Reviews Anime / Neon Genesis Evangelion

The series was not so much a Coming Of Age Story so much as a character study of toxic thought patterns, with special mention going to Shinji, focusing primarily on interpersonal communication.

It’s fairly interesting to note that in a sense, Shinji would actually agree with you: in ep. 3 he explains to Misato that his own wishes take a back seat to his task, as everyone depends on him (even though he can be replaced if needed), but the point of the series is in this respect is that while you should do your part and help out society, you should not lose yourself to it. This message is one hell of a case of Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped especially in Japan, where an oppressive work environment, and social norms in general, are preserved through a social taboo against ‘making a fuss’ (or 迷惑 méiwaku in Japanese)—this is why workers would seriously hesitate before, say, taking maternity leave when their child is born, or come out of the closet at work (this happens to be one of the points of a course on Japanese society I’m taking in uni now). All in all, the main message of the series is essentially ‘find a healthy balance between maintaining a mind of your own and taking society into account’, and the message is illustrated (among others) by elaborating on a case study of what is essentially a subtle Chronic Hero Syndrome Shinji suffers from.

The thing is, the series has to deal with these issues on a global scale. It is absolutely vital for the message to resonate. The lonely and miserable viewer who watches the series has to see that it’s an issue inherent in the human nature, something universal, not something they alone struggle with, otherwise they’d just feel worse about being the one dumbass who couldn’t figure it out yet. Also, it goes to show that even someone who’s messed up as Shinji can plough through and even save the world.

Continuing from my point about this not being a coming-of-age story, the Angels are not meant to be representations of concrete obstacles. They are mostly placeholders, in essence: what they serve as is a trigger for certain developments in the characters’ interpersonal relationships and some Foreshadowing (e.g. Shinji and Asuka learning to synchronise foreshadowing the Instrumentality). When they peer into Shinji’s and Asuka’s minds, they are used as Narrative Devices to introduce character studies that advance certain plotlines involving characters’ interpersonal relationships and the direction their psyches and states-of-mind change.

To sum up, I think your negative view of the series stems from a misunderstanding as to what the series was supposed to be.

Also, please don’t compare NGE with that misogynistic, monotonous drivel that is TTGL.

Svarti Kotturinnn,

Those are some remarkably profound insights. I've often heard on the Values Dissonance pages that Japanese culture values upholding the collective good at the expense of one's own desires, but many works tend for a message that's not unlike the one you described, with variations from work to work. Characters are expected to work together to succeed, but it's also recognized that they are their own people and have their own needs.

Out of curiosity, why do you consider TTGL "misogynistic"?

I don’t think these insights are particularly profound—these issues simply resonated with me very deeply and I watched the series thrice (it’s my favourite series ever), so I can elaborate on them a bit more.

I don’t think it’s that much of a case of Values Dissonance: people experience this tension everywhere in the world, even if there are places where it’s particularly emphasised (e.g. Jante’s Law, kibbutzim, &c.). The concepts of responsibility, duty, and selfishness are not unique to Japan. However, appreciation of NGE varies drastically between individual people, even if they have the same cultural background, based on their personal life experience, which is why I recommend it enthusiastically, but not to everyone.

As for TTGL, I expanded on the topic here.

I really find the fact that you're accusing me of misunderstanding the series as off-putting. You have every right to like EVA, but I still stand by my original comments. Coming-of-age and finding balance are similar in many respects as teenagers and young adults must learn to balance the responsibilities of adulthood and one's desire for childhood freedom.

Also, whose fault is it really when I fail to understand the messages. I'm not saying everything should be as blatant as the director shouting it out to us, but honestly I've seen the series multiple times and consulted many fans yet I still struggle to figure out the message. And for the record, I've watched surreal works like Anime/Madoka Magica and I understood the messages and themes without having to contact Studio SHAFT or take any literature courses.

On the subject of religious symbolism, it's comes off as pretentious. I feel that when there is so much of it shoved in with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face, you can't help but search for the implications of the religious symbolism. Here these images are nothing more than plot devices with no real ulterior meanings beyond some fancy names. To me, throwing in religious symbolism without fully understanding the roles in the narrative doesn't seem the work intelligent. As the film critic Roger Ebert once said, "If you have to ask what it symbolizes, it didn't." It creates an unique conundrum: if someone doesn't know about the background of the religious symbolism, they'll be confused; if they do, then they'll be infuriated.

