Reviewing the Sacred Bull - Prologue

After reviewing for a few years now, it is high time for a bit of an experiment and give you, the readers, a chance to be a part of my reviewing process. While this would not work for a single volume review, I just so happen to have a box set or two on my review pile that should suit what I have in mind. Once I have finished watching a disc of the set, I will eschew my normal medium of paper for jotting down my immediate thoughts, emotions, etc. about the content and will instead post them here for all to view and discuss.

This will serve a few purposes beyond needing a written record to consult at the end. It will give everyone a sneak preview of what the final review might look like, but it will also give everyone a chance to step into my mind (wipe your feet first) and see what sort of things shape my opinion about a series. The experiment works both ways though; share a dialogue with me about my thoughts and see if you can shape that on-going opinion.

And what better test subject to start with than with the sacred bull known as Evangelion. Remarkably, I have not only not watched more than four episodes of the series, but I have also managed to remain clueless about the actual story. I know some vague things about it, but with the constant buzz about director’s cuts and re-releases, I made it a mission to avoid any discussion about the series so I could go into the final release of it with an unsullied mind.

Now, I have on my pile the thinpak Platinum (Super Turbo Hyper Fighting New Challenger) box set of the series. If it does not get any final than this, heaven help us all and the cash cow that keeps getting milked to death. I go into this session with great trepidation; the series is revered as one of the modern classics of anime and has been discussed to the point that it has had its own forum here (on AnimeOnDVD.com) for awhile.

Can I bring any new insight to this series? What can I do to add to the already rich discussion about the series? Will I find it as much of a classic as others, or will it be much ado about nothing?

Spoilers should not be posted in the comments during this experiment, and I will do my best to not post any myself in case there are a few other odd souls that have yet to experience the series. So sharpen your mental and verbal knives and join me in this bizarre venture. Let’s begin…