End of Evangelion: THE HELL WAS THAT?

[TakerFoxx]

Seeing how the show pretty much charts the progress of a mentally unstable man as he undergoes therapy and explores issues, the mindfuckery is to be expected. It's actually kind of fascinating, as when the show began, it was kind of moody but more subdued, as if in "I have problems but I don't want to talk about them." But when the director does finally start getting help, those issues get blown wide open. Hence, the latter part of the series and End of Evangelion.

The Rebuild Series is pretty much the same man after being rehabilitated and having spent several years in a happy marriage.

 

[Angie7F]

It is my favorite anime film too, but when i first watched it, I was totally lost and did not follow the story at all.
I think the series is largely popular due to the fact that is has a incomplete story and has had fans trying to figure it out for so many years.

I recently watched the Macross and Gundam series, but they are so properly made that once I watch it through, I am pretty much happy with it and will move on to the next series. EOE does not allow me to do that at all.

I think it is one of those things where you will either love or hate it.
I think Akira is similar in a sense.
But if the new series can make new records on its release, there must be a lot of people who identify with it.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

-snip-

You basically saw the grand finale to a series by a guy who was literally off his rocker when he did it and was also his big F### YOU to fans who hated how it originally ended.

Seeing the preceding series helps (generally seeing/reading series from start to finish is a good idea) but in this case I suspect it wouldn't have helped much.

Neon Genesis Evangelion pretty much kick-started the angst train and is more of psychologically driven drama than a mecha story anyway.

If that isn't your thing, than it isn't your thing. Forcing yourself to watch it isn't going to help you.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Weirdly enough, I don't like NGE but I'd happily sit through this movie again. It's like going on an acid trip where you see giant mechs brutalizing the fuck out of eachother, giant naked girls sprouting from the earth, vagina foreheads, people turning into tang and a catchy but depressing song overlooking the end of the world.

And it sure as hell makes for a better climax than this:

 

[Project_Xii]

After reading all these comments.....

I feel I REALLY need to see this anime. Nothing this fucked up should be missed! I've never watched a single Evangelion (hates mechs usually so just avoided), but can someone suggest the bare minimum ones to watch? Remakes/reboots or something?

 

[CrazyGirl17]

...Oh dear... what you have to understand is that at the time Hideaki Anno was... not well, not to mention his marital issues.

Also, the movie was made as a "Take That" to all the fans who complained about the show's ending... to the point of sending death threats. (Jesus Christ! Priorities people!) And as much as I enjoy seeing crazy fans taken down a peg or two...or ten... this was not the way to do it. (Thank God EA/Bioware didn't go this route after Mass Effect 3...)

Thankfully, Anno is in a better mental state now, and making the Rebuild of Evangelion movies, which (hopefully) will have a better ending than this movie (or even the TV show...)

 

[Worgen]

Dude, watch this, the good stuff starts at like 1:50

Dammit Worgen, I almost doubted you there. First I thought you were going to do the dick thing where you can't back up an argument so you slap a video on to talk for you. Then I actually watched it.

Ran out of ink didn't you, you bastards!

Your first mistake was to ever doubt me and that I would deliver something that wasn't awesome.

I've heard that the main guy behind the series, Hideaki Anno started hating it about half way though and that is why the last half of it starts getting so weird but I don't have any links to prove it.

 

[xedobubble]

NGE basically split its episodes between giant monster battles and navel-gazing/emo whinging, depending on how charitable you are. The ending to the TV show completely abandoned monster battles to focus on the navel gazing conclusion, making it bizarre and hated by the fans that followed the show for the actual plot rather than the character/philosophical threads.

The movie is basically the antithesis of that - all monster battles, no emo whinging at all. But I always felt it was a Take That directed at the fanbase. The death threats sent to Hideaki were the kanji that flashed up during the show, which is weird and creepy to say the least. But I also thought that the movie stripped away a lot of the character development that the show had built up, at least for Shinji, Rei, and Misato.

 

[beniki]

-snip-

I like talking about this, as I have a unique opinion on Eva, which raised my appreciation of it considerably.

It's satire of big mecha anime.

It takes the premise of teenage boy piloting giant war machine in spandex, and just changes one variable: it makes the boy more realistic. Shinji is actually the most level headed of all the characters. He doesn't buy into the completely insane situations and world, whereas the rest of the cast can't understand his lack of enthusiasm. Part of what makes it so uncomfortable to watch is just how close to home the satire gets. Even the bizarre religious imagery is a reference to the chaotic art design big mecha anime tends to have.

Sadly, no one got the joke. Some dismissed it, and some, perhaps more damaging to the creator, took it seriously.

The original ending was pitch perfect... it neatly portrayed the shoe horned in ethical message that nearly all anime has, including the often trippy sequences associated with final episodes. The only thing different they did was cut out the action sequences, leaving it more as an abstract evaluation of big mecha anime in general. That... really doesn't work with the general anime watching public. This is an audience that appreciates stability in story telling, with obvious checkpoints (beach party episode, hot springs episode etc... all of which Eva parodies in subtle ways). So a remake was made.

