Misato: “Can we really do this?”
Gendo: “Of course. Unless we defeat the Angels, we have no future.”
Fuyutsuki: “Ikari, are you absolutely certain?”
Gendo: *smirks*
Misato: “EVA Launch!”
Shinji: *screams like chicken with its head cut off*
Misato: “Shinji…don’t get killed out there.”
-And then the first episode ends.
“Did…did the menu options just ask me why I exist? At 0:19, the menu options questioned my existence. I…I’m afraid to watch this movie. It's not even a horror movie and this thing's freaking me out. Hell, it's the damn DVD MENU and it's freaking me out!”
-A YouTube commenter, summing up the EVAmovies movie
“I love that this movie was a huge release in Japan because it violates virtually every rule of traditional film storytelling. The main character is an utter failure at almost every turn, most of the characters are dead by the halfway point, and linear narrative is totally abandoned in the second half for something much more interesting. When I make films, I frequently take a similar approach as Eva, using the trappings of genre to tell a story about a character’s psychological makeup.”
-Patrick, Thoughts on Stuff
“Finally, do you have some message for the fans?”
Kazuya Tsurumaki: “Don't drag the past around. Find the next thing that interests you.”
“Does that mean not becoming fixated on ‘Evangelion’?”
Kazuya Tsurumaki: “Yes. It's always better to let something that has finished end.”
-EvaOtaku.com
A couple of reviews back, I focused my attention on “Bleach,” noting how it would attempt to deconstruct the idea of a shonen-type hero. About a decade before, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” would become legendary as the deconstruction of the hero; frankly it should have been called “Deconstruction: The Animated Series.” Nowadays, if you see an animated series (especially one from Japan) trying to create noticeably flawed, neurotic pre-teen anti-heroes, showcasing battles against increasingly logic-defying monsters from nowhere, and/or depicting an “instrumentality” plot where a visionary villain tries to become one with, and supercede, all of humanity and as a result force the heroes to contemplate their lives, it’s likely (but not necessarily) taking its cues from NGE. Preferably, at least two of the three criteria should be met.
For the new viewer who has heard about it but may have been scared off, it’s important to note that while it’s a radically subversive show, it’s not an altogether dark one. I think ofthe Nostalgia Critic’s Doug Walker’s review of his favorite episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series,” where he stressed that while it was a dark show, it wasn’t a forced sense of darkness, and there were enough other elements to balance out the darkness. This is my general view of NGE as well, at least for the first half. While there are some angsty moments and while there are some macabre moments where the actual “heroic” work is concerned, it still plays out like a typical tale of boy meets girl, boy meets another girl, boy meets a vaguely maternal figure who he may or may not be attracted to, and boy tries to get the attention of his estranged, morally ambiguous father, all while piloting a robot…-looking…thing. With fins.
Rumor has it that Hideaki Anno had just come off the lifelong bender of the ages and was suffering from depression at the time, and upon creating the show (which may have been cathartic to someone going through therapy), he ended up discovering the nasty underbelly of the EVA fandom. Coming to some unsavory (if not altogether false) conclusions about fans in general, his tenure in the latter half of the series was most likely an attempt to challenge them, if not just piss them off. This is what happens when you force a tweeked-out manic-depressive to interact with his “fans” (as I cleverly form quotation marks with my fingers).
Much ado has been made about the two endings of the series. The ending shown in the original broadcast is basically a sort of vision quest, an open-ended series of sounds and animation (or a sheer lack thereof) meant to evoke a therapy session. The ending as shown in the infamous follow-up movie “End of Evangelion” is more plot-oriented and ostensibly grounded in what passes for the show as reality, but if anything it’s even more confusing and showcases some of the most disturbing imagery ever conceived by man (plus they eventually cut back to the vision quest).
Both of the endings have been the constant subject of interpretation for years. My thematic view is, as many would suspect, the typical coming-of-age story, with an emphasis on the hedgehog dilemma as mentioned in the show. We keep apart from each other in order to keep from hurting ourselves and others. Eventually, though, we must form connections with each other if we are to survive. The typical fan presumably rejects this notion, instead choosing to close himself off within his own world.
From the perspective of the plot, I’m willing to acknowledge that the endings…happened. (The first movie, on the other hand, was never made, and has never even existed as a gleam in Anno’s eye.) However, as plot developments, they don’t exactly make for good cinema. Personally, if I were to choose, I prefer the original TV ending over “End of Evangelion,” because the final episodes acknowledge that their supposed ending is a cop-out, and the movie version demonstrates that some things are probably best left to the viewer’s imagination.