Also a work doesn't necessarily have to be upscaled in order to resonate with audiences. All Quiet on the Western Front focuses on a single insignificant soldier whose actions are ultimately meaningless. Yet that film still has aged well and its anti-war themes can be easily accessible regardless of background. The point is larger scale doesn't necessarily mean greater resonance with the world.

Again, I'm not saying that EVA is bad or the world would be better without it. It's just that it expects the audience to know everything without at least providing a clear path. Maybe I just too smart for my own good (I have a degree in Biology after all). Also, your accusations of TTGL being misogynistic doesn't quite work. Honestly, I feel that the female characters in TTGL have more personality and agency than most females in shonen series. Also just because a villain looks vaguely feminine doesn't necessarily make it misogynistic.

Finally, telling dotchan "Jesus fuck, if your younger self could meet you, she’d probably Dope Slap the shit out of you." is just wrong. I don't care whether or not you disagree with the opinion, you should act like a civilized human being with respect and courtesy. Anger without constructiveness is just cacophonous noise regardless of justification.

Again, I'm not saying Evangelion is necessarily a bad show. There are lots of things I think it does well. The voice acting in all versions is good. The inner angst of Shinji and Asuka is engaging and I didn't find the whining all that insufferable. That said, I wish the narrative would keep its focus on emotional angst and personal side. I guess what I'm saying is that there should be more sexually themed angels like Shamshel, Ramiel, and Arael. Or maybe have a nightmare sequence in which the paper sheets of a highschool textbook slash Shinji with a thousand cuts (fear of schoolwork and office paper assignments). I have friends like EVA and I'm fine with them. So honestly stop worrying so much if someone isn't in love with Evangelion.

‘...learn to balance the responsibilities of adulthood and one's desire for childhood freedom.’

That, again, is not what the series is about. It’s not ‘childhood freedom’ (no character had much of a childhood to speak of) or ‘adult responsibilities’ (all the adults in Nerv are very competent at what they do). It’s about the conflict between the desire to assert oneself and one’s own desires, including to a great deal the desire to be accepted and loved and acknowledged, versus your duties and obligations (professionally and socially) and the frustration of dealing with interpresonal problems, and, to a lesser extent, between these duties and obligations (Shinji’s and Rei’s mutinies, Ritsuko’s mother’s decision in EoE). It’s something mostly adults face, so no, this is not a coming-of-age story.

The religious symbolism was not meant to say ‘we’re real smart, smarter than you’, they actually said it was just because it looked and sounded cool (this is fairly gross appropriation, but that’s besides the point), but I think they’re just trolling you and it does indeed have meaning: Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice to let the world live on, much like Shinji and many other people dismiss themselves in the face of their duty to the world (Shinji specifically, because he does so at his father’s behest, and Misato too, who literally bears the cross of her father who did the same). Still, you could watch this series without understanding what all those crosses stand for and just think of them as a neat-looking æsthetic motif vaguely related to the apocalyptic theme of the series. The ‘Doors of Guf’ definitely means a whole lot (EoE made way more sense after I read about it), but still, you can ignore that as a bit of unnecessary Techno Babble otherwise, you don’t have to rack your brains for its meaning, you can just go with it.

I very strongly disagree with Ebert on that: if you have to think what it symbolises, maybe you’re not the target audience, and, in the case of NGE, if you don’t want to, you’re definitely not, and that’s perfectly fine. This is not an easy series to watch. It’s demanding, it’s (very often) dark, it’s cerebral, it’s multi-faceted to the point you could analyse it and argue about it forever and ever—and that’s what I absolutely love about it. You might not be into that, but it does not mean the creators are wrong.

‘Upscaling’ the series was vital because 1. it was a Deconstruction of shounen anime, in which the protagonist is generally the main hero, and 2. the events of EoE are crucial to the message that no, it’s not just you, it’s not just Shinji, it’s everyone. You can’t compare it to that novel because the message is entirely different.

As for TTGL, even if you have varied female characters with different personalities, the conflation of masculinity and the human’s race’s fortitude and women ultimately serving as a Standard Hero Reward and Wish Fulfillment is misogynistic. And, again, it’s not a villain looking feminine, it’s a vagina-faced gunman.

