me at first as I kept asking myself how it would progress from here. If the world ended, what was there left to cover in the subsequent films?

All my doubts were answered by my favorite weapon of the series, The Lance of Longinus (I think). Descending from the heavens above, Unit 06 impales Unit 01 to stop the Third Impact in its tracks. Biggest anti-climax of all time? Yes. Was it annoying? Hell no. It was definitely stunning, but for some reason, it all just seemed to flow and I had absolutely no qualms about it. I thought it was much better than waiting for 2 – 3 years to find out what happened.

- Music

I’m not a music aficionado by any standards, but I did immensely enjoy the soundtrack to the movie. What stood out to me the most was the music at pivotal scenes of the movie. Soft, cheerful, childish music played during the climactic battles (Dummy Plug/03 and the Final Battle). The juxtaposition was simply too overwhelming. Not only were the scenes made more poignant, the music actually increased the visual impact of the scenes and made them seem more horrific, grotesque and creepy than they already were.

- Problems With the Movie

Now. Why wait until the end of the review to talk about the failings of the movie? Well, simply because there isn’t any. Really. This movie was just that good. If I had to go out of my way to nitpick some issues, I’ll say that the main issue I had with the movie was its pacing.

The Evangelion movie was based on a TV Series, thus, the movie felt episodic in nature. It was Battle, Character Development, Battle, Character Development, Battle, Character Development and Battle. It wasn’t as jarring or deal-breaking as it sounds here, but it is an inherent problem with movies that adapt themselves from TV series and this was evident in the first movie as well. Nothing much can be done here I suppose.

Another possible drawback is that the movie definitely has an appeal to Evangelion and Anime fans. I don’t think it will go over so well with soft-core fans or those who are new to Anime. Tons of little details and nuances could and would possibly fly over their heads. If you want to take someone who is new to the series to this movie, make sure he/she watches the original, or at least the first movie, first.

- Third Movie Trailer

As with the first movie, the trailer for the next film was placed at the end of the end credits in a classic ‘Next Episode’ fashion, music and Misato’s narration and all. I won’t talk about it too much, but boy, does it get me hyped up for the next movie.

‘Service-su, service-su!’

———

In conclusion, I really want you to know that while I tried to deal with as many things as possible during the course of this review, I have barely scratched the surface of the movie. There is so much more depth to it that can only be conveyed via watching the film. Character interactions, voice acting, scenery, settings and more, all were just done inexplicably well.

Overall, I say that the movie is a superb and solid addition to the Evangelion franchise that, contrary to many fan’s original worries, does justice to the original series. But hey, even if you are one of the few out there that actually disliked the movie for whatever reason(s), you’ll still have the original, so don’t fret too much. As for the rest of us, Evangelion 2.0 is a solid Anime film that shows just what Anime is capable of. Telling a story using the most absorbing, influential and impressive medium of them all, visual media.

The movie felt longer than it was. This effect is usually attributed to a bad movie, however, Evangelion 2.0 was just so engaging, so enthralling and so mind-blowing that time/space seemed to stop as I was thrown into the wondrous world of Tokyo-3.

With a rich plot, gorgeous animation, kick-ass action sequences and savory fan-wanks, this movie is a masterpiece of animation that must be seen by all Evangelion fans, new and old. I can’t wait for the next one.

Will it turn out like this:

Only time will tell. But I’m SO looking forward to it.

———

Plot: 4.5/5
Animation: 5/5
Action: 5/5
Voice-Acting: 5/5
Presentation: 5/5
Music:5/5

Total (Not an Average): 5/5

———

Well, this has been a long review. If you have seen it, do feel free to post your thoughts on the movie, my review and whether you agree or disagree with me. (^.^)

———

All pictures sourced from Gelbooru.

The greatest strength of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann isn’t in its burning-hot fight scenes, though those are epic in scale and filled to the brim with awesomeness. It isn’t in the animation, though that’s vastly improved in the movies and gorgeous. It isn’t in the mech designs, either, even though the Gainax designs are impressive in their scope and inventiveness.

No, the strength of Gurren Lagann is its ability to make you stop caring about the bounds of reality. It doesn’t just invite you to suspend your disbelief – it tells you to toss it by the wayside, because there is no rule it won’t break in the pursuit of pure fun, and it plays it so straight that you can’t help but get caught up in its enthusiasm.

