The OQ Weekly (11 March 2021) - The Evangelion Edition
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As you might already know, I spent a full week watching ALL OF Evangelion using Carley’s guide. I had to be ready for Evangelion 3.0+1.0 and… well… let’s just say that nothing can really prepare you for the rollercoaster of emotions that the final movie in the Rebuild series was.
My buddy in crime, Chris Cimi, took me to the movies on Monday (I may be a cute fictional mascot but I am still allowed in cinemas, ok?) and also wrote a spoiler-free review for you to enjoy. You can find links to the review in our first news for the week, below.
If you want to talk about why Evangelion is possibly one of the most influential creations in the industry, don’t forget to join our Discord! We talk about more than just anime, manga, and games, too.
I am Ura, your Evangelion-preaching and Asuka-cosplaying tour guide in this amazing journey into Japanese pop, geek, and sub culture.
Thank you for joining us.
1
Bye bye, all of Evangelion.
The world ended as we know it on 8 March and we now live in a timeline where Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time exists in concrete form.
We have two reviews up on our site for you to peruse: one that's filled with spoilers, and one that's mostly without. Neither of them are probably conducive to going in completely blind, however, so be warned.
To offer a brief comment from Chris Cimi: ‘Only Hideaki Anno could have made Evangelion and only the “fully grown and married to Moyoco” Hideaki Anno could have made this Evangelion. It’s not Neon Genesis Evangelion, but it is Evangelion, rebuilt in ways he always had wanted to see it realized, promptly thrown away to drive it all home.’
I have no interest in spoiling Evangelion 3.0+1.0 for you here, so how about we look at the box office instead? Predictably, it did very well, but also constituted the franchise’s biggest theatrical opening weekend ever, raking in a staggering 7.6 million dollars on opening day alone. Considering that it was released on a Monday, we expect it to make even more money heading into this weekend. Demon Slayer may have a rival yet.
2
Can you give me one last kiss?
Utada Hikaru dropped the music video for her Evangelion 3.0+1.0 theme song on Monday, the same day that the film released, boasting an unlikely collaborator: Hideaki Anno himself.
This is arguably the first time that the director has dipped his toes into live-action since 2014’s Shin Godzilla, although he apparently only played a limited role in its production. The footnotes for the video read: ‘After receiving minimal orders from Director Anno via email, such as looking at the camera and lip-syncing, Utada Hikaru and a few staff members shot the video in the suburbs of London while taking the utmost precautions against COVID-19.’ The result is a candid piece that evokes both feelings of nostalgia and sadness.
As Corey Prasek notes, ‘It is taking cues from her previous music video for “Time,” which [was] shot completely at her home in London… it’s a really great nod that shows that just because the track is for a major production, it doesn’t need to use its budget to have an absolutely stunning project.’
And the music speaks for itself, arguably.
3
One last Evangelion piece.
Speaking of Godzilla, Aoshima recently announced a collaboration Godzilla vs. Evangelion model kit to mark the premiere of the new movie. It’s a dream come true.
If there’s two properties that could be said to best characterize the old and new of Japanese popular culture, they’d probably be Godzilla and Evangelion: Anno himself is heavily influenced by the kaiju and tokusatsu films of old, which is why it’s incredible to see Unit-01 and the King of Monsters collide in this fashion. The sculpt itself is based on the Mechagodzilla that appears in 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.
Obviously, this isn’t the first time that Godzilla and Evangelion have collided: Anno directed a Godzilla movie in 2014, after all. This gives us hope, however, that a true Godzilla/Evangelion team-up feature might happen yet sometime in the future.
The figure will set you back around $130 USD, by the way..
4
Discotek: restorer of legends.
We don’t know how Discotek Media do it, but they just keep knocking it out of the park with their retro rereleases: the latest miraculous revival is that of Project A-Ko.
For almost half a year, the Discotek staff spent painstaking hours touching up a version of the film that wasn’t based on the original masters. It was, however, stored in the vault where it was supposed to be: it kept turning up missing due to a ‘clerical error,’ meaning that those hours were actually a bit of a waste. Nevertheless, with the masters now in hand, the results speak for themselves.
Chris Cimi rightfully says that ‘While it will be sold commercially, so much love and effort has been smashed into this Dream-Come-True Project A-Ko film release, that we definitely consider it a for-fans-by-fans effort.’
Taken alongside the previously announced Daicon III and IVfan restorations, it seems as if the retroanime gods are smiling down upon us as of late.
5
Comiket 99 no more.
Following the extension of the Japanese State of Emergency, Comiket 99 has been postponed yet again. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re not quite there yet.
The event was initially supposed to be held last summer, but was postponed because of the global outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). It was then supposed to take place last winter, but was pushed to this summer during Golden Week. Now that the State of Emergency has been extended for two weeks yet again in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures, it became impossible to hold it on time. No rescheduled date has been shared just yet.
