Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Hideaki Anno/Masayuki/Kazuya TsurumakiRelease Date(s)
2009 (October 21, 2025)Studio(s)
Studio Khara (Shout! Studios/GKIDS)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: C-
Review
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let us begin discussing Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Ah, but where to begin? And which Neon Genesis Evangelion are we talking about anyway? Also, which revision of which version are we talking about? Creator Hideaki Anno is one of those artists who is never satisfied with what he’s already done, so he’s repeatedly gone back and tinkered with things along the way. He eventually made the unusual step of starting over from scratch and rebuilding the original material into something completely different, but Anno being Anno, he’s even tweaked and revised the rebuilds. Woody Allen once joked that a relationship is like a shark: it has to constantly keep moving forward or it dies. If that’s true, then Anno’s relationship with Evangelion will never die, at least until he does. This relationship has been in constant motion for more than a quarter century now.
Neon Genesis Evangelion began life as a television series consisting of 26 episodes that were originally broadcast in Japan from 1995-1996. It was followed by two different theatrical features, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, both of them released in 1997. The former provided a recap of the events of the series, incorporating some new material along the way, while the latter offered a drastically revised version of the events of the final two episodes. Much of the footage added to Rebirth was later incorporated into director’s cut versions of episodes 21-24 of the series, and the film was revised into the simplified Evangelion: Death (True), which was itself revised yet again into its final(?) form Evangelion: Death (True)². Surprisingly enough, The End of Evangelion has remained relatively static, although it’s still a shock to the system to anyone familiar with episodes 25 and 26 of the series.
Despite the perpetually mutating nature of this material (and arguably because of the fact that it never seems to stay still), Neon Genesis Evangelion remains one of the most influential and popular franchises in the history of Japanese animation. Evangelion revitalized the giant robot genre by not really being about mecha at all. Many of the tropes are still there, and on the surface, the basic concept does appear to be about giant robots battling kaiju from space. Yet neither the robots nor the monsters are what they appear to be. Instead, the show is a meditation on the nature of humanity, steeped in metaphysical speculation.
Evangelion takes place in the years following a global cataclysm called the Second Impact. The agency NERV has been tasked with using giant creations called Evas to protect humanity from the incursion of creatures called Angels, and to prevent the possibility of a Third Impact. The Evas require synchronization with human pilots, and three children are initially chosen for the task: Rei, Asuka, and Shinji, the latter of whom happens to be the estranged son of NERV’s director Gendo Ikari. Yet everything in service of a far darker goal for mankind: the Human Instrumentality Project.
That basic concept provided a framework for Anno to explore the psychology of these children, and by extension, his own mental difficulties as well; the entire production became therapy for him after suffering from depression. He put different aspects of himself into each of the children, with Shinji as the primary focus. Shinji wants to run away from everything because he struggles to find acceptance; his issues with others is a reflection of his inability to accept himself. As another character explains later, Shinji suffers from the Hedgehog’s Dilemma: the closer that he gets to other people, the more that they hurt each other. He doesn’t know how to express his feelings, and has to deal with social awkwardness as well as his burgeoning adolescent sexual awkwardness. The universal nature of all of that is one reason why Evangelion has had such longevity.
Still sitting comfortably? Because this is all far from over. Beginning in 2007, Anno launched a series of four films known collectively as Rebuild of Evangelion. His original intention was to introduce the world of Evangelion to new audiences, reworking most of the material from the original series and films while eventually taking things into new directions for the finale. Needless to say, nothing ended up being quite that simple, including the process of making the films. It proved to be a tumultuous period for Anno, with his focus divided between this project and others like Shin Gojira, so the final film didn’t reach the screens until 2021. His overall plan also changed during that time, and while the first installment does mirror the events of the series, everything shifted dramatically after that. The Rebuild Of Evangelion isn’t so much a rebuild as it is a complete reimagination of the entire concept.
The initial film Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone was released in 2007, and for the most part it does provide a condensed recap of the first six episodes of the series. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, released in 2009, appears to forge its own path right from the opening scene by introducing a new Eva pilot, Mari Illustrious Makinami, as well as a very different chain of events. In reality, it’s more of a blend between the old and the new, reconfiguring scenes and concepts from the show and mixing them with a significant quantity of new material. It strengthens some of the relationships between the characters, especially the one involving Shinji and Rei. Asuka has been softened slightly in the process, and Rei has been humanized a bit more—which is rather ironic, as anyone familiar with the series will attest. The story builds to a conclusion that seems to be drawn from The End of Evangelion, but like everything else in You Can (Not) Advance, that sequence of events has been dissected into individual components and reassembled here. Instead of launching the endgame, it opens the door for a new beginning, reserving some of the other components for later installments. Like the Second Impact before it, this partial version of the Third Impact won’t be the end of everything.
