Directors: Hideaki Anno, Masayuki, Kazuya Tsurumaki

Wrister: Hideaki Anno

Starring (English Dub – Dubbing Brothers): Spike Spencer, Allison Keith, John Swasey, Amanda Winn-Lee, Mary Faber

Rating: ★★★½

Back in 2007 the first part of the Rebuild of Evangelion series was released. Written and directed by Hideaki Anno (with Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki as co-directors) the film series is a reinterpretation of Anno’s classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion from 1995. Originally Rebuild was intended to be a trilogy, but ended up with four films, with the final entry being released 2021.

The film is a fairly straight adaption of the first six episodes of the TV series, with a few deviations from the original story sprinkled throughout. Essentially, it’s still the same story. Shinji moves to Tokyo 3 at the request of his father, only to find out that his father wants to use him to pilot Eva Unit 01 to fight the Angels that are threatening the city. The events are more streamlined in the film, with a much quicker pace.

Watching it as someone who has watched the TV series a few times, it does feel like it expects you to already be familiar with the story. The slower pace of the TV series works better, letting the characters develop more between the action scenes. If you haven’t seen the TV series, then it might work better, since you’re not expecting things to happen. It’s where the story deviates that it gets really interesting. Small scenes that playout slightly differently, or things happening that should happen much later in the story. It’s hinting straight away that this isn’t a straight up remake and things could go in a very different direction later on.

The animation is brilliant. Everything is more detailed than the series and looks incredible, especially the Eva units, there’s so much detail. There is some CGI animation as well, that for the most part looks great, but some of it stands out a little too much. Shirō Sagisu, the composer of the score for the original series, also came back to score the film, and it’s one of the highlights of the film. There are re-recorded pieces that are filled with nostalgia, as well as new additions throughout.

You Are (Not) Alone is a decent watch, that only hints at where the Rebuild series would go. This entry has some stunning animation, but overall doesn’t feel like an essential remake of the original episodes it’s adapting.

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