Ok, so, what’s this?

This is a list I’ll keep updated during this year about anime series/movies I really enjoyed during 2020 (some… well… in certain ways: looking at you, Scum’s Wish) and that I decided it will be worth rewatching in the following years (maybe before a new season will come out).
It does not contains:

• series or movies I’ve rewatched this year (all of SAO first and second season, Guilty Crown, etc.)
• series or movies I’ve enjoyed, but I’m not willing to rewatch again in a near future (like Code Geass, Attack on Titans, Trinity Seven, etc).
• series or movies I will for sure rewatch multiple times, like SAO or EVA.

So, here’s the list, in purely alphabetical (in English) order, with some small comments. Related movies, OVAs, etc. are to be considered included by default (live actions not included). To see the original title in Romanji, hover on the Japanese title:

• After the Rain [恋は雨上がりのように].
  Simple, delicate, gentle, small love story. Why not?
• Assassination Classroom [暗殺教室].
  The heartbreaking comedy that will make you binge watch it (both seasons) through the night. Are you up to the challenge?
• Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor [ロクでなし魔術講師と禁忌教典].
  I usually don’t like magic and stuff, but this was fun. (waiting for season 2! – but it’s unlikely to happen)
• Are You Lost? [ソウナンですか?]
  One of two funniest series of 2020 so far (the other being Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It). Many thanks to the owner of FullMeta for suggesting it to me! (waiting for season 2!)
• Boarding School Juliet [寄宿学校のジュリエット].
  Another Romeo and Juliet alternative story. Lightweight, fun, enjoyable. (alas season 2 seems like it’s not gonna happen…)
• Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious [この勇者が俺TUEEEくせに慎重すぎる].
  Isekai almost completely deconstructed – à la Konosuba, albeit different – in one of the funniest ways ever.
• DARLING in the FRANXX [ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキス].
  Probably the masterpiece of Studio Trigger. Goes straight up to the top of the favourite series of the years, along with Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. Highly recommended and, as a bonus, is full of references to previous Gainax’s works, so be sure to have seen Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Aim for the Top 2! Diebuster and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann before watching DARLING in the FRANXX (which I binge-watched in one single day).
• GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There [GATE 自衛隊 彼の地にて, 斯く戦えり].
  In an alternate universe there are dragons, goblins, elves and knights. JSDF’s soldiers have rifles. And tanks. And self-propelled howitzers. And choppers. Sounds interesting?
• Golden Time [ゴールデンタイム].
  This is rather good but a bit complicated. Worth watching by the way if you like the genre.
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War [かぐや様は告らせたい～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～].
  A very funny, enjoyable and well paced rom-com. Highly suggested. Again, many thanks to the owner of FullMeta for suggesting it to me! (waiting for season 3!)
• My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU [やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている.].
  Another rather good serie but not exactly lightweight. Definitely worth watching if you like the genre. (waiting for season 3! Season 3 is airing! Season 3 aired)
• ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me? [俺を好きなのはお前だけかよ].
  More or less your standard harem, but characters make it interesting to watch. Also which other serie has a bench reported as a character (albeit minor)?
• Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai [青春ブタ野郎はバニーガール先輩の夢を見ない].
  Ok, this was probably the most enjoyable serie I’ve seen this year as it’s a good mix of comedy, science, psicology, social matters… You have to see it!.
• Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend [冴えない彼女の育てかた].
  Characters are so badly matched it’s so funny to watch… mind that this is an otaku-oriented serie, by the way. The final movie was good, really good.
• Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It [理系が恋に落ちたので証明してみた。].
  This was, along with Are You Lost?, one of the two funniest series of 2020. Definitely science-oriented, but definitely a must see.
• Scum’s Wish [クズの本懐].
  That. Was. Hard. It hurt. Badly. Maybe it was just me, after all…
• TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You [トニカクカワイイ!].
  This was the sweetest, nicest rom com of the year. Can’t wait forthe upcoming OVA and maybe a second season.
• Uzaki-chan wants to hang out! [宇崎ちゃんは遊びたい!].
  Rom com with some pretty funny gags, really enjoyable funny to watch. Higly recommended and waiting for season 2 (confirmed!)
• Waiting in the Summer [あの夏で待ってる].
  If you were a fan of Please Teacher (I was, and still am), you won’t miss a story set in the same universe.
• We Never Learn [ぼくたちは勉強ができない].
  Cute girls, clumsy main character, lots of funny situations. One of the favourite comedies of the last years.
• Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku [ヲタクに恋は難しい].
  Another, funny, enjoyable, otaku-oriented serie. This one with adult relationships.
• Your Lie in April [四月は君の嘘].
  I’m not gonna lie: it’s a beautiful story, but if you’re just a little bit sentimental, you’ll cry a lot (the good part: I’m not gonna cry for the rest of 2020 since I’m out of tears for the whole year thanks to this serie).

