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**FAN-SERVICE-CENTERED HEADPHONE WARNINGS**

For the record, I had a lot of fun with this movie (and will probably dress as Sahaquiel for Rebuild 3.33), but it's been a while since I've been this torn with a film!

I'll be looking at the good, the bad, and the fan service in this film that goes off the rails but still was a walloping good time and had a lot of fantastic character moments and new NGE goodness to talk about! Also, #datangelupgrade? Kaworu joining the plot? Kaji looking amazing? REI GOODNESS? I'm here for all that! 

LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/wqE6EMv31SE3KU1NzLDNAF?

Thank you for Watching With Me and the Support!

Files

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rebuild 2.22 Reaction! YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE!

Link to Reaction (starts at 15:02): https://share.vidyard.com/watch/wqE6EMv31SE3KU1NzLDNAF? **FAN-SERVICE-CENTERED HEADPHONE WARNINGS** For the record, I had a lot of fun with this movie (and will probably dress as Sahaquiel for Rebuild 3.33), but it's been a while since I've been this torn with a film! I'll be looking at the good, the bad, and the fan service in this film that goes off the rails but still was a walloping good time and had a lot of fantastic character moments and new NGE goodness to talk about! Also, #datangelupgrade? Kaworu joining the plot? Kaji looking amazing? REI GOODNESS? I'm here for all that! Thank you for watching with me and for all the support! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RomaniaBlack My Anime: https://myanimelist.net/profile/RomaniaBlack Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RomaniaBlack You can mail me a letter or anything (except food, please) at this address: Romania Black PO Box 768 Harrisburg, IL 62946 USA

Comments

Nicholas NB

I love the Ramiel touches! The headband, the blue. Fun fun!

Simon Lemon

I heavily dislike all the unnecessary fan service in this film, it feels out of place in EVA. Sadly it's something all these movies have more of than the original. It's a shame since there are great character moments and scenes throughout.

Matthew B

Ahhh yes, the glorious rebuild movies confusion. Love to see it.

Alex Kornejo

You could pretend that Mari and Kaworu weren't in this movie, they just hijacked the unreleased film and added their own scenes afterwards even though they had no one to interact with. The movie mostly works without them. And I'm with you on the fan service, that see-through plug suit it's straight from the Drama CD, so it's not just gratituous fanservice, it's foreshadowed gratituous fanservice. Except in the Drama CD they were mocking it, here they played it straight. On to stuff I like, I'm a sucker for Rei & Shinji stuff so I liked the climax of the movie with Shinji trying to save Rei through the sheer will power of love even though it's so unevalike (lets pretend that's a word). Rei actually expressing her regrets and Shinji reasuring her is kind of sweet, Since Rei's never had a chance to express herself like that nor has Shinji been in a position to be the one to offer assurance to another.

Christopher Pettersson

I have already confessed one horrible thing (not liking mangas) and here comes the next... i have not watched the last two movies, and i must say there was a awful lot of things that i didn't remember from this one. One thing i do remember was not liking what they did to the Zeruel fight as it was my favourite from the original. But much as with the first movie i like this one much more now compared to when i first watched it. Back then the movies felt like inferior versions of what we already had, and with years of wait (and years of delays) i kind of got away from NGE and just never came around to watching them all. It might really change how one recieve this depending how you fit it in the continuity of the whole franchise. With Kaworu's last words of the movie it really seems this could be not a soft or hard reboot but perhaps some kind of direct continuation after EoE (well i guess that could still be seen as a soft reboot), maybe in some kind of new world created by Shinji or any combination of powerful entities that was floating about in the end of that. This movie might not be just made for the fans but i wonder what someone new would think about it? It seems you get much more out of it if you have watched everything that came before. Also when i was thinking about this as some form of cycle, all omissions and changes from the original doesn't bother me, as they did happen, just in a different (prior?) reality and that ripples/influence from that reality and the existence of prophecy is what could make some of the exact same things happen while other things are clearly different. But at times it does feel like the story of the original was put in a blender and things was scrambled about and just came out different. I like a bit of crazy so i like Mari. I do agree, if this was a stand alone movie she wouldn't really make much sense, but like you, i hope things will come together in the movies ahead of us. There was two "biblical" references in here that i don't remember being in the original. Nebuchadnezzar was some king in biblical times and Golgotha was supposedly the hill on wich Jesus was crucified. A few other small things, i think Gendo seeing Yui telling him to take care of Shinji is him knowing full well he has royally screwed that up. He's just to much of a coward to do anything about it. Yeah, the english did seem off, but if it's a character that is speaking it as a second (or third) language it makes sense, if they are supposed to be native english speakers it needs to sound like it. I like the mismatched songs but i agree, it works better the second time at the end. Now about the fan service, where to begin. As you pointed out, here it's just unnecessary and it doesn't inform us about the characters. In the original when things got "sexual" it was often from the perspective of Shinji, a teenage boy, that made sense. Here it's just for the audience while the characters themself are not in any situation that warrants it or thinking about anything of the sort. Also all the scenes with "tension" from the original was removed making the fan service even more egregious. I don't think "sex" always needs to be taken seriously and can be incorporated just for the fun of it, but it needs a bit of finess. In a serious series like NGE it really needs to earn its existence.

romaniablack

I agree -- there are MANY great moments in this movie and overall I really enjoyed it, but the fan service DOES feel out of place for this series. Not enough to take too much away from it, but enough to distract a bit! Thanks for the comment!

