Fans at Ushicon got a chance to see the End of Evangelion movie,
in dubbed form, months before it will be released on U.S. home video by
Manga Entertainment. Then the fans heard from the directors of the English-language
version, husband and wife team Jason and Amanda Lee. The couple's Gaijin
Prods. needed four months just to prepare the translation and the dub and
sub scripts, because they wanted to ensure a letter-perfect script. "We
tried to keep it very, very close to the original Japanese," Amanda Lee
said. "There are so many hard core fans who have analyzed the original,
frame by frame - I just wanted to give it justice." Added Jason Lee, referring
to Eva fansubs of the movies, "There's so much going on and I've seen so
many bad translations...we thought we got it right. We sent a copy of the
translation to Manga and the liaison said, `I finally understand this movie.'"
While Japanese live-action films have a reputation for violence and
downbeat endings, the Evangelion film tops them with its unrelenting intensity.
"It was the most depressing, upsetting and ugly exhilarating experience
I've ever had," Amanda said. "I'd be in the middle of the dub and I'd get
so depressed that I had to lay down. It go so bad that I'd go to Jason
and say, `Honey, love me - I'm scared.' It was really really rough." As
for the talk that "everybody dies" in the film; we'll avoid spoilers, but
we'll note that when Jason mentioned that when one character passes away,
fans at the panel discussion all but groaned. And for the violence: the
Lees said that the animators made it very explicit, and there are some
amazing effects if you view the film frame-by-frame.
While the Lees were able to screen the dubbed movie at Ushicon, the
production isn't finished. Since the Eva film is going to be released on
DVD, they're concentrating on the extras to be included on what most likely
will be a two-disc set. In the days following the convention, the Lees
planned to record a commentary track. Another commentary, explaining the
religious references in the series, is being prepared by actor and director
Taliesin Jaffe, the Lees said. Those extras probably won't include the
collection of dub outtakes (like the one, described by Amanda, where one
character put his hand inside another character's body and joked, "I know
my car keys are in here somewhere.") And one detail: Amanda Lee said the
correct pronunciation of "Evangelion" is with a short "E" - EH-vangelion
rather than EE-vangelion.