My enduring impression of the Gurren Lagann TV series comes from just after the last episode, when a friend of mine – a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley in the field of astrophysics – came up to me with a gigantic grin on his face and said “That was a great ending! It was so cool, and I have to tell you, if you stood on a galaxy and threw another galaxy as a throwing star like that, that’s exactly what would happen!” We all stared at him in shock after his patently stupid statement, but his grin persisted for a whole day before he sent me an IM saying “Okay, yeah, that’s probably not what would happen at all. But it was still awesome!”

That’s the power of Gurren Lagann – it never gives you the time to stop and think about what’s happening on screen, so just like the unquestioning characters, you accept it and allow the events to play out on Gainax’s terms, which have an almost child-like quality to them. In the world of Gurren Lagann, robots run on the fighting spirit of the pilot and can be repaired by the pure force of manliness. It’s perfectly okay for these robots to be made for the purpose of piloting bigger robots, which in turn pilot even bigger robots, which power battleships that are masquerading as the moon. And, by the end, you’re so caught in the anime’s spell that you can accept battleships being sunk by space water and robots the size of galaxies throwing nebulas at each other.

Simon the Digger, AKA the Anti-Shinji.

The movies take all of the sheer power of the TV series and condense it into 4 hours with surprisingly thorough results. While there are a few rushed scenes – most notably, the character introductions from the early part of the series are condensed into a few minutes of a montage and the supporting cast’s dialogue essentially consists of “Hi, this is my name! I’ll be important later!” – the direction and the pacing are crisp and tight for both movies. For newcomers to the series like me, the movies do a great job of covering all of the important parts of the story without bogging down in needless explanation. Of course, it helps that most of the characters are unthinking, unquestioning buffoons who just accept everything that they’re told (in one telling scene, the mechanic spends less than a minute talking about what’s going on and why, and the rest of the cast falls asleep between cuts) and they get to ignore the little details by having robots that are powered by guts and awesome instead of normal things like engines and reactors.

So, in the final estimation, let me give say that Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is required viewing for all anime fans. It will show you what it means to look at the world with a child’s sense of wonder, and leave a grin on your face that will probably last for a day.

The Good:
- Gainax and the mecha genre at its finest – you can feel the enthusiasm from the entire team as they poured their souls into making Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann the epitome of the giant robot genre’s spirit, and the robot clashes will be indelibly etched in your memory.

The Bad:
- That rap song they use in the trailer is pretty jarring in contrast to the rest of the soundtrack, and they use it twice in the movies.

The Ugly:
- You can tell when Gainax started running into budget problems right at the end, with more re-used footage and an extended still shot after the climax of the movie.

The long-awaited domestic DVD release of the Neon Genesis Evangelion remake movie, Evangelion: 1.01 You Are (Not) Alone, is coming on November 17th. To give people an idea of just how much the old Eva horse has been rejuvenated by the remake, FUNimation has posted a whopping eight and a half minutes of the movie on YouTube.

I’m not personally an Eva fan, but holy crap, this looks (and sounds!) good. No wonder it did so well back in 2007.

Pues Ginax tambien va aestrenar en el 2010 y nos trae Hanamaru Kindergarden.

First seen on Anime News Network, this is the short film ‘Fumiko no Kokuhaku’ which was directed, animated, edited, and recorded by Hiroyasu Ishida — a 21-year-old student. This is an excellent short and is reminiscent of both particular scenes in GAINAX’s FLCL OVA as well as recent Pixar shorts. Another independent project akin to the recent Cencoroll film, but this piece actually has energy and a sense of humor…something that I was very dissapointed not to find in Cencoroll. This is great stuff.

By the time I posted my review of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (just over a week ago) I suspect that many readers (if not most) had already seen it. This review of the the second film in the Rebuild of Evangelion - 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance – is perhaps a little more timely. If you did read my review of 1.0, you’d have seen my assertions that 2.0 strays from the original plot more than that film did. I won’t be discussing the entire plot in detail here (as reviews, by nature, should be written for readers who’ve not see the film in question) so if you are yet to experience You Can (Not) Advance, you can read on without fear of significant spoilers.