As for dotchan, allow me to remind you she started her review with ‘If you like NGE, Hideaki Anno hates you and everything you stand for’. She started off by insulting a whole bunch of people based on something she didn’t even understand. I don’t regret my comment, so much as I regret feeding the troll.

I actually loathe Spike Spencer’s version of Shinji. Listen to him do the (semi-)monologue at the beginning of ep. 25 (OA) vs. the original: while the original Shinji sounded angry turned hurt and frustrated turn terrified, Spencer’s version made him sound like he was going to cry all the time. I once saw him in a vid on Tumblr that I can’t find for some reason, in which he shyly and cutely told an anime convention visitor that he loved her with a little giggle, in character; when I saw that vid I realised Spencer did not understand Shinji’s character in the least, as the real Shinji would’ve stumbled, stammered, and ultimately said he loved her out of angry frustration followed by a depressed apology or let it out with a low, somewhat depressed voice, as if conceding defeat. I blame him for a huge chunk of the horrible reputation the series has in the eyes of many in the West, making people see him as ‘whiney’. Shinji is not remotely whiny, especially considering what he goes through—his mentality is basically the epitome of shou ga nái.

Like I said above, I don’t mind if people don’t like NGE. One of my closest friends doesn’t, many others just don’t like anime, and I think I can more or less gauge to whom I should or shouldn’t recommend it. But naturally, I prefer people do like it, so it really irritates me when people don’t like it because they just plain misunderstand it, so I start off by pointing out these issues. If someone doesn’t like it because they think Shinji is ‘whiny’, it irritates me in particular, because, aside from having felt a lot like Shinji many times, it speaks volumes about their oppressive concept of masculinity, and damnit this is why I need Feminism.

...I'm just going to say that when someone basically says that he likes it okay, sure, and you jump on him for not liking it *enough*, it says very little complementary about you.

People who complain about Shinji's characterization might be missing the fact that he's *supposed* to be an unlikable spineless loser who relates to the worst, most painful memories of adolescence, but I'd argue that there're ways to take that character and still make him engaging. When people complain they don't like him, they aren't "trying to force him to conform to a toxic and limiting standard of masculinity" (many of them, for instance, like Kaji, a character with many non-traditionally-masculine hobbies and traits), they're complaining that the show's creators did not employ sufficient craft in producing them.

Besides, at least part of your post involve, more or less, telling us that anyone who doesn't like your show is too stupid to appreciate it is just plain rude. The creators openly said, for instance, that the Christian iconography is literally just there to look cool and has *no* deeper meaning whatsoever beyond what you, as the reader, ascribe to it via Death of the Author.

In short, because dinner's ready, this isn't just you Complaining about People Not Liking the Show. This is you Complaining About Someone Liking The Show And Not Liking It Enough, and that makes you a tool.

Again, you miss my point.

First off, there’s a huge difference between ‘whiny’ and ‘Extreme Doormat’: the former is prone to Wangst, the latter is closer to a Stoic Woobie. While Shinji is mostly the former (he does have his outbursts of aggression when his frustration becomes too much and he repeatedly rises to the occasion when needed, so saying he’s ‘spineless’ is a bit of a stretch), most complaints I’ve heard label Shinji as the former, going so far as to say he consistently rejects his duties, which is plainly and obviously not the case (he rejects it twice, once after being encouraged to do so and making sure he can be replaced, and again for ideological reasons). This is not a case of not liking the character as it appears, it’s not liking the character as it is conceived and remembered, and I think toxic masculinity has a huge part in that. Also, what kind of non-traditionally masculine hobbies and traits does Kaji have? He has a watermelon patch, which is kinda-sorta like gardening, but I can’t recall anything else.

I never said people who didn’t like it were stupid. Far from it. If you don’t like analysing and delving into the symbolism and mechanisms and whatnot of a series, that’s fine, I would never have the nerve to say it means you’re stupid. There are plenty of reasons besides that not to like NGE: the tone is too dark, the animation is too simplistic (I’d argue that it’s passable and the minimalism used later is wonderful, but different strokes), the subject matter is uninteresting, the characters are not engaging, &c. My point is, I have no problem with people not liking NGE for what it is. What annoys me is when people don’t like it for what it isn’t, especially when they become tools about it without prompt (e.g. ‘if you like NGE Anno hates you’). When they’re not being deliberately offensive I can be much calmer and more reasoning in hopes of encouraging the person to change their opinion based on what the series really is; note my discussion with Kkhohoho.