Unsurprisingly, the reassembly wasn’t quite finished yet, and Evangelion: 2.0 was also revised for home video release into version 2.22. Most of the changes were cosmetic, but there were also a few more significant alterations. Fortunately, like most things Evangelion, there’s little debate about the fact that all of these particular changes are for the better—in this case, no one has ever questioned who shot first. (Whatever that anyone may think of the original series and movies vs. the Rebuilds, which will be debated until the end of time, most people seem to be happy with the revisions that Anno has made to each of them.)
Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance was animated digitally using a combination of hand-drawn 2D elements and full 3D elements, with the final results rendered as a 2K Digital Intermediate that was matted to 1.85:1 for its theatrical release (although it’s been opened up to full-frame 1.78:1 here). Presumably this is the same 1080p master that Funimation used for their 2011 Blu-ray, and it’s still a solid presentation of the film. In general, the animation is cleaner and better rendered than it was for Evangelion: 1.11, although the differences between the two are still relatively minimal. There’s definitely less aliasing and/or jaggies, and while I didn’t observe any banding or other artifacts like that, it’s worth noting that projectors are less prone to banding than flat panels. While Shinji may (not) advance in Evangelion: 2.22, the animation definitely did, with a smoother blend between the 2D and 3D animation (although the latter does still call attention to itself occasionally). Anno’s crew were learning as they went along, and 2.22 offers some expanded lighting effects that take advantage of what can be achieved digitally. Like with 1.11, the Angels benefit the most, looking much more elaborate and otherworldly than they did in the series. It all looks beautiful in 1080p.
Audio is offered in Japanese 6.1 Dolby TrueHD and English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, with optional English SDH subtitles for the English dialogue (i.e., dubtitles), plus English and Spanish subtitles for the Japanese dialogue. The Funimation release offered 6.1 for the English audio as well, and the reason for the downgrade to 5.1 is that this version uses the more recent Amazon English dub—which has been pretty controversial among fans, so caveat emptor. Personally, I can’t imagine watching Evangelion without the original Japanese voice actors, so I’m pleased to announce that unlike Funimation’s disc, this one defaults to Japanese with English subtitles. (There are probably differences with the subtitles as well, but those are less egregious than the differences with the English dialogue.)
Anno’s sound mixers were also learning as they went along, and Evangelion: 2.22 offers a slightly more refined experience than 1.11. It’s a lively mix that takes full advantage of all available channels—in the scenes set at NERV headquarters, staff members can be heard speaking from all around the room, surrounding the listener in the chaotic environments. That extends to the action scenes as well, where the mass destruction expands all across the soundstage. There’s plenty of bass extension as well, and some powerful dynamics that sell the impact of giant monsters and robots wreaking havoc around Neo Tokyo. The dialogue integrates well into the soundstage (in the Japanese version, anyway) and Shirō Sagisu’s iconic score sounds wonderful. It’s a great mix, and while I’m rating it the same as 1.11, it’s still a slight improvement over that one (just not quite enough to notch it up a grade).
The GKIDS Blu-ray release of Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance) comes with an embossed orange slipcover and a 20-page booklet that appears to be a reconfigured version of the one that was included with the Funimation set, with most of the same information—although it does add a chapter list, production credits, and a section on the film’s music.The following extras are included, all of them in HD:
- Rebuild of Evangelion: 2:02 (22:09)
- Omitted Scene C-0178A ~ C-201 (1:08)
- Omitted Scene C-0711 ~ 7:20 (:45)
- Omitted Scene C-0740 ~ C-0745 (:41)
- Omitted Scene C-0821 ~ C-0823 (:58)
- “I Would Give You Anything” Scene Noguchi ver. (4:57)
- Trailer (1:29)
- Train Channel Spot (:16)
- Trailer for Yahoo! Japan (:31)
- Blu-ray/DVD TV Commercial A (:19)
- Blu-ray/DVD TV Commercial B (:19)
- Promotional Reel (1:59)
- TV Spot A (:19)
- TV Spot B (:19)
- TV Spot C (:19)
- TV Spot D (:19)
- TV Spot A (:34)
- TV Spot B (:34)
- TV Spot (:16)
As with the GKIDs Blu-ray for Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone, that’s a lot of trailers. The only other extras are the omitted and/or alternate scenes and the Rebuild of Evangelion 2.02, which is an animation breakdown that compare layouts, pencil sketches, and rough animation to the final versions. The only thing missing from Funimation’s Blu-ray is a set of unrelated trailers and a commentary track featuring line producer Mike McFarland and the rest of the original English voice cast, but since they’ve now been replaced by the Amazon dub, it wouldn’t make sense to include it here. Regardless, it’s still great to have Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance back in print, making this an easy recommendation for anyone who missed out on the out-of-print Funimation version. But it’s worth pointing out that if you hate the new Amazon English dub, this may not be the Evangelion: 2.22 for you, so you might have to troll the secondary market for the Funimation disc. For anyone who prefers the Japanese voice actors like I do, this is an easy recommendation, although fair warning: 2.22 is the point where the Rebuild of Evangelion starts to diverge from the events of the original series and movies, and it only get crazier from here. You have (not) been warned.
-Stephen Bjork
(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).