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Feature Presentation:
Here we go with another set of great episodes of this amazing Anime series of all time, Evangelion! I might not like these episodes as much as the previous volume, but it continued on with the story. Here we go where Tokyo-3 got a massive power failure that leaves NERV defenseless when an Angel attack. Problem is, Shinji, Asuka & Rei is stuck outside & tried to reach their Evas. However, the rest of the staff believes that they will reach in time before the Angel was able to complete its mission & prepare everything. Next, you will get to know a little more about Misato, her past & why she is fighting the Angels. Misato got promoted to Major & she is left in charge when Gendo & Fuyutsuki left to the South Pole. This time, the largest Angel strike NERV that might destroy the entire HQ in one shot. Misato got a plan, for the first time, used all three Eva at the same time. You get to see Eva Unit 00 back in action, with upgrades, which is now blue! Next, a little past about Ritsuko & the MAGI super computer system that NERV is base upon! During a test to collect new data for the Evas, something went wrong with a virus like Angel infect the system. It's man VS machine & see who will be the fastest! The last episode is more of a review of all the Angels that you have seen up to now, along with a new test that Shinji & Rei switching Eva.
Video:
ADV Films did a very great job releasing the remaster version of this awesome series. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. There is some watermarks done for the introduction & ending credits (they are translated in English). However, that only been done to those part of the episode, but within the episode remains untouch, unlike the original first release. Each episodes are separated into 5 parts: introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode! The episodes are on a different track, so there will be a small loading time when you move on to the next episode. I do note that you can skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the "Menu" button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English:
There isn't really any new dubbing, it's actually the original release dialogue from the first release that ADV Films has done. It's about 80% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: English 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't an English 2.0 audio track on this DVD. This is artificially made from the 5.1 audio track, that's why I noted it as "XX". I also want to know that the audio was taken from the original release, but remastered to 5.1. Not only it's way more clearer then ever before, you can hear everything! I found no problem with the audio, but I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1.
Audio 02: Japanese 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: Japanese 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't an Japanese 2.0 audio track on this DVD. This is artificially made from the 5.1 audio track, that's why I noted it as "XX". The Japanese track was also remastered to 5.1, but this one has been release already in Japan for a while. The only thing strange that you can hear some voices in the background that was never dubbed in the English release, for example, during EPS05, during Unit 00 reactivation test at the beginning, you can actually hear something about LCL. I found no problem with the audio, but I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1.
Subtitle:
ADV Films have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use yellow for the introduction, ending themes & the Japanese dialogue & white for Japanese signs & text. There are two tracks of subtitling. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue. I might note that every odd numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the even numbered episodes are in Japanese on this volume.
Menu Option:
The menu remains the same as the previous volume. As since this is the Platium series, the menu reflects that. There is a little animation of the flowing water that yuo see in the opening theme in the top right corner. There isn't a "Play All" feature, just a selection of one of the 4 episodes, "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". The background music playing in the background is when they entered Tokyo-3 & the other section varies from different background throughout the series.
DVD Extras:
Here we go with another audio commentary, with Tiffany Grant (Asuka) once again & Brain Granveldt (Hyaga), which isn't mention in the menu, for EPS11. It's another history down memory lane with a little insight along with more fun humor. There is another audio commentary with Matt Greenfield & Wade Shenwell about the 5.1 mix for the English dubbing for EPS13, which is pretty cool. Also, there is a short clip with them again on how the process is done to restore the dubbing audio track. The only thing that is kinda silly is another set of the same non-credit opening & ending. I wonder why they didn't included the orignal Japanese credits.
Packaging:
It's pretty much the same design as the previous volume. On the cover, this time, you will see the cute Asuka, manga style, with a very big title along with the list of episodes in this volume. In the back, there isn't a summary for what's in the volume, but for every single episode. Not only that, ADV Films even put the original Japanese title & the original airtime release date in Japan. There is so much information on the back, there isn't enough room to actually put what's the extra are. The insert is actually got lots of information on it, an in-depth commentary for each episode, along with a bio of the Angels that you see in this volum & Eva Unit 01 with many more screenshots & an episode list. On the DVD disc itself, it's jsut a grey background with the title & the episodes listed. Just a little note, as a bonus, for the first time release only, you will get a metallic DVD slip case.
PC Viewing:
Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. Since the episodes are on different tracks, it will take time to load when you move on to the next episode. Like on your regular DVD player, you can skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, just use the "menu" option to go to the menu screen.
Overall DVD Rating:
ADV Films have release this series before a few years back & if you already owned that version & love the series, this is a very good upgrade. If you seen up to this point, I'm sure you will need to continued on forward to see what's happening nice!
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