I wasn't sure if it is kosher to post videos as reviews but I thought I would post this here in an effort to get some people to see it; my video review/interpretation of Evangelion.
Contains spoilers!
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Review / Analysis (Video)
- Thread starter LightspeedJack
- Start date
I wasn't sure if it is kosher to post videos as reviews but I thought I would post this here in an effort to get some people to see it; my video review/interpretation of Evangelion.
Contains spoilers!
I've barely started the video, but I'll just say that you've got the voice to do this sort of thing, but you should up the amount of energy you put into things, make it sound like you're interested and excited to talk about this, though you're still light years ahead of a lot of people who try this in that you don't sound comatose.
EDIT (Finished watching): On occasion you had awkward inflections (happens in everyone's speech on occasion, nothing you can do), and I'm not talking about the times you used it for comedic effect, on occasions where this happens the only thing you can really do is do another take, it may be a bit annoying if you got all your lines right, but you'll be putting out a much better video. Your editing work wasn't bad, nothing I can really comment about. You seem to be going for a mostly analytical show with the occasional joke thrown in, the placement seemed a bit off (in that there would be extended periods without one, then clustered together, the jokes themselves were fine enough), the easiest way to remedy this would be to sprinkle in a few more, though not too many.
For those rare shots where you cut back to yourself it wouldn't hurt if you had better lighting, but that sort of thing is hard to deal with without spending at least a small amount of money (and since you only did it sparingly and the lighting was hardly the worst out there it's not a real issue). Your camera was decent enough to get the job done here.
Also, your interpretation of the ending was different to what others have thought to have happened, the ending to the show being that they have actually failed (like in the "End of Evangelion" movie) and all of humanity has merged into one and their becoming one is what is causing them to solve their problems (that's part of why they phrased certain things certain ways, like "this is the form that others recognize as being me" and their references to peoples interpretations of a person being the same as a person themselves, they've actually become the same and they're recognizing that, therein solving a lot of their issues, almost all of them being fear over what others thought of them) with the "congratulations" ending being Shinji accepting the merging, whereas in The End of Evangelion he rejects it. So ostensibly it's the same, there was just another layer to your interpretation.
There, I reviewed a reviewer. So overall, not too bad, you didn't make me want to kill myself, that's a rare thing in people trying to pull this off.
EDIT (Finished watching): On occasion you had awkward inflections (happens in everyone's speech on occasion, nothing you can do), and I'm not talking about the times you used it for comedic effect, on occasions where this happens the only thing you can really do is do another take, it may be a bit annoying if you got all your lines right, but you'll be putting out a much better video. Your editing work wasn't bad, nothing I can really comment about. You seem to be going for a mostly analytical show with the occasional joke thrown in, the placement seemed a bit off (in that there would be extended periods without one, then clustered together, the jokes themselves were fine enough), the easiest way to remedy this would be to sprinkle in a few more, though not too many.
For those rare shots where you cut back to yourself it wouldn't hurt if you had better lighting, but that sort of thing is hard to deal with without spending at least a small amount of money (and since you only did it sparingly and the lighting was hardly the worst out there it's not a real issue). Your camera was decent enough to get the job done here.
Also, your interpretation of the ending was different to what others have thought to have happened, the ending to the show being that they have actually failed (like in the "End of Evangelion" movie) and all of humanity has merged into one and their becoming one is what is causing them to solve their problems (that's part of why they phrased certain things certain ways, like "this is the form that others recognize as being me" and their references to peoples interpretations of a person being the same as a person themselves, they've actually become the same and they're recognizing that, therein solving a lot of their issues, almost all of them being fear over what others thought of them) with the "congratulations" ending being Shinji accepting the merging, whereas in The End of Evangelion he rejects it. So ostensibly it's the same, there was just another layer to your interpretation.
There, I reviewed a reviewer. So overall, not too bad, you didn't make me want to kill myself, that's a rare thing in people trying to pull this off.
As a character study, the work is a masterpiece. It breaks down the characters to their base personalities, forcing them to see sides of themselves they would rather avoid. This is particularly true for Asuke. The characterization is as brilliant as it is subtle (especially, funnily enough, with the aforementioned asuke). Some say the characters are stereotypical of anime, but I would consider them deconstructions of those stereotypes instead. It is also a powerful study of depression, one of the best I've ever seen.
