Neon Genesis Evangelion

I guess I can see that but later episodes sorta implied that all her relationships with other people were very utilitarian; that she could never really open up to anyone because of the same fear of being hurt as Shinji. So to me NGE!Asuka and Rebuild!Asuka more or less have the same problem and just go about handling it in different ways.

So, Adam was the first Angel which caused the 2nd impact at Antartica, and Lilith was the 2nd Angel that was created by Seele, right? I forget the origins of Lilith and where it came from or what it was doing.

No, Lilith was the mother of all life on Earth, and a being of the same sort as Adam. The Angels that attack Tokyo-3 come from Adam (though Kaworu was created by Seele and implanted with the soul of Tabris, the seventeenth Angel, so he has a human body).

You know, it'd be nice if someone made an Evangelion AMV using this song...

I've been alone... surrounded by darkness...

;________________;

BABY YOU'RE NOT ALONE, cause you're HERE WITH ME
And NOTHING CAN BRING US DOWN
Cause nothing can KEEP ME FROM LOVING YOU, and you KNOW IT'S TRUE It don't matter what'll come to be, our love is all we need, to make it through...

edited 13th Jun '12 1:19:38 PM by TheHandle

Oh man, AMVs. I've saved a bunch of them into a playlist on youtube, and I think all but 1 involves Evangelion in some way.

Could you share that playlist with us?

edited 17th Jun '12 6:27:49 AM by TheHandle

Boom.

edited 20th Jun '12 7:31:54 PM by MrMallard

So, I wonder when Khara will finally show a new trailer for 3.0. Considering that Fall is approaching, we should be getting more stuff very soon. Unless they sink the Shinji/Rei ship, I am pumped.

On another note, I realized something about Anno's trolling. Back in the day, he trolled because he was extremely frustrated at the Otaku and wanted to prove a point. Now, he trolls just for pure amusement.

If by "back in the day" you mean while creating the original series, keep in mind his rant about why otaku like Rei was in 2007. The same year the first Rebuild came out, and several years into his happy marriage.

That said, someones views can change in five years. But this is after his depression, at least. Perhaps he stopped caring.

Edit: Still, it leads me to question his reasons for the apparent Shinji x Rei. Is it because he wants them to be a happy couple, or is it to create a false sense of security about Rei?

edited 27th Jun '12 6:50:31 AM by SilentColossus

Why did he say people like Rei again?

I doubt Shinji/Rei is going to be all happy sailing even in Rebuild (and I will comment that for all the heavy shiptease, it's not quite as explicitly romantic as some people make it out to be), since Shinji still hasn't had the big revelations of Rei being A) a clone, and B) a clone of his mother. Or the part-Lilith thing.

The reactions to that will be pretty important there.

One wonders just how Oedipal it will all get before the end.

Well hey, I never wanted it to be all rainbows and sunshine. After all, a big part of Rei's character growth is to free herself from the chains of her upbringing. Having Shinji come to terms with her past, as well as her origins, is one of those necessary steps.

Oh geez, people aren't speculating that the reason he had Asuka as the main love interest was because he believed that he was in "severe depression" and thought he believed all women are like that? -_-

It's fiction people. Also some Otaku prefer Rei because she's the quiet one and people aren't too fond of Tsundere's. I'm with Anno back in the 90's Evangelion when he said Asuka is a cute girl.

I thought Anno said Asuka was a caricature of the rude bluntness of Americans/Westerners?

@Scherzo09

No.....

http://wiki.evageeks.org/Statements_by_Evangelion_Staff

Never once has Anno said that about Asuka.

Anno even said she's his favorite character

On his favorite Evangelion character...

ANNO: Asuka , because she's cute.

And from that same page...

Anno understands the Japanese national attraction to characters like Rei as the product of a stunted imaginative landscape born of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War. “Japan lost the war to the Americans,” he explains, seeming interested in his own words for the first time during our interview. “Since that time, the education we received is not one that creates adults.

Can someone break that down for me? He was rather cryptic.

@Couchpotato 20, well it's true he didn't say that, but he did say this:

As for that , if I paraphrase the sentence I get "Japan is attracted to characters like Rei because of a lack of imagination, either in the minds consumers or in the creative realm of fiction." The last sentence contains far too many presumptions, but my guess would be him tying the whole thing back to the immaturity of Japan born of the war and perpetuated by the education system.

edited 29th Jun '12 1:13:07 AM by UltimatelySubjective

I took it as kinda like what you said in the first part, they can't handle being close to other people with strong personalities like Misato or Asuka. Easier to project their feelings onto Rei.

There's definitely a Values Dissonance thing going on here. I wonder how he is going to take this in the Rebuild series, what with him not being as depressed now.

But that's the thing. When did he apparently overcome his depression? Remember, that interview is from 2007.

edited 29th Jun '12 1:36:50 AM by SilentColossus

Come to think of it, Rei was originally supposed to die at the end of 2.0, but after much discussion, they decided to change it to having her survive. Even as a Rei shipper, I do wonder what Anno has in store for her, and what direction he would have taken her character in had he complete control.

@Scherzo09

That's kinda subtly insulting if ya ask me. I mean of course its easy to project feelings onto Rei seeing as how she's not all that familiar with them in the first place. Also Rei is the stereotypical anime girl who you'll never come across IRL.

@Silent Colossus

why does everyone say Anno was depresed when he wrote Evangelion? There is no depression man.

edited 29th Jun '12 7:26:55 AM by Couchpotato20

As for Rei, I think what Anno means is that Rei was, at the time she appeared, a completely unprecedented character. Of course people would be attracted to her, she was a very original sort of character, the kind that is pulled off well, that has a je ne sais quoi, that made people wonder. She was a alluring, she had a definite character, she was strange and you could just tell from seeing her that there was a mystery involving her.

It is Rei that is necessary for the plot to begin, and to end. She is critical to the story. With no Rei Shinji probably wouldn't get into Eva 01. Without Rei Instrumentality wouldn't have occurred, at least not the way it happened. She reflects on Evangelion as a whole.

And of course, consider Rei as compared to Japan.

Also, remember that when Evangelion came out there were no Rei Ayanami Clones Expies (obviously). She wasn't and isn't stereotypical. It is her clones which might give off that impression.

edited 29th Jun '12 8:57:03 AM by Crinias

But that's the problem; he was complaining that Otaku want servile Woobies for them to care for and pour emotion into easily, while disdaining women with strong personalities.

And as for Asuka, I think it's clear that she's meant to be a Take That! to the overt rudeness, overaggressiveness, and individualist nature of Westerners.