End of Evangelion can either be looked at as making the parody more obvious (which was unsuccessful), or as is more often interpreted, the creator literally ripping apart his own creation as an attack on the fans. It's all there. Watch it again, and bring with you a checklist of stuff you'd expect to see in a finale, and look for the twist on each one.

Neon Genesis Evangelion has depth... just not the kind of depth that everyone thinks it has.

 

[Sylveria]

First off.. I'm very sorry you watch EoE. May your recovery be speedy.

Second.. I still have no clue what that mindfuckery was or was supposed to be. All I know is I was so pissed afterwards I've never watched anything Evangelion related since.

 

[bearlotz]

Spoiler: snip

Oookaaaay, I have watched only a few anime series all the way through, and NGE is not one of them. I really, really did not like the show, and I put it down in disgust. I've tried watching the 2.0 film reboots, and they are still full of the whinging self hatred that Mister Anno seems to have for himself, but they were paced better at least.

Still, I just watched EOE at a friend's request. Excuse me, but what in the flying fuck was that? I knew about the pile of people goo instrumentality, but seriously, what the fuck?

The ending of the movie was basically "watch shit explode in torrents of blood brought to you from the night terrors of the creator" before diving into fifteen minute long monologues against fucking bizarre imagery.

And that was just the ending. Even when there was some semblance of normality in the beginning, you still had to contend with bizarre shit like Shinji the world's most neurotic teenager jerking off over Asuka in the medical ward. And the frankly incomprehensible story did not help things. Seele wants to shut down Nerv by using their own Evas, then Gendo turns out to be wanting this, while everyone gets slaughtered or impaled on a spear before getting eaten by giant robot birds before the seizure inducing pile of goo parade.

So.... yeah. The fuck was that!?

I feel the need to add something, before you start accusing me of not getting it for not watching the series. I repeat, I didn't choose to watch this. I watched it because my friend put it on and I had nothing else to do. It was not my choice to watch this madness.

As discussion, what the hell did you think of EOE when you saw it? Were you more accepting of is going into the film as a fan of the series, or were you press ganged like me into watching it and being utterly lost?

CAPTCHA: Whoops a daisy

that doesn't begin to describe the film.

Your friends did you a massive disservice here, if you hadn't seen the entire series then you really went into this marathon with both kneecaps shot out. Beyond that several people have already posted (extremely) thorough explanations of both the movie and the entire series as well as the various religious symbolism and the author's deteriorating mental state here.

I really liked both the movie and the series. Without question it's one of the most seriously fucked-up things I have ever seen in my life, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. For all the hating that Shinji gets, I think most of his actions are pretty understandable.

Spoiler: because reasons

His mother died when he was very young, his father straight-up abandoned him to the care of his teacher, and he lives in a world that has just recently recovered from "post-apocalypse" status. The story picks up in the series where he has been called to come see his father for some unknown reason and eagerly goes, thinking that maybe his father wants to spend some time with him or get to know him. Instead, he gets dragged into a military base to finally see his father...who promptly informs him that his only reason for being here is to merge his mind, body, and soul with a false god created by mankind by reverse-engineering the Angels (i.e., the beings responsible for the current state of the world) and go fight another Angel who is currently attempting to finish what the first one started. When he quite rationally says "No way in hell, I've never even seen one of these things before and I am grossly unqualified for this job. I wouldn't have even come here if I knew what was going to happen", they guilt-trip him by rolling in a bandaged and broken girl on a hospital gurney and telling him "If you don't do it, then we're going to make her do it. Your call though". So he does it, he takes this false-god-machine out for a spin to fight the Angel...and gets a hole punched through his freaking head (recall the direct nervous system link to the Eva). And throughout the series, he continues to get back into the Eva and pilot it, not because he wants to but because this is the only way he knows to even attempt to get the barest recognition from his father.

The characters aren't supposed to be likable or relatable, they are horribly broken human beings trying to exist in a world that sees them as dutiful heroes first and human beings with human needs second. It calls into question the attitude of the children in most mecha anime and that of the military or other organizations who force them into that situation.

It depends on what you want to do: you could dismiss it as the psychotic ramblings of an unbalanced basket case, or you could watch the series to give the movie a fair shake. If it's not your thing then it's not your thing, but at this point you don't really have enough information to judge that if all you've seen is the movie. My personal rule for judging anime is to watch the first 5 episodes before evaluating it, that's usually enough time to get the gist of what the show is about and what tone it will take as well as answering some general questions about the universe it takes place in.

 

[Falseprophet]

Oookaaaay, I have watched only a few anime series all the way through, and NGE is not one of them. I really, really did not like the show, and I put it down in disgust. I've tried watching the 2.0 film reboots, and they are still full of the whinging self hatred that Mister Anno seems to have for himself, but they were paced better at least.