2.0, like its predecessor, gets right into the action from the beginning. The first scene actually contains mostly English dialogue, which may annoy some viewers but it’s executed well enough and ultimately is effective in creating a sense of realism. The scene takes place at a NERV base outside of Japan, so it makes sense that people aren’t speaking Japanese. Newcomer Mari Illustrious Makinami makes a fairly impressive debut, piloting her Provisional Unit-05 – a quadrupedal Eva that deviates from the traditional designs in a number of ways – against an Angel. Unlike Shinji, Mari is very cheerful about piloting the Eva and seems to be enjoying herself even when things start to get nasty. She’s both determined and reckless in combat, and this first appearance leaves quite an impression… just don’t expect to see too much more of her in this film.

Following this all-new opening, You Can (Not) Advance weaves faithfully reconstructed scenes with less familiar territory effortlessly and as a result is a much fresher and more engaging experience than You Are (Not) Alone. For existing fans of the franchise 1.0 presented a highly enjoyable but very familiar experience with few surprises; there are no such concerns here. It’s still a joy to see parts of the original series rebuilt to today’s animation standards and there’s still plenty of that, but with 2.0 Hideaki Anno has begun to rebuild the plot as well. The result is a film that offers more surprises and tension for fans of the original all the way to its incredible climax (which I wouldn’t dare spoil for you).

It’s often the case with revisiting existing franchises (or with sequels) that the writers assume viewers already know the characters and therefore they don’t need to do much characterisation, but thankfully that’s not the case here. Evangelion’s characters are already well-developed and, as with the plot, the film refreshes elements from the series while shedding new light on characters and relationships with new developments. It’s difficult as a long-time fan of Evangelion to separate yourself from the series while watching these films, but You Can (Not) Advance offers excellent character development in its own right and I can’t imagine new viewers feeling like the film is relying on outside material too much. The other problem with revisiting beloved stories and characters is that you can’t please everyone. Some will complain when you change nothing, others will complain when you change anything. Opinions on the changes in 2.0 will undoubtedly vary and I won’t pretend to speak for anyone other than myself, but I did enjoy most of the new developments.

Where 1.0 was a faithful reconstruction of the original Evangelion series, 2.0 is more of a rebuild in terms of plot as well as animation. These are still the characters that you know and for the most part these are the events that you know, but much of it has been tinkered with and there’s more new ground to tread on the way to You Can (Not) Advance’s breathtaking finale, which brings the Rebuild plot somewhere around that of the series circa episode 23. It’s almost easy to forget that there are still two films to come. 2.0 takes the series in an exciting direction, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Parece que nossos amigos indianos assistiram muito Evangelion…

sem comentários…

Ví no Maximum cosmo.

La gente de animenewsnetwork estará rifando 5 dvds de Evangelion 1.01 You’re not alone antes de que salga a la venta en USA, la  pelicula es muy buena y el sorteo esta abierto a gente de todo el mundo asi que la chance de ganar es mínima, pero bueno no pierden nada con inscribirse y capaz les toca un lechazo y se lo ganan ;P

P.D. Hay chance de inscribirse hasta el 10 de Noviembre, activense.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s arrivals comes this pair of Evangelion figures. Rei and Kaworu are the first in a set of arcade prizes from Sega, called (deep breath) Evangelion Vignette Centre of Tokyo-3. Asuka and Mari have been announced for release early next year, and I really hope they bring out a Shinji to round out the set. The figures are based on a promotional poster for the Rebuild of Evangelion; an image which has been used for both currently released films with more characters added in the second time around. Incidentally it’s an excellent piece of work by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and you may remember that I have it in puzzle form. But I digress, let’s get back to the figures.

With most arcade prizes it’s hard to come by pictures of the complete figures before they’re released, so you have to order them based on concept art or early (usually unpainted) production samples, or risk missing out. I took a chance on these and I’m very glad I did. They have a healthy weight to them, the build quality seems good, the sculpting is accurate and detailed and there are no real paint issues to speak of. Most importantly, the figures look like Rei and Kaworu. Odd faces can be a real deal-breaker with otherwise nice figures, but Sega have really nailed the characters here. Throw in a height of around 17cm (without the bases) and the already low price of this pair becomes a real bargain.