This list will be updated not so regularly… expect some new entries during the autumn.

– Created Apr 27, 2020
– Updated Jul 27, 2020
– Updated Aug 10, 2020
– Updated Aug 20, 2020
– Updated Dec 05, 2020
– Updated Dec 19, 2020
– Updated Dec 27, 2020

Part 2 of my blog post on SAO. Part 1 is here.

The usual caution: SPOILERS AHEAD! I’ll be talking freely about the four narrative arcs depicted in the first two seasons of SAO and the plot of Ordinal Scale.

The first season of SAO was probably the anime series of 2012. Following the success of the light novels, the first season, covering the Aincrad and Fairy Dance arcs, counts 25 episodes: 15 for Aincrad and 10 for Fairy Dance.
In 2014 the second season aired, covering the Phantom Bullet arc – 14 episodes – the Calibur arc – 3 episodes – and the Mother’s Rosario arc – 7 episodes – plus a recap episode at the end of the Phantom Bullet arc.

Dynit – the distribution company of SAO for Italy – has released a more “mainstream” version of the Blu-ray box-sets for the first two seasons. In comparison to the already existing sets, each set now cover an entire season, while the existing ones, which are still available as “collectors’ edition”, only cover one arc each, with the exception of the one covering both Calibur and Mother’s Rosario.

The two sets are pretty basic. There are no books, posters or whatever: just the disks. There are five disks for the first season and four disk for the second season. Every disk include, apart for the episodes, Sword Art Offline – essentially an after-show (Omake) – and various interviews with the staff of A-1 Pictures, the animation studio which make (as of today, with Alicization – War of Underworld Pt.2 still airing) SAO.
Each episode has both the Japanese and Italian dub^[1]. Subtitles are available for signs or writings only or for both of them plus dialogues, as usual for a Dynit edition.

At the time of writing, there isn’t a Blu-ray box of the same “mainstream” version covering Alicization; only the “collectors’ edition” is available, but I think it’s just a matter of time before a “complete Alicization” version (or whatever) will be ready, but War of Underworld Pt.2 has to come to an end before it’ll happen.

The Ordinal Scale Blu-ray, always from Dynit, comes with two very nice additions: a theater poster and a booklet containing a lot of information about the plot, the characters, and the crew behind the production, including a series of questions to the original voice actors.

On part 3 I will talk about SAO. For real.

[つづく]

¹ fun fact – I’ve never watched SAO with the Italian dub: I’m too accustomed to the Japanese one.

In 2020, for the most part, we stream content from the web. It’s easy, it’s convenient and it’s actually pretty cheap.
We can read mangas or we can watch animes online – many thanks to the official distributors or the scanlators/fansub groups for their work – on various platforms (legally or not, it’s up to you).

And still, by the way, this is what Amazon delivered yesterday:

It’s no secret there are some series I really like. One of those is Sword Art Online (from now on, SAO). I’ve seen the first serie back in 2013, and I liked it, but at the time I was too much into Evangelion to really enjoy it as much I did only in the last 3/4 years. Now, as SAO Alicization – World of Underworld pt.2 is airing in Japan – and I’m watching it with just a couple hours of delay on Amazon Prime, already subbed – and I’m waiting for a complete Blu-ray release of the complete Alicization Arc, I got the first two series’ Blu-ray boxes, the movie and, as the novels of SAO Progressive are not available in Italy, the first four tankobons of the manga adaptation.

