I have been on multiple layers of the same quest to watch a lot of shows and movies. One such component of the quest has involved watching anime that is considered to be "important", "significant", or was mentioned a lot in articles I had to read in school and today I have finished watching one of the most talked about anime ever: "Neon Genesis Evangelion."
Before I talk about that, here's a brief background of my experience with anime.
The first anime I ever watched (excluding "Poke Mon" of course) was "Fruits Basket" which is your typical angsty shojo anime with a magical element. Since then, mostly through influence of friends, I have somehow been able to see tons of anime that is considered "popular" without seeing some of the most popular ones of our time.
Let me show you in list form:
Kind of chronologically I have seen:
"Fruits Basket" (and read manga)
"Death Note" (lie, I read the manga and saw a few episodes)
"FLCL" (need to rewatch; also read manga)
"Negima" (some of it)
"Fullmetal Alchemist" (here I'm referring to the original which is considered to be one of the greatest anime ever
"Ouran High School Host Club" (also read remaining manga and decided it was unnotable and that I actually preferred the show in a lot of ways)
"Cowboy Bebop" (need to rewatch)
"The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" (the original; not the additional ones)
"Gravitation"
"Blood+" (about 12 episodes)
"Loveless"
"X/1999" (I just remember thinking it was crappy)
"Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood"
"Ghost in the Shell" (the first movie)
"Hetalia: Axis Powers" / "Hetalia: World Series"
"Akira"
"Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann"
Not too bad a list? Think of what popular ones are missing:
"Bleach"
"Naruto"
"Yu-Gi-Oh"
"Code Geass"
"One Piece"
"Prince of Tennis"
"Ranma 1/2"
"Chobits"
"Rurouni Kenshin"
"Samurai Champloo"
"Vampire Knight"
"Gundam" (anything with that word in the title)
"Tsubasa" (although I've read "xxxHolic")
"DN Angel"
"Black Butler"
"Baccano!" (only notable because I'm told I would like it)
And I have no desire to see anything on the popular list aside from maybe "Baccano!" and "Code Geass".
About the first list there are a few shows up there where I really liked the manga and the show was just a decent representation of something I already liked. The only anime I particularly liked from that list was "Hetalia: Axis Powers", "Ouran", and "Akira" although I remember generally enjoying "FLCL" and "Cowboy Bebop"; I just don't remember the shows. I also generally enjoyed "Gurren Lagann" but I'll get to that.
So "Evangelion."
Where do I start with this?
It's considered either the greatest anime ever or the most over-hyped anime ever and yet again I find myself falling into the middle of the spectrum: I thought it was good, parts of it I would even say were great, I can understand why it's so praised, but at the same time I think there are a lot of valid arguments as to why it's over-hyped.
Let me break this down.
So "Evangelion" has a LOT of elements to it which is why one of the criticisms of the show is that it tries to tackle too many things at once.
The Characters:
Every character in this show is damaged.
Every one.
They all have varying mommy or daddy (or dead wife?) issues and entirely different ways of coping with them.
Here's the funny thing: I am a rather loud critic of the first "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime for it's excessive use of emo as a method of psychological deconstruction but in this show, even though everyone is running amok with problems, I never found myself screaming for them to shut up and stop crying. Even Shinji, the emo anime character archetype, only bothered me in the first half of the show which I generally saw as inferior to the more psychological second half.
However, in spite of my appreciation of the way this cast of issues was handled, the only characters I actually really liked were Misato and Kaji. BUT I didn't hate anyone. If characters are well fleshed out and multi-dimensional, I find I can't hate them (even characters like Envy and Kimblee to use "FMA" as an example). That's really rare for me and some credit needs to be given for that.
The Design:
Apparently this show is noted for its character design and it's probably because I was six when this came out that I feel like I missed the point here. I can see that the character designs at the time were really revolutionary (when I compare it to my earliest anime source "Akira", I can see the evolution of art) but at this point those kinds of designs are so prevalent, I can't really see it.
I can however give props to the designs of the Evas for the fact that while they look like robot mecha, the transition to "OMG, they're made from Angel DNA" was made more convincing by their design.
The Mecha Aspect:
. . . Okay, to use a quote from the TVTropes page, "This is a giant robot saga the same way Twin Peaks was a cop show." Having seen "Twin Peaks" I would say the comparison is dead on. However, I still need to address the mecha aspect.
Here's why I have an aversion to mecha shows: Long fight scenes without plot important dialogue or elements bore me. To use an example, "Poke Mon" didn't bore me very often because there was usually some plot important reason for a fight and because no fight ever went perfectly and simply (like say, a video game battle would). In mecha shows, there are whole episodes devoted to fighting one enemy without anything plot-based happening and this show certainly had its moments too but they were mostly contained in the first half (kind of in the same way that people watched "Twin Peaks" for a while before realizing there was a supernatural element *cough* my mom *cough*).
