[EVA] Evangelion Chronicle -- My (tentative) verdict

[M]

Apologies for being way overdue, but since it seems unlikely that  
there will be a new Eva manga stage this month, here is my review and  
tentative verdict on Evangelion Chronicle.  This is a bit long, so I  
have divided it into the following sections:

1. General product info -- How much of a cash cow?
2. Where does it fit in the "Canon Hierarchy"?
3. Mysteries revealed?  Or just smoke and mirrors?
4. New information -- How much and how good?
5. So, is it worth getting, or not?

Note that this is just a general review, and translations of any  
interesting items will be posted separately unless relevant to the  
above points.

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1. General product info -- How much of a cash cow?

Okay, we know that each of the 30 issues is 690 yen (first issue only  
590 yen) and the binder is 1600 yen, for a grand total of 22,200 yen  
(about US$193 @ 115 yen/$).

So, after leafing through the first issue at the bookshop, I decided  
to get the first issue and a binder.  And the first thing I noticed  
was, "there is -no way- they are going to fit all 30 issues into a  
single binder."  Sure enough, below a tiny advertisement for the  
binders on the inside of the front cover was some fine print saying  
that the completed Eva encyclopedia was expected to take *3*  
binders.  Haha -- gotta love those guys.  ^^

So, tacking on another 3200 yen for two more binders brings the total  
to 25,400 yen (US$221).

Anyway, the construction is not flimsy per se (the pages are semi- 
stiff paper), but the pages are made to be disassembled for storage  
in the binder, and of course the semi-stiffness of the pages and non- 
reinforced binder ring holes mean that unless you are extremely  
careful, the more you use it the more wear it will show (especially  
the fold-out pages).  And this type of semi-stiff paper easily shows  
marks and other wear.  So I can easily see rabid otaku buying two  
copies -- one to put in the binder and one to keep in pristine  
condition. ..... I'm not even going to calculate that price.  ^^

But wait!  There's more! :P
The sequential format of the information means that you really cannot  
pick-and-choose which issues you want to buy or you will end up with  
missing sequential pages in your encyclopedia.  For example, the  
timeline and glossary start in issue 01, and then pick up and  
continue from that point in issue 02, and so on.  Miss an issue and  
you miss part of a section.  Other sections are like that as well.   
For example, issue 01 has Character pages 01 (Shinji) and 20 (Female  
Nerv staff), and issue 02 has Character pages 02 (Rei) and 23 (UN  
officers).  So once you start, you either have to continue and get  
every issue or take a loss and just give up on the whole thing.

In addition, special limited figures (and I assume other products)  
will be sold using proofs of purchase and postcards that are only  
available in Evangelion Chronicle (usually spanning two issues so  
that you have to buy both issues ^^).

So, all things considered, yes it is going to be a cash cow.

But a cash cow for whom?  Which brings us to:

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2. Where does it fit in the "Canon Hierarchy"?

Short answer?  Essentially on the same level as the RCB.

Gainax's involvement in Evangelion Chronicle is basically that of  
original rights holder (royalties!) and "Overall Supervision".   
However, Gainax does not appear to be directly involved in the  
writing, editing or publishing.  Of course the source material comes  
from Gainax and I am sure that they have a lot of input, but the  
magazine itself is authored by TRAP, edited by Wave Inc. and  
Meglomania Inc., published by Wave Inc., and distributed by Sony  
Magazines.  So again, Gainax's involvement is that of "Overall  
Supervision" like with the RCB.

The text appears to have been taken from existing materials like the  
various movie programs and books, and like these materials the text  
is peppered with qualifiers like "might", "seems", "appears to be"  
and "but the truth is unknown".  In addition, there are one or two  
misleading items (i.e. hinting at a connection between the "cores"  
and S2 engines even though we know better) and a few minor errors  
(timeline entry and related description are backwards, etc.).  Still,  
these are few overall.