However, it's built on a foundation of post modernism (truth is subjective), which weakens it in my eyes. More than that, it's actually rather shallow in its exploration of post modernism, as explained to me by my philosophy major friend. It makes a lot of base assumptions in that field, and many of its claims are never substantiated by any particularly strong arguments. As a whole the show begins to break down under the weight of its many problems, but the sheer strength of the characters manage to carry the show entirely on their shoulders and make it a classic.
Great review, it was detailed but still pretty funny. You should definitely keep doing them!
However, it's built on a foundation of post modernism (truth is subjective), which weakens it in my eyes. More than that, it's actually rather shallow in its exploration of post modernism, as explained to me by my philosophy major friend. It makes a lot of base assumptions in that field, and many of its claims are never substantiated by any particularly strong arguments. As a whole the show begins to break down under the weight of its many problems, but the sheer strength of the characters manage to carry the show entirely on their shoulders and make it a classic.
Great review, it was detailed but still pretty funny. You should definitely keep doing them!
Nice review man , is the first you do right? it's a nice approach at Evangelion, I liked that you actually gave your opinion/explanation about the ending of the series, are you planing on reviewing more anime? that would be nice.
BTW first time i see the English dub of Evangelion and wow..... it sucks.
BTW first time i see the English dub of Evangelion and wow..... it sucks.
It's good notes though because I'm sure all of the "Yeah it's great" is really helpful.
>Delivery is a bit flat, this is probably because you're new at it though, but still it's something to work on
>English Dub, I'm not an elitist but come on! Evangelion? Are you trying to melt my brain or something?
... Actually that's pretty much the only notes that I had that doesn't involve me pulling my teeth out at the fact that your character studies are SLIGHTLY different from mine. Personally if I was trying to make an Anime reviewing channel I wouldn't touch NGE with a positron rifle because anyone who knows about Evangelion either wishes people would shut the fuck up about it or has a 400 page thesis ready to tell you why you're wrong.
That is unless you want to concentrate on character studies. It would be nice for example to have an Eva review when you deconstruct every Tsundere for example. If that's what you're going for then I'd recommend you find a nice Kuudere, Yandere, GAR guy, Optimistic Shonen and deredere as your baselines.
After that you can start looking at Gen's stuff.
Aside from that you've got the voice, you edit nice enough. Work on the delivery and I think you'll do decently.
>Delivery is a bit flat, this is probably because you're new at it though, but still it's something to work on
>English Dub, I'm not an elitist but come on! Evangelion? Are you trying to melt my brain or something?
... Actually that's pretty much the only notes that I had that doesn't involve me pulling my teeth out at the fact that your character studies are SLIGHTLY different from mine. Personally if I was trying to make an Anime reviewing channel I wouldn't touch NGE with a positron rifle because anyone who knows about Evangelion either wishes people would shut the fuck up about it or has a 400 page thesis ready to tell you why you're wrong.
That is unless you want to concentrate on character studies. It would be nice for example to have an Eva review when you deconstruct every Tsundere for example. If that's what you're going for then I'd recommend you find a nice Kuudere, Yandere, GAR guy, Optimistic Shonen and deredere as your baselines.
After that you can start looking at Gen's stuff.
Aside from that you've got the voice, you edit nice enough. Work on the delivery and I think you'll do decently.
I appreciate the criticism and a lot of things your saying I actually picked up on while I was editing but I didn't have time to correct because I kind of set myself a deadline to finish this in a certain amount of time, but I'll definitely take this on board for the next video I do.Baron_BJ said:
Thanks for the feedback guys! I know my delivery was totally flat, especially at the beginning, I actually considered going back and recording it again but by that time I had already edited a bunch of video around it and I really didn't want to spend longer than a week working on this. I have kind of a monotone voice but I'll definitely try to inject a bit more energy into it next time.
I'm actually not trying to make an Anime reviewing channel specifically, this is just one anime that I really had a lot of thoughts about so I thought it would be good subject matter for a video (I'm only really into a few other anime series; Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Cowboy Bebop mainly). If I do another review it will probably be either for a live action TV show or a video game/video game series.
I have watched most of the show in both the English dub and the original Japanese and I honestly find the English dub to be pretty decent but I mostly used it in this video because I thought it would just flow better that way, I thought it might be kind of weird to have me speaking in English then all of a sudden cut to Japanese dialogue.The Ubermensch said:
I'm actually not trying to make an Anime reviewing channel specifically, this is just one anime that I really had a lot of thoughts about so I thought it would be good subject matter for a video (I'm only really into a few other anime series; Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Cowboy Bebop mainly). If I do another review it will probably be either for a live action TV show or a video game/video game series.