romaniablack

HA! I like the idea of Mari and Kaworu hijacking the movie, to be honest! The movie honestly could work entirely without Mari if you'd left Asuka in. Kaworu seems to be tied to what will happen in the next film, and I like the previews with him, but Mari I'm going to keep an open mind with for 3.33! :) And yessss, it's funny that I listened to the Audio Drama BEFORE watching the second Rebuild, because it does feel like they took the joke and literally ran with it! What timing! But I do agree, the Rei development in the Rebuilds has been my favorite aspect so far, and giving her and Shinji a more nuanced relationship works really well for the climax! And hahahaha -- yeah, it feels SO "unEvalike" but I'm okay with it since we've had the moments in this movie to build up to it! Shinji expressing love? I'm okay with that! Thanks for the comment!

romaniablack

Oh! That's really interesting! I'll have to bring that up with the next discussion, so thank you so much for the information! :D I appreciate it!

romaniablack

I’m glad that at least time has made the experience of the Rebuild better! :) And yeah, I’ll be curious to see by the end of this series what exactly it “is,” be it a reboot, continuation, etc. It’s also such a weird thing to be doing a reboot “just for the fans;” when you’d think the fandom would want entirely NEW content, instead of a reimagining? It’s very curious as a move from a creator, but Anno wanting to make this entirely his own makes sense, too. I just want to get into his head a bit…or maybe I don’t hahaha!! I like Mari being a feral child; she feels too much like Asuka on steroids and without the layered trauma and dimension, for now, but I’ll be curious to see how she plays out with the other two movies and if that makes her character stand more on her own. I agree, the two biblical references you mention weren’t in the original series – thank you for the clarification on those! :D Golgotha sounded familiar, at least! It’s SO fascinating that dinner scene and Gendo seeing Yui – it definitely adds to his character and him being a coward; I’m torn if I like fleshed out Gendo more than mysterious Gendo, but I appreciate that the movie is making a CHOICE with him in this! And yeah, I still think they could have had a translator come in for the English speaking and made it not as distracting in the opening moments, but it’s not enough to make me hate Kaji’s character or the scene, haha! The mismatched songs are a treat, and yes, the second one fits really well, here! To me, it’s not necessarily the sexualization that bugs me (although sexualizing 14-year-olds is a bit creepy to me, but that’s probably different culturally for others), but it’s more that it serves no POINT except to be there. At least in the original, there was a psychological and thematic point that could resonate with the audience and help tell the story and add to the characters…here…it’s just boob and crotch shots for…well, boob and crotch shots. And I agree it does need to be earned, and didn’t feel that way in this film. But ah well, the good outweighed the gratuitous fan service for me, anywa! :) Thanks so much for the comment! :D

iHatePiano

Thank you! And about fan services: Anno is known to be committed to making every cut "interesting". So it may be more accurate to say that he is not excluding "fan services" as an option, rather than including them. But, don't worry. I think this movie may have the most fan services.

romaniablack

Ahhh, that is good to know! :) I'm excited to see what's in store next; thank you so much! :D

Christopher Pettersson

I always intended to watch all the movies but never came around to it when i felt as ambivalent about them as i did but now i'm really excited to get to the last two, these i guess will diverge even more (how could they not?). And i agree, we shouldn't sexualize 14-year olds, but i think it's fine to depict the sexuality of the same. Now what that means and difference between those is probably highly dependent on culture. So the original series felt mostly fine but certainly had shots/scenes one could discuss about their necessity. So crotch shots of teenagers just for the voyeuristic point of view of the audience is definetly creepy. I could just feel myself rolling my eyes at all of those unnecessary shots. Now i always disliked this form of fan service and never thought i would enjoy a show that was made for those kind of things, but i can recommend "Don't Bully Me Miss Nagatoro". Another reaction channel i followed for AoT watched that one, so i gave it a chance and it was just so cute and heartwarming that i loved it. After that i gave some other "frisky" animes a chance, like "My Dress Up Darling" (that many seem to like), but no, didn't like any of those. Yes, this might seem contrary to my earlier argumentation but i think they made "Don't Bully Me" in a way that works (and they are a few years older in it). And yeah, i unnecessarily added this hoping you would atleast add it as a poll option in the future. 😂

Julie

Ever since you mentioned that Ano drastically changed the original series due to realizing his depression, I’ve been wondering if the movies are closer to what he originally had in mind for it. What we’ve seen so far has more action and less of the psychological aspect, so it makes me wonder. I haven’t read interview or anything so I don’t actually know.

Julie

Also, when Kaworu says “hello father” I just assumed he was regarding Gendo as his future father in law once he marries his son. And that made me fangirl even harder, so I loved it. 😊

romaniablack

That's a very interesting point! I wonder if that was the case and then his delve into psychology caused him to go a new route! It'd be interesting if anyone had interviewed him about it!

romaniablack

Oh yeah, regardless of if they are amazing or not, it's going to be fun to watch the madness and talk about it! I agree with about the sexualization vs. the sexuality, too; definitely cultural but I'm with you on the eye-rolling bit, haha! Ooohh, and thank you for the recommendation! I will DEFINITELY give that a look! I've seen a few reactors doing "My Dress Up Darling," but I'm not sure that'd be my cup of tea! Ahaha, I definitely want to add "Don't Bully Me Miss Nagatoro" to my polling list! :D So thanks!

Christopher Pettersson

Well you never know, My Dress Up Darling wasn't really to my tastes but if someone beforehand had in writing described and given me the plot of "Chainsaw Man" and "Don't Bully Me, Miss Nagatoro" i would never have guessed witch one i would love and witch one i was going to be on the fence about. Sometimes you just can't predict what your mind will latch on to.

romaniablack

That is true -- sometimes the shows you least expect to be the ones you like go that route! :) That's a fair point!