Still, I just watched EOE at a friend's request. Excuse me, but what in the flying fuck was that? I knew about the pile of people goo instrumentality, but seriously, what the fuck?

I first saw EOE some time around 1998-99 with my university's anime club. There were 200-300 people, most of us big fans of NGE, which was the biggest hit in anime in years.

When the movie ended, the lights came up, and everyone was silent for a good 2 minutes. Then everyone starting saying the exact same thing; "What the fuck was that!?"

I loved NGE around the time it was coming out, when I was a university student just getting into anime with free time to pursue fan theories online. Today, I don't think I'd have any patience for it. But I still respect it for being one of the last expressions of an anime auteur. Satoshi Kon is dead, Katsuhiro Otomo hasn't done anything in years, Miyazaki takes 4 years between films and probably doesn't have too many left in him. Anno's NGE is one of the last anime masterpieces with vision, however twisted and disturbed that vision was.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

After reading all these comments.....

I feel I REALLY need to see this anime. Nothing this fucked up should be missed! I've never watched a single Evangelion (hates mechs usually so just avoided), but can someone suggest the bare minimum ones to watch? Remakes/reboots or something?

As I stated in my earlier post the Mecha are more plot devices than anything and the series is more psychologically driven drama than Mecha dukeing it out.

There is only one season plus the End of Evangelion movie. (There is also the reboot movies which are up to number 3 but they are nowhere as trippy as the original).

DO NOT do what the OP did and see the movie first.

 

[Iwata]

Some people like it, I guess. I was enjoying it up to the point it decided to stop being a mecha anime and decided to be 2001: A Space Odyssey instead.

 

[Vhite]

Im not a huge anime fan, I only watched few animes and I always fought of Eva as something for few hardcore anime fans that can appreciate hidden symbolism over many episodes and movies or just love it or hate it thing that I would probably hate.
But wow, this is so wrong. I saw some fucked up shit but nothing has ever made me feel so bad. Its absolutely disgusting.

So where do I begin? Would any Evangelion fan help an aspiring fan on what to watch and in what order?

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Im not a huge anime fan, I only watched few animes and I always fought of Eva as something for few hardcore anime fans that can appreciate hidden symbolism over many episodes and movies or just love it or hate it thing that I would probably hate.
But wow, this is so wrong. I saw some fucked up shit but nothing has ever made me feel so bad. Its absolutely disgusting.

So where do I begin? Would any Evangelion fan help an aspiring fan on what to watch and in what order?

In order form Episode 1 through to 26 then End of Evangelion, just remember you will get confused and that episodes 25 and 26 occur during the movie.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

NGE basically split its episodes between giant monster battles and navel-gazing/emo whinging, depending on how charitable you are. The ending to the TV show completely abandoned monster battles to focus on the navel gazing conclusion, making it bizarre and hated by the fans that followed the show for the actual plot rather than the character/philosophical threads.

The movie is basically the antithesis of that - all monster battles, no emo whinging at all. But I always felt it was a Take That directed at the fanbase. The death threats sent to Hideaki were the kanji that flashed up during the show, which is weird and creepy to say the least. But I also thought that the movie stripped away a lot of the character development that the show had built up, at least for Shinji, Rei, and Misato.

That is something I noticed. The series, for what I watched of it, seemed to be about Shinji coming of age in the setting of a giant mecha show.

The film had the same depressed little shit whose story seems to get sidelined by the need to visually scar the audience.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

That is something I noticed. The series, for what I watched of it, seemed to be about Shinji coming of age in the setting of a giant mecha show.

The film had the same depressed little shit whose story seems to get sidelined by the need to visually scar the audience.

I'm guessing you stopped at episode 12 or earlier.

 

[Vhite]

Im not a huge anime fan, I only watched few animes and I always fought of Eva as something for few hardcore anime fans that can appreciate hidden symbolism over many episodes and movies or just love it or hate it thing that I would probably hate.
But wow, this is so wrong. I saw some fucked up shit but nothing has ever made me feel so bad. Its absolutely disgusting.

So where do I begin? Would any Evangelion fan help an aspiring fan on what to watch and in what order?

In order form Episode 1 through to 26 then End of Evangelion, just remember you will get confused and that episodes 25 and 26 occur during the movie.

Thanks. I just read that there are some remastered versions. Should I watch them or original or are those only cosmetic changes? Are there any other movies?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

That is something I noticed. The series, for what I watched of it, seemed to be about Shinji coming of age in the setting of a giant mecha show.

The film had the same depressed little shit whose story seems to get sidelined by the need to visually scar the audience.

I'm guessing you stopped at episode 12 or earlier.

I can only take so much whinging. Besides, I topped my record with Code Geass R2. I might have put down NGE after disliking what I saw, but R2 pissed me off to an insane degree that I lasted two episodes before tossing it.