The bases of all four figures will join up to create the vignette mentioned in the series title, and if Asuka and Mari live up to the standard set by the first pair then it will be a very nice set indeed. I recommend grabbing these first two while you can to ensure that you complete the set. According to HobbyLink Japan, Rei and Kaworu were released in limited quantities, and they seem to be going fast (Kaworu in particular) so you might want to act quickly. Asuka and Mari are available for pre-order now.

You can thank Winamp and it’s non-random random shuffling for this post.

I have a super condensed anime music playlist that I like to listen to; it’s only 230 songs long and there’s a handful of songs on this list that when I’m in the right mood will get me to shed a tear. Last night I wasn’t much in the mood but out-of-the-blue Winamp starts playing every sad song on the list in a row and even repeating some more than once so now I’m in that mood.

It’s probably not a good idea to marathon a Key series right now so instead I’ll write this post.

Oh, and there’s some spoilers so read at your own risk.

Natsukage – from AIR

Let’s start off with an obvious show that could generate a tear inducing song – AIR. This anime holds the personal record for the most tears shed while watching it (Clannad is a close second). See, I was a relatively new anime watcher at the time, mainly subsisting on a diet of shounen shows and wasn’t aware of the emotional depths that could be found in anime. It also didn’t help that I had absolutely no knowledge of what to expect and was lulled into a false sense of security by it’s light-hearted start. Therefore, when the story turned tragic, I wasn’t ready for it and ended up crying for just about every remaining episode.

Natsukage is the name of the instrumental track that KyoAni used for many of the emotional scenes during AIR and thus when I hear it, I’m reminded of those scenes.

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Koikogarete Mita Yume – from Cross Game

The show’s first closing is another song that can bring me to tears and was able to from the very first time I heard it, which was in episode 1.

That episode completely blew me away. I wasn’t expecting to see enough character building and tragedy to fill most series all within those 24 minutes and by playing this song at the saddest scene meant that I’d always link this song to that first episode. Nor has that episode and that song lost it’s power to move the viewer, recently the animators essentially reshowed the first episode in it’s entirety for the episode 30 recap.

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Kanon by Pachebel – from Kanon

The wedding standard got repurposed for another of Key’s works – Kanon. This time, the characters actually referenced the song in the show and provided a strong means for the viewers to attach the often tragic nature of Kanon to the song. At least when I hear this song in public it’ll probably be at a wedding and it’ll be more socially acceptable to cry to it.

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“Libera me” From Hell – from Gurren Lagann

I’m convinced that Gurren Lagann is one of the greatest anime ever made and should be required watching for, not only those who profess to be an anime fan, but also for every single kid that grows up watching the insipid tv shows that pass for kid’s shows these days.

This song was used in many places throughout the show, primarily when it was time for the good guys to kick butt which makes it a strange song to cry over. And it would be but for it’s use during one of the best scenes to Gurren Lagann which happened in episode 26. The hero of the show, Simon, was given the choice between the easy way out and the harder path that true heroism calls for. He chooses the path of heroism and as a result is able to break himself and his comrades out of a devious trap laid by the enemy. The whole scene is very emotional, a testament to Gainax’s stellar character development and story telling ability, and having this track play during the entire scene meant that those emotions come back whenever hear it.

And within the entire scene there’s a small part that absolutely gets to me every single time I see it. The trap that Simon breaks everyone out of gives each person the ability to live in whatever dream world they wish for. One of the people trapped is Viral; he’s a beastman which means he looks human but was created sterile and he has a tough-as-nails personality so one would expect his dream world to be some sort Valhalla battlefield but it’s not – it’s living in a little cottage in a country meadow with a wife and a daughter that calls him “Papa”.

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Dango Daikazoku – from Clannad

Yes, another song from a Key/KyoAni anime, this time it’s from Clannad. This was used as the first season ending but it wasn’t until the second season that this became tear inducing. Though in the case of Dango Daikazoku (or “Big Dango Family”), the song brings tears from being linked to the tragic parts to Clannad and also from the happy parts.

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Love is a Flower, You are a Seed – from Only Yesterday

In many ways Only Yesterday is my favorite Studio Ghibli work so I find it an absolute travesty that it’s the only Studio Ghibli movie not released in America.