You need to look up a guy called Gen Urobuchi, you need to watch Fate Zero, Madoka Magica and play through Saya no Uta. In that order.LightspeedJack said:
I want to see your character analysis of Fuminori from Saya no Uta, especially given your dismissal of Rei.
I can understand that those are the anime that you like, Shonen stuff can get a bit annoying. If you want to watch more like it look for Seinen Manga or type moon/nitro plus VNs that's been made into an Anime. Or just reivew Two and Half men or some shit like that.
The most regrettable aspect of reviewing in this format is the brevity. My coverage of Rei probably suffered the most because of this; I generalized quite broadly and didn't spend as much time with her as I only really started to get into her journey as a character in the later part of the series, where you find out -what- she actually is, and I didn't cover that as I didn't want to get too spoilery in that part. With that said I still found her to be the least interesting character as a character but as a post-modern deconstruction of an archetype I really admire what the show's creators did with her.The Ubermensch said:You need to look up a guy called Gen Urobuchi, you need to watch Fate Zero, Madoka Magica and play through Saya no Uta. In that order.
I want to see your character analysis of Fuminori from Saya no Uta, especially given your dismissal of Rei.
I looked up that last manga you mentioned and it looked a little too hardcore for me... perhaps I will check it out one day if I'm feeling particularly happy and in the mood for some disturbed japanese craziness.
You sound a little elitist here, and I can't help but feel the Two and a Half Men comment was a slight dig at me saying I wanted to review some live action television. When it comes to TV I would review shows like Lost, Breaking Bad, Sherlock, Twin Peaks, Game of Thrones etc. Reviewing comedies seems kind of redundant to me (and for the record I hate Two and a Half Men with a passion).The Ubermensch said:
I am not a big anime fan although I would like to see those that are well regarded, already saw Ghost in the Shell (kind of liked it for the mood and atmosphere) and would like to see Akira. This one is also one that I would like to see but since it has so many versions I never actually get around to see it (the episode format is out of the question, I dont have the patience for that).
The biggest problem that I have with anime is the lack of subtlety even though they can be subtle and even show it at times (see Ghost in the Shell for example). The part of the video at 05:12 was so retarded, it almost needed a BADUM-TISH to finish the joke (talking about the show, not the video itself).
I blame a lot of it on the dubbing but even in japanese they seem to try to make it as over the top as they can.
The biggest problem that I have with anime is the lack of subtlety even though they can be subtle and even show it at times (see Ghost in the Shell for example). The part of the video at 05:12 was so retarded, it almost needed a BADUM-TISH to finish the joke (talking about the show, not the video itself).
I blame a lot of it on the dubbing but even in japanese they seem to try to make it as over the top as they can.
I think that moment seems a little goofy because of the way I edited it into my video, I think if you saw it in the context of the rest of the series you wouldn't find it so silly.josemlopes said:
I would honestly recommend checking out the series but if you really don't have time for it try the rebuild movies, they look amazing and the translation (especially on the dub) is much better. I actually saw the first rebuild movie first and then went back and watched the series, which is probably a good way of going about it, if you are really into it you might want to check out the series, if you only casually enjoy it just watch the rest of the movies.
Also Akira is truly mindblowing and similar to Eva in a few significant ways, that get's a recommendation from me too (I may even review that...hmm).
I'll give you a little insight as to why Rei is awesome.LightspeedJack said:
The reason that she's resonated with so many people, forget about all the Oedipus crap, is because she basically does what she's told to protect humanity, read in the fourth episode she explains to Shinji that she sees humanity as one thing, in her mind she's protecting everything, and a word, a people she doesn't understand and can't fully integrate with.
Those of us who grew up with some sort of social pressure, like bullying or broken homes but still maintain an optimistic outlook identify strongly with Rei, well, in general Rei's archetype. Rei is Atlas basically, and there are those of us who relate.
And then we head canon that that smile she gave Shinji in episode 4 wasn't as creepy as fuck.
Oh, and Saya no Uta, play the VN, not the Manga. It's a deconstruction of love. If you're going to deconstruct love you've got to get a little fucked up.
I'm The Ubermensch. Elitist comes with the title.
