[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Just watched the three Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

And holy shit, they were actually good! I watched the 1.11 way back when it was originally released and didn't think much of it. What a difference a few years makes! I think back in the day I was too distracted by the changes to the source material that I couldn't watch the movie as its own thing. A little distance allowed me to do just that, and I was mighty impressed.

But not as impressed as I was after I watched 2.22. That shit blew my mind. One of the best anime anythings I've seen in forever. The way it recontextualizes the events of the last 3/4 of the series was so interesting, and the ending is one of the most powerful climaxes I've ever seen, in any movie, ever.

3.33 was also good, but it was admittedly a little lackluster after the excellence of 2.22. The character interactions weren't quite as strong as I was expecting, which was a bummer considering how stellar the character work was in 1.11 and 2.22. The 14 year time jump was an exciting idea, but I think it brought with it a certain degree of (intentional) confusion that made it difficult for the characters to ever get on the same page. The stuff with Kaworu was still super good, but 3.33 didn't clear the bar set by 2.22

I can't wait for 3.0 + 1.0 (the fourth one). I expect it to sidestep the problems with 3.33, now that Anno has had some distance (and thus perspective) and he's had time to recharge his creative batteries. I'm so excited to see how out-of-control bonkers the conclusion ends up being! Hell, even if it's bad, it will no doubt be craaaaazy entertaining.