This is the only song that exclusively makes me shed tears from happiness alone. It’s the end song to Only Yesterday and the animators had it playing while the movie had it’s climatic scene before going to credits. So, like the others, those emotions got transferred to the song and hearing this song gets to me every time.

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Anyone else want to share? Or is everyone too busy getting in the Halloween mood today?

By now I’m sure all anime fans are well aware of the Rebuild of Evangelion, so I won’t waste much time with introductions here. All you need to know is that it’s a four-movie retelling and re-imagining of the groundbreaking anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s supposed to be a way for existing fans to see the series in a new way while also giving newcomers a more streamlined narrative. Let’s get straight into it to see what the first film, 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, makes of that aim.

1.0 pretty much starts with a bang and gets straight to the point. Shinji Ikari has just arrived in Tokyo-3 at his father’s request, and just over a minute into the film we see Sachiel – a monstrous creature known as one of the “Angels” – begin its attack on the city. Shinji is picked up by Misato Katsuragi and they head off to see his father as the military tries to hold off the Angel. On the way we learn that Shinji’s relationship with his father is distant (if there even is a relationship to speak of), and their meeting certainly confirms that. It’s at this point – around 10 minutes into the film – that Evangelion Unit-01 is revealed to Shinji: a giant humanoid robot designed for combat. Before the 15 minute mark, he’s reluctantly agreed to pilot it into battle against the Angel, and the first real action sequence begins.

The film up to this point – and indeed, throughout – is an incredibly faithful reconstruction of the first six episodes of the original series, which is why I won’t be going too far into plot or characters in this review. Side by side frame comparisons would regularly attest to that, though certain revelations from later in the series are brought forward and there are a few scenes of less familiar material. You may ask, then, “What’s in it for existing fans?” There are various reasons, but I’ll give you three. First, the animation on display is, of course, crisper and more vibrant than the series and that alone should be reason enough; no doubt the advancements in animation were a factor in deciding to make these new films at all. 1.0 is a joy to watch, remaining faithful to the original characters designs and storyboards while bringing pleasant refinements and some truly stunning moments.

Secondly – and excuse me for foreshadowing my review of 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance here – there is the promise that the Rebuild will offer more deviance from the series’ plot in the following instalments. Yes, 1.0 is basically episodes 1-6 of the series with a shiny new coat of paint, but let me tell you: things start to get shaken up in 2.0. The final reason I’ll give is extremely flippant, but it works for me: come on, it’s Evangelion. You’re telling me you don’t want new Evangelion? I couldn’t be happier to see the franchise revived and doing it like this – a Rebuild rather than a completely new story – is the best way I can see to do it.

There are, of course, inherent issues with such a close and faithful recreation. There’s little tension here for anyone who’s seen the series; you know where it’s going at almost all times and it rarely surprises you with plot. However, I can’t help but think that they’ve achieved exactly what they wanted with this first entry in the Rebuild: new viewers can enjoy a somewhat more accessible narrative, and fans can revel in seeing these scenes recreated with today’s animation standards. This is a hugely enjoyable and effective start to the tetralogy; in the end, the important thing is that this is a story worth retelling, and there’s plenty to love (and very little not to) for fans and newcomers alike.

Por fin, una de las grandes series del anime de todos los tiempos, se va a publicar en España decentemente.

Y es que Selecta Visión ha anunciado el lanzamiento de Dragon Ball, la serie original en formato remasterizado y sin censura (chúpate esa, Manga Films), con todos los doblajes autonómicos y el japonés original, además de una nueva pista de subtítulos traducida directamente del guión original.

Pero lo mejor de todo viene cuando se anuncia que va a ser editada en cómodos packs por sagas con 6 DVD cada uno, para hacer mas llevadera la colección. Primera entrega (Saga del 21 Torneo de Artes Marciales): el 9 de Diciembre.

¿Qué mas noticias nos trae Selecta? Casi nada… sólo la licencia de Shin Mazinger Z.

En efecto, uno de los mejores animes de mechas, dirigido por Yasuhiro Imagawa (Giant Robo, G Gundam) llega a España con bastante presteza, ya que la serie se emitió en abril en Japón. Consta de 26 episodios, pero aún no se han dado detalles de la edición.