As for the symbolism, I think this is a case of Trolling Creator or Lying Creator, but we can agree to disagree.

That's your interpretation. Those elements resonate strongly with you, so that's what you've pulled most from the series.

For me, the series might as well be a coming of age story or a story of self-realization. Shinji grows as a character throughout the entire show - even as he takes part in a series of events that he doesn't like, he perseveres and finds a life worth living with friends, even if he's still unhappy and if that life gets taken from him piece by piece later on. The end of the series is Shinji deciding if he has a right to be happy, to find a place in the world - and throughout all the bullcrap, he decides that life is worth living.

Even during End, when worse goes to worst, Shinji decides that life is worth living even through the pain. Coming from a weak guy like him, that's a huge step - choosing to step forward instead of being forced to. Even after the end of the world, or after his life hits an absolute low. That's the meaning that got me interested enough in life not to bother trying to shorten it.

At this point, with the years of rhetoric, misunderstandings and fanwank, all you have to go off of is your gut feeling. How the show made you feel. That's different for everyone - your opinion is valid, but there's no need to push it onto others, especially when it makes them feel spoken down to. dinohunterpat didn't exactly like the series, but they're more or less cool with it - that's alright, barely worth a spiel about Completely Missing the Point. And the elements they took from the show are fine too.

In short - you're coming on really strong. Chill.

I guess. But after I keep seeing the same unfounded criticisms over and over and over and over and oftentimes it stems in great part from such a toxic societal ill, it gets frustrating. I guess I went a bit overboard here, but in my defence, my own words have been repeatedly misinterpreted here. I mean c’mon, I explicitly said ‘appreciation of NGE varies drastically between individual people [...] based on their personal life experience’, I said ‘if you don’t want to [delve into the symbolism], you’re definitely not [the target audience], and that’s perfectly fine’, and still I was interpreted as saying ‘if you don’t like it you’re stupid’. Also, yes, I think Tropers/Dinohunterpat’s appreciation of the series was harmed because they expected it to be a coming-of-age story and include an explanation of something meant to be obscure and got disappointed when it wasn’t. That doesn’t mean they were wrong—hell, the first time I tried watching FLCL I’d expected it to be much more like NGE and gave up after three episodes, thinking it was incredibly idiotic; when I tried again, about a year ago, I enjoyed it a huge deal more.

To Svarti Kotturinn.

Maybe I don't get Evangelion because I went in with different expectations. For what it is, a character study and deconstruction, it more or less works. I never watched Eva during the anime boom of the 2000s and thus am more invested in works like Gundam, Madoka Magica, Bioshock, Silent Hill, and Dead Space. Given how my friend told me that Eva has some superficial resemblances to these works, I had rather colored expectations and thus couldn't really get much of Eva's message.

Both Gundam and Madoka Magica feature kids thrown violent scenarios. Likewise, Evangelion featured child soldiers and deconstructs the kid hero. However, Gundam is a real robot show and Madoka Magica has evil witches that indirectly interact with the real world yet can only be seen by Magical Girls. As such both Gundam and Madoka Magica has a lot of realistic scenarios and exploits Adult Fear.

Likewise, horror games like Bioshock, Dead Space, and Silent Hill rely on symbolic imagery to tell the story. In Bioshock, the splicers represent the dangers of unbridled capitalism. In Dead Space, the necromorphs represent misuse of religion given how the were reanimated by Scientologist Unitologists using evil artifacts. In Silent Hill, the monsters reflect some dark aspect of the characters may it be James' libido, Heather's coming-of-age, or Henry's Hikikomori habits. Point is that all these works have arbitrary events yet the symbolism works given how they villains represent specific evils of society. By using the monsters as personifications, these games can tell stories without using bloated dialogue.

In short, I guess I hoped that Eva would be more like these works with tighter story-telling and meaningful symbolism. As such, I may have been disappointed that my expectations weren't met. Maybe I'll watch it again and then have a different perspective. Then again, I am a fan of western-styled manga/anime like One Piece while most shonen otakus prefer Japanese-themed works with ninjas and samurai.