I can watch every serie of SAO in HD on Amazon Prime – sadly, not the movie tough – so why I bought the Blu-ray boxes? Because this is my way of supporting an author and its work (present and future).
Around 10 years ago I decided that if a serie or movie I really like is or will be available on Blu-ray, I’ll buy it, but I’m not gonna buy DVDs in 2020. I’m currently writing this post on a 4K 32″ computer monitor, where watching a 1080p video is perfectly fine, a 720p video is still enjoyable but a 576p/480p video needs too much upscaling nowadays. This is the reason I haven’t bought the Full Metal Panic serie DVD box when Dynit started selling it.

Ok, and now the usual caution: SPOILERS AHEAD! I’ll be talking freely about the four narrative arcs depicted in the first two seasons (plus Calibur) of SAO and the plot of Ordinal Scale.

Aincrad is probably the most well known narrative arc of the whole SAO franchise and also one of the most loved ones – Asuna quickly getting on the top of everyone’s favourite waifus’ list sure came from the Aincrad arc – so, author Reki Kawahara decided to write a more detailed version of the first two light novels by starting the SAO Progressive project, completely depicting what happened during the two years our beloved characters spent in the game.
If you’ve seen the anime, you’ll have noticed that from episode two to episode five we’re taken from level one up to level fifty-six without knowing what happened in the meantime, like how Asuna joined the Knights of the Blood Oath or how Kirito gained his 14500 HP he claimed when helping Silica in episode four.
SAO Progressive tells us all the details, but in doing so changes the story quite a bit. The SAO Progressive‘s novels aren’t published in Italy, but the manga adaptation has been published this month, the first four tankobons being released in a very nice box by J-Pop (which is the name of the publisher. Yeah, the same as the musical genre, deal with it).

As I wrote, there are some differences in the story, as always when dealing with different adaptations of the same concept. From the anime, we know that Asuna and Kirito didn’t see each other for a while after defeating Illfang the Kobold Lord together (they only met sporadically when planning large-scale attacks to defeat some bosses).
In the manga there are both differences in small and large details, from Asuna taking a bath in Kirito‘s bathroom (which seems to be one of the many “Oh-Yeah!” moments in the manga), to both of them defeating the boss of the second level together.
The drawings are so like the anime (having the same character designer surely helps!), sometimes I was thinking of looking at some storyboard or key-frame from the serie rather than reading a manga.
The italian edition kept (as usual) the original reading order. Translations were done correctly and I think are on the spot even with some English term differing from, for instance, the English translation (e.g. Asuna is called “Fencer” instead of “Flash”, which could be totally fine as she use a rapier, but I have yet to understand if it’ll be subject to change in the future, as I don’t know when Asuna gained her “Flash” nickname – “Saetta” in Italian, which translate literally to “flash of lightning”).

The hard part is when you consider what will be the final volumes count. The first four volumes cover the first and second level of Aincrad; as there are seventy-five levels to beat (should have been one hundred, but we all know how it went), that means we’re looking at about a hundred and fifty volumes just for the progression of the game, bu we should account for the various extras, like the quest with Silica, the one with Lisbeth, the murder-solving part, all the Yui-related events, Kirito joining the Knights of the Blood Oath and the Kuradeel matter… all things considered, we are probably looking at a hundred and seventy volumes long manga. At a rate of one volume every two months (it’ll never go this fast. Ever), should be finished in just a little less than thirty years.
Probably Sadamoto’s manga adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion will be a matter of “just a couple years” in hindsight.

[つづく] – (Aug. 21, 2020) Part 2 is here.

