Rebuild of Evangelion

I think it has to do with Rebuild being far more of a Troubled Production than originally intended.

I have heard he had another bout of depression, but I had heard that it was caused by Rebuild 3.33, not the other way around.

In any case, this was the explanation I had heard for why the fourth film is taking forever: Anno wanted to get the depression out of his system first.

There are several reasons for the delay of 3.0+1.0, and yes, Anno's episode of depression following 3.0 is one of them. Another is Khara's involvement with the 3.33 english dub and the animator's expo, as well as Anno's directing of the new Godzilla. It'll be ready when its ready.

On that note, let's cross our finger's that we get some actual info regarding the release of 3.33 this weekend. Between AX and the NGE 20th anniversary, I'm cautiously optimistic. if nothing else, we could at least get the series' blu-ray release.

edited 3rd Jul '15 9:59:21 PM by TheAirman

I really wish that he held off on directing Godzilla until he finished 3.0 + 1.0. Seriously, this is one of the most delayed and troubled anime film productions I've seen in a while, and holding off on it to work on other things doesn't sit well with me. The more you delay something, the more it had to be amazing, or else it will fail to impress.

Also, if Anno did indeed get depressed due to making 3.0 as hopeless and bleak as it was, then he really needs to rethink how he is approaching the story. One shouldn't fall back into a state of mind that one already went through, considering how damaging it is.

I get the impression Anno is deliberately avoiding having to work on this right now. You know, that mood you have when you have to do something you really don't want to and grab any possible distraction you can use as an excuse to yourself?

That's what happens when you make something so bleak and hopeless that it puts you in a depression.

Even discounting that, it may be simply because he has no idea how to end it after putting Shinji in a no-win lose-lose scenario at the end of 3.0.

Nowhere in my life will the excuse "I don't FEEEEEL like it" ever be a viable one for halting work.

edited 4th Jul '15 7:15:43 AM by kyun

It's a perfectly valid excuse when one's doing a fanwork, but when one's creative work substains a lot of paid hard workers, investors and related companies (like all the endorsement deals), then you'd better be an actual professional about it. Otherwise you'll throw all those people's jobs, hard work, money and livehoods down the drain.

Apparently they'll only be recruiting animators for the movie AFTER the expo to actually start working seriously on the animation, so this still should take a VEEEERRRRYYYYY LOOOOOOOOONNNNG while.

edited 5th Jul '15 6:41:04 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

At this rate, the amount of time it takes to finish the last film is the time it took for the previous three films to be released (5 years). Just let that sink in for a moment. Anno deciding to abandon it for a Godzilla film doesn't help either.

On the plus side, the Animator Expo has its third and final season starting at the end of this month, so it shouldn't be too much longer for 3.0 + 1.0 to finally enter production.

edited 14th Jul '15 2:38:37 AM by LDragon2

He didn't abandon it because of a Godzillla film. He was asked to do it because the American Godzilla film from lat year was so successful in Japan that Toho asked him and his friend Shinji Higuchi to do it because of their love for Toku Satsu and Kaiju-eiga films.

edited 6th Jul '15 4:52:04 AM by Demongodofchaos2

Well, I re-entered this thread cause I was wondering why there still wasn't a final part to this story.

Now I know, and I didn't even need to ask much.

I too wonder what Anno will do after smashing Shinji to such a pulp as he did in the last movie.

Odds are Anno is still wondering that too.

Yeah.

He really did not think that through.

I mean, there's no happy ending for anyone, let alone Shinji.

For everyone else there is a chance; the thing is that Anno has put Shinji in a situation in which even if he does pull off saving the world, he's (most likely) not going to be able to live in the world he saved.

On that respect, I don't know what path will Anno take in regards to Shinji's personality, if anything he might go all Shirou Emiya out of the sheer guilt of what he did and might even allow himself be damned if it means the world is saved. hopefully for him, if he takes the ubw path, there could be a small chance of finding a good end.

After the mess that was the third movie and how long the supposed last one is taking, I wonder if the last movie will be canceled. Anno obviously can't think of any sort of ending now after what he did to 3.0.

edited 7th Jul '15 8:28:58 PM by sorako

See, this is why I always feel that one shouldn't try to enforce themes and messages over simply telling a good and coherent story first. Yes, I'm all for a good Deconstruction, but if you do that simply because you want your story to be "serious and mature" with a hard-hitting message, you better make sure that it doesn't compromise the story or character growth, which unfortunately, 3.0 did.

