WHY are so many people into Eva?

[Guerilla_Radio]

My brother bought the series. I watched it. I understood it.

I liked parts of it, but the hype surrounding Eva makes me respond negatively to it as I thought it was OK, and at worst overrated.

The "depth" that I heard people talking about just struck me as either obscurity created by bad storytelling and corner-cutting resulting from them running out of money towards the last episodes in the series (not the movie).

The long periods of silence didn't impress me, and I felt the "ascendence" of humanity could have been better explained. I felt offended by the gratuitous use of stock footage, which is only second to censorship in the "thou shalt nots" of anime.

The action was top-notch, but the interpersonal relations between the characters was painfully awkward to watch. I don't interpret that as a testament to the depth of the series.

Anyhow, I want someone who liked the series to break it down and tell me why it was good.

[Pai Pai Master]

Even though you said you don't believe the so-called "depth" of Eva isn't what it's cracked up to be, I believe that's what draws me to it.

There is a certain complexity to Evangelion that makes it so unique when compared to other anime series. For one, you have a massive amount of religious references and metaphors, consisting of ideas and beliefs from The Book of Genesis, The Old Testament, various parts of the Bible, Catholic and Jewish beliefs, Kabballa, and many others.

There are also many different interpretations of the themes of Evangelion, which is another thing that makes it very popular. Including, but not limited to, man's ascension into becoming a greater being; the corruption of men and man's ultimate demise; and the story of the Crucifixion of Christ. The story means different things to many different people.

I agree with you that at many times, GAINAX seemed to have just filled in empty spaces with still screens, flashbacks, and reused animation. This is true, but one must understand that at the time GAINAX created Evangelion, it wasn't exactly as wealthy as it once was, and the budget for the Eva Project wasn't as highly extensive as it was for say, Nadia or The Wings of Honneamise. Despite this, the quality of the animation is still top-notch, and at many times still rivals many famous TV series today in its inventiveness and sheer in-your-face coolness. :p

The popularity of Evangelion doesn't just come from the fact that many people like it. In the early days of mecha-anime, Gundam ruled all. Everything was either Gundam...or something similar to Gundam. The popularity of Mecha was outrageous. Then Evangelion came along, and the idea that it wasn't just robots, but was something that deeply investigated and interpreted the human psyche was something that hadn't been done before. Also, the mature and complex subject matter, including those religious references, and the fact that the show has no true hero, but is comprised of many anti-heroes, was something that either hadn't been done before, or hadn't been done the right way before. Evangelion is still sometimes called "the most controversial anime series ever created."

I understand that you may not "get what everyone else sees in Evangelion." This may simply mean that it might take a couple of viewings for it to catch on, or that Evangelion simply doesn't match your tastes in anime. Other extremely popular series such as Cowboy Bebop or Ranma 1/2 simply don't interest me as much as Evangelion, and from the first time I saw the series, it grabbed me and has yet to let go. Other people just don't feel the same. I think one of the greatest things about being able to talk to other people about anime is that we don't all have the same tastes. A lot of my friends like the hyper-grotesque-violence found in shows like Apocolypse Zero and Berserk. Some other friends love Gundam and Inu-Yasha. I tend to enjoy less action-oriented shoujo series, I greatly dislike most mecha, and I can't stand anything with too much violence. Despite this, I worship Evangelion like there's no tomorrow. I don't know how to explain it, but that's just my taste in anime. Maybe if you watch the series a couple more times, maybe if you study some of the philosophy behind it, you might learn to love it as much as me. Maybe you just happen to see it as something that doesn't catch your groove, and maybe you'll move on to other anime series and find those to be your favourites. I dunno what you'll do, all I can say is that our tastes aren't exactly the same, and other people's tastes aren't exactly the same as ours.

(Sorry for yet another extremely long and senseless post.) :sweat:

[Guerilla_Radio]

Well said!

Pai Pai Master, thank you for posting in a manner that was both informative and civil. It wasn't too long at all.

In spite of our opposing views, yours was EXACTLY the kind of response I was looking for.

