Since I was a teen, I’d heard bad things: That the series was a trip of the worst kind. All the Christian "symbolism"? Decorative. (This one I can cite as fact, and not opinion. Check out page 76 of the April 2011 issue of Otaku USA Magazine, they quote both assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki and the director, Hideaki Anno.) The Freudian symbolism, however? Oh, does that go deep.
Earlier this year, I marathoned eps 1-24 and End of Evangelion. At the beginning, Shinji was a loner, whiny, and had issues with his parents and his sexuality… but he had the capacity to reach out and connect with people despite difficulties. That quickly changed. Shinji’s waffling is reflective of Anno’s desire to run away from Gainax, Asuka is a metaphor for his plummeting self esteem, Rei is a female Anthropomorphic Personification of Anno’s dysthymia – which, apparently, in Japanese otaku culture, is a turn on. (As much as I dislike the characters, I must admit that aspects of Shinji’s and Asuka’s storylines hit painfully close to home for me.) I preferred the interaction between Ritsuko and Misato, the only relationship that seemed organic in the series.
So, Misato tells Shinji that he needs to care less about what other people think, so he can become a happier person. I saw 25 and 26 before this, and hated them... Instead of taking Misato’s good advice (I can’t believe I wrote those words), Shinji declares that he is defined through how others perceive him, and since they perceive him as a coward, he is content to remain one. Where's the character arc?
End of Evangelion was even worse. Shinji is dragged into the dual role of Christ and Adam kicking and screaming all the way. By the movie’s end, you can tell that he hasn’t changed for the better… because he's just tried to kill the only other living human being on the planet.
It’s a credit to fanfic authors and the undeniable, JesuOtaku approved appeal of those first few episodes that have me coming back for more, much in the same way that my dog eats what he pukes up: I want to see the movies, in the hopes that Anno has finally stopped reading Freud and picked up The Man With A Thousand Faces. An engaging story and relatable characters shouldn’t be too much to ask of him… should it?
I loathe to watch, yet I cannot turn away...
Since I was a teen, I’d heard bad things: That the series was a trip of the worst kind. All the Christian "symbolism"? Decorative. (This one I can cite as fact, and not opinion. Check out page 76 of the April 2011 issue of Otaku USA Magazine, they quote both assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki and the director, Hideaki Anno.) The Freudian symbolism, however? Oh, does that go deep. Earlier this year, I marathoned eps 1-24 and End of Evangelion. At the beginning, Shinji was a loner, whiny, and had issues with his parents and his sexuality… but he had the capacity to reach out and connect with people despite difficulties. That quickly changed. Shinji’s waffling is reflective of Anno’s desire to run away from Gainax, Asuka is a metaphor for his plummeting self esteem, Rei is a female Anthropomorphic Personification of Anno’s dysthymia – which, apparently, in Japanese otaku culture, is a turn on. (As much as I dislike the characters, I must admit that aspects of Shinji’s and Asuka’s storylines hit painfully close to home for me.) I preferred the interaction between Ritsuko and Misato, the only relationship that seemed organic in the series. So, Misato tells Shinji that he needs to care less about what other people think, so he can become a happier person. I saw 25 and 26 before this, and hated them... Instead of taking Misato’s good advice (I can’t believe I wrote those words), Shinji declares that he is defined through how others perceive him, and since they perceive him as a coward, he is content to remain one. Where's the character arc? End of Evangelion was even worse. Shinji is dragged into the dual role of Christ and Adam kicking and screaming all the way. By the movie’s end, you can tell that he hasn’t changed for the better… because he's just tried to kill the only other living human being on the planet. It’s a credit to fanfic authors and the undeniable, JesuOtaku approved appeal of those first few episodes that have me coming back for more, much in the same way that my dog eats what he pukes up: I want to see the movies, in the hopes that Anno has finally stopped reading Freud and picked up The Man With A Thousand Faces. An engaging story and relatable characters shouldn’t be too much to ask of him… should it?