The calmness runs through the non-action as well as the action scenes. It is well edited with occasional pauses in the dialogue in order to show the inner emotions of the characters. This makes audience focus on the story, and gives some space to imagine the unwritten story behind the scenes. Even though the main character, Shinji, gets thrown into the defensive organisation at a young age, there are scenes with his friends at school or building up a friendship with a girl, a fellow operator of the Evangelion. The best part of the film would be seeing Shinji, still a naive boy, growing up with other kids of his generations. Towards the end of the film, there is also one scene where the girl and Shinji come to understand each other, which is probably one of the most satisfying scenes in this first film.

© xapa / GAINAX

The rest of three films are planned to be released one every year. There will be some new stories and a new conclusion to the whole story. Hence, this new series is not going to be either a completely new film or merely a re-make of the existing TV series. The tetralogy has its own quality and will certainly attract not just the audience who are already fans of the Evangelion, but also for people who had never seen the series or even Japanese anime before.

The first film of the tetralogy, Rebuild of Evangelion: Jo (Preface) is currently showing in cinemas throughout Japan. The international release is yet to be confirmed.

Rebuild of Evangelion: Jo (Preface)
Dates: From 1st September 2007 in cinemas across Japan
Directed and written by Hideaki Anno (chief)
Directed by Masayuki and Kazuya Tsurumaki
Character Design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Theme Song: “Beautiful World” by Hikaru Utada (EMI Music Japan Inc.)
Produced by Khara
Created by Studio Khara
Distributed by KlockWorx and Khara, in cooperation with Nikkatsu
Publicity by Nikkatsu
https://www.evangelion.co.jp