For me the mecha-heavy parts in the beginning were something to push through so I could find out why this show is so praised.
The Religious Connections:
I go back and forth on this. On one hand, I find it kind of corny and maybe even heavy-handed to have such strong use of the Bible and other religious aspects to back the "plot" (why plot is in quotes will make sense eventually). On the other hand, it's a clever idea that elevates the show from some kind of evil mastermind antagonist to more of a natural ancient conspiracy that your opinion on may differ.
My biggest problem with this that I will get into more under the "Plot" section has to do with how it was woven into the story, not it's presence in the first place.
The Psychology:
This is what I will point to as being the reason this show is good.
First of all, the creator Hideaki Anno was going through clinical depression when he made this show. THIS BECOMES APPARENT.
Truly, the point of this show is the psychological themes and that is what I think is the real plot. This plot does connect to the "plot" of course but the "plot" really takes something of a backseat to the crazy mental journeys you are shoved into while the "plot" is happening. By the end of the show, in particular today when I watched episodes 22-26, I felt like I had been diagnosed with depression, had a breakdown, got some extensive therapy, and recovered all in the time I spent watching it. Essentially, I was mind-fucked and it was awesome. Again, it's well-written characters and a well constructed analysis of the mind that can cause that and for that, I can see why this show is good.
The Use of Resources:
While making this show, the quality of the animation gets progressively . . . well, more scant. The reason for that is literally because Studio Gainax was running out of money which is at least part of the reason for the abstract ending of the show. Personally, I thought the shift into full psychology mode was great and a much better ending that the "End of Evangelion" movie one that followed, but I'll talk about that more below.
The "Plot":
Here lies my biggest complaint.
Either I wasn't paying close enough attention or the "plot" was not explained very well. I had to read some online FAQs in order to fully understand what happened here because the show was not clear about this at all.
The main things I couldn't get by the end of the show? How is SEELE connected to NERV? Do they both want to bring on the Third Impact? Is the Third Impact directly related to the Human Instrumentality Project? What caused the Second Impact/First Impact and what will cause the Third? Why are the Angels attacking? Whose side is Gendo on? Whose side is Kaji on? What happens when you defeat the last Angel? What exactly is the significance of them having both Adam and Lilith?
Now, if you've seen the show, you'd know that these questions are REALLY FLIPPING IMPORTANT to answer in order to know what the crap is going on (although as I said, slightly less important than the psychology of the characters).
Again, it all makes sense to me now that I read some external sources but I really should have been able to get all of that from the show and somehow I didn't. Is this because I'm a bad watcher or the show was a bad explainer?
Also, without the "plot" even making sense I decided that the Human Instrumentality Project aspect of the show was a brilliant showcase for the psychology of it as was the connection of human brutality and science vs. religion/overtaking God.
BUT it all could have been explained WAY better.
Finally, we have come to the most controversial part of the show.
The Ending(s).
Contrary to popular opinion, I actually liked the first ending, the original anime ending of episodes 25 and 26 better than the alternate ending in "End of Evangelion." Alternate ending may be a bit strong though because the same thing happens but in completely different ways.
In the original last two episodes, the mentalities of the four main characters are explored in an abstract kind of way through images and a kind of back and forth therapy session that forces them to admit their true feelings. The "plot" is actually not present at all.
In the end, Shinji concludes that it is better to be a part of the real world as it is than to live in this "evolved" state without interaction, pain or pleasure and he is congratulated by the other characters on his discovery.
I like the ambiguity and the fact that we don't really know what happens from there aside from the fact that a full character arc has been made and they have all come to terms with their issues.
My one big criticism is that it would have made worlds more sense if they had said in the beginning of episode 25 that the Human Instrumentality Project has started. While, you can kind of get that from what's happening, it's really unclear why the style has shifted seemingly out of nowhere and how it connects at all to the "plot." That one little detail would have made everything better.
In the other ending, the "plot" plays out how you would expect it to leading up to the Human Instrumentality Project.
Essentially, SEELE attacks NERV and tries to kill them all, all the adult characters die in fitting ways, the Third Impact happens (when Adam merges with Lilith through Rei) and this starts the Human Instrumentality Project (answering one of my many "plot" questions above). After that it's just Shinji's mind in kind of the same way the 26th episode is.
The interesting part is the last scene which is in some ways less ambiguous than the last scene of the show and in some ways more: Shinji escapes the Project (in the same way as in the show) but ends up in an empty Earth with Asuka who has presumably also escaped. He starts to strangle her and then stops when she reminds him of his mother and then it ends with her saying, "How disgusting."