… it’s not great; and that’s just because of a couple things, so, right off the top of my head:

1. Sakura is just a lovable main character, but she’s annoying at times, especially at the beginning of the story. Of course YMMV.
2. The beginning of the story seems a bit too forced… sorta “things have to be like this” or like “this situation have to lead to this conclusion”: why?
   This maybe occurs because there are too much things happening in too little time, probably in a 2 ½ hours movie the pace would have been slower (thus better for this type of movie). Again YMMV.
3. The soundtrack: I can’t remember a single track standing out from all of the background music
   (compare this to some tracks from Scum’s Wish); and, no, the opening and the end titles don’t count.

 

Setting these things aside, I want to eat your pancreas is still a very good movie, the story is easy to follow, drawings and animations are really well done, there are silly moments, tragic moments and the main characters are sympathetic enough to make the movie enjoyable to watch.

Recommended, if you have enough spare time to watch it.

… that is, the point of view of an Evangelion fan.

Last night I finished rewatching Guilty Crown. I went to bed at 3:30 am but I could not manage to sleep because I wanted to listen to that song again: Departures – あなたにおくるアイの歌 – BOOM BOOM SATELLITES remix.

I’ve seen Guilty Crown [GC] for the first time in 2013. At that time, I was really into EVA ^[1] and GC, that is produced by the same Production I.G. of Ghost in the Shell ^[2], really struck me for both the similarities and the differences with EVA.

So, after finishing the rewatch, I thought I’d better write down what I think about one of the member of the “Triad”, as I call a group of anime in which the World is constantly on the edge of falling apart ^[3] because of a deadly mix of science, magic and religion, the other two members are Neon Genesis Evangelion, of course, and Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion.

So, this is not a review, but just my “two cents” about the show.

The initial setting is common to many stories: something really bad happened in Japan in 2029, life goes on, but there is an organization – some United Nation’s entity (not NERV) – that manages the country which isn’t anymore a sovereign state.
Instead of the Second Impact, Japan (actually, Tokyo) has to deal with the aftermath of a pandemic, caused by a virus named Apocalypse. The city in 2039 is more or less back to how it was ten years before except for some areas, like, for instance, Roppongi.
A group of people known as Funeral Parlor (or Undertaker in the italian fansub) came together with the goal of making Japan an independent nation once again.
In this scenario, our main character, Shu Ouma, accidentaly encounters Inori Yuzuriha, the lead singer of Egoist, a very popular teen music group which endorses the goal and methods used by Funeral Parlor. Inori‘s not only a singer, but she’s actually a member of Funeral Parlor. Also, Egoist is a pop music duo which actually exists because it was formed to create the theme music for GC.

Shu is constantly going through rought events, losing friends, self esteem and many times the will to go on. But Shu has his own good Lelouch ^[4] moments, especially when his friends’ life is at risk.
You don’t love him, you don’t hate him. He’s probably just an average main character bound to a cycle of events he’s absolutely not prepared for. He’s not your typical Shinji Ikari by the way. Shinji almost always run away, but when he doesn’t he seldom think about what he’s doing.

Inori at first seems your tipical Rei Ayanami, but she questions more about herself, who she is, what she likes, who she loves, pretty early. She’s doing a risky job, she’s ready to die, but she’s not the one who will die just because someone ordered her to, à la Gendo Ikari for instance.
Also, no, she’s not related to the main character’s mother in any way ^[5].

A lot of sad and bad things happen during the story. Villains are not just bad, they’re infamous and shameless, ready to sacrifice everything for their personal goals. Friends sometimes turn into foes, but no foe turn into friend (unless he/she was a friend before, that did something despicable, usually for a not-so-despicable good reason tho).
The plot is linear, there aren’t hidden meanings in what the viewer see. You just watch it to get to the end, while experiencing a visual and musical top-level class production.

Watching GC after seven years, given my memory, was almost like watching it for the first time. You know it was great, you know you like a certain character – in my case Ayase Shinomiya, you know things will turn bad, but you don’t remember why.
Given the length of just 22 episodes, I decided to take it slow at about two episodes per night, until last night when I decided to watch it till the end starting at episode 17.

