OverallArtAnimationCharacter DesignMusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewerAvoid4Big Fire[series:70#2441]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthAlthough I am a huge evangelion fan, i would really avoid this... i mean evangelion is already a mind job as it is, but gainax and all it's releases of different endings just a big huge gravy train machine if you ask me... end of eva was almost the ending i wish it would have been...skip this if you can...watch it if you have to, but DO NOT BUY it...
Last updated Monday, March 24 2008. Created Monday, March 24 2008.Rent4Stretch[series:70#628]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthThe 'Death' segment of this 'movie' seems to be a recap of not just the standard version of Evangelion, but rather the Director's Cut--or at least it contains footage that was edited out of the TV version. By far the most useful feature was the 'Mokuji Interactive' option, which provides succinct definitions of various terms and brief character biographies. If I were a Mensa, perhaps I wouldn't need these, but I'm just the average half-witted viewer, struggling to draw connections between the countless vague clues Evangelion offers. As such, I found the option useful to bring me up to speed on a host of questions which are left without an unambiguous answer by the version currently being shown on Adult Swim. Some things are left unclear, such as what exactly Gendo is up to, presumably so as not to spoil the End of Evangelion movie. I also got a hint of the extra information which the Director's Cut must have contained--everything from Shinji, Rei and Asuka being musicians, to the way Misato acquired Pen Pen, her pet penguin. Was that brief scene of Gendo's hand included in the TV version? I've watched each of episodes 1-23 at least twice, and I don't recall it. I'm still in the dark about the motivations of certain organizations, but hopefully the final movie will make these fairly clear.
I was impressed by the quality of the commentary option, which featuredAmanda Winn Lee (who voiced Rei & Yui), Talisen Jaffe and Jason Lee discussing the movie. All too often, commentaries are nothing more than babble about how English dubs were put together, without really teaching the viewer anything or being particularly interesting. But these three definitely knew what they were talking about, especially Jaffe. All sorts of allusions to Babylonian deities, obscure books of the bible, the symbolism of various scenes, and the commentators' own theories about their meanings were mentioned. The Lance of Longinus, for example, seems to have been named after the Roman soldier who speared Christ to make sure he was dead. All-in-all, neat stuff, which the average viewer (like myself) would otherwise have remained completely oblivious of.
In the 'Rebirth' segment SEELE launches a murderous, no-prisoners attack on NERV. There has clearly been a feud building between the two organizations for some time, largely because of Gendo doing something very serious which he hasn't been authorized to do (exactly what is kept from the viewer, as usual). It's unclear who's most in favor of 'Human Instrumentality', what that is, and why anybody thinks converting humans into instruments of some sort is a good idea, especially since the Angels have already been wiped out. The explanation which Misato finally gives about what humanity's relationship to the Angels is seemed to me to be bizarre and hard to take seriously. Not so much a shocking revelation that thrills us and causes things to finally make sense as one that only confuses us more. A cop-out, almost. Rebirth in general has an ugly, disturbing tone to it; people get killed wholesale, including a number of major characters, violence is explicit, and almost everybody seems to be either mentally ill or so selfish and cruel that you find it hard to care whether they live or die. Rebirth in fact doubles as the first half of the End of Evangelion movie, but I definitely didn't like the direction the story seemed to be headed in when it ended.
In short, it's the 'extras' that make Death and Rebirth valuable.
Last updated Sunday, February 22 2015. Created Monday, March 27 2006.Unevaluated4Devil Doll[series:70#752]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthWhether this movie is of any value for you depends upon what you know already.
The 'Death' part contains a couple of these additional scenes that make the difference between episode 21-24 and 21'-24', also known as the 'Director's Cut' version. This content might be helpful to understand what Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion is all about, if you don't already know the Director's Cut versions of the series. These scenes are embedded into just another weird storyline (the string quartet performance of four EVA pilots that isn't used anywhere else in the series).
Last updated Monday, March 27 2006. Created Wednesday, November 19 2003.Watch499983AstroNerdBoy[series:70#436]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthThis is the one Evangelion movie you really don't need to see. The 'Death' part of the movie is simply a recap of the first 24 episodes of the original series. There is a little new animation mixed in here -- mostly from the stuff from the extended edition. So, I didn't find much new information.
The 'Rebirth' part of the movie is actually the first part of End of Evangelion with Asuka getting to show her stuff.
Bottom line: If you already saw the first 24 epidodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and were planning to see End of Evangelion, you don't need to see this one. However, if you get the American released DVD, the audio commentary is pretty sweet.
Last updated Friday, February 28 2003. Created Friday, February 28 2003.Watch4899843Akito[series:70#472]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthDeath is just the summary of the Evangelion TV series. However, Rebirth gives the background to End of Evangelion. If you watch the series already, I suggest you go onto Rebirth since there is nothing new in Death unless you want to watch some of the scenes from the series again.
Last updated Friday, January 03 2003. Created Friday, January 03 2003.Watch4910840Dr.Yoshi[series:70#110]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthA also loved the Evangelion serie TV series. But this did not impress me at all.
Death is just a recap of the whole TV series. And isn't really wearth seeing unless you missed anything in the series, or have never seen it.
Rebirth is just the first half of 'End of Evangelion' witch I didn't really like either. The good part about Rebirth is that it has a story unlike Death witch is just a review.
In the end the animation and art is good, but the story is lacking, and the charaters (mainly Shinji) loose all apeal as 'good' charaters.
I wouldn't tell anyone except die hard Eva fans (Like myself) to watch this.
Last updated Wednesday, January 31 2001. Created Thursday, December 21 2000.Watch41010108Midnighter[series:70#94]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthI Loved the Evangelion series and End of Evangelion. So naturally I was disappointed when I saw this one. Just a choppy, rushed recap of the first 24 or so episodes of the series that ends abruptly with no warning. I really felt disappointed, this seemed to be just a soulless attempt to cash in on Evangelion's success.
Now released on DVD by Manga Entertainment, the disc includes Death and Rebirth and the first part of the End of Eva movie. Manga has reunited most of the cast of ADV's Evangelion dub, which is good news for dub fans. The audio commentary by Amanda Winn Lee is probably the most interesting thing about the domestic release. At least now I have the entire Eva series on DVD...
Last updated Thursday, October 03 2002. Created Tuesday, December 12 2000.Buy44555Dingle[series:70#35]Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and RebirthI really liked these two movies. Death was a really good recap of the series, but it by no means stands alone. You have to see the series to care about the movies. Rebirth was also nice and provided good information on the end of the show. I did like the original episodes 25 & 26 better, but I you like Eva you should see Death and Rebirth.
Last updated Thursday, July 13 2000. Created Wednesday, July 12 2000.