![Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance [Blu-ray]](/wp_content/uploads/2011/04/415j7ho_9gL._SL500_AA300__150x150.jpg "Evangelion: 2.22 You Can [Not] Advance [Blu-ray]")
EVANGELION 2.22: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE (2009, Blu-ray released March 29, 2011 – MSRP $34.98)
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It’s been a whole year since I was “wowed” by FUNimation‘s startlingly great Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone Blu-ray disc. I had little doubt that the sequel film would live up to the heights achieved by the first volume of the four-film series and I’m happy to report that it does more than that. It’s an even more engaging film that shares its predecessors killer technical merits. Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance is a must-have anime Blu-ray, if ever I’ve seen one.
- “The landmark anime Evangelion evolves, reaching new heights of intensity in the feature film: Evangelion 2.22. In this explosive new story, brutal action and primal emotion clash as a group of young pilots maneuver their towering cyborg Eva Units into combat against a deadly and disturbing enemy. In the battle to prevent the apocalyptic Third Impact, Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, as the onslaught of the bizarre, monstrous Angels escalates, they find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari. In this thrilling experience for fans of giant robot destruction, the young pilots fight desperately to save mankind – and struggle to save themselves. “
Picking up somewhere in the vicinity of the ending of the first part of the series, this sequel film follows the young Eva (read: cool-looking giant robot) pilots, our hero Shinji, the shy blue-haried girl, Rei and new additions Asuka and Mari, as they battle the seemingly never-ending onslaught of destructive, polymorphic “Angels”. Once again, fans of the series will recognize characters but this time around will find a lot of new story to wrap their heads around. As much as I enjoy all the robot action in the series – and holy crap, is it ever well designed, directed and animated here – I can’t help but feel like it cuts into the scenes that really matter.
The Evangelion series is at its best when it focuses on character. It comes alive when the kids are in school, coping with relationships and homework. Shinji’s struggle with his father, his need for acceptance, is what drives his story forward – the old man playing on that need to manipulate Shinji into reluctantly piloting his giant world-saving robot. But it’s the juvenile moments of the series that really make it sing – Shinji’s field commander and slovenly, older roommate, Misato’s drunken ravings, the kids on a field trip that involves several levels of humiliating delousing and decontaminating, Asuka’s shower-time run-in with Pen Pen, her new penguin roommate. Great stuff all around. The series only loses me when it ventures away from grounded, realistic conversation and into vague, we’re-being-coy-about-plot-details background stuff. Honestly, it rarely makes much sense and I barely care. I understand that it’s information that builds the series toward it’s climactic plot revelations but I’ve about had my fill of stories that rely too heavily on detailed expository gunk to build narrative. That’s what you have your characters for, dudes!
Nevertheless, Evangelion is the good stuff. Focus on the awesome character work and enjoy the giant robot action and you’ll have a hell of a time with this series!
Much like the first volume of the series on Blu-ray, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance looks just about as good as anime can in 1080p. Both the CGI and cel-animation kill in high-def, looking pristine and detailed in every frame. I prefer the original Japanese language audio track but those who need their good ol’ English language dubs won’t be disappointed here. Both tracks are offered in robust, dynamic Dolby TrueHD 6.1. English subs are, of course, included.
FUNimation has packaged up a nice selection of bonus features for their second Evangelion Blu-ray outing, echoing the extras from the first disc and adding a U.S. cast commentary track for good measure. I’d much rather hear what the writers and directors of the feature have to say about it but I’ll hand it to FUNimation, they held my interest with the cast commentary. A good number of cast members have voiced these characters for a nearly a couple of decades now and their take on the history of their characters and the franchise is often quite compelling.
The disc also includes another “Rebuild of Evangelion” featurette, which consists of a collection of animation and art progress demonstrations. A little in-feature narration would go a long way to making sense of what we’re looking at in the 22-odd-minute reel but thankfully, FUNimation have provided notes in their excellent and quite informative 20-page booklet. The disc is rounded out with a crap-ton of trailers and TV spots, omitted scenes, a remix of the film’s song and trailers for other FUNi titles.
Highly recommended!
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