GC is not an emotional roller-coaster like Scum’s Wish or Your lie in April, but when it ends, it leaves you a sort of bittersweet feeling, something not every story leaves you.

And that’s the reason why you should watch it if you already haven’t

¹ I’m still into EVA, as of 2020, and I’m still waiting for the fourth and last installment of Anno’s Rebuild of Evangelion.
² and a lot of other high profile movies and series.
³ and well in many ways it actually does.
⁴ Lelouch is the main character of Code Geass, usually the one who outsmarts everyone or by the way comes out with a plan that works.
⁵ …but ██████ ████ ███████ ██████ █████ █████ ████ ██████.

or… how I shoulda stop to add anime to my watch list because of the videos Youtube keeps showing me… seriously!

The problem is that even the site I use to keep track of what I have already seen and what I want to watch (anime-planet.com) is starting to give me recommendations accordingly!

So, this year alone I’ve seen some very big and famous (or should I say notorius?) shows, like Attack on Titan (I mean… all the seasons), Tokyo Ghoul (both the first season and √A) and SAO: Alicization (Yeah, I should write about SAO, I know…) but here I am, writing a post with a reference to the title of the lowest rated anime (still 2.5 stars out of 5, but it started at 1.5 after the first episode) I’ve seen this year (so far).

And, I mean, I’ve seen 13 new series this year and I did a complete rewatch of FMP! (including Fumoffu!, TSR and IV) and the first five arcs of SAO (Aincrad, Fairy Dance, Phantom Bullet, Calibur and Mother’s Rosario, just in case, if you’re not familiar with SAO and its storyline).

Point is, I’m in serious need of another EVA, FMP!, Guilty Crown or similar serie… and, even more important, I need the will to see it. The will to stay up late, the will to be taken by hand for a walk and then punched violently by the same director or author which I have trusted at the beginning of the serie (yeah, thanks Anno-sensei, very kind of you…) when my favourite character dies (C’mon, go watch Re:Creators now! I dare you!).

Because let’s face it… Hajimete no Gal is a typical please-watch-me-put-your-brain-in-powersave-we-got-lotta-boobies 10-episodes serie you don’t even bother considering if is worth watching… and how you’ll feel at the end (probably like me, hating Junichi and feeling sympathy for Yukana, but I digress…). But guess what? Sometimes you really need to put your brain in powersave and the two-and-a-half-out-of-five-stars serie Hajimete no Gal will serve the purpose just fine.

This week I’ll probably start watching Code Geass – I decided to finally watch it – but maybe on Friday, or during the weekend. In the meantime, what about that serie with an annoying long title? What was it? Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie? Those clips I’ve seen on Youtube were funny…

I’ve just finished watching Maison Ikkoku [めぞん一刻] and I really love that anime. It’s not one of my all-time favourites like Full Metal Panic or Neon Genesis Evangelion but nevertheless is, by far, the best romance drama (some would say it’s a comedy, but I digress…) without magic, science fiction or anything outside of the ordinary that I’ve ever seen.

I can’t deny this show is long… veeeeery long… with 96 episodes is the longest anime series I’ve seen so far (Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½ are both in the backlog of things to see, but maybe next year).
Extraordinary long by the today standard of 12 or 24 episodes per serie.

So.…I really love the plot, the characters’ development, I found the two main characters to be enjoyable and relatable (Kyoko-san is such a lovely character, ahhh…) and since I lived (when I was young at least) in an era before cell phones and pervasive wireless high-speed internet access… the era when you had to put coins in a public phone in order to communicate with someone while you where on the street or at a train station or somewhere far from home, I can perfectly relate to a story set in the ’80s because I know first hand how things were going at that time.

… and that’s the problem.

The problem is that this is a show I love, a show most of my friends around the same age as me would enjoy (if they enjoy the genre of course) but it’s a show that is aging (and will continue to age) bad.

Really bad.

