The Neon Genesis Evangelion Thread - Page 6

On September 13 2012 10:49 Sentenal wrote:

Are you sure you watched the same show that I did?

On September 13 2012 13:20 oogieogie wrote:last thing is who watchs anime for a senario that could happen IRL?

On September 13 2012 12:26 Serejai wrote:
I always thought this was a hentai. Is it not the one where the chick in a red suit that flies a gundam gets raped by tentacles when she pilots it and stuff?

User was temp banned for this post.

On September 13 2012 13:32 Fyrewolf wrote:
This was one of the first anime I ever watched. I don't usually like giant robot stuff. But I like this show because isn't about giant robots, but actually about the characters, about teenagers and all the angst and identity crisis and issues growing up they go through. Though honestly, I think I like episodes 25 and 26 more than End of Evangelion. EoE is just fuckin weird, at least 25 and 26 make coherent sense, really focusing on the internal mental indentity battles of the main characters. EoE crams in random shit that just doesn't need to be there or add to the story(for example, like the 1 or 2 lines on of the side technicians makes about misato).

Whatever happened to the live-action version they were going to make(with John Woo as producer)? Is it still in development hell?

On September 13 2012 13:01 Sentenal wrote:
Evangelion is pretty bad. But before I get to why its bad, I'll be fair, and highlight the good parts of the show real quick. Also note that everything I'm about to say is simply talking about the TV Series and End of Evangelion, not Rebuild.

One, at least the first two thirds of it look nice. The battle scenes are (mostly) great, and the mechanical detail they put into the series is really good. EVA-01 going berserk was good. Asuka's fight in EoE was really cool. But that is essentially where the good things stop.

Shinji Ikari is the most insufferable main character of any anime I have ever watched. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about when I say this, even the people who somehow like the show. Hes a spineless little wimp with daddy issues. That in itself, wouldn't be crippling. Often times main characters start this way, and they grow and develop over the course of the show. Shinji? Nope. Shinji eventually has a mental break down, and resets. As a note, if people cite this as a reason why its a "deconstruction", I'm going to laugh at you. Anyway, never once was he enjoyable to watch, unless you happen to take pleasure watching an autistic kid with daddy issues struggle and suffer in his circumstances, and eventually crack.

There are 3 different "parts" to the plot of Evangelion. One is that the plot is filled with tons of pointless religious symbolism. Anno himself has said this was done because it "sounds complicated". So we can strike that right off as fluff. The next part can basically be summed up as a Monster of the Week Super Robot anime, at least on the surface. Earth is under attack, an organization of crazy scientists puts together a 3-man team of young people to fight them. The final part, the part that "makes Evangelion Evangelion", the part that makes the anime what it is, is all the mental drama of the characters. And this is the part that makes it crap. Shinji's character, his mental state, and everything annoying about him that makes me hate him as a character, is a central, driving force of the plot. Not only that, the same could be said of all the other characters. There isn't a single, likable character in the entire cast. Asuka, Rei, Misato, Gendo, you name it, they are all horrible characters, all of them are either autists, sluts, or sociopaths (or a combination). People will tell me "Well, thats the point". Well, okay, good job, Evangelion, you made your point, and it sucks.

Is it enjoyable to watch a group of autistic kids and sociopaths fight to save the world, and ultimately turn everyone into tang? Personally, I'd say no. Clearly, people disagree. But I didn't get any pleasure watching that, or watching the story of a bunch of people who I can't stand for 26 episodes and a movie. Recently in the Anime Discussion Thread (where topics like this belong, btw), Shauni put forth a new argument about this part. He argued that Evangelion was good because it "brings something new and stimulating to your mind, [and you] benefiting from the added experience and perception." And if you think that Evangelion is something new and stimulating to your mind, well, congrats, but I can't agree. We will completely put aside whether or not any of the events that happen in it are "new" or not. What is so stimulating watching Shinji jack off on Asuka, or everyone in the world being turned into Tang? Is it stimulating because "Well, if a kid like Shinji was actually put into this situation, this is a realistic portrayal of the out-come"? And this is supposed to be stimulating my mind?

Before people bust out the strawman on me, I'm not saying something like "The anime has to be like Gurren Lagann to be enjoyable!!" or "The main character has to be a hot blooded badass!", or anything like that. But there has to be SOMETHING in Evangelion to make you care. In the end, do you care about any of these characters, that the series has gone to extreme lengths to show you how much of a terrible human being each and every one of them is? If not, why would you care about anything that happens in the anime? So, like I said, there has to be SOMETHING to make me care, and in Evangelion's case, occasional cool battles isn't enough.

On September 13 2012 13:39 Sentenal wrote:

So you watch the show, because you like watching teenage angst?

Also, giant robot anime are rarely ever about the robots, but are about the characters and their story. Evangelion is hardly unique in using giant robots as a plot device, seeing as how the vast majority of mecha anime simply uses robots as a plot device.