So again, like the RCB I would say that for all practical purposes  
Evangelion Chronicle can be taken as canon unless contradicted by the  
show or other solid reference materials.

But just how much is really revealed?

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3. Mysteries revealed?  Or just smoke and mirrors?

As mentioned in above, there is a lot of "might", "seems", "appears  
to be" and "but the truth is unknown", but there are also a lot of  
definite statements.  Now what does not make sense is the way the two  
are used.  For example, consider the following sentence from Mechanic  
page 01-04 (= around magazine page 6) of issue 01:

"The EVA are said to be copies of the 1st Angel Adam, but only EVA-01  
is said to have been made from the 2nd Angel Lilith, although the  
truth is unknown."

*gah!!*  @_@;;;

So in other words, near the front of the very first issue they  
confirm one of the biggest mysteries that is never clearly stated in  
the show (Lilith =2nd Angel) while at the same time labeling as  
unclear which SoL the various EVA were made from even though that is  
clearly stated in the TV series + movie.  Boggles the mind, doesn't  
it?  And this happens a lot -- known facts are presented as  
uncertain, while other information is presented as definite.

So, how much will ultimately be confirmed?  Who knows.

All we can hope for is a lot of...

-----
4. New information -- How much and how good?

This depends on your definition of "new information".

For example, I enjoy finding out a little more about the SDSS and  
Seele's founding and pre-SI activities (yes, I will post this  
translation later), but to be honest I could really care less that  
"R-017" is the Geofront route that Ritsuko has a bunch of Nerv male  
staff force open in Ep11 (power outage episode) en route from the  
Test Lab to the Command Center. ..... Yes, that is an actual glossary  
entry.  In fact, I would have to say that about 1/3 to 1/2 of the  
glossary entries are similarly useless.

And a lot of the rest is "filler" information as well.  For example,  
who wants two pages of information on the "High Officers of the  
United Nations Forces" or the "Female Operators of Nerv"?  (Well,  
okay, maybe the female operators... *cough*)  Or how about two pages  
on the "UN Heavy Fighter" aircraft, or as scheduled for issue 03, the  
"Prog Knife"?  (How can one make two pages of *interesting*  
information on a hand-held combat weapon!?)  And then there are the  
3-4 pages at the back of each issue that list and give brief  
descriptions of Eva product lines like the music CDs (issue 01), LDs  
(issue 02), and so on.

Now of course there is also some info that could be considered "new  
and/or semi-interesting", but IMO this is a very small portion of the  
whole, say 0.2 to 0.3% -- like looking for a handful of needles in a  
haystack.

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5. So, is it worth getting, or not?

As I said above, after leafing through the first issue in the  
bookshop, I decided there was enough new information that it was  
worth getting and picked up the first issue and a binder.  However, I  
was -completely- disappointed by the second issue, which IMO is  
almost 100% recycled information with little or nothing new  
whatsoever.  So for the moment I am back in a "wait and see" mode,  
although I think I will probably end up getting them just to see if  
there really is anything there.  (Damn you, Gainax!!)

For overseas fans, if you are a rabid Eva collector and can read  
Japanese or have some way to get it translated, then it might be  
worth the trouble of trying to get the issues as they come out.   
However, if you cannot read Japanese or get it translated, then even  
if you are a rabid collector IMO you are better off waiting the year  
and couple of months until it has all been published, at which time  
you should be able to pick up a complete set with binders off Yahoo  
Japan using one of the bidding deputy services, etc.  Yes, you may  
pay a bit more with the deputy service commission, but you also get  
it in one fell swoop without having to worry about 30 different  
payments and shipping fees.  (I know of at least one set that will be  
available... XD)

And of course if you wait, there is also the chance that in a little  
over a year from now, you might not even want it anymore and will end  
up saving yourself a few hundred bucks or so. :P

"M"
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Relevant translations to trickle in over the next many, many  
months...  :/