It’s not science fiction: I can picture myself watching today Star Trek – The Next Generation (Gundam if talking about anime) because… well… it’s Star Trek (or Gundam).
It’s not a two-hour comedy movie you can enjoy on tv, something like Wilder’s Some like it hot or Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.
It’s not a war/action movie (a-la Die Hard or Terminator).

It’s a serie someone born in 2000/2005, a perfect age to relate to the main characters, will probably struggle to watch and even to understand.

And that’s sad, really sad, because it really is a masterpiece, maybe as some said, Rumiko Takahashi’s more mature and best work, but to really appreciate it, more than anything, you have to relate to the characters.

Something I feel will be difficult for the generations to come.

Dynit ( formerly Dynamic Italia ) is a well known name if you’re Italian and you like watching anime. If you’re a fan of “a certain director” [1], then you’ll surely know this name even better: Aim for the TOP! GunBuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Evangelion Death & Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances have all been distributed in Italy by Dynit.

Dynit ( in precedenza Dynamic Italia ) è un nome abbastanza noto agli italiani a cui piace guardare anime. Se si è fan di “un certo regista” [1], allora è un nome che si conosce anche meglio: Punta al TOP! GunBuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Evangelion Death & Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, Le situazioni di Lui & Lei sono stati tutti distribuiti in Italia da Dynit.

However, high-speed broadband connection actually altered the anime market ( also the manga market, but less ) and a lot of people everyday are downloading or watching in streaming copyright-protected shows instead of buying them.
Of course there are some exceptions, like fansub groups distributing subbed anime in countries were official distribution has not started yet… or never will, for a variety of reasons.

D’altronde, le connessioni a banda larga ad alta velocità hanno cambiato considerevolmente il mercato degli anime ( nonché il mercato dei manga, sebbene di meno ) e un mucchio di gente ogni giorno scarica o guarda in streaming show protetti da copyright invece di acquistarli.
Ovviamente ci sono delle eccezioni, come i gruppi di fansub che distribuiscono anime sottotitolati in quei paesi dove la distribuzione ufficiale non è ancora avvenuta… o mai inizierà, per i motivi più disparati.

When describing myself, I ( sometimes, depending by the enviroment ) say that I’m an ‘EVA-geek’ and that’s actually true. Although not my favourite serie ( but hold a very fair 2nd place after Full Metal Panic! ), I really like Evangelion ( EVA in short ) and is one of the serie some of my friends and I often like to talk about when we meet.
I already bought some EVA-related products, like miniatures and a three manga ( Angelic Days and Campus Apocalypse, currently reading Shinji Ikari Raising Project ) but I didn’t bought any video… until recently. After all, in these days, buying a pricey DVD is not a really smart move. I bought a pair of DVDs this year, but it was an eBay offer at a bargain price.
So, while I’m currently waiting for some of my favourite series to be distributed here in Italy on BD, the New Theatrical Release of Evangelion ( formerly known with its project name “Rebuild of Evangelion” ) has been available for a while.

Uno degli aggettivi che ( talvolta, a seconda del posto in cui mi trovo ) uso per descrivermi è ‘EVA-geek’ ed effettivamente è vero. Sebbene non sia la mia serie preferita ( si posiziona ad un buon secondo posto dopo Full Metal Panic! ), Evangelion ( in breve EVA ) mi piace davvero tanto ed è uno degli argomenti ricorrenti durante le conversazioni con alcuni miei amici quando ci incontriamo.
Ho acquistato alcuni prodotti relativi ad EVA, come miniature e manga ( the Iron Maiden 2nd e Cronache degli angeli caduti, mentre sto leggendo Shinji Ikari Raising Project ), ma non avevo ancora comprato alcun video… fino a poco tempo fa. Dopo tutto, di questi tempi, spendere abbastanza soldi per un DVD non è una cosa molto furba. Ho acquistato un paio di DVD quest’anno, ma era un’offerta su eBay ed il prezzo era veramente basso.
Quindi sebbene sia in attesa che alcune delle mie serie preferite vengano distribuite in BD qui in Italia, la Nuova Versione Cinematografica di Evangelion ( nota in precedenza con il nome di progetto “Rebuild of Evangelion” ) è disponibile da un po’.