[Reikou]

I have to agree with Pai Pai Master.. Another series I may suggest to Pai Pai Master is His and Her Circumstances (Kare Kano).. It's made by the same person as Evangelion.. (Hideaki Ano).. There isn't much action, but alot of comedy and has the same type of stuff with the human phsycology as Evangelion.. sorry for getting off topic..

[Chipmunk777]

wow, thanks pai pai i've never really been interested in eva before, but after reading your post, it sounds very interesting. I'm going to have to check it out

:spin: :spin: :spin:

[Pai Pai Master]

Don't worry Reikou, I know what you mean. It seems that Anno is a master on analyzing the human mind.

[Kilgraw]

For those that like Evangelion

If you liked NGE, you'll most likely enjoy Serial Experiments Lain as well. NGE and Lain are easily my favourite anime series.
*big thumbs up to animes that provoke thought into their viewers*

*points up*
And thats exactly why people like Evangelion, because it makes them think.

[shaft]

I liked Eva because it was one of the few animes that I watched a second time, and thought I had missed something. There are a few movies that make me do this, but this was the first anime to ever do it.

The fact that it is so open ended, leaves so many things uncovered and leads towards speculation makes you think about what was really meant by everything. Unlike most anime which is just fight, move along fight some more, and really has not much depth to it, Eva is actually something that has been analyzed and no one is still absolutely sure what everything meant. Most of it leads back to the multiple religious references, and yes some does lead to the breakdown of the human psyche, and the sense of traitorous actions and corruption. Pai Pai said it best, that it is not all about big robots fighting.

Anyway, my 14 cents...

[Shinrai Kiri]

Well Guerilla_Radio if it makes you feel better , I'm probably the only few people that didn't like it. I saw the entire series and the movies. I loved the beginning of the series. But then it started to get over dramatic , in my opinion. Then you have countless episodes of talk over Shinji's feelings , then I lost all intrest. Then everyone was preaching how its the best anime ever. So I hated it more. Cause to me it's the most overrated anime ever. There are plenty of anime out there better then Evangelion. Be it the actions scene's were pretty cool. Plus the ending of the series was just lame ass hell. I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it but talk about a dissapointing ending. But theres certain anime for certain people!

[Reikou]

Shinrai Kiri your right, It's not one of the best animes out there.. I like others way more.. but I still believe it to be one of the bests though..

[Shinrai Kiri]

True , I may hate it but its still in my top 10 =) Mainly cause it does have originality.

[Staccato]

Disappointing ending? Did you watch EoE?

[Shinrai Kiri]

I said the series ending... The whole "Thank You" crap. Ya thats real cool. I won't ruin it but if you look at what has happen , its ok cause "Shinji" found himself... big frickin deal.

[Reikou]

Originally posted by Staccato
Disappointing ending? Did you watch EoE?

I saw End of Evangelion.. It was a great movie.. I heard it was just a alternate ending.. Is that true? It seems like it would be.. :confused:

[Pai Pai Master]

The End of Evangelion was created as a revamped conclusion to replace Episodes 25 and 26, because after that ending, it was said that a lot of people "demanded" a "true" ending, something which Anno himself did not want to make, and can be seen as one of the many interpretations of Asuka's final line, "Kimochi warui" ("I feel sick", "I hate this feeling").

I for one would have been happy with the original ending, but EoE really helped clear up some of the loose ends, and it was a true artistic masterpiece to me.

Also, aside from EoE, there is yet another alternate ending. It was never released to the public on home video, but information and low-quality images seemed to have slipped through in 1998. It goes something like this, and I don't think it was as good as the real ending:

As Shinji looks over at the makeshift graves he had created for his dead loved ones, he stops at the grave of the Second Children, Asuka Langely Soryu. Before looking up, Asuka's foot smashes the grave, and she reveals to Shinji that she is still alive.

That's pretty much all I can remember...I think for the most part it ends as Shinji and Rei said it would end in the scene where they appear to be making love.

"Well, it would be nice to see them again. Thank you, Rei."