All I'll say is that if you enjoyed the chaos of Madoka, End of Evangelion might be right up your alley if you haven't seen it. The second half is some seriously spectacular stuff considering that it was made 18 years ago, and even now it's pretty unique and... WTF-ish.

I've seen Eo E and it was good. I guess I was never blown away by Eva I've already seen so many WTF grimdark works that Eva may fall into Seinfeld Is Unfunny. Also while there's nothing wrong with making a story complicated or ambiguous, many Mind Screw narratives have clearly symbolic aesthetics and smaller casts to help guide the audience. Of course, Eva has a much larger scale and iffy symbolism. Maybe since I wasn't blown away I've tried analyzing se for any greater meaning only to be frustrated having dug myself a deeper hole. Maybe I'll check out the manga or Rebuild series. I guess I'm maybe just too used to hand-holding and I'm not the right audience for Eva.

Also I mentioned liking One Piece because different audiences have different tastes. One Piece initially flopped among its target shonen demographic who are more interested in anime/manga that have Japanese aesthetics like Naruto and Bleach. One Piece was more successful among older audiences (Seinen and Josei) because they prefer western-themed anime like Cowboy Bebop and Big O. I guess, I'm not the target audience for Eva.

I personally didn’t care for the Rebuild: I felt it sacrificed way too much character depth for flashy effects.

So, what would you recommend for fans of Mind Screw, grimdark character studies?

I'd recommend Madoka Magica or Serial Experiments Lain. Alternatively, one could try out the Silent Hill 2 & 3, Metal Gear Solid 1-4, Eternal Darkness, Bioshock 1, or Dead Space 2 for video gamers.

I did like SEL, but not that much because of the disjointed plot, and I felt it wasn’t nearly as much of a Mind Screw as advertised. (I wrote a review about it here.) I hear Madoka revels way too much in hurting young girls to the point of some serious Unfortunate Implications. And, unfortunately, I’m not a video gamer.

It seems the series most closely suitable for my tastes after NGE is... Hannibal.

After some rethinking, I've decided that Evangelion really isn't the worst or best show (in my opinion). Sure it has some glaring problems but it's still worth a watch thanks to its imagination and character drama. Still better than Gundam SEED & SEED Destiny (plus Shinji is still more relatable and badass than Kira).

Also what do you mean Madoka runs into Unfortunate Implications?

BTW, try attacking trolls in a more passive-aggressive manner. Angry outrage will only encourage them.

Hey, you acknowledge Shinji as Badass! (High five)

This is purely based on what I’ve heard, as I haven’t watched it myself, but I gather that the show masquerades as a Deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre as an excuse to revel in girls getting hurt, or at least comes off as such.

Usually I tell them outright that they amuse me and I keep answering because they amuse me, because others might be thinking in earnest what they’re saying, or both. People who say Shinji’s a wimp and stuff like that, however, are not trolls, and in many cases they say that because they internalise some form of toxic masculinity and it’s terrifying.

The describing Madoka as torture porn doesn't make sense. The deaths of these characters are suppose elicit feelings of sympathy and sorrow for them. It's like saying NGE revels in abusing Otakus. Not that I'm saying Eva is an excuse for Anno to abuse people because it's not (I hope).

Say what you want about Gurren Lagann, it does make a smart point about growing up and becoming a badass. In the series, everyone keeps yelling and demanding Simon to man up and fill in for Kamina. However, he only becomes a true badass by finding his own goals and not following the path of others. If anything, the Kittan could be seen as representation of the douchebags and Shinji-haters who fail to realize that people can't man up without love and understanding. To wit: you cannot force people to grow up without understanding their problems and providing loving care. Just some food for thought. Masculinity isn't necessarily bad or evil, it's just been misused to justify Jerkass behavior.