Then, after a brand new Sony BD player, the second BD I bought was Evangelion: 1.11 – YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE.

Quindi, dopo un lettore BD Sony nuovo, il secondo BD acquistato è stato Evangelion: 1.11 – YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE.

In an usual EVA-way, the movie has two titles, an English one { Evangelion: 1.11 – YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE } and a Japanese one { ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：序 [ Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Jō ( Evangelion New Theatrical Release: Beginning ) ] }, the first one intended for the export market, the second one for the internal Japanese market.
Three version of the New Theatrical Release, also called New Movie Edition ( NME in short ), exists: 1.0 was the one released in Japanese theatres, 1.01 is a lower quality DVD / BD release made using the film with really minor improvements while 1.11 has been digitally produced and includes also some scenes that aren’t on the first two.
In the US market only 1.01 is available on both DVD and BD, while in Europe / Italy usually 1.11 is available ( or both, go figure why, probably as collectors’ items ).

Come al solito quando si parla di EVA, il film ha due titoli, uno inglese { Evangelion: 1.11 – YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE } e uno giapponese { ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：序 [ Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Jō ( Evangelion Nuova Versione Cinematografica: Prologo ) ] }, il primo per l’esportazione, il secondo per il mercato interno Giapponese.
Esistono tre versioni della Nuova Versione Cinematografica, chiamata anche New Movie Edition ( in breve NME ): 1.0 è stata quella proiettata nei cinema giapponesi, 1.01 è la versione DVD / BD di “bassa qualità” realizzata usando le pellicole con alcuni piccoli miglioramenti mentre 1.11 è la versione prodotta in digitale e include anche alcune scene non presenti nellle prime due.
Nel mercato USA è disponibile solo 1.01 sia su DVD che su BD, mentre in Europa / Italia è solitamente disponibile 1.11 ( o entrambi, non si sa bene perché, probabilmente per motivi di collezionismo ).

The Italian edition is pretty standard, a single disc for both the movie and the extras.
The booklet is really well done, about three feet long with lot of informations on the story, the characters, the development and other things.

L’edizione italiana è abbastanza standard, un singolo disco contiene sia il film che gli extra.
Il libretto è fatto veramente bene, lungo circa un metro con davvero tante informazioni sulla storia, sui personaggi, sullo sviluppo, ecc.

The movie is in Full-HD 1080/24p format, with DTS-HD audio in both Italian and Japanese. Two sets of Italian subtitles are available: signs and writings only or signs and dialogues.
The extras are in 1080i format and include mainly trailers and teasers. The two most notable exceptions are Rebuild of Evangelion: Shiro Sagisu Version ( and the parallel Joseph-Maurice Ravel Version ), in which various animation processes are shown, and Explanation of Evangelion: 1.01.
Explanation of Evangelion: 1.01 actually is the entire Evangelion: 1.01 movie in 720p format with lot of Italian permanent subtitles with descriptions, explanations and more.

Il film è in formato Full-HD 1080/24p, con audio DTS-HD in italiano e giapponese. Sono disponibili due set di sottotitoli in italiano: solo cartelli e scritte, oppure cartelli e dialoghi.
Gli extra sono in formato 1080i e includono principalmente trailer e teaser. Le due eccezioni degne di nota sono Rebuild of Evangelion: Shiro Sagisu Version ( e l’analoga Joseph-Maurice Ravel Version ), nella quale vengono mostrate varie sequenze di creazione delle animazioni, ed Explanation of Evangelion: 1.01.
Explanation of Evangelion: 1.01 è effettivamente l’intero film Evangelion: 1.01 in formato 720p con un numero impressionante di sottotitoli permanenti con descrizioni avanzate, spiegazioni e altro ancora.

