Unboxing [UK]: Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone - Collector's Edition 2017 Re-Release (BD/DVD)

Evangelion is my favourite anime series, and while I already own the first two Rebuild movies I missed out on the limited edition Manga UK released a long time ago. Anime Limited have rescued the license after Manga's expired due to the Funimation ordeal so here is the 2017 Collector's Edition Re-release.

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Jo) is the first film in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetrology that essentially starts as a remake of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series but continues into a different direction. This film series was intended to be a better adaptation by the director Hideaki Anno after he fell into depression and the events of the TV series suffered a number of budgeting issues. Evangelion: 1.11 is also 2 minutes longer than the original theatrical release (Evangelion: 1.0).

The UK release was once released by Manga Entertainment UK on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray also received a collector's edition which was exclusive to only HMV I believe. The Manga UK release had used the Madman Australian masters which was fairly common back then to save on authoring costs. However around 2014-2015 Funimation ended the partnership with Manga UK and as such every sub-license from Funimation has gone out of print, including the Evangelion movies.

Anime Limited announced their rescue of the first film in October 2016 and have plans to re-release 2.22 at some point (after hinting about it). This 2017 Collector's Edition release has sparked a fair bit of discussions due to how the previous release has been around for ages at a very low price. The Anime Limited version is basically a second chance type product for those who missed out on the previous version, which is fairly common especially in North America.

The 2017 Collector's Edition release includes the 1.11 film version on Blu-ray and DVD with both the English dub and original Japanese audio with English subtitles. The master for this release is based on the Funimation version so the old subtitle font remains which may annoy people. In addition Funimation had to omit a few extra features in their later print runs and that applies to this release as well so the 'Fly Me to the Moon' extras is not included in this set. I can confirm that it does work with US players (my laptop is locked to US region), and it's worth noting that the Funimation release was UK compatible so it's essentially the exact same disc all around. Subtitles are unlockable and the DVD doesn't contain the extra features.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 6.1 [Japanese, English]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: A B

Subtitles: English

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

DVD Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby Digital 6.1 [Japanese, English]

Video: SD NTSC 16:9

Region: 1 2 4

Subtitles: English

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via All the Anime):

Tokyo-3 still stands after most of civilization was decimated in the Second Impact. Now the city endures the ceaseless onslaught of the deadly Angels, bizarre creatures bent on eradicating the human race. To combat this strange and ruthless enemy, the government agency NERV constructs a fleet of towering humanoid machines – the Evas – and Shinji Ikari is called into action, reluctantly taking his place at the controls of Eva Unit 01.

Living a life of loneliness and questioning his existence, Shinji struggles to accept responsibility for mankind’s battle for survival in this visually striking rebuild of one of the most important anime of all time. Shinji will fight the Angels alongside the only person who might understand his plight – Rei Ayanami, the elusive and frail pilot of Eva Unit 00. In this film experience not to be missed, Shinji and Rei will struggle to learn a simple truth: when carrying the burden of humanity’s survival on your shoulders, you are not alone.

On-Disc Extra Content (Blu-ray only):

Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.01 Shiro Sagisu Version

Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.01 Joseph-Maurlce Ravel Version

Angel of Doom Promotional Music Video

News Flashes

Movie Previews: Beautiful World Version 2, 2A and 2B

Funimation Trailers

Collector's Edition Extras:

Chipboard Artbox with Clean Art (no logos, title on spine, no info), mini info paper on plastic wrap and Digipack for the discs

28-page Booklet

6 Artcards