Again, though, it’s important to stress that while all hell basically breaks loose (or if not that, then the exact opposite), this only occurs at the end of the show. For the first half (‘til episode 16 or so) it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill mecha anime, if slightly darker in its implications. The Shinji we grow to know over the course of the series is an unassertive, unassuming sort of character, but for all of his flaws he’s really just a scared fourteen-year-old kid. In fact, this is probably why the end of the series has become so infamous; our audience surrogate is warped beyond recognition into some sort of glorified misanthrope for the purpose of making a point to fans. Many fans may have taken the insult, but my guess is that many others just saw that Shinji had become too “whiny,” “weak,” and “crazy” to do anything useful. (Which, again, was probably the point.)
Asuka is an interesting case; while she’s not the most likable character, she is a sympathetic one. She’s a contrast to Shinji in that while he’s a timid character with sporadic yet conspicuous bouts of bravery, she tends to be the overconfident, almost abrasive member of the group. With her presence comes a sitcom-like tone to the show where Shinji is the main character and Asuka is effectively the belligerent female opposite. I wasn’t sure about her at first, but it’s interesting to see someone who questions the main character and refuses to let him dictate (if passively) the terms of their relationship. She understands that while he is supposedly the hero, he’s also a flat-out nerd, the NGE reflection of what happens when a Shinji (whether in a show or in real life) meets girl. It also says something about her role in the show that the two times she ends up thoroughly beaten, the mood takes a turn for the worse.
Rei. Rei, Rei, Rei. What else is there to say besides the sick, sick fucks who have all but fetishized her? I can almost understand it, until I remember that her general character arc is possibly the most visceral of anything in the series. (Plus, y’know, she’s fourteen!!!) The “giant naked Rei” from the movie (which is prominently plastered on the Wiki page for the movie) was probably a response to this phenomenon among fans, but again, there were probably many fans who didn’t take the insult and just registered it as “OMG GIANT NAKED REIZ OMG!!!”
Speaking of fetishization, Misato’s probably my favorite character. Besides her role as the acting head of NERV and the secondary protagonist, she’s also the only one trying to unravel the overall plot while the EVA pilots are dealing with the on-screen battles. As a character, she also has relatable flaws (her father issues, her inability to open up, her overall laziness and love of beer) while not letting them control her life. It might be a result of her potential conflict, but it seems like whatever problems she has are relatively underplayed and shown in a realistic light, while the other main characters are almost contractually obligated to WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MY EXISTENCE? in an increasingly overblown fashion.
And, as a guy and a fan, I’m just going to come out and say she’s the hottest of the regular cast. Usually it’s the crazy ones, but she’s probably the most psychologically-healthy person in the series. That might have something to do with it.
It’s impossible to know where the conflict in the series actually comes from. On the one hand, we have Gendo, who is essentially to the various female characters what night is to day. Where Shinji can feel some human comfort in Rei, Asuka, and especially Misato, Gendo is the source of much of their misery, whether by accident or design on his part. We know little of his goals, and even if we can discern that much, we know nothing of the man himself. Is he a savior, a monster, an anti-hero, or just an emotionally-stunted little man?
At the same time, the Angels are the strange, otherworldly, incomprehensible dragons of the twenty-first century, designed to challenge, best, and if necessary break the characters. At times they’re simple challenges to overcome, but toward the series end they have graduated into the anthropomorphic personifications of humanity’s demons; if this is a deconstruction, the characters will and must be deconstructed by the finale.
Beyond the various interactions between these characters, we have the action, or otherwise NGE wouldn’t have lured its fans. The fights aren’t always the best, but that’s probably the point; you either avoid a fight, end it as soon as possible, or watch Tokyo-3 get laid to waste. The action varies from long-range combat to pure fisticuffs to diving into a volcano. When they do get close and personal, though, it’s pure brutality, the equivalent of the Daniel Craig 007 knocking his first kill into the bathroom wall. Beyond this, the animation is decent (if not great) for 1996, blowing just about anything besides the DCAU out of the water (though again, I say, the “sheer lack thereof”…).
So, is NGE…worth it? Well, I like to think the show has an above-average start, nothing great, but definitely watchable. But then I AM NOT WORTH YOUR TIME. BUT I AM THE ME THAT IS IN YOU. IF YOU DIE, MY EXISTENCE BECOMES VOID. I AM NOTHING. I HAVE NOTHING. EXCEPT THE YOU THAT IS IN ME AND THE ME THAT IS IN YOU. INSERT OTHER PSYCHOBABBLE HERE.
