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Evangelion: 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance
The Japanese film poster is nearly identical to that of the first film but adds Asuka and Mari to the artwork.
Kanji	ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 破
Rōmaji	Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Ha
Directed by	Hideaki Anno (chief) Masayuki Kazuya Tsurumaki
Produced by	Toshimichi Otsuki Hideaki Anno
Written by	Hideaki Anno
Starring	Megumi Ogata Megumi Hayashibara Yuko Miyamura Maaya Sakamoto
Music by	Shiro Sagisu
Cinematography	Susumu Fukushi
Editing by	Hirofumi Okuda
Distributed by	KlockWorx & Khara
Release date(s)	June 27, 2009 October 16, 2009 November 6, 2009 December 3, 2009 December 3, 2009
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Gross revenue	US$40,303,632[1] US$71,046[2]
Preceded by	Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
Followed by	Evangelion: 3.0

Evangelion portal

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版: 破, Evangerion Shin Gekijōban: Ha ^?, lit. "Evangelion New Theatrical Version: Breaking") is a 2009 Japanese animated film written by Hideaki Anno. It is the second of four films released in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy based on the original anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. It was produced and co-distributed by Hideaki Anno's Studio Khara.

Plot

Continuing where the previous film, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, left off, the movie opens with a new EVA pilot, Mari Illustrious Makinami, launched with EVA Provisional Unit 05 to destroy the Third Angel which is attacking the arctic Bethany Base of NERV. She successfully defeats the Angel by self-destructing Unit 05, safely ejecting at the last moment.

The film cuts to Shinji and Gendo visiting Yui's grave and NERV Chief Inspector Ryoji Kaji is later revealed to arrive and hand Gendo a suitcase containing an object referred to as the 'Key of Nebuchadnezzar'. When the Seventh Angel attacks, EVA Unit 02 and its pilot Captain Asuka Langley Shikinami arrive in Japan via air transport and quickly destroy the Angel.

Meanwhile, Gendo and Fuyutsuki visit the Tabgha Base on the Moon to view SEELE's progress with the new and cryptic "Mark. 06" EVA Unit, and—while access to the base is denied by SEELE—they confirm that Mark. 06's construction method is fundamentally different from that of other EVAs and manage to spot Kaworu Nagisa sitting at the finger of the EVA.

Back on Earth, Shinji is forced to learn to live with Asuka, who has just moved in with both him and Misato. As the movie progresses we see Kaji taking the children on a field trip to an aquarium and all three EVA Units engaging the Eighth Angel, showing a teamwork that had previously been lacking. The following day, Shinji decides to cook an extra meal for Rei, a gesture that drives her to invite everyone over for a self-cooked meal during the following week. Meanwhile, Mari arrives secretly in Tokyo-3 by parachute but accidentally lands on top of Shinji at his school.

Soon after, NERV's U.S. branch is destroyed when an experimental new engine test goes wrong and Unit 03 is delivered to Tokyo-03. Asuka is chosen for the activation test, taking place on the very day of the party. The activation of Unit 03 goes awry as it is revealed to be infected by the Ninth Angel, forcing Shinji to be dispatched with Unit 01 to intervene. Knowing who the pilot is, he refuses to fight back against Unit 03 out of fear of killing Asuka, whose entry plug couldn't be ejected. Gendo orders the activation of EVA 01's Dummy System and Unit 01 savagely dispatches the Angel/Unit 03, finally destroying Asuka's entry plug. Shinji is disgusted with his father's actions and decides to quit NERV. Asuka, who was thought to be dead, is revealed to be alive but badly wounded.

While Shinji attempts traveling to the countryside, the Tenth Angel attacks. In an attempt to stop the new threat, Mari manages to hijack Unit 02 from storage but does not damage the angel despite all the efforts and got seriously injured in the battle. Rei, piloting the half-repaired Unit 00, emerges holding a missile armed with an N² mine, and charges the Angel but she is stopped by the enemy's superior defenses. Mari in Unit 02 helps Rei and succeeds in delivering a direct point-blank hit but the Angel appears totally unharmed. Unit 00, however, has been rendered immobile following the explosion. Unit 02 drops next to where Shinji is taking shelter, making him aware of what is happening.

