Finished watching Evangelion.......my head hurts....

[Goldknight]

Wow RF! You are the perfect person to explain this then. It is making much more sense now. I enjoyed the episodes until the end when it got a little too psychological for me. The last two episodes seemed to cram a lot of stuff all at once. As for characters I did enjoy Misato for some reason and I did enjoy watching the interactions between the kids.

[RoboFlonne]

Awwww... Thanks! I've seen each episode atleast 10 times and probably the endings 20 times.

What is neat about being a cel collector and an Eva fan is that we know that the Director will put the MOST important scenes in the Storyboards, with the Really important dialogue and sound effects, etc.

Knowing that made me find all the Storyboards for every episode and The End of Evangelion Movie.

I haven't watch any Evangelion episodes for around 3 years, but I still have the storyboards imprinted in my memory!

If you have any more questions about Evangelion, I can let you know what the storyboards say! If you need help.

[Not Sir Phobos]

So much Eva bashing in here

I was watching Evangelion back when it was first comming out. I'd have to wait months for each VHS with 2 episodes. I would pour over the materials while watching and rewatching every tape. It was life changing for me. It is and was a huge part of my life.

Roboflonne, I'd love to read your paper. I read Rahotaku's college paper on Evangelion also and thoroughly enjoyed it. Anno is truely a gifted writer.

Whatever happened to Rahotaku anyway?

Guys, just because you don't "get" a series doesn't mean it's "crap", You are talking about something that means a lot to me, something I "get". I don't "get" modern or abstract art, but that doesn't mean it's crap.

[Gonzai]

Whatever happened to Rahotaku anyway?

She would now be Roboflonne.

[Baakay]

Ok, here's a bizarro post from left field...

I didn't have any problems with Evangelion. And I'm one of the world's worst detail-followers. I'm forever losing important little tidbits that "make" a series.

But EVA made sense to me from the first time through. I don't know whether it was the background in religion and mythology that made it all click so nicely for me, or what -- but I got to the end, said "that was weird, but satisfying," and went on with the next thing.

I truly love the first 3/4 of the series... just from a purely anime standpoint. The Evas and the Angels are so dang cool. Maybe it was just that this was my first big mecha series... I don't know. By the time we got to the ham-fisted coverage of the big mystical and religious themes toward the end, I had decided this was indeed one of The Good Shows and was pretty accepting of the poor presentation. (I say ham-fisted because to me the themes were so obvious that I didn't really need to be beaten over the head with them... but not everyone would have that experience).

What I think makes it one of the gems of anime, like the movie Akira, is not so much that it, in its entirety, is fabulous. What it is, though, is SO far above and beyond the tripe that we get in most strictly episodic American "cartoons" that there's no comparison. It really shows that you can attack big, overarching, mystical themes with animation...successfully. If that weren't true, we wouldn't have so many people saying that Eva was a life-changing experience for them.

But that's my opinion.

[Not Sir Phobos]

Whatever happened to Rahotaku anyway?

She would now be Roboflonne.

Wha? Robo, why'd you change your name?

[SME]

So much Eva bashing in here

Guys, just because you don't "get" a series doesn't mean it's "crap", You are talking about something that means a lot to me, something I "get". I don't "get" modern or abstract art, but that doesn't mean it's crap.

I never said it was crap. I really liked NGE, and it took me a few watches to finally understand what happened at the end. It's a strong series, and I've decided to follow it more from an 'anime' standpoint rather than it's 'religious' notations that are given throughout the series (especially at the end).

I understand about what you mean when people say it's crap just because they don't get it. I don't get the hype on Naruto, but I wouldn't call it crap. It's just something that doesn't really interest me.

[Not Sir Phobos]

So much Eva bashing in here

Guys, just because you don't "get" a series doesn't mean it's "crap", You are talking about something that means a lot to me, something I "get". I don't "get" modern or abstract art, but that doesn't mean it's crap.

I never said it was crap. I really liked NGE, and it took me a few watches to finally understand what happened at the end. It's a strong series, and I've decided to follow it more from an 'anime' standpoint rather than it's 'religious' notations that are given throughout the series (especially at the end).

I understand about what you mean when people say it's crap just because they don't get it. I don't get the hype on Naruto, but I wouldn't call it crap. It's just something that doesn't really interest me.

I never said you said it was crap. The comment was made and I was making a general reply without addressing anyone specifically.