Note: The Brewsky is an enthusiastic contributor and movie reviewer who is constantly questioning whether he’s truly “enthusiastic” or CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MADE IT TO THE END OF THE REVIEW!
Gendo: “Of course. Unless we defeat the Angels, we have no future.”
Fuyutsuki: “Ikari, are you absolutely certain?”
Gendo: *smirks*
Misato: “EVA Launch!”
Shinji: *screams like chicken with its head cut off*
Misato: “Shinji…don’t get killed out there.”
-And then the first episode ends.
“Did…did the menu options just ask me why I exist? At 0:19, the menu options questioned my existence. I…I’m afraid to watch this movie. It's not even a horror movie and this thing's freaking me out. Hell, it's the damn DVD MENU and it's freaking me out!”
-A YouTube commenter, summing up the EVA
“I love that this movie was a huge release in Japan because it violates virtually every rule of traditional film storytelling. The main character is an utter failure at almost every turn, most of the characters are dead by the halfway point, and linear narrative is totally abandoned in the second half for something much more interesting. When I make films, I frequently take a similar approach as Eva, using the trappings of genre to tell a story about a character’s psychological makeup.”
-Patrick, Thoughts on Stuff
“Finally, do you have some message for the fans?”
Kazuya Tsurumaki: “Don't drag the past around. Find the next thing that interests you.”
“Does that mean not becoming fixated on ‘Evangelion’?”
Kazuya Tsurumaki: “Yes. It's always better to let something that has finished end.”
-EvaOtaku.com
A couple of reviews back, I focused my attention on “Bleach,” noting how it would attempt to deconstruct the idea of a shonen-type hero. About a decade before, “Neon Genesis Evangelion” would become legendary as the deconstruction of the hero; frankly it should have been called “Deconstruction: The Animated Series.” Nowadays, if you see an animated series (especially one from Japan) trying to create noticeably flawed, neurotic pre-teen anti-heroes, showcasing battles against increasingly logic-defying monsters from nowhere, and/or depicting an “instrumentality” plot where a visionary villain tries to become one with, and supercede, all of humanity and as a result force the heroes to contemplate their lives, it’s likely (but not necessarily) taking its cues from NGE. Preferably, at least two of the three criteria should be met.
For the new viewer who has heard about it but may have been scared off, it’s important to note that while it’s a radically subversive show, it’s not an altogether dark one. I think of
Rumor has it that Hideaki Anno had just come off the lifelong bender of the ages and was suffering from depression at the time, and upon creating the show (which may have been cathartic to someone going through therapy), he ended up discovering the nasty underbelly of the EVA fandom. Coming to some unsavory (if not altogether false) conclusions about fans in general, his tenure in the latter half of the series was most likely an attempt to challenge them, if not just piss them off. This is what happens when you force a tweeked-out manic-depressive to interact with his “fans” (as I cleverly form quotation marks with my fingers).
Much ado has been made about the two endings of the series. The ending shown in the original broadcast is basically a sort of vision quest, an open-ended series of sounds and animation (or a sheer lack thereof) meant to evoke a therapy session. The ending as shown in the infamous follow-up movie “End of Evangelion” is more plot-oriented and ostensibly grounded in what passes for the show as reality, but if anything it’s even more confusing and showcases some of the most disturbing imagery ever conceived by man (plus they eventually cut back to the vision quest).
Both of the endings have been the constant subject of interpretation for years. My thematic view is, as many would suspect, the typical coming-of-age story, with an emphasis on the hedgehog dilemma as mentioned in the show. We keep apart from each other in order to keep from hurting ourselves and others. Eventually, though, we must form connections with each other if we are to survive. The typical fan presumably rejects this notion, instead choosing to close himself off within his own world.
From the perspective of the plot, I’m willing to acknowledge that the endings…happened. (The first movie, on the other hand, was never made, and has never even existed as a gleam in Anno’s eye.) However, as plot developments, they don’t exactly make for good cinema. Personally, if I were to choose, I prefer the original TV ending over “End of Evangelion,” because the final episodes acknowledge that their supposed ending is a cop-out, and the movie version demonstrates that some things are probably best left to the viewer’s imagination.