Shinji returns to NERV and pilots Unit 01 against the Angel, after seeing it consume Unit 00, with Rei inside. After the Angel is defeated, Shinji attempts to spiritually connect with Rei, who is inside the angel, to rescue her. He succeeds and the angel's core combines with Unit 01 in the process. Ritsuko declares that the Third Impact is about to occur, creating a new life form beyond human understanding.

After the credits, the Third Impact is halted by the Lance of Longinus which falls from the sky and pierces through Unit 01. It is revealed that the lance was thrown by the Mark. 06 descending from the moon. Kaworu is revealed to be inside.

During the preview for the next film, Evangelion 3.0 Quickening, the words 'Keep Out' flash on screen amongst other various scenes, each one having a different sub-heading. It is revealed that Shinji and Rei are both trapped in Unit 01, the "fortified city" has been abandoned, NERV's personnel has been imprisoned, Unit 06 is descending into Central Dogma, and that there is a Unit 08 with its own pilot. The last screens of the trailer also show Asuka seemingly well but with a patch on her left eye.

Production

In September 2006, it was confirmed the second film would be produced as part of the Rebuild of Evangelion series, with a release date tentatively set for January 2008 release and a 90-minute running time.^[3] In November 2006, the December edition of the Japanese anime magazine Newtype confirmed the second film was written during post-production on the first film. Anno stated the introduction of new characters and Evangelion units would begin from the second film onwards.^[4]

The release date was pushed back several times from the original announcement of January 2008:^[3] first, to a December 2008 release^[5] before an update on the official website on October 6, 2008 announced the official English title and a "early summer 2009" release date.^[6] A final postponement revealed that the film would be released on June 27, 2009.^[7]

The home DVD releases are reported to come in Spring 2010^[8].

Release

Marketing

The film's initial teaser trailer, shown after the end credits of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone in the style of the "next episode" previews in the original TV series, showed the film would feature scenes based on the original anime such as the adoption of Unit-02 and its pilot Asuka Langley Shikinami as shown in an air-drop sequence, the disappearance of Unit-04 upon the startup of its S² engine, the possession of Unit-03 by Bardiel, a fight between Misato and Ritsuko from the battle with Leliel, Asuka and Shinji fighting Zeruel, and the characters Ryoji Kaji and Kaworu Nagisa. Among the new material teased was the newly-designed Units 05 and 06 (with Unit 06 and its pilot flying down from the Moon), unidentified ghostly floating humanoid entities with halos (with the words "Adams" and "Lilin+?" flashed on either side of the cut), and a newly introduced female character with brown hair and glasses, staring up at cross shapes in the sky.

A full trailer, released on April 2, 2009, showed scenes derived from the anime, such as Unit-00 and Unit-01 running (similar to shots from the fight against Sahaquiel), Gendo and Shinji in a cemetery, Tokyo-3 transforming into battle mode, a berserk Unit-01 fighting Bardiel, and Zeruel's face firing lasers.^[9] New material included a dark Eva preparing to fire a weapon, an unidentified pilot in a plug capsule wearing a helmet embossed with "Evangelion Unit 05", Eva-02 with two Progressive Swords in its shoulder pylons, a view of a lunar base, satellite weapons firing on an unidentified Angel's AT-Field, shots of Tokyo-3 being flooded (with what appears to be either LCL or blood), and battleships rocked by waves in a sea of LCL. This trailer and a second full trailer released in May depicted two apparent new Angels, the first resembling a skeletal snake and the second a gargantuan clock.

