Neon Genesis Evangelion

[omegawyrm]

Ah, to be a good Eva fan you really have to be able to laugh at it a bit, the SYMBOLISM! fans are more than a little crazy.

I don't know what people go into it expecting, but apparently "Catcher in the Rye as a monster of the week show" is not it for most people.

I think most of the contention over the show comes from people trying to watch it without a good understanding of the history of the mecha genre and how Eva was attempting to be a deconstruction of the characters and plots that had come before. Though I suppose the show giving no hint of what's going to go down until episode 12 or so doesn't help...

 

[senordesol]

For the life of me I was never able to piece together what the hell was supposed to be happening in the show...it was one of those animes that felt like it expected you to have read the manga.

Now I will admit that my complete disinterest probably had a lot to do with my utter disdain for all of the protagonists (save Misato...I got her...I would fucking drink too if I had to deal with all this bullshit) and I feel like the show cut-off midway through the storyline (didn't see any of the follow-up movies)

So maybe someone can help me out here. There was some sort of event called 'second impact' that is constantly referenced but no one explains (but somehow unleashed these 'Angels') Why is it the second impact? When was the first one?

Also to Eva pilots need to be insane, or is that for giggles?

Also, for the life of me I can't recall the 'fapping' scene or the...primordial ooze or something? The hell is that about (more interested in the latter)? Does Shinji really kill everyone...because I don't remember that. Anyone gotta link?

 

[RJ 17]

This has always been my theory on Evangelion:

If you needed therapy before watching the entire series, you won't by the end of it.

If you didn't need therapy before watching the entire series, you most certainly will by the end of it.

"The me that is the me that I see is different than the me that other people see me as being when I see myself as me therefore the only me that really matters is the me that I wish myself to be because I'm me and don't care about the other me's that other people see me as."

Yeah....FUCK the last episode.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

xD This made me laugh, although, I'll admit, I do love me some Eva.

 

[Sushewakka]

And I haven't even seen Yojimbo and Rashomon.

Rectify that, as soon as you're capable of. Your life is diminished by not having seen those.
As to the comic: Heh.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

For the life of me I was never able to piece together what the hell was supposed to be happening in the show...it was one of those animes that felt like it expected you to have read the manga.

Now I will admit that my complete disinterest probably had a lot to do with my utter disdain for all of the protagonists (save Misato...I got her...I would fucking drink too if I had to deal with all this bullshit) and I feel like the show cut-off midway through the storyline (didn't see any of the follow-up movies)

So maybe someone can help me out here. There was some sort of event called 'second impact' that is constantly referenced but no one explains (but somehow unleashed these 'Angels') Why is it the second impact? When was the first one?

Also to Eva pilots need to be insane, or is that for giggles?

Also, for the life of me I can't recall the 'fapping' scene or the...primordial ooze or something? The hell is that about (more interested in the latter)? Does Shinji really kill everyone...because I don't remember that. Anyone gotta link?

The scenes in question are from 'End of Evangelion', the movie which serves as a 'new ending' to the series in place of the one from the show.

Also, 'second impact' was the catastrophe which nearly eradicated humanity. The reason they are fighting the angels is to prevent 'third impact', which will finish the job. Thats the basic gist of it. As for 'first impact', at one point I think it was what killed the dinosaurs, but apparently that was retconned, so... yeah.

 

[Richard Hao]

I'll just leave this here.

(Not that I mean anything by it, but I always think of this image whenever someone makes the usual complaints about Eva.)

Amen.

 

[Kopikatsu]

-stuff-

Back in the day (I mean way back), pre-teen girls would get married off to old men and for them to have kids shortly after marriage. This was a common and accepted practice.

There's nothing inherently wrong with it, or any act at all. You likely only feel that it's wrong because that's part of your societal mores.

 

[senordesol]

For the life of me I was never able to piece together what the hell was supposed to be happening in the show...it was one of those animes that felt like it expected you to have read the manga.

Now I will admit that my complete disinterest probably had a lot to do with my utter disdain for all of the protagonists (save Misato...I got her...I would fucking drink too if I had to deal with all this bullshit) and I feel like the show cut-off midway through the storyline (didn't see any of the follow-up movies)

So maybe someone can help me out here. There was some sort of event called 'second impact' that is constantly referenced but no one explains (but somehow unleashed these 'Angels') Why is it the second impact? When was the first one?

Also to Eva pilots need to be insane, or is that for giggles?