I'm still trying to figure out what this means.
Here are some thoughts:
* Initially I thought of them as a new generation of Cain and Abel but he didn't actually kill her so that could be some kind of idea about the gentle nature of the new world populated by those afraid of pain.
* It could be that he actually regretted leaving the Project and in his initial shock, tried to kill her (think like when "Buffy" came back from the dead and thought she was in hell) because he didn't want to face the pain associated with human contact only to be more intimate with her than he really ever was in his effort to kill her.
* Adam and Eve: It could have been fear out of the fact that they were the only ones who made it out (so far) and they only had each other. They would have to keep the species going and he wasn't mentally prepared for that until his Oedipal complex kicked in and he was okay with his fate. Asuka's "How disgusting" would make a lot of sense in this context since although she likes him she is too immature to admit it (see: kiss scene).
* In another disgusting sense, this scene in a way mimics the first scene of the movie when Asuka is unconscious and Shinji masturbates over her ("choking", get it?). Death and sex. Creation and destruction. Although in this case the death is more intimate than the sex. Perhaps he came to this revelation and concluded that he couldn't kill her because he hasn't fully gotten over his difficulties interacting with people.
Whatever the explanation, I love things that make me think so overall I was pleased with (at least the second half) of my "Neon Genesis Evangelion" experience.
Although I think overall I can't imagine watching it again, at least not in only three days.
*lets out a breath finally*
Anime is an interesting thing. Although I don't like it in the sense that the otaku does (in a building-other-worlds-for-myself sense), the more I watch of these "important" anime (starting with "FLCL" but becoming more prominent around "Akira"), the more I am viewing it not as a separate genre but as something that can be enjoyed or deconstructed alongside quality live action television (what little of it there is) and movies. This fact tends to get lost among the general public though because it is so often lost behind the fact that it's animated (stereotypically a children's medium), the silliness that is found in many (again seen as childish), the style that some find too odd (even though most don't realize that anime style comes from Disney), and the mash-up of genres that is never attempted to such a degree in the Western world (and if it is, it's often met with scorn).
One of these days I will write a highly academic paper as a companion piece to one of the articles I read in Youth and Immaturity on yaoi that will be all about deconstructing the often missed brilliance of "Ouran High School Host Club" (it's a perfect example of a parody that is simultaneously played so straight that people miss the parody aspect).
Evangelion is yet another example of how you can take something and make it extremely complex by adding more filling. The core plot can be summed as this:
ReplyDeleteSeele was a big religious organization that discovered the Dead Sea scrolls that tell about how aliens made the world and how all their crazy technology works. They keep these scrolls secret and start plotting to become god-like beings at the expense of the rest of humanity. Gendo is a member of Seele that eventually decided to go on its own, and ironically sees his son doing the same (to him) at the end.
That's it, that's the entire plot once you strip all the filler, no longer feels that intricate and enigmatic does it? But you can say the same from a lot of other works like 2001.
The ending, well I guess most people like the movies because of all the awesome fights, the violence and the insane crap that happens during the ascension of the EVA. Let's be honest the original ending while more profound was also very boring to watch, and again something that could be summarized rather than extended to the point it becomes monotonous.
As for FMA I thing that the reason the original was more popular than Brotherhood is because its more mature and less manga-like. The ending of BH was classic shonen with a climatic fight to the last consequences where everybody is supporting Ed and everything ends well. The original was far darker and bittersweet, there is no actual closure: Al comes back as a kid, Ed ends up in real world Germany and still missing his limbs. One is a happy ending by the book, the other a "at least we aren't dead" ending.
I definitely agree with you on Evangelion being a simple premise with a lot of additions aside from your assessment that the original ending was more boring to watch. I know I'm in this weird minority of people here to be saying this but I was far more into the original than the movie. My tolerance for slow, abstract things is very high while fight scenes have a tendency to tap into my ADD faster than anything else.
DeleteAnd on your assessment of FMA, I am told constantly that the first anime was darker and more mature and I really think that comment comes from the fact that it isn't so much darker than the manga but that it lacks the humor that often lightens up any dark scene in the manga so the overall balance feels like it falls more on the cynical side. I agree that the ending leaves you feeling less hopeful, of course, and that is a fairly rare concept in shonen but I ultimately have never been able to like the original anime as much as the manga because I feel like it has too many plot holes and filler episodes (as someone who has a very detail-oriented mind, this is hard for me look past) and when it does use humor, it's humor that I find a bit too silly. I certainly won't argue with someone's right to like the original anime more than Brotherhood or the manga and I can acknowledge that it has its merits but I have personally always felt like the manga is a more complexly and neatly composed story.