Forum - View topic"Get In The Robot, Shinji"
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elahe123
Posts: 2 |
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Guys, i need a thorough analysis of the show that explains every little detail of the story, symbols and stuff like that; preferably in an episodic structure so that nothing is overlooked. Can anyone suggest a site or link that you consider as a good and complete analysis?
I would appreciate it very much Thanks in advance |
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Alexis.Anagram
 Posts: 278 Location: Mishopshno |
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Great article; I've always been bothered by this strain of generalized reaction to Shinji as a character which leans into presuppositions about how boys and men are meant to behave, and the degrees to which they are socially permitted to express their feelings or even to feel things at all, so that even for those who don't identify with or draw the connection to the lived experience of depression it still stands as an obviously problematic take on the material to suggest that Shinji should "get in the robot" because that's what is expected of him. What ought to drive this home for the audience is that there is a character in the show who represents Shinji's direct antithesis, who wants to be the hero and prove her worth by fulfilling her duty and who wants to believe that she is strong enough and special enough to somehow matter in an indifferent world (and who is brutally unwilling to empathize with Shinji, much like a lot of people who watch the show): Asuka embodies the hero fantasy, and look at what happens to her. That is to say, while Shinji's experience of depression provides really important context to help us understand his behavior and thought processes, and the thesis structuring his personal arc, Shinji's depression is not the central problem in Evangelion for anyone but himself: Anno makes it overwhelmingly clear that even if Shinji were of perfectly sound mental health, "getting in the [expletive] robot" would still represent a terrible mistake. Learning to desire abuse, not comprehending one's own abuse, being able to mentally withstand abuse-- none of those things make abuse OK, and Anno leaves no room for any of the adult abusers in the show, or their enablers, to make a case for themselves.
In that spirit, I tend to take a somewhat broader view of the show as an unwavering criticism of exploitative, authoritarian systems as a general, unnecessary evil in society which too often go unchallenged or are regarded as insurmountable; while Shinji's internal objective of self-actualization is important for the resolution of his conflict as the protagonist and carries important messaging for folks who have experienced that personal struggle for ourselves, it strikes me as an insufficient answer to the structural realities that make, i.e., Gendo's abuse of Shinji possible in the first place. And I think Anno knows this and that informs the two endings we have so far: the TV ending places Shinji's internal reality first and foremost, as a way of indicating what it is he can do (try to change his own view of himself, learn to live for his own reasons, etc.) and framing it as a hard-earned victory (which it is), while End of Eva provokes the question of what we do after that. How do we move from a place of emotional self-obsession to affecting positive interactions with the world-- while also balancing that drive against our need to consciously engage in self-care and avoid slipping back into a hopeless worldview? And because there are no easy answers, Eva elects to leave it as just that: a bold question mark, put straight to the audience. What are you going to do now? Whatever the answer, it's not "get in the robot." |
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2459 |
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This is not what you want - as Nick is less interested in analyzing the in-story symbolism than the characters and the crafting of the show - but you can read his write-ups here: http://wrongeverytime.com/tag/neon-genesis-evangelion/ Nick has reviewed plenty of stuff on ANN, notably Hero Academia's manga and Mob Psycho's first season among several several others. |
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icelava
 Posts: 30 |
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Must have been some kind of local wildfire in North America. NGE was the masterpiece title that fundamentally re-established my foundation on what anime can be used to represent. Fairly quickly, I became near obsessed with absorbing as much information/interpretations as possible to boost my own understanding of its profound themes.
But never in my life of the past two decades have I heard/read a person blurt out that particular meme; didn't know of its existence. Perhaps it's because I always watch anime in original Japanese source, thus never had to bother with foreign dub dialogue (that often have to make do without Japanese directors' involvement), and whatever quirky lines that might have resulted from that. |
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Commander Cluck
 Posts: 123 |
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I'm right there with you. I've never really heard people meme on the robot line anywhere near as much as I have lines from Dragonball Z Abridged and Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. If you want to talk about memes and jokes which have ruined the consumption of a piece of media in the English speaking fandom, those two are prime candidates. |
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Scion Drake
Posts: 941 |
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Ironically those mediums are what kept the fanbase alive at least in DB’s case in the large lulls of content over the years. Plus they have helped bring new fans into the shows after all. |
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icelava
Posts: 30 |
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Heh I've never watched Dragonball or YGO either so the only thing I know is over 9000. Perhaps I've been paying too much attention to All your base are belong to us for way too long. Last edited by icelava on Thu Jun 27, 2019 1:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Gray Lensman
Posts: 143 |
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There is even a youtube channel with that name "Get In The Robot" which does comic and anime reviews - they straight up admit they took the name from the Evangelion quote. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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I first watched EVA when I was about 12, just after finishing DBZ. The contrast between the two types of shows was so great that I had kinda figured out the difference between "entertainment anime" and the "serious stuff for the serious fan". At the time I was shocked at how deeply I could identify with EVA's characters and their struggles. After I re-watched EVA over a decade later, my impression was a bit different. I was still impressed by this emotional rollercoaster but I appreciated it from a more distant perspective. It is not one of my top 5 favorites anymore but I will respect it as an fundamental cornerstone of the development of animation.
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