Funimation’s blog mentions that Mari Makinami Illustrious’s English dub (Trina Nishimura) has a sneak preview on Amazon. The sneak preview is the scene where Mari and Shinji meet for the first time and is bookended by an introduction from Spike Spencer (voice actor of Shinji) and a promotion at the end. You can view the video by going to the Evangelion 2.22 page on Amazon and click on the “See 2 more images and video” under the packaging image.

• Funi’s blog
• Amazon’s 2.22 page

Funimation’s HD Teasers for Evangelion 2.22. Video description:

“Brutal mechanized action explodes on a grand scale as towering cyborg gladiators — the Eva Units — fight for the fate of the world in the new feature film, Evangelion: 2.22.
 
In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari. Maneuvering their enormous Eva machines into combat, the four young souls fight desperately to save mankind from the heavens — but will they be able to save themselves?”

Click to see Teasers

The New York Times published a brief, and somewhat scathing review of Evangelion 2.0 online on January 20th, and in print on January 21st. While I, and some of my peers, would likely go into fanboy-mode and defend the image of Evangelion to the New York Times, citing certain misunderstanding or oversight into the franchise, I must be humble and point out that this is a mainstream publication writing about Evangelion. So regardless of how little is said, positive, or negative, the fact that they are reviewing Evangelion 2.0 says a lot. In many ways, it validates FUNimation’s theatrical run of these new films, which many of us fans find unnecessary and pointless. Many of us have already seen the fansubs of 2.0, and those who haven’t will likely get the home video release, due for release only a few months past the theatrical run. But the fact that mainstream publications are writing about 2.0 says that this run is helping get the series exposure, which is exactly what we as fans want. We want Evangelion to prosper and flourish, and that can only happen when the show is supported by an audience that is large and growing. I’d also like to point out that despite what fans have claimed, FUNimation has stated that these theatrical runs are not a requirement of their license. Both they, and their licensing partner in Japan want to see a theatrical run, so both sides are happy with the arrangements.

• The New York Times review of Evangelion 2.0
• North American theatrical release schedule for Evangelion 2.0
• Evangelion 2.22 video release information

Last year, the Fuji-Q High Land amusement park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan, near mount Fuji opened an Evangelion themed attraction called Evangelion: WORLD and among the top billed features was a life-sized bust of Evangelion Unit-01. It looks like they’ll be working on a similar life-sized bust of Evangelion Unit-02’s “Beast Mode” expected to open around March 19th and it will also feature a life-sized Mari Makinami.

Similarly along the Evangelion theme, there’s going to be an “Evangelion: ROOM” at the Highland Resort, Hotel and Spa that’ll feature Evangelion themed rooms. No idea if they’re actually going to look like that picture, though.

Wow...

• Min Nano Evafan
• Evangelion: WORLD
• Evangelion: ROOM

According to Robert’s Anime Corner Blog, Funimation’s Evangelion 2.22, You Can (Not) Advance, DVD and BluRay release dates have been pushed back a few days from March 29th to April 5th. Other online retailers also had their release dates changed so if you’ve pre-ordered, don’t expect it to ship until April 5th (-ish).

• Robert’s Anime Corner Blog
• Robert’s Anime Corner Store
• Amazon.com BD
• Buy.com

Update (1/24/2011): Nevermind, looks like they moved the release date back to March 29th.

From January 20th to March 6th , 2011, in Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, original drawings from several Japanese anime directors will be exhibited in the Spaces and Visions in Japanese animation as part of Proto Anime Cut. The exhibition includes art by Hideaki Anno, Haruhiko Higami, Koji Morimoto, Hiromasa Ogura, Mamoru Oshii, and Takashi Watabe. Both Koji Morimoto and Hiromasa Ogura attended the opening on the 20th. More information at the les jardins des piloted website.

The les jardins des piloted also has some sample images. Some of these look fantastic and it’s too bad more of the art can’t be displayed on the website. There are 2 drawings of Cut 710 (from Evangelion 2.0, shown to the right), one is the layout by Takashi Watabe and the other looks to be the complete cut.

• Khara blog
• Künstlerhaus Bethanien (German)
• les jardins des piloted

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) will be hosting screenings of Evangelion 1.11 (Sat. 3/19) and Evangelion 2.22 (Sun. 3/20), both introduced by Shinji Ikari’s English language voice actor, Spike Spencer. Spencer will also present a Voice Actor Workshop on the 19th, conduct a Q&A after the 2.22 screening, and be available for autograph signings throughout the weekend. C2E2 will provide a panel on Spencer’s work on Fri. 3/18.

• C2E2 Press Release

Last month the U.S. Evangelion 2.0 theatrical run’s schedule was posted but a few venues in San Diego were TBA. The Ultra Star Cinemas showtimes have been announced at their website and it includes a few more theatres that weren’t part of the original announcement. Evangelion 2.0 will have one-time-screening at 5 Ultra Star theatres throughout Southern California on January 20th at 8pm.

The list of theatres (Click on the link to book tickets):

UltraStar Apple Valley 14
22311 Bear Valley Rd.
Apple Valley

UltraStar Cinemas Mission Market 13
431 College Blvd
Oceanside

UltraStar GardenWalk 14
321 W. Katella Avenue
Anaheim

UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas
7510 Hazard Center Drive #100
San Diego

UltraStar University Village 10
1201 A University Ave
Riverside

Similar to what happened for the Evangelion 1.0 theatre run over a year ago, Eleven Arts, Inc. has asked Anime News Network to give away up to 245 tickets to Evangelion 2.0, You Can (Not) Advance, screenings across theatres in Canada. There will be 5 available tickets per theatre for a screening on January 20th, 2011. Go to Anime News Network’s sign-up page to enter the contest. Winners will be announces around January 11th.

Click to see the list of theatres involved in this giveaway

Funimation Entertainment and Asian Media Rights agreed to a Video-on-Demand partnership where titles such as the new Evangelion movies and Summer Wars will be made available in North America. As many as 20 or more titles in all will be available on demand via cable and satellite. Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, will be the first anime film made available on demand before Funimation releases the extended Evangelion 2.22 version on DVD and Bluray in March.

Asian Media Rights (AMR) is a leading distributor of Asian content in North America.

• Official Funimation Blog