Considering that Anno himself fell into a depression during 3.0's development, I don't think he realized this until far too late. Really, the only thing he can do is either just go full on Kill Em All, or pull a Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns Of The Patriots and try to retcon everything.

I feel like Anno wanted to disprove all the fanon incarnations of Shinji so badly (if he just mans up and becomes a badass, everything will be better), he really did go too far.

I mean, it's possible to do something so horrible, there's no chance of coming back from it ever. Shinji would have been better off as a sociopath, because then, he wouldn't care.

Anno didn't just put him in a position where he has to work hard to climb back up. He cut off Shinji's arms and legs, tossed him in the deepest, darkest pit imaginable, with the smoothest unclimbable walls, sealed the entranced tight, put a big ass rock on top of it, and then dropped a mountain on the whole fucking thing.

He won't let the kid do any good, and he won't let him just bow out. He can't win, he can't quit, and anything he does hurts everyone around him.

What. The. Fuck.

i feel like shinji sacrificing himself while finally gaining some self-respect/acceptance/deeper understanding of himself and humanity/etc is one of the more logical conclusions that rebuild could have, although it'd be kind of predictable and i'd have no idea what could possibly give shinji any kind of hope or spiritual awakening now that Kaworu is gone and everyone hates him.

those are my thoughts as well.

See, what Anno could've done, if he wanted to subvert the whole Badass Shinji idea, was maybe have his actions at the end of 2.0 be less harsh. Like, have people die during it, but not billions, and maybe even have him succeed in saving Rei, but have him and everyone else be unaware of that (like, Gendo captured her and wiped her memories or something). Show the good in addition to the bad, and ultimately have Shinji acknowledge that while he is taking a step in the right direction, he still must work on it and has a lot to learn. Have the others be harsh on him, but understanding as well.

But no. Because this is Hideaki "I Don't Trust the Intelligence of the Viewers as Modern Otaku are Shallow" Anno, this feels like it's suffering from both Take That, Audience! and Viewers Are Morons. "I gotta make the consequences of Shinji's actions as big and horrific as I possibly can, and not give him any chance of hope to ensure that the audience gets the message sent through their thick skulls", and he didn't need to do that. If he had taken a more balanced approach, I feel like the story wouldn't have been as mean-spirited or hopeless as it was, and would make the conclusion for Shinji much easier to swallow.

If you want an example of this sort of thing done right, watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion.

edited 14th Jul '15 2:36:39 AM by LDragon2

It is worth noting that Shinji was supposed to have some lines at the end of the movie, but Ogata was too distraught to record them.

Another reason why I find the manga adaptation my preferred take on the story.

so the movie made everyone else clinically depressed too?

Seems like it.

That's a sure fire sign you've gone too far.

Making them cry is one thing.

Making them massively depressed to the point that finishing is hard is another.

Hell, when you write a story that makes you, said creator of the story depressed—after already recovering from a previous breakdown if I re-call correctly—that's a sign that you should not have made the story so fucking depressing in the first place.

Hideaki "I Don't Trust the Intelligence of the Viewer as Modern Otaku are Shallow" Anno

By the way, it's hideously funny how, after saying anime viewers are man-children ruining Japan, he jumps at the chance to make a movie about an overgrown lizard who will always be associated with men in rubber suits stomping on toys.

Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it huh (though to be fair, the original Gojira was very much a mature and thought-provoking film)?

And really, I'm still not quite sure why Anno decided to go this far with the tone in 3.0 if it was gonna give him and several others depression. You'd think that, having gone through one himself, he'd try to avoid doing things that would cause him to relapse back into it again. Worry about what the audience will take away from your story second Anno. Focus on simply telling a good and coherent story that doesn't cause you to have another Creator Breakdown first.

Again, the problems I have with 3.0 are basically similar to the problems I have with The Matrix Reloaded; the tone is needlessly dark and mean-spirited, the themes and messages feel ham-fisted and are to the detriment of the story, and too many scenes are acting as little more than superfluous distractions. Hopefully, 3.0 + 1.0 will fix these issues, and not magnify them, ala The Matrix Revolutions.

edited 14th Jul '15 2:35:43 AM by LDragon2