We’re kinda going off topic here, but my problem with TTGL is that ultimately, it’s idea of what a ‘man’ is is still incredibly restrictive—as you pointed out, a ‘Badass’. A man does not have to be badass—he can be a House Husband, a kindergarten teacher, an artist, all sorts of things that make our world quietly pleasant when we want and need it to be. Contrast, for instance, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Lauren Faust made it a point to demonstrate a wide variety of femininities for young girls, including two characters whose interests are decidedly non-traditionally feminine (tomboy Rainbow Dash and farm girl Applejack) and two more who are more neutral (bookworm Twilight Sparkle and party girl Pinkie Pie), along with two traditionally feminine ones (fashionista Rarity and Friend To All Living Things Fluttershy). TTGL masculinity basically boils down to Attack Attack Attack and Honor Before Reason mentality. Even if it says ‘the way to become a real man is through compassion from others’, what constitutes a ‘real man’ is downright oppressive. I strongly disagree on the point you made about Simon becoming a man only once he has his own goals, because ultimately his goals match what’s expected of him: to work, fight like a man, and get married, and officially become a shakáijin.

Gender identity is extremely tricky to define, society has messed up about defining it. Ultimately, the closest we can come to is somewhat of a case of Circular Reasoning: a man is anyone who associates himself with that societal construct’; while there is some biological basis as to why someone would do that, it’s... complicated, to say the least, so no, I obviously would never claim it’s bad or evil. The extremely simplistic notion that TTGL gave, however, is very irritating in that it is.

NGE, on the other hand, does not have the audacity to oversimplify things. Misato makes an off-handed off-colour comment to Shinji when he first struggles to adjust to the LCL (‘You’re a man, aren’t you?!’), but that is never brought up again (and it turns out she can’t really handle men), and, not only is she, a woman (with practically no Acceptable Feminine Goals And Traits!), his primary role model, she mentions that sync rates shouldn’t be affected by menstruation (i.e. ‘no, gender doesn’t influence doing a job right’). All in all, I have a lot to say about gender roles in NGE, and it basically boils down to ‘men on NGE shoehorn women into the Hysterical Woman archetype but are actually Not So Different’, a message that is still extremely important these days. When Shinji pilots the Eva, it’s never quite clear why he does so: to protect Rei, to protect humanity, to please his father, for his own sense of accomplishment, or any combination of the above, but it is never because ‘that’s what a man does’. Gender in NGE becomes an issue when commenting on misogyny, a difference between people that is we think is deeper than it actually is, and that makes us despair further in our attempts to understand one another.

And that is just another level of beauty in NGE: Hayao Miyazaki claims he’s a feminist and keeps relying on Damsel In Distress, Knight In Shining Armor, and almost-Too Good For This Sinful Earth Heroic Sacrifice only for girls, Anno doesn’t claim anything and just is. Kinda like the Parable of the Two Sons, as if we didn’t have enough Christian themes, hah.

Svarti Kotturinn.

Since you keep bringing up women's roles, I just need to clarify my stances. I'm a biology major so I consider myself more of a Spock (or at least someone with goals of Mc Coy but methods of Spock). When it comes to feminism, I'm more concerned about providing women with more representation. To me, I don't care so much about their gender so much more so that they have likable personalities and fulfill the Mako Mori Test. I'm very utilitarian and thus I don't care so much about a person's gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity so long as he/she is a good person and acts productive in their own way. Hence the reason I never felt TTGL was sexist because I like the female characters for non-sexual reasons. But then again I would argue that Madoka Magica, Black Lagoon, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex handle women better than many other anime/manga works (which I will not mention for sake of avoiding further flamewars).

Also you just had to compare NGE to Miyazaki. There's nothing wrong with saying NGE is surprisingly feminist (afterall, Mad Max: Fury Road is very popular among feminists despite its violent nature). That said, I'd take cover from the Miyazaki fans. BTW the Parable of Two Sons is about a son realizing how much of a dickwad he is and finding forgiveness. If you want a better analogy, pick Luke 18:9-14 (pretentious retort vs subtle humility).

I didn’t know the Mako Mori test! That’s interesting. Thanks!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a Miyazaki fan myself, I’ve seen all the films he’s written and/or directed. I’m just aware that my fave is problematic.

Oh man, I’m gonna use that parable so much. There’s good reason Luke is my favourite gospel...

Svarti: I entirely agree with you on the dangers of this conception of masculinity, but you're ignoring the subtle but very strong gender normatism in NGE. It has the main cast defying gender roles, but the point is that this is a world where everything is going wrong. The subtext is that Shinji is failing to be a real man, and Asuka, Misato and perhaps Ritsuko are not being proper women. Shinji was conceived as the opposite of a shounen/super-robot hero, who is the paragon of manhood. He looks bland and colourless, has a girl's face and build, is repulsed by the mech, does everything to avoid fighting, only acts under orders or peer pressure and never makes a move on any girl. And he represents what Anno most hated in himself and his fanbase.