Again, though, it’s important to stress that while all hell basically breaks loose (or if not that, then the exact opposite), this only occurs at the end of the show. For the first half (‘til episode 16 or so) it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill mecha anime, if slightly darker in its implications. The Shinji we grow to know over the course of the series is an unassertive, unassuming sort of character, but for all of his flaws he’s really just a scared fourteen-year-old kid. In fact, this is probably why the end of the series has become so infamous; our audience surrogate is warped beyond recognition into some sort of glorified misanthrope for the purpose of making a point to fans. Many fans may have taken the insult, but my guess is that many others just saw that Shinji had become too “whiny,” “weak,” and “crazy” to do anything useful. (Which, again, was probably the point.)
Asuka is an interesting case; while she’s not the most likable character, she is a sympathetic one. She’s a contrast to Shinji in that while he’s a timid character with sporadic yet conspicuous bouts of bravery, she tends to be the overconfident, almost abrasive member of the group. With her presence comes a sitcom-like tone to the show where Shinji is the main character and Asuka is effectively the belligerent female opposite. I wasn’t sure about her at first, but it’s interesting to see someone who questions the main character and refuses to let him dictate (if passively) the terms of their relationship. She understands that while he is supposedly the hero, he’s also a flat-out nerd, the NGE reflection of what happens when a Shinji (whether in a show or in real life) meets girl. It also says something about her role in the show that the two times she ends up thoroughly beaten, the mood takes a turn for the worse.
Rei. Rei, Rei, Rei. What else is there to say besides the sick, sick fucks who have all but fetishized her? I can almost understand it, until I remember that her general character arc is possibly the most visceral of anything in the series. (Plus, y’know, she’s fourteen!!!) The “giant naked Rei” from the movie (which is prominently plastered on the Wiki page for the movie) was probably a response to this phenomenon among fans, but again, there were probably many fans who didn’t take the insult and just registered it as “OMG GIANT NAKED REIZ OMG!!!”
Speaking of fetishization, Misato’s probably my favorite character. Besides her role as the acting head of NERV and the secondary protagonist, she’s also the only one trying to unravel the overall plot while the EVA pilots are dealing with the on-screen battles. As a character, she also has relatable flaws (her father issues, her inability to open up, her overall laziness and love of beer) while not letting them control her life. It might be a result of her potential conflict, but it seems like whatever problems she has are relatively underplayed and shown in a realistic light, while the other main characters are almost contractually obligated to WHAT IS THE MEANING OF MY EXISTENCE? in an increasingly overblown fashion.
And, as a guy and a fan, I’m just going to come out and say she’s the hottest of the regular cast. Usually it’s the crazy ones, but she’s probably the most psychologically-healthy person in the series. That might have something to do with it.
It’s impossible to know where the conflict in the series actually comes from. On the one hand, we have Gendo, who is essentially to the various female characters what night is to day. Where Shinji can feel some human comfort in Rei, Asuka, and especially Misato, Gendo is the source of much of their misery, whether by accident or design on his part. We know little of his goals, and even if we can discern that much, we know nothing of the man himself. Is he a savior, a monster, an anti-hero, or just an emotionally-stunted little man?
At the same time, the Angels are the strange, otherworldly, incomprehensible dragons of the twenty-first century, designed to challenge, best, and if necessary break the characters. At times they’re simple challenges to overcome, but toward the series end they have graduated into the anthropomorphic personifications of humanity’s demons; if this is a deconstruction, the characters will and must be deconstructed by the finale.
Beyond the various interactions between these characters, we have the action, or otherwise NGE wouldn’t have lured its fans. The fights aren’t always the best, but that’s probably the point; you either avoid a fight, end it as soon as possible, or watch Tokyo-3 get laid to waste. The action varies from long-range combat to pure fisticuffs to diving into a volcano. When they do get close and personal, though, it’s pure brutality, the equivalent of the Daniel Craig 007 knocking his first kill into the bathroom wall. Beyond this, the animation is decent (if not great) for 1996, blowing just about anything besides the DCAU out of the water (though again, I say, the “sheer lack thereof”…).
So, is NGE…worth it? Well, I like to think the show has an above-average start, nothing great, but definitely watchable. But then I AM NOT WORTH YOUR TIME. BUT I AM THE ME THAT IS IN YOU. IF YOU DIE, MY EXISTENCE BECOMES VOID. I AM NOTHING. I HAVE NOTHING. EXCEPT THE YOU THAT IS IN ME AND THE ME THAT IS IN YOU. INSERT OTHER PSYCHOBABBLE HERE.
Note: The Brewsky is an enthusiastic contributor and movie reviewer who is constantly questioning whether he’s truly “enthusiastic” or CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MADE IT TO THE END OF THE REVIEW!
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