Quite rightfully, the organizing committee said that they ‘can’t possibly hold the event with the expectations that are currently set in front of them… even if they were able to hold it, they could only possibly accommodate about 10,000 people per day - a huge difference from the 200,000 that they’re used to.’
As Corey says, ‘Now that Japan is starting to get a grip on COVID-19 and vaccinations are starting to happen throughout the country, I think that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and slowly start transitioning to more normal times. That said, we can’t let ourselves get out of control yet.’
6
Haachama’s horror cut short.
Last week, fans of Hololive VTuber Akai Haato/Haachama eagerly awaited the conclusion to a months-long story arc. The livestream was cut, however, short due to mysterious ‘new rules.’
We don’t know what these new rules are, nor who they have come from. Considering the graphic nature of the story arc, it could be something to do with YouTube’s Community Guidelines, but Haachama didn’t mention this on Twitter. She simply said that ‘I was going to put out a video of the ending, but with the new rules, it became difficult to finish it.’ Could these new rules have come from Cover Corp itself, then?
If so, then the company has a lot to answer for. Haachama was one of their most innovative and engaging creators, and now they have cut her story short just before it was supposed to end. Stemming from this, it appears as if they have a long way to go to repair their relationship with the creator: Haachama hasn’t streamed since, announcing instead that she was ‘going on a journey to find [herself].’
We wish her the best of luck, whatever she finds at the end of it all.
7
OMG, a new OAD.
More anime based on The Ancient Magus’ Bride is on the way, this time in the form of an OAD (original anime DVD). It’s also being made by a new studio.
That’s right: WIT Studio appears to be handing off all of their series right now, if this and Attack on Titan: The Final Season is anything to go by. Even so, the change to Studio Kafka doesn’t appear to have affected the production one bit, as the PV is positively magical.
According to an exclusive interview with Crunchyroll News, Studio Kafka was created specifically to bring this part of The Ancient Magus’ Bride to life, and the founders are well aware of the enormous pressure on them to measure up to WIT Studio’s previous spellbinding efforts. These three new episodes are also the beginning of a ‘new anime project,’ presumably meaning more seasons of the anime to adapt the rest of the manga.
If you haven’t read Carley’s piece on the fantastic music of the series yet, then I’d recommend checking it out.
8
Cursed images await.
Jujutsu Kaisen has taken over an area of the JR Shibuya Station, ostensibly to promote the latest volume of the manga. It’s pretty cursed (literally).
The irony here, of course, is that the series’ latest arc - the Shibuya Incident - is set in the bustling Tokyo district, but not in the way you’d expect: the famous Halloween celebrations continue unabated, for one. (Did Gege Akutami not get the memo?) I’d also love to see what kind of reaction a massive picture of Ryomen Sukuna might get from a salaryman who’s just woken up from his transport-induced slumber, much like Itadori in the anime’s first OP.
In any case, we know that many of our readers can’t get out to Japan right now, so we have heaps of pictures in our article. I’ll give the last word to Corey, who actually went to check it out: ‘It really is an outstanding installation and something that I’d recommend all fans of the series to check out if they can.’
9
DA・DA・DA・DA・I・SA・KU・SEN☆
Legendary lyricist and composer Keiichi Kendou has teamed up with Mission: Yozakura Family to create an original song that shows off the Weekly Shonen Jump series’ unique points.
Known for his work with idol groups AKB48 and Hello! Project, Kendou brings his years of experience to the song to create a catchy tune that won’t leave your head any time soon. What’s more, little lyrical and musical flourishes make it clear that the composer has done his homework: even the weaker characters from the series get their fair share of the spotlight.
In general, Mission: Yozakura Family has been criminally overlooked in English-language coverage of Weekly Shonen Jump, so it’s good to have a song and animated music like this that can act as a jumping-in point.
As Jacob says, ‘If Mission: Yozakura Family ever does get an anime, then this is a dead ringer for the OP.’
10
Let’s pop together, again?
Bkub Obawa, creator of Pop Team Epic, recently launched a new series in Manga Life WIN, but we’re not entirely convinced that all is as it seems.
Obawa’s new series is supposed to be a ‘romantic comedy’ where the protagonist attempts to stop his childhood friend from getting into a relationship for fear of becoming a third wheel, but Hoshiiro Girldrop also presented itself as a genuine idol series for a little but before dropping the facade altogether.
As Jeremy Tauber says, ‘To be a fan of Pop Team Epic is to know that Bkub Okawa loves being a prankster.’ We love Pop Team Epic’s irreverent, mind-bending antics, and the series wouldn’t be the same without it.
Just don’t be surprised if Popuku and Pipimi make a return sometime soon.
Video Corner
‘This last week, we’ve got a load of new light novel anime adaptation announcements out of Kadokawa’s Light Novel Expo, but no announcement was as surprising as a second season for The Devil is a Part-Timer, originally releasing in 2013. It was a fun show, but after 8 years, we’d all kind of given up on it. So here’s the question, could other long-awaited sequels happen after all?’
See you next week!
Ura and the OTAQUEST team.
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