Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33355 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Special Features
5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound (English)
English and Japanese Stereo
Subtitle Options: English and Portugese
On Screen Text (English Translation Option)
Audio Commentary by Amanda Winn Lee (English Language Director and voice of Rei Ayanami)
In Depth Index of Characters, Angels, Evas and Terms
Photo Gallery
Original Japanese Trailers
Japanese Production Credits
The End of Evangelion Preview
Manga Previews
Web Links

Synopsis
EVANGELION, certainly one of the most popular, and arguably one of the best animes ever produced, is one of the rare sci-fi series that actually follows through on the ambitious themes and ideas that it presents. The series is set in the year 2015, fifteen years after what was supposedly a meteorite struck Antarctica, wiping out half the population of the Earth and leaving the rest to contend with rising sea levels and to figure out exactly what happened. Chief among the mysteries is the arrival of the Angels, an alien race who are possibly responsible for the subsequent attacks on Tokyo.
DEATH & REBIRTH is a dramatic retelling of the series, offering the story from the various perspectives of the series's main characters. Its first half is a condensed version of episodes 1-24 of the series, supplemented with new animated sequences brought to life by the original voice-actors from the series. The last half of the film is an alternate version of episode 25 in which Seele, the secret organization behind the Evangelion and Human Complementation projects, tries wrest away control of the operation from its director, Ikari Gendo, out of fear that he is going to use the projects for his own purposes.

From the Back Cover
At the dawn of the new millennium, mankind has awakened a threat unlike any faced before - the Angels. Conventional weapons are useless against them. They can only be stopped by means of the Evangelions - bio-engineered vessels born from the Angels' own technology. But this forbidden knowledge is also the key to bringing about a startling new genesis for the human race. Placed in the hands of three young pilots, the final fate of humanity resting upon their shoulders, the Evas are the world's last hope

Welcome to the Apocalypse
From the animators at Production IG (Ghosts In The Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire) and Studio GAINAX (The Wings Of The Honneamise) comes the first half of the sensational TWO-PART conclusion to the Neon Genesis Evangelion saga. Featuring groundbreaking animated action sequences and mind-blowing dramatic revelations, Death & Rebirth is truly a composition of epic proportions!

Customer Reviews

Not worth the money
The first half is just composed of small clips from the series. I thought it was pathetic. If you haven't seen the series then this is no substitute and if you have then this is just like some kind of pathetic mental recap.

The second half of Death And Rebirth is basically the first half of The End Of Evangelion.

This "film" is nothing more than regurgitated footage from the series and an advanced preview of The End Of....

Whether you've seen anything of Neon Genesis or not: Steer clear of this garbage!!!

Served Its Purpose
Ever since I started watching anime (which has not been all that long), I have been curious about some of the big series. Like the nearly infinite number of Gundam's, the Lodoss series, and, of course, Evangelion. The latter has such universal popularity that I finally decided to try it. Put off by the price of the episodes I was attracted to this DVD, because of its two features, 'Death' was a recap of the series, and 'Rebirth' would provide some insight into its ending and meaning.

As usual, I was being optimistic. My first viewing of 'Death' left me feeling that I had just experienced one of those shorts that were titled '26,000 Years of Art in 60 Seconds.' It does indeed recap the high points of the series, but as a crazed rollercoaster ride - with flashbacks. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. However, I felt that I had watched something incredibly momentous yet utterly inexplicable. Certainly, Evangelion is quite a bit more than the sci-fi, kid-in-a-robot series that I thought it was. In fact, it deals with a surprising breadth of issues. From emotional trauma to the future evolution of the human race.

What I did not realize until I read some reviews is that 'Rebirth' is actually the starting episode of 'The End of Evangelion.' As such, I was unprepared for an apocalyptic vision of the attack on NERV headquarters, complete with the new EVA circling above like vultures. The action and emotional pitch are intense, really a step beyond most of the films I had seen before. Lacking any guideposts though, I found it difficult to piece together the story behind the action. And, as in the companion piece, creator Hideaki Anno shows no mercy to the viewer.

