"It's only love..."

English-speaking fans rejoice-!

The pain, the suffering, the hesitation, the dramatics, the loneliness, the teen angst, the cruelty, the politics, the scheming, and the self-analyzing psychology are back in a whole new-yet-familiar way.

Oh, yeah- and don't forget about the Angels too!

On December 30th, FUNimation Entertainment announced that they have secured the right to release the four "Rebuild of Evangelion" films to American audiences. The four films are being produced by creator Hideaki Anno's own newer Studio Khara, as opposed to when the series and sequel films were produced by Studio Gainax.

The first film, "Evangelion: 1.0- You are [Not] Alone", was released in the last quarter of 2007 to resounding success and quickly nabbed both the fan base's approval and critics acclaim, becoming one of the biggest anime films of the year (going on to earn ¥2.1 billion / $18.7 million). While preserving locations, characters, and tones from the originating 26-episode TV series from 1995-96, the film presents the first six episodes in a new light while successfully and fluidly compressing them into 98 minutes. Additionally, the film has been written and edited to welcome in newcomers who may not be aware of the almost-unparalleled & frenzied following from the past 11 years.

. . .

New editing and painting technology allowed animation cels from the series to be directly inserted into the film but then retain high-quality film clarity alongside the new footage, and then are even subtly added to! Scenes viewed in the series were even elaborated on further with new animation carefully spliced in.

The two featured Evangelion Units- Zerogouki (aka Unit-00) and Shogouki (Unit-01)- are unchanged except for minor alterations to their armor coloring. Unit-01's utility wings are slightly altered to deploy the newly-designed Progressive Knife, and the Positron Rifle and defensive shield from Episode 6 have also been radically altered, though retaining the same functions.

Though the Angels themselves have gone relatively unchanged, their numbering system has been altered a bit- with the debuting skeletally-thin black-&-white Sachiel (previously the 3rd Angel) now being labeled the 4th Angel, and so-on down the line. However, with the use of new computer animation (previously not used in the series), the [now-6th Angel] Ramiel has also be wonderfully upgraded for the film's third act, making it far more dominating and devastating that could ever be afforded on an animated series' budget. (I'll personally attest to that last sentence!)

(For some strange-ass reason, I can't find the official 2min trailer with this song in it on YouTube... -_-; )

. . .

ADV Films- who released the TV series in the US- is not involved in this new project; nor is Manga Entertainment who released the sequel films "Evangelion: Death & Rebirth" & "The End of Evangelion".

In unofficial public statements, American actors Spike Spencer, Amanda Wynn Lee, and Tiffany Grant have all shown interest in returning to the franchise as the voices of the three young lead characters [from ADV's release of the series]- Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley Souryu respectfully. For the two previous films, it was more difficult securing the same voices from the dubbed series; how that will change here is unknown as no casting has been confirmed at this time.

...Happy New Year, CDX!