[wELCOME cONSUMER]

Did I say it was crap? I don't know, I might've. But it's not -crap-, I just don't like it. The references are nothing entirely new to me and didn't blow me away. Instead, the turn off is the characters themselves. The realism of their flaws makes them rather... contemptible. Which is the point, I know. But I have a hard time rewatching a series when I dislike almost everyone in the series.

I can appreciate what Eva is and what it does. But Anno is still a hack in my book and always will be. Read the Eva manga and you'll get answers.

[Not Sir Phobos]

I've read the manga.


I love Anno.


Toni, lets agree on Giant Robo, and disagree on Eva.

[GuyvarIII]

For me, I don’t like Eva. I don’t identify with Shinji, I hate him, and the story revolves around him. I didn’t like his compatriots, surrogate sleaze mom (Misato), sad passive girl (Rei), and self absorbed über bitch (Asuka) either.

In the beginning, we’re introduced to him and he’s a whining, complaining, self-loathing loser. As the show went on I never thought he really changed. It just endlessly showed how he felt that his father was mean and that his mother left him. Even though all the women come to the conclusion that they want Shinji, he’s a brat with no redeeming attributes and I didn’t think his past excused his childish self-absorbed behavior. The show even states that it doesn’t excuse his behavior, but then it backtracks and makes more excuses for it.

I wanted something like the God Father to show up, slap him around, tell him to “be a MAN!” and then end. Instead his reincarnated mother chooses him over his father; he gets to inherit the world, and learn to like himself. To me, he seemed like the same loser.

It would have been better if it didn’t go on so long, it’s use of Christian iconography seemed strange, and comparing Shinji’s pathetic existence with giant monstrous “Angels” destroying buildings and killing people with cross shaped explosions was laughable. Even though Rei’s character and design seems to have struck a soft spot in the Japanese psyche, I think the character and design was one of the worst things to have happened to Anime.

Despite all this, I still like the big purple robot with green spats. Without Eva01’s cool looking design, I couldn’t have made it through the show.

[JWR]

Maybe like Baakay I have a perspective produced by being 1. older and 2. having a lot of religious study in my background.

I had no problem with the understanding of the Eva TV ending or the movie version.

To me it's a perfect example of the theory put forth by the Schrodinger's cat scenario.

The idea the in each living being , a separate universe that represents what they view from their perspective being different that the one created by others and how they view you made sense.

Shinji who was the beneficiary of Instrumentality was able in his mind set things up as he wanted.

In the movie the choking of Asuka was actually more the endowing rather than taking of life in Shinji's mind and yes with the eye color change Asuka seems to be the mix of Auska , Rei & Misato who were the three most influential in Shinji's life.

I still do recommend Eva to those I meet even though it does seem to polarize between those who think they understand the concepts and those that don't.

[wELCOME cONSUMER]

It's exactly because of my religious studies that made me dislike Eva. Christianity is viewed as a theatrical-cult by the Japanese (and I'm sure others) and Eva is Anno's mockery of Christianity. Eva isn't just that, by any means, but it's part of why I don't find it interesting. It's saturated with too many innuendos. I think if less Freudian undertones and religious references were used, it would've produced a more cohesive storyline. It was spread so thin, the allusions were superficial and fleeting at best.

A lot of what Chris said is how I feel as well. Misato suffered from an elektra complex, while Shinji acted out his own oedipal desires.

I think there's enough people who like Eva and dislike Eva that we can freely speak our minds about it. Not liking the same anime doesn't mean we dislike one another.

[JWR]

It's exactly because of my religious studies that made me dislike Eva. Christianity is viewed as a theatrical-cult by the Japanese (and I'm sure others) and Eva is Anno's mockery of Christianity.

Well in viewing many different animes over the years , I have never seen that type of bias against Christianity and did not pick that up from viewing Eva . But if you did then your free to believe that.

I think there's enough people who like Eva and dislike Eva that we can freely speak our minds about it. Not liking the same anime doesn't mean we dislike one another.

I do agree , things can be discussed so long as all will respect the others point of view. The problems happen when one attempts to change anothers opinion instead of respecting it and agreeing to disagree. Any time one gets into the I'm Right and Your Wrong posts then things degerate.

[duotrouble]

I applaud you, GK, for making it all the way through NGE. I tried a year ago but couldn't make it past episode 4. It bored me. I wanted to see it because lots of people liked it. But when it came down to it, I'm not one of those people. And after reading this thread, I know I'll never pick it up again. It's just not for me.

I think it's kinda cool though to see that you weren't the only person who had troubles understanding the ending of an anime. It sounds like a lot of people here had to give this one some good thought before reaching their conclusions.