'Eva' continues to reign supreme

26.05.2010 by Patrick W. Galbraith

Today was the release date for "Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance" on DVD and Blu-ray. I went down to Akihabara to pick up my copy, and found that it was like an Eva festival. All the stores had huge displays up - including Yodobashi Akiba, which is the picture I posted - and the soundtrack was playing on a constant loop. It made me think two things. One, the themesong is kind of lame, and two, "Eva" still has the power to move the world of anime producers and consumers in an almost spiritual way.



I also stopped by Uniqlo to pick up one of their new "Eva" design shirts. I counted about 8 different designs, mostly featuring the Evangelions and Ayanami Rei. One had Kaworu with sparkly red eyes, another way Mari, but I did not see Asuka. It's enough to make you cry... I guess they might have been sold out, but the store clerk told me that Uniqlo is selling 13 different "Eva" design shirts, and each store has a variable number of them. Why Akihabara doesn't have all the designs I don't know, but maybe Asuka is still out there somewhere, alone, waiting for me... I am going to be spending a lot of time going to different Uniqlo stores this weekend.



I am not sure what to make of the Uniqlo anime shirt campaign. They have had good moments and bad ones, but I think the designs and promotion for "Eva" is pretty cool. Thanks to Uniqlo, a giant Unit 01 statue is standing in Ginza (inside the store, but still). This exposes people who do not know the show to it, and makes them curious to know more about it. Maybe they watch and get hooked. That is, Uniqlo is contributing to the spread of the "Eva" disease, often called "otaku-ism," and you gotta love 'em for the effort.