Shinji is implicitly condemned for not making advances on a girl who abuses him, while Misato is shamed for multiple partners. A recurring theme in portrayals of otaku is that they lack any manly qualities, and Shinji is the virgin who is too afraid to step up and approach someone, because a woman taking the initiative would be unbecoming. His defining trait is fear, he is berated for it by everyone around and considered a pathetic waste for not risking his life in an unknown cause. This is supercharged in End of, where for the first time he does whine and cry on screen (seriously, why do they say he's whiny?), and then ignores the girls but has amounts-to-sex with Kaoru, Still hates Asuka but can't bring himself to act on it, and, well, you now what cums at the start. The fans who hate Shinji for not being a man are only following Anno's lead.

TTGL is a spiritual successor that took this view of manliness to its logical extreme. One reason why I like Rebuild (and FLCL) better, despite having lost things, is that the films are far more comfortable with unorthodox gender. Shinji cooks without problem, Asuka is shown to need companionship rather than a strong man, and there isn't the aura of hatred for Shinji that distorted the series (see ep. 18).

On the religious symbolism: some is valid, much like Lillith on the crucifix is gratuitous (unlike in Utena) but overall it's meant to look strange and cosmically significant, hence the use of very obscure Kabbalism. It didn't matter what religion it was as long as it was foreign in Japan.

Though if you think Madoka is torture porn, I have to wonder how you got through End of and what it does to both girls.

I strongly disagree. First of all, the most gender-conforming man in the series (aside from Kaji, maybe) is Gendou: Fuyutsuki first met him after he’d been released from custody after a Bar Brawl, he’s calm and collected and unemotional, and he’s slept with at least three women in the series, yet he is an incredibly fucked up person. The most gender-conforming girl is Rei, and... Yeah. ‘Gender roles are undermined’ might be the one thing that’s not wrong in the world.

Shinji’s problem is that he’s an Extreme Doormat, the logical extreme of the Japanese cultural imperative of not imposing on others, as I explained in my first comment here. He sticks to this consistently, until he finally snaps and lashes out: refusing to retreat and letting his anger out on an Angel when ordered to retreat, starting to trash HQ when the Eva-03 incident happens, strangling Asuka... It’s a Deconstruction of the imperative everyone has to abide by. This is not about gender roles, but rather ubiquitous human flaws.

Also, this is not really an accusation. Anno does not hate otakus. Works that hate otaku don’t portray them so intricately and make a sincere effort to understand them and still give them this much mental fortitude. Anno was, first and foremost, frustrated. This is not a The Reason You Suck Speech, but rather, ‘You Are Better Than You Think You Are, even if you’ve been told otherwise. Stand up and walk--you have a fine pair of legs for that.’

With regards to specifics: first off, Shinji is not berated by anyone for not wanting to pilot the Eva in ep. 1. Misato tries convincing him nicely and compassionately, and Gendou is still portrayed as an arsehole. As for Asuka, bear in mind that she’s a Master Of The Mixed Message, giving an opaque hint most viewers at the time would take at face value, and she berates him for so much as trying. Anno recognises this, and, in a sense, he’s saying, ‘I hear ya: humans are weird and hard to understand.’ I have Aspergers Syndrome (and I suspect Anno does, too), and the fact that this difficulty is acknowledged means the world to me.

Also, Shinji cries three times on-screen: when he’s left by his father, when Rei is alive in ep. 6, and when Misato dies to save him. In fact, we see him as a toddler in ep. 26', holding back his tears when he’s left alone at the playground, then letting out his negative emotion as anger, kicking the pyramid he finished building (similarly to how he tried trashing the pyramid structure of HQ). This goes to show that Shinji’s problems stem in great part from not having a proper outlet for the negative emotions he’s built up from all the shit he’s had to take.

Finally, with regards to the religious symbolism, I actually think it goes way, way deeper than we think, and even involves individual episodes’ air dates. I wrote all about it on the Fridge tab, as well as on my Tumblog.

As for Madoka, once again, I’ve never watched it myself. I’m just saying this is what I’ve heard, and I seem to have heard bullshit.