With the increased interactivity of DVDs at the end of the last century and the increased capacity of today’s BDs, the world of animation can surely deliver to the viewer a lot of other extra contents other than the mere movie, or the serie’s episodes.
Considering that, although being a simple single disc release, it’s well done and it’s really worth buying it.

Con l’aumento di interattività dei DVD alla fine del secolo scorso e l’incremento di capacità dei BD di oggi, il mondo dell’animazione è decisamente in grado di fornire allo spettatore una gran quantità di contenuti extra invece del mero film o dei semplici episodi di una serie.
Alla luce di ciò, sebbene sia un’edizione a disco singolo, è realizzata bene ed è un valido acquisto.

1 – Seriously, you didn’t catch? | Davvero non l’avete capito?

Bye

Area 88, an anime I didn’t knew nothing about until a month ago. This wouldn’t be a bad thing on its own, but it actually is because Area 88 is an anime ( and a manga ) strongly related to aviation: how could I have missed it?

As the title suggests, there are two anime series: the first one is a serie of three OVA released in the mid ’80s, the second one is a TV serie of 12 episodes that aired in 2004. Both have more or less the same plot because they are both based on the manga with the same title.

As there are no real spoilers here, you can continue reading without fear.

Because I like to see things in order, I watched the OVA serie first, followed by the the TV serie less than two weeks after. Always because I like to do things in order, I’ll start talking about the aviation part of the show.
If you know a little about aviation and air forces, then there is no problem; if you know a lot, there there could be some problems; if you are an aviation enthusiast since 1989 then there would be some more problems.

Nevertheless, the show will be really enjoyable anyway.

Even if some errors are less noticeable than others, like the F-15 / Tornado -style pylons on the F-8 “Crusader” ( you do remember about “Crusader”‘s pylons and hardpoints, don’t you? ) or a drop tank mounted under an F-14A “Tomcat” centerline “Sparrow“‘s mountpoint, seeing aircraft like the F-4 “Phantom II” flying without the RIO or the F-14A used as a ground attack aircraft during the Vietnam conflict could bring some worries to the viewer.

Dogfights are the standard even if there are some ( at least one ) long range actions using the “Sparrow” SARH AAMs.

The main character, Shin Kazama [ 風間真 ], is probably able to shot down a “Flanker” flying a Sopwith “Camel” with three bullets ( one of which is defective ), even if sometimes he screw things. A lot.

While the TV serie is almost always action-oriented, the OVA, even if shorter, focuses more on what Shin feels and what happens back in Japan. The story development is better depicted in the OVA than in the TV serie. I’m curious to see what happens in the manga though.

The animation is of course really different and the aircrafts of the TV serie seem to come straight from Initial-D, and they move in the same way, that is, with the same handling as cars. When flying I mean.
Visual effects are of course better on the TV serie and some details can’t be depicted on the OVA’s hand-drawed aircrafts. I think they’re on par even if for different reasons.

More or less the same characters are present in both shows, the most notable exceptions are two mercenary pilot, Kim ( that is absent in the OVA but came from the manga ) and Kitori ( a brand new character for the TV serie, and currently my favourite character ).

Both shows are fun and I suggest everyone to watch both, starting with the OVA as I’ve done.
I prefer the OVA over the TV serie because it’s shorter and the story is IMHO better developed both around the main character and his background.

Bye

Just a few words on both the shows. DieBuster ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gainax, Gurren Lagann was released in 2007.

SPOILER FREE

Gurren Lagann is funny. Really. The soundtrack is cool even if the OSTs of GunBuster or EVA are on another level, but there are some tracks that are worth listening to them. The plot is… well, sorta same Gainax plot from “it’s all fun and games” that lead to “mankind is gonna die”. The plot is simple, not too complicated and, compared to other Gainax’s productions, funny. Really.

DieBuster ■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ GunBuster ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ Gainax ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ “Nadia: the secret of Fuzzy”■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■

So probably the last three minutes ■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ in the last episode. And that’s it. Period.

Bye

* If you see a lot of ■, don’t worry. The article was actually written this way.