Shelf Life

Home Alone

Like Carl Gustav Horn, I aspire to watch Evangelion in its entirety at least once a year. (It may be the case that I've seen Studio Sokodei's "Evangelion ReDeath" more times than the original, however.) If you've never listened to Mr. Horn's Evangelion panel, usually delivered at Anime Weekend Atlanta, I really can't recommend it enough. Short of that, he has many essays demystifying Evangelion on evamonkey.com. I certainly would not understand The End of Evangelion without Mr. Horn's articulate explanation.

Some newer fans may not be familiar with the now 14-year-old series, although I feel it is a bit of a waste of column space to summarize the plot here. I will say that if you've never seen Evangelion, this movie isn't a half-bad place to start. You Are (Not) Alone is a re-telling of the original series as a trilogy of feature films.

Watching You Are (Not) Alone is a bit like marathoning Evangelion in short-hand, but it's a more successful "remix" than Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie. A few scenes and details have been tweaked so it's not a just a straight-up Evangelion remake. Obviously, only some kind of geek would notice all of the changes, but I think most fans of the series have watched it repeatedly over the last fourteen years and can point out the minutia. For example, the characters ride some kind of ski lift instead of the original elevator, and the angel/monsters have extra limbs. In one creepy and very effective detail, the Eva Unit's skin is a much more realistic human skin-tone in You Are (Not) Alone than it is in the original.

Admittedly, there is no real need for this remake to exist. It's my understanding that pachinko companies and Doritos approached Gainax to make additional films for the franchise. As such, the Frito-Lay logo and bags of Doritos get plenty of eyeshare in the film. Although I was unaffected by that particular product placement, Misato's chugging of Yebisu beer has inspired me to pick up a six pack in the near future. I don't even like drinking canned beer, but Misato is my favorite character.

I skipped the screenings Funimation did at conventions this year because they were only screening the dub. I've never liked the Evangelion dub. Shinji just sounds too old to me. Probably because I watched this in Japanese first, I could never get used to Misato's English voice. Plus, at the time the original TV series was dubbed, dub studios were not quite as savvy as they are today. Remember the old ANN column The Dub Track? When Ryan Mathews stopped writing it in 2005, dubs had slowly gotten better. "These days, the average dub's flaws are much more subtle." Ryan wrote, "It's rare that you hear truly bad acting or bad directing." You Are (Not) Alone brings back a few members of the original Eva dub cast, but this time, they are admittedly doing a much better job than they did with the original TV series. Granted, the dub is much better, but I still love Gendou best in Japanese.

Because this is a feature film, the price point is very reasonable. The lack of extras is a bit of a downer, but I can't think of a reason not to own this, unless you hate Eva.[TOP]

But… do you really need me to tell you to buy Dragon Ball Z if you're already a fan of the series? Chances are, if you like this show, you probably already own it. I suppose you could loan out your previous sets to friends or younger siblings or cousins or something. If you're a hardcore collector, you're probably just wondering if this will come out on Blu-ray later, and I don't know the answer to that question.

Personally, I'm not much of a Dragon Ball Z fan. I far prefer the innocent charm of the original series. Apparently I watched DBZ almost completely out of order on Cartoon Network. The show makes a lot more sense watching it chronologically, but somehow, the clarity has actually decreased my interest in the show.

Normally, I'd provide a brief plot description at this point, but it hardly seems necessary for Dragon Ball Z. In fact, it's hard to think of new things to say about a show that aired 20 years ago in Japan and 13 years ago in America. Most of you reading this column already know more about Dragon Ball Z than I do, and if I make even the smallest mistake I'm sure I'll be reprimanded harshly in the forums.

DBZ suffers from some serious structural problems. Not much happens in a single episode of the show. Early in the set, Gohan is training alone in the wilderness while Goku runs along Snake Road to find martial arts training in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Piccolo trains against himself, and all the while a couple of super-tough Saiyans fly menacingly towards Earth. Half a dozen episodes transpire with nothing more than the above happening, until finally the Saiyans arrive. That's exactly like a soap opera; there's an illusion of progress being made, but in reality, almost nothing happens in each episode.

The dub script is an extreme deviation from the subtitles. 90% of that "Last time on Dragon Ball Z!!" narration doesn't exist in the original Japanese script. The series is also littered with things that could never air on American television. In one scene, a lady in Snake Palace tempts Goku to stay by offering to play a game, that game being Russian Roulette. As she explains how to play it, the snake-lady shoots herself in the head immediately with the first pull of the trigger. "Oh," Goku says, un-phased, "I guess that means the game is over." If you like DBZ, it's worthwhile to watch it uncut.

According to the box, the picture has been remastered and restored. That's great, but I wish there was a marathon mode like on the One Piece releases so you could power through the show. I know this is a reproduction of the Japanese box set, so Funimation was probably not at liberty to add extra functionality.

I watched this using VLC player, and I found that the picture froze several times across different discs, forcing me to quit VLC and start again. That doesn't normally happen.

If you only want to own one release of DBZ, this is the release to buy (unless you're waiting for the Blu-ray version). If you've never seen DBZ, you should clearly rent it first to see if martial arts soap opera is really your cup of tea. DBZ really isn't for everyone.[TOP]