Forum - View topicNeon Genesis Evangelion [more questions].
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bluesousieseki
Posts: 11 |
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I have finished watching all of NGE. I watched the movies. The re done episodes - everything. And I still do not get it. Wikipedia does not help because its full of technical jargon. So could someone please just explain how it works.
Why do the Eva's go crazy? Why is everyone clapping at the end of the series? Why does spoiler[Rei eat everyone] in the movie? What was the point of the whole anime! Now don' get me wrong. I did enjoy it, I enjoyed it a lot. I was just very confused afterward. [EDIT: Added spoiler tags. Please use them in the future for spoilers like that. - Key] |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19175 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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There are a lot of theories on this one, but IIRC it has to do with spoiler[the soul that inhabits each of the Evas and how it does or does not get along with the designated pilot. (EVA-01 has Shinji's mother's soul in it, EVA-02 has Asuka's mother's soul in it, and EVA-00 has. . . well, I don't remember, but it was something that didn't synch well with Rei.]
Because spoiler[Shinji, by his participation in the Human Instrumentality Project, had successfully come to terms with his biggest defect: that he didn't like himself. Once he decided that he shouldn't hate himself anymore, that allowed him to make a major psychological breakthrough and come to peace with things.] This is, of course, a very different situation than what happened at the end of EoE.
It's the way Instrumentality is supposed to work. The whole point of the Human Instrumentality Project is to spoiler[unite all people together to eradicate the hole in their being which isolates them from others; in others words, making them complete by making them part of the collective. Rei absorbing everyone was just a symbolic visual way of bringing all of humanity together into one collective mind and soul.]
That is very subjective. It can certainly be looked at as an examination of inherent teen angst, as most of its underlying themes, character development, and story elements involve common things that those going through adolescence must confront and come to terms with (or not and have them linger into adulthood), including feelings of loneliness, isolation, self-loathing, difficulty making connections, a search for identity, betrayal, and troubled relationships with parents. Other interpretations are certainly possible. The Evangelion Otaku Page is a good site to check out for answers to questions involving the series and original movies and various esoteric matters contained within. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12109 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Look here as well. There are threads discussing it over and over and over and over again.
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Key did a good job explaining it, but I could go a bit more in depth with my personal theory (but this is all subjective). spoiler[Because we realize that the evas contain the souls of the pilot's mother we could infer that the eva going crazy is a result of maternal instinct. The evas only go cray when the pilots are in danger of being killed. When this happens the mother's soul takes over to protect her child.] At least that's how I tend to see it.
Because spoiler[throughout the whole series Shinji is trying to come to terms with his emotions, sexuality, the outside world, and most importunately himself. At the end of the series he finally comes to the realization that he no longer hates or blames himself for everything. This is arguably the ultimate goal of the journey that he had been on this whole time. Over the course of the whole series he had been questioning his own self-worth and often thought that he was worthless unless he piloted the eva. But the others clap for him because of his accomplishment of excepting the fact that he's not worthless.]
Key nailed it.
There are so many theories about this question, I haven't even come to my own personal answer. I think in the end there is no single definitive answer to it. It's actually really interesting to read all the theories as to the meaning of it all and how different people interpret different aspects of the series. This might be why the series is so popular because each person can see what they feel in it, that more often than not we reflex our own beliefs and views into the series. One of the oddest theories that I've heard to explain Eva is the theory that spoiler[the whole series was just the imagination of Shinji while he listens back and forth to the same two tracks on his walk-man.] Of course this is one of the more out there theories but in a franchise like Evangelion you can't dismiss it. |
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Axe-336
 Posts: 143 Location: Springfield, VA |
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One of my favorite ways to look at the point of the series is as a reaction to the norms of Mecha anime. In the normal mecha anime, there might be people with personality problems, quirks, etc. But somehow they always overcome them in a big way. Even the villains will often redeem themselves. (Speaking of which, there isn't really a clear villain in Evangelion, another divergence from the norm) In Eva, no one really overcomes their problem. They might in a small way, or as long as those people who helped them are standing right there supporting them. But time and time again they slip back into their old selves.
Rei "eating" everyone is one of the more interesting parts of the show because it touches on something that is only briefly mentioned: That every person has an AT (Absolute Terror) Field. What Rei does is dispel everyone's AT Field which causes all of their conciousness to meld into one. One thing that is very interesting is that the way Rei gets them to drop their field is by presenting them with the person they love the most or feel safest around. The AT Field is what keeps people seperate from one another, that veil of absolute terror you wouldn't let anyone cross. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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It's a weird concept, but spoiler[humanity is actually the eighteenth Angel (called Lilim), albeit broken into many parts that are individually very weak. Hence the Human Instrumentality Project (at least SEELE's version) was to merely unite the disparate pieces (individual souls) and reform the Angel. That's the goal of Rei "eating" the souls.]
But here's a question I've been wanting to ask for awhile: what exactly was spoiler[Gendo's version of Human Instrumentality? I mean, I get that he wanted to be reunited with Yui, but he could have done so (and did in fact do so) under SEELE's version. So why was he defying SEELE for no apparent gain? He must have been trying to do something else, something more,] but despite it being a major plot point I've never managed to figure out what that was. |
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Ikari1
 Posts: 531 Location: London |
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dtm24- I think the point of Gendo rebelling was more to do with the fact he wanted instrumentality to happen on his own terms with Rei ( whom he thought he had a fair amount of control/emotional attachment to), being his own personal catalyst that would guarantee his being reunion with Yui. It's like would you rather take matters into your own hands on your own terms or let someone else take control of your future?
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