The brunette in red-framed glasses teased in the teaser trailer made a brief appearance in the Nintendo DS game Petit Eva: Evangelion@Game (ぷちえゔぁ～EVANGELION@GAME～, Puchi Eva ~Evangelion@Game~ ^?) as a character picture available as the game's final prize on the last level (named Mari (マリ ^?) and given the simple description "Mysterious girl").^[10] The April 18 EVA-EXTRA01 paper magazine announced that, following the Evangelion naval naming tradition, the character's full name is Mari Illustrious Makinami (真希波・マリ・イラストリアス ^?) (Makinami Mari Illustrious under Japanese naming conventions) and would be voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.^[11]

Theatrical posters revealed that the character Asuka's family name would be changed from Sohryu to Shikinami, also continuing the Japanese maritime vessel naming convention.^[12]

International release

Despite former announcements^[13] Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance will not be screened on the Animotion festival in Bonn because of license problems.^[14]

Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance competed in the Sitges Film Festival in Catalonia, Spain on October 4, 2009 in the Anima't category.^[15]

By Country (Ordered by Date)

• United States: Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 24, 2009.^[16]
• Germany: Asia Filmfest 2009 in Munich on November 6, 2009.
• Singapore: November 12, 2009 at The Cathay/The Picturehouse.
• Canada: November 21, 2009 at the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema in Waterloo, Ontario.
• South Korea: December 3, 2009.
• Hong Kong: Scheduled to be released in on December 3, 2009^[17].
• Malaysia: Confirmed to be released in by The Cathay/The Picturehouse (after fans' petition in the forum and Facebook) in the first quarter of 2010.^[18]
• United Kingdom - Glasgow Film Festival. February 15, 2010 5.45pm ^[19]http://www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk/films/381

Box office

In its opening weekend in Japan, the film reached number-one at the box office with a revenue of 510 million yen in just the first 2 days.^[20] The film subsequently grossed the equivalent of over US$40 million dollars at the Japanese box office.^[21]

Awards

The film won first place in the Animation category of the French Lyon Asian Film Festival, narrowly beating Symphony in August in an audience vote.^[22]

Soundtrack

In May 2009, Hikaru Utada was announced to return to the series and provide the theme song for the film, "Beautiful World -PLANiTb Acoustica Mix-".^[23] Utada previously released "Beautiful World" for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone in 2007.^[24]

A soundtrack album featuring the film's score by Shirō Sagisu was released on July 8, 2009 and is available in two editions. The disc contained in both the regular and special editions features Sagisu's music as edited for the film as well as two bonus tracks. The special edition contains a bonus disc, Shiro SAGISU Music from EVANGELION: 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE., featuring selections from the score that have not been edited to fit into the film.^[25]

Merchandise

Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto designed three Be@rbrick toys of Asuka, Rei, and Mari, which went on sale on March 14, 2009 and are also available as a bundle with advance film ticket purchases. NTT docomo and Sharp will release a production model of the "SH-O6A NERV" phone featured in the film, which Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara supervised in designing. The phone, only available in Japan between June and July 2009, was originally set for 20,000 pre-order units and 10,000 for retail sales .^[26][27] After selling out all pre-orders in only five hours, NTT docomo announced they would be manufacturing an additional 7,500 units to meet all orders.^[26][26]

In August 2009, ABC-Mart, King Records, and Achilles will release sneakers based on the design of Evangelion Unit 01 as part of "The Footstep Instrumentality Project".^[24] Ueshima Coffee Co. will again release coffee cans decorated with Evangelion characters and their Evangelion units, as was done with Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone.^[28]

Medicom will release numerous Evangelion "Real Action Heroes" of Shinji, Rei and Asuka in restyled plugsuits in August, September, and November 2009. Kaworu will also be released in May 2010. Bandai will release a line of action figures from the film including the newly introduced character Mari Illustrious Makinami as well as two separate sets of Gashapon figures in May and July 2009, with the first including Eva Unit 00, Unit 01, Unit 02, Lilith, and a hanger and weapon set and the second set include the same figures as well Eva Unit 03 and a different hanger/weapon set. Lawson released an Asuka and Rei PuchiEva figure with advance ticket purchases along with a Pen² pen.^[29] Revoltech is going to release five action figures for the film including Unit 01, Unit 02, and Unit 05. Special exclusive revoltechs in the line will include Unit 03 (magazine insert) and Unit 00 (7 Eleven). Recently some new figures have been revealed at Tokyo's Wonderfest convention. A repaint of Unit 05 and a new Berserk version of Unit 01 will be released later this year.^[30]

References

[1] http://www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk/films/381

External links

• Official Site (Japanese)

• Evangelion: 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance at the Internet Movie Database