Seriously, I have an issue with western TV, not because it's shit. Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones and Dexter are excellent... right up until we get up to the 3rd season (...BB and GoT are exceptions to this rule...)
It's the same rule with anime; if it has a planned 12-52 episode run it's normally very good. Writers have more control over their IPs in Japan it seems, mainly because Animes run on much smaller budgets. With western TV however, if something starts of cool and edgy and gets picked up by a large audience, after the original planned run is done and the characters have finished their arcs the story keeps going. the Narrative becomes more and more contrived, and the thing becomes milking it till it's dry. Again, the same with anime. I loved the first 100 episodes of Bleach, then it got kinda shit because they started milking it.
Also, with Seinen Anime/Manga compared to western stuff, there tends to be a lot more emphasis on philosophy than drama, in that the drama solely exists to serve the writers thesis. This is partially to do with what happened to Japan after World War II, partially to do with shintoism, and I think partially to do with Evangelion.
I mean you attribute the state of anime to Evangelion far too much, remember there was Akira before Eva and Ghost in the Shell was a Manga six years before Eva came out (And the movie came out in the fourth week of Eva airing), But I agree that if Ginax didn't make Eva, anime would be very different today.
What was my point here?
Oh yeah, You have a point, but I like pondering existance.
Akira is overrated generally, unless you're an animation fan or love cyberpunk. The Ghost in the Shell movie was damn good, but they departed from some of the characters too much. Motoko has a lot more fun in the Manga and isn't so Emo.josemlopes said:
Now Stand Alone Complex is more like it. Though the Dialogue in that is sometimes hilarious in that too.
"I was the one with the blind spot, in my heart."
Excellent review!LightspeedJack said:
So many people dismiss the original ending because it didn't address the "plot" - but in a deconstructionist anime like this, the plot doesn't always matter.
Personally, my favorite viewing method is to watch the first 24 episodes, then End of Eva, then 25-26 as a more personal version of Shinji's tripping out during the movie. But, even now, Shinji realizing that he can love himself and the others appearing to applaud him brings a tear to my eye.
Thank you for a wonderful review.
Apparantly (It's been a while since I heard this so I may be wrong), the people making the dub didn't really explain much to the VAs, so the dub does get significantly better as the show goes on. The actors themselves are actually quite talented, they just had no idea what the characters were, or what they were meant to be doing, for a while. And so the first half ends up being a bit... odd.Drauger said:
Also, the review was very entertaining, as well as professional and in-depth. I definitely look forward to any further reviews you might do.
I would've agreed with that...Bara_no_Hime said:
...if not for those two quick shots of Misato and Ritsuko lying dead.
It stopped me from focussing on almost everything else the first time I watched the show. Yeah congratulations, Shinji, but what the fuck just happend back there?! Seriously, you can't just show me that and then leave me hanging.
This comment made my dayBara_no_Hime said:
I actually have a lot of thoughts about how much the ending of the show does or does not tie into End of Eva and I could honestly make another whole video just exploring this topic and some of the various fan theories around it, however I do feel like I would be re-iterating a lot of what this excellent video (and it's follow up) had to say.
Thanks very much!theemporer said:
That's why it works better if you watch End of Evangelion first. That way, those pesky plot details get explained and you are free to enjoy the ending without needing to worry about that stuff.Casual Shinji said:
Obviously when it first came out in the US, that wasn't an option. However, upon reviewing, it has always been my preferred order.
I'm glad. ^^LightspeedJack said:This comment made my day
And, to address some things other posters said...
I've always liked the dub of Evangelion. Spike Spencer, while annoying, really captures Shinji well. Tiffany Grant, meanwhile, is one of my favorite voice actors and she transitioned wonderfully into the director's chair. While I certainly own the original on DVD, I do like the remakes just because everyone already knows their characters and the dub is just superb. Still, when I watch Eva, I usually watch it dubbed.
Fun Fact: I got Tiffany Grant to sign my remake DVDs. ^^
Well, you could address two issues at once. You said you didn't have much time to discuss Rei - so what if you did a video specifically about Rei? You could cover her role in both the series and the movies, and it would give you a unique focus for your review that might help differentiate you from the review you linked to (which I haven't yet watched because Blip TV and my laptop don't get along well).LightspeedJack said:
Anyway, do let me know when you've got a new video up (either Eva or other stuff). I'd be happy to watch more.