However, the DVD includes an entire encyclopedia of Evangelion knowledge called the 'Mokuji Interactive Feature.' This ingeniously flashes the names of people and things that I might want to know about, and provides a great deal of background data about them. Another useful tool was an excellent running commentary on 'Rebirth' by Amanda Winn Lee (the English language Director) and friends. I'm not a great fan of commentaries, but this was excellent, and pointed out many things I would otherwise have missed.

What this DVD did was whet my appetite and draw me into the Evangelion world. It impressed me with both the fine artwork and characters that are far more than cardboard heroes. It convinced me that I wanted to see the rest of 'The End of Evangelion' and all the previous episodes as well. So for me this DVD was a great success, although I will tell anyone who asks that they would be a lot less confused if they just broke down and bought the series DVD's. This production is probably better suited to those who are already fans of the series and are willing to keep freezing the action to examine the plentiful little details.

Well it's been a long wait...
but Manga have finally come through and I've gota say they've done good.

"Evangelion: Death and Rebirth" was first released theatrically in japan in 1997 a couple of months ahead of the release of "The end of Evangelion". Subsequently there were various different versions of "Death" cut but this is the original version.

I've never really understood the point in this film. "Death" isn't really a recap of the series, it has too many omissions. It just doesn't stand up on it's own if you haven't at least seen the series (it helps if your quite familiar with the series). It says very little new, most of the material is covered a lot better by episode 25 and 26, if not with quite the budget. For me "Death" is a story crafted out of bits and pieces, it's a companion piece to episode 1 - 24 as oposed to being a recap. "Death" would of worked better if it dropped "Rebirth", was made after "The End of Evangelion" and had some more new material so it would it would work as a companion to the whole saga.

All that said "Death" does what it sets out to do pretty well. There is some new material, at least one scene that was cut from the series, A few re-animated scenes and a little new music. It's well cut together and it's surprisingly watchable for a feature length clip show.

So onto the even more pointless "Rebirth" (I wish I could emphasise those quotation marks more). "Rebirth" is the first twenty odd minutes of "The End of Evangelion". It's nothing more than a deluxe trailer. All this adds is a screen in the middle saying "Rebirth" and different credits with different music. Now I quite like "The End" but that doesn't negate the fact that all "Rebirth" is, is the first twenty minute of another film. I was hoping rebirth would be a story that led up to the start of the next film from the end of episode 24.

I might have rated this DVD two or possibly three but this is everything that an anime DVD release should be. It's refreshing since Anime is so often make no use of the DVD format. The menus are some of the best presented I've seen on any DVD and easily the best on any anime DVD, they're like little pieces in their own right. You get just about every Trailer for "Death and Rebirth". There is also some genuinely interesting background information.

Japanese voice acting as with the rest of Evangelion is excellent and there are real subtitles as opposed to dubtitles (When the subtitles are the English audio script). However even if your like me and prefer to watch things in their original language you really should watch it in English too. The English language soundtrack is quite an impressive feat. The series was dubbed in to English by ADV's own dubbing crew so it wasn't very likely Manga could get them to Dub the films for them so you would expect a completely different set of voices. Despite the Dub being handled by another company many of the actors have reprised their roles from the series with only a handful of exceptions. It's nice to see such care in an English dub. The audio gives you some insight into the film but what I found more interesting was the insight into what went into making the English version. I found it very reassuring to hear that those who made the English dub take pride in their work. I haven't had an opportunity to watch this in 5.1 yet so I can't really comment on that.

Yet another thing that impressed me is that there are no digital overlays, none at all. When there is writing in Japanese the translated writing is on a soft subtitle that can be turned off. Even the credits are left untouched with an English version after the film. This might seem like a minor thing but it's yet another example of the care that has been put into this.

I'm really not the bigest fan of "Death and Rebirth" but kudos to Manga for releasing such a well produced DVD and those responsible for the production deserve a huge thank you for the care they've taken. This is how all anime releases should be.