Tercera: The Sky Crawlers, de Mamoru Oshii, estará a la venta en Blu-Ray y DVD de forma anticipada en el Salón del Manga (realmente sale el 4 de Noviembre), y podrá comprarse tanto en el stand de Selecta como en el resto de tiendas del recinto.

Y por último (lo siento, Sig, has perdido): Evangelion 1.11 en Blu-Ray el 9 de Diciembre.

Como ya mas de uno sabréis, Evangelion 1.11 es una Director’s Cut en HD de You’re (not) Alone, que además será el primer BD en utilizar una nueva tecnología que elimina el efecto de posterizado (efecto visual bastante feo en el que se pueden ver claramente los cambios de color, casi como las lineas de un arco iris), que comunmente se puede ver en todo el anime editado en DVD. Bueno, a esperar, ya que además Selecta Visión ha informado de que habrá sorpresas en su conferencia del Salón del Manga, veremos a ver si lo pueden hacer.

La extra se la dedicaré a Sigfrido, y es que Anime Project, una nueva editora de anime recién salida del horno, se presenta por todo lo alto: nada mas y nada menos que con Fate Stay Night. Todavía no hay fechas acordadas, pero ya se sabe que sus ediciones serán en caja metálica por aproximadamente 15 € el volumen, pero aún no se ha acalrado si irán 4 u 8 episodios por volumen.

Fuentes: Ramen para Dos y Mision Tokyo.

Sfondamento dei cieli Gurren Lagann

• Recensione

Dopo essermi gustato l’intera serie con il favoloso doppiaggio giapponese (sottotitolata) non posso che avere parole di elogio per la Gainax che ha spremuto lo spirito dei vecchi cartoni robot giapponesi riproponendo un opera in maniera ancora più esaltante e divertente. La storia non sarà quello che può sembrare dalle prime puntate.

I più amatori del fumetto e dei vecchi anime non potranno che apprezzare lo stile fumettistico di molte scene (vedi seconda immagine sopra), mentre dovrete dimenticare la vostra razionalità e le vostre critiche adulte su “questo non è fisicamente possibile” ecc.. Lasciate prendervi dalla passione e dalla fantasia dela storia. L’anime infatti non ha quello stile robotico all’ Evangelion, che propone un ipotetico futuro e una ipotetica tecnologia avanzatissima ma credibile, questo che avete davanti è tutt’altro, un anime in stile Shin Getter Robot The Last Day, d’ azione, di passione, schizzato e divertente, ma mai eccessivo ed a volte commovente. E come nella migliore tradizione dei bei cartoni giapponesi il cattivo non è mai il cattivo per antonomasia ed ogni personaggio ha una sua umanità e un suo senso logico, da questo non ne può che beneficiarne la storia che diventa appassionante e seguibile.

Ed infine voglio elogiare l’animazione che è semplice, dinamica e veloca. Non si spreca nei dettagli e ricorda quello stile anni 80 di Mazinga o Jeeg Robot, le trasformazioni, le unioni. I robot hanno le loro “espressioni” e danno forma al carisma del pilota, praticamente agli antipodi cè Patlabor. Le musiche, molto belle. Il finale mi ha commosso.

• Informazioni

Al momento sta andando in onda sul digitale terrestre di Rai4, ma a novembre dovrebbe uscire anche il DVD in italiano della prima metà della serie.

È stato prdotto anche il lungometraggio come potete vedere dal primo trailer qua sotto, ma non consiglio di guardarlo se non prima di essersi gustati tutte le 27 puntate. Il lungometraggio non è altro che un riassunto della prima metà della serie senza variazioni significative però molti aspetti ed episodi divertenti vengono a mancare. Le scene dei combattimenti finali contro i tre generali rimasti che nella storia sono separate, nel lungometraggio si svolgono in un unico contemporaneo duello, è l’unica differenza.

Ulteriori informazioni potete trovarle su: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sfondamento_dei_cieli_Gurren_Lagann

Trailer cinematografico

(ATTENZIONE! Contiene spoiler!)

