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Buried Treasure - Hideaki Anno Talks to Kids

THEN, the story line veers into uncharted territory attempting to plumb the psyches of these special children and the nature of the human mind. Whether it's done well or ill is not the point; a psychodrama was not what most viewers were expecting based on the beginning of the story and this change in story type is not acceptable to many in the audience.

Personally, I liked NGE pretty well except for the incomprehensible last two episodes of the TV show; End of Evangelion answered most of the pressing questions of 'how and why' (except what happens after the final scene).

bcbenn wrote:

THEN, the story line veers into uncharted territory attempting to plumb the psyches of these special children and the nature of the human mind. Whether it's done well or ill is not the point; a psychodrama was not what most viewers were expecting based on the beginning of the story and this change in story type is not acceptable to many in the audience. Personally, I liked NGE pretty well except for the incomprehensible last two episodes of the TV show; End of Evangelion answered most of the pressing questions of 'how and why' (except what happens after the final scene).

This is the reason why I'm an anime fan: those psyches (and what Shinji and presumably Anno goes through) is something I was able to relate to very deeply; I could see a lot of myself in the characters. As such, I found the series, and the last two episodes especially, very meaningful.

But to those who've never gone through such a thing, it just looks like emo vomit, and I completely understand that point of view.

I chose the name because it sounds complicated.

When the very first meeting was held before the title had even been decided, Anno already had the theme of "a battle between gods and humans" (i.e. a story on a grand scale influenced by the likes of Go Nagai's "Devilman") and proposed the name "Alcion (Arushion)", but Sadamoto disagreed strongly because it did not sound "strong" enough, and pushed "Evangelion" even though it had already been rejected once.

This is the reason why I'm an anime fan: those psyches (and what Shinji and presumably Anno goes through) is something I was able to relate to very deeply; I could see a lot of myself in the characters. As such, I found the series, and the last two episodes especially, very meaningful.

It's not so much that the religious imagery and symbols in Evangelion are "chosen at random", but nor is it that there's a concrete interpretation of them possible to the viewer.

Love is not unconditional, if you think I'd love someone who beat me you've got another thing coming, this whole "in love" thing is fascist, I would however make friends with someone with depression, maybe I could help them out of it.

In the case of NGE, the story began quite conventionally as an action-adventure teenage power fantasy: a tiny group of teenagers with special powers will save the world from powerful, cruel and incomprehensible enemies.

In fairness there is much effort to draw characters and relationships from the beginning, but the emphasis remains on what seem to be giant robots controlled by the teens that save the world by fighting physical enemies, one after another.

THEN, the story line veers into uncharted territory attempting to plumb the psyches of these special children and the nature of the human mind. Whether it's done well or ill is not the point; a psychodrama was not what most viewers were expecting based on the beginning of the story and this change in story type is not acceptable to many in the audience.

But to those who've never gone through such a thing, it just looks like emo vomit, and I completely understand that point of view.

Quote:

But to those who've never gone through such a thing, it just looks like emo vomit, and I completely understand that point of view.

I've gone through and seen people in similar circumstances, and I still can't relate. There is no sense of effort or growth on the part of the characters. They're just as one-dimensional as anyone from the latest harem show, which is ironic, given that Eva has its own dating sim spin-offs.

No, if you're expecting someone with truly clinical/chemical depression to put forth anything resembling effort, you have clearly never gone through it yourself.

The very nature of that level of depression is that you can't bring yourself to care about anything. It's not necessarily sadness per se, you can barely force yourself to get out of bed in the morning. You become like Shinji, a useless wet noodle that can't motivate yourself to do anything. And then the despair of doing nothing feeds on itself, and you feel useless -- a waste of air, and powerless to do anything about it. THAT's clinical depression.

Shinji doesn't grow towards the end of the series, he falls apart. It's only in the (to many people) "incomprehensible" last episode that he actually breaks out of this vicious cycle and begins to grow and have some sense of self-worth.

Perhaps I haven't, but I've still seen people who were medicated who still seemed more real than the characters in Eva.

The problem is that he doesn't act depressed. He just has a wishy-washy
approach to things. For example, he can't decide whether to run away or keep working at NERV. He clearly needs a spine more than self-confidence.

I personally feel he's just chosen to be brain-washed into accepting his situation, so he can be respected by his friends and family.

I didn't even know kids in Japan watched Eva. I always thought it was more for older fans. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Maybe because the characters in Eva aren't medicated?

If he were to run away, he'd have to commit to it. If he stays at NERV and takes it seriously, he needs to grow up/get a spine/make a commitment. Making a committment at that sort of stage is impossible for clinically depressed people, because they're stuck in the notion that no matter what they do, they will utterly and completely fail at it.

edit: mind you, I have not watched episodes 25 and 26 of Evangelion in roughly 8 years or so. I should get around to rewatching the series at some point.

A lot of people don't like emotional males in anime but the way people appear to hate Shinji just seems to go far beyond all that.

karenai_hana wrote:

@ Ingraman: It was the July 2003 issue with Stellvia on the cover.

Well, I dug through the shelf that I keep my old (and dismembered) anime magazines on, and found that I've got AnimePlay issues 1 and 2. Stellvia is on #1. Yay! I've got the video!

Yeah, the subtitling leaves a little to be desired. ; I'll (?re-)watch it tonight.