Deep

[SenorNemo]

>3 pages of missing the point.

It just keeps happening. Great comic as always.

Anyway, I kinda figured that the same writer and artist who produced something like the Link arc couldn't possibly be sort who would actually hate Evangelion. And now my theory is confirmed.

 

[blackrave]

Well, EXCUSE ME for expecting some form of realism from my porn.

 

[GARforGunman]

I get the frustration with Evangelion, both the original and Rebuild series. For me, it's original intent was to be a harsh deconstruction and criticism of not only the mecha genre and anime industry but of the Japanese culture and mindset post-WWII. When the established world has been so thoroughly uprooted and the ideals and expectations you're now supposed to live by are muddled at best, it can be all to easy too run away from the real world and hide in fantasy (i.e. Shinji and company). This cast of existential nihilists was Hideaki Anno's way of making viewers see the parallels to their own world and inspire a sense of outrage and want to change it.

That's not what happened. Instead, the fan base latched onto the series in a way that only promoted this escapist mentality further, becoming one of the industry's biggest cash cows. Anno, probably frustrated with the fan's unintended reactions and already mentally unbalanced himself, decided to vent this resentment back at viewers with the characters and plot becoming even more reprehensible. By the time End of Eva rolled out (with that one infamous scene. You know the one.) you could practically hear Anno screaming in rage at the viewers from outside the sound booth. And it only furthered the series success.

In short, Eva is a man's call to action against a world gone wrong only to have its listeners do the opposite by embracing what he views as the problem. As a result, the plot and characters of his creation suffer the consequences.

To anyone looking for a version of the series that doesn't make you lose hope in humanity, I'd recommend the manga adaptation or Re-Take of Evangelion (that last one is NSFW but still worth it for fans of Shinji with balls.)

And if you want something that will really inspire initiative to change the world, watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Basically, it's Eva with a much better philosophical viewpoint, mech battles that will melt your face with sheer testosterone, and a version of Shinji with a Green Lantern power ring and the will to change the universe.

Also, the catchiest theme song I've ever heard : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6CrK6deWo

 

[Zetatrain]

I'm sticking with Mobile Suit Gundam: The 8th MS Team for my Robot Kicks at the moment. Goddamn does that show have some neat designs. Ez8!

Don't Watch the final episode!!!Trust me young one.

Oh come on its not that bad, at worst it just comes off as weird and pointless.

Anyway

In my defense, EVA 2.0 did kind of gave us the impression that Shinji was going to be less whiny and more determined in the future and yet by the end of 3.0 I swear he is more depressed than he ever was in the TV series or the movie, EOE.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

As far as Hideaki Anno and his relationship with Evangelion goes... just watch (or read the synopsis to) Wacky Delly. No seriously, I can't think of a more apt parallel than this. Eva was never meant to be a success, there was never some original vision or definitive version planned. Any chances we had at a decent and rational ending (in video format) to Evangelion was with the Rebuild series, and those chances got fucked by Anno with 3.0, the "Ha ha, you thought you were going to see a story unfold with rational character development and action? You thought wrong! Here's a bunch of actions that are only rationalized by references that you, the audience, don't understand!" chapter.

This was a trend that happened after the rise of Super Robot which showed their child characters as stable and eternally virtuous. Gundam Wing was considered one of the animes that help deconstruct this trend to show what would actually happen if a child was thrown in a war: one-dimensional bishonen personalities that can be summed up in one sentence each that send hundreds if not thousands of unsuspecting and terrified military personnel to early graves without any of them reflecting any realistic kind of psychological trauma, crises, or remorse.

Okay, but seriously, never post about Gundam Wing being any kind of rational ever again. Forever.

And don't even start about Heero/Quatre with the "I'll let the family members kill me after blowing up that plane!"/"I saw my dad die so now the colonies gotta go boom with my newly constructed Wing Zero!" bullshit. Heero is all kinds of stupidly unstable. No, not heroic, not stoic, but unstable. And no, not in a "aw, look at what war's done to him" unstable, but darwinian unstable. And Quatre? His mentality after seeing his dad die is... what, "space is too militarized so now I'll destroy all the colonies?" That's three kinds of retarded, considering the other members of the rest of his fucking family live in space. And he says that after saying "what the colonies need... is a war!" The fuck?

I admit that Anno has his head up his ass sometimes but given the depression and death threats, he is more than in his right to kind of want to screw us over. Plus, Eva started out as a normal mecha just with more blood and ended up being a sort of decontruction. It may not have had an original purpose but it kind of has one now. I honestly don't think we can evaluate the rebuild movies until the final movie comes out but I do think that Eva 3.0 while off does still have it's bright points

As for Wing, Heero and Quatre went insane through the Zero system. While i do admit that you certainly bring up points leading to preexisting psychosis, I do think that over insanity is a bit more plausible than being able to stay perfectly optimistic like with some of the early mechas.

 

[2cool4u]

Wow, the puppetmaster defense in The Year Of Our Lord 2014? Just so you know, this is what 4chan has to say on the matter:

Spoiler

When 4chan, of all places, thinks you're a fool, it's time to rethink your position.