Trailer ufficiale giapponese

Trailer in Italiano

]]> http://kirayamato04.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/mahoromatic-tadaima-okaeri-sp-1-ecchi-wait-for-the-dvd/ Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:34:02 +0000 kirayamato04 http://kirayamato04.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/mahoromatic-tadaima-okaeri-sp-1-ecchi-wait-for-the-dvd/

Mahoromatic Tadaima Okaeri is a 2 special episodes, where they are side stories from the second season (according to myanimelist). Pity we cannot see any of their trademark ecchi scenes at all as what we have enjoyed our eyes with in its Season 1, Season 2 and Summer Special. Yes, the bath scenes are infected with the misty plague or we can call these immoral activity as censoring, to deny the rights of our eyes to enjoy watching tits . Luckily, its  full of naughty and pantsu shots as well. They still maintained the original animation style that looks rare and ‘vintage’ for this 2 specials. And where’s A-TX when you need them?

Ecchi scenes

Other screenshots

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Gainax re-releases their PSP Shinseiki Evangelion Koutetsu no Girlfriend games again in a special Girlfriend twofer + one extra title that bundles together the following games:

» Shinseiki Evangelion: Koutetsu no Girlfriend Tokubetsu-Hen Portable
» Shinseiki Evangelion: Koutetsu no Girlfriend 2nd Portable
» Secret of Evangelion Portable (Best Hit Selection Version)

The Girlfriend games are interactive adventures where players stare at pretty pictures, read lots of dialogue, listen to speech, and immerse themselves into the Evangelion universe.

Some bonus items are also being thrown into the package as follows:
» Carrying Case featuring Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley
» Lanyard featuring Kaworu Nagisa
» Evangelion Portable Illustrations Booklet

All of the items are packaged in a cardboard box which features Rei and Asuka in their skintight plug suits.

Un nuovo appuntamento settimanale molto simile a quello di MTV. Solo che parliamo di Rai 4 sul digitale terrestre e delle serie di anime “Gurren Lagam” e “Code Geass”. Da stasera su Rai 4 partono due serie che già hanno fatto parlare di se prima ancora che la Dynit ne acquistasse i diritti. Centinaia di fansubber in rete hanno portato avanti entrambe le serie, apprezzatissime dal pubblico.
Stasera, dunque, a partire dalle 22:45, dopo la messa in onda del film Bobby Z, il signore della droga, si da inizio alle danze con “Sfondamento dei cieli Gurren Lagann“. prodotto dalla Gainax in soli 27 episodi.

A seguire e piu’ precisamente alle 23:10 toccherà a “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion“, questa volta prodotto dalla Sunrise in soli 25 episodi.
Entrambe le serie saranno distribuite dalla Dynit in cofanetti da collezione.

]]> http://onensblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/evangelion-2-0-trailer/ Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:57:07 +0000 Sama http://onensblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/evangelion-2-0-trailer/

Now playing:  Halo 3 / KOF XII
Now Listening : Angel attacks – Shiro Sagisu ( Evangelion OST )
Now watching: Bleach

Bueno, siguiendo con el tema del mes… Evangelion 2.0 y para todos aquellos que han vivido bajo una piedra los ultimos meses…. o años… les tengo un recopilatorio de los Trailers que se estuvieron exhibiendo en Japon para el estreno de Evangelion 2.0 el pasado mes de Agosto, denles una checada y asegurense de verlos en Full Screen y seleccionar HQ , estos son los trailers oficiales:

Evangelion 2.0 You can (not) advance

Un bonus para los fans de Asuka:

Asuka Langley Shikinami…. asi es el apellido de Asuka cambia de Soryu a Shikinami. Por que ? Bien…. pasa esto:

El segundo apellido de Asuka originalmente viene del porta-aviones japones Soryu que participo en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, mientras que el primer apellido viene del porta-aviones Estadounidense Langley, adivinaron …. de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Ahora, Shikinami es el nombre de uno de los destructores de clase Ayanami de la Fuerza Maritima de Autodefensa Japonesa ,  entonces decidieron dejar esto mas “alineado” con las convenciones de nombre de los destructores martimos de esta clase, y cambiaron su apellido a Shikinami.

Como nota adicional, el apellido no es lo unico que cambia en Asuka en esta re-edicion, hay algunas cosas interesantes que a los fans de Asuka les agradaran o desagradaran, les traere mas informacion mas adelante.

Sama out…