Also, for the life of me I can't recall the 'fapping' scene or the...primordial ooze or something? The hell is that about (more interested in the latter)? Does Shinji really kill everyone...because I don't remember that. Anyone gotta link?

The scenes in question are from 'End of Evangelion', the movie which serves as a 'new ending' to the series in place of the one from the show.

Also, 'second impact' was the catastrophe which nearly eradicated humanity. The reason they are fighting the angels is to prevent 'third impact', which will finish the job. Thats the basic gist of it. As for 'first impact', at one point I think it was what killed the dinosaurs, but apparently that was retconned, so... yeah.

Hmm... okay...

Do they ever explain what this 'catastrophe' was? Was it an asteroid? Because everything seems more or less back to normal in the show...aside from the angels running around and retractable cities.

Now it's been years since I've seen it, but I also seem to remember some sort of...something (I think it was a dead angel) nailed to a cross that Shinji's dad seemed to be all about...do they explain what the hell that is in the movie?

Basically, I guess I'm wondering if there's any value in looking that movie up (anyone know if it's on Netflix streaming?) or whether its just yet more of an already hackneyed narrative.

 

[Sushewakka]

Is it really now? A devout christian might argue that my life is diminished by not having read the most important deeds and teachings of Jesus Christ, and my literature teacher is on the same opinion about not having read Crime and Punishment. A philosophy major would probably say the same about Nietsche's writings. And yet I got a gut feeling that this doesn't make one fucking ounce of difference with regards to how "good" or "meaningful" my life is.
... the fuck did I just say all that for? Must be the late night crazies...

It was intended to be an hiperbolic expression of the excellent overall quality of said films, particularly Rashomon. Kurosawa is an outstanding filmmaker, rivalled only by Sergio Leone. If you want actual quality movies, watch those.

 

[dalek sec]

Hey son, I want you (an untrained civilian teenager) to enter into combat with creatures beyond human comprehension with the power to level cities. Oh, and you're going to have to breath liquid oxygen. Don't worry, it only FEELS like you're drowning!

Hey son, here's a sexy older woman who's SUPPOSED to be kind of like a legal guardian, but she's sexually attractive! Have fun sorting that one out with your crazy hormones!

Oh, and here's a mentally traumatized German red head that hates you and is hitting on an older man. She saw her mom hang herself when she was like 5 or something! Oh, and I think she hates you, did I say that already? Good luck with those damaged goods!

Oh, and here's this kind of anemic looking cute chick that never expresses any emotion whatsoever! She's totally blank, can't feel anything, and is colder than Vanilla Ice on a glacier! Good luck getting warmth out of this!
Oh and, btw, I'm still not going to treat you with any kind of warmth even though I'm literally your only parent. It's almost like I don't see you as a son at all! Boy, won't you be surprised...

You've pretty much summed up all my issue's with the characters. Yeah Shinji is a whiney ***** at times but jesus christ, look who he has to work with! I honestly give him credit for not flat out fragging Asuka and Rei during a mission.

The only one I can feel some pity for is Misato, granted she's a mess as well but I can atleast trust her to have my back if I need help.

To me Asuka and Rei are just revolting human beings (and that'a fething stretch with Rei) besides Gendo in the whole damn series...

If ya'll want to read about giant robots I would advise you to go read "Titanicus" by Dan Abnett, there's some proper bloody giant robots in that story.

 

[LazyAza]

Ahahha omg this was great. Exact thoughts I had when I was watching the show for the first time even as a teenager the same age as Shinji and still today after seeing the remakes. Thank god in the newer movies he seems to have a fucking ark at last and hopefully won't be moping around like an idiot in the next one.

 

[SachielOne]

Only thing Shinji Ikari needs is Noah Bright (from MS Gundam) to "Bright ***** slap" the emo out of him.

Funny you should mention that. That actually happens in a Super Robot Wars game. It's so effective that, in a later game, Shinji actually tells Gundam SEED's Kira Yamato to man up and get over the whole not killing enemy pilots thing.

So maybe someone can help me out here. There was some sort of event called 'second impact' that is constantly referenced but no one explains (but somehow unleashed these 'Angels') Why is it the second impact? When was the first one?

If you want to go down the rabbit hole, this article over at EvaGeeks should (hopefully) clear a few things up: http://wiki.evageeks.org/Second_Impact

 

[philosophicalbastard]

Hmm... okay...

Do they ever explain what this 'catastrophe' was? Was it an asteroid? Because everything seems more or less back to normal in the show...aside from the angels running around and retractable cities.

Now it's been years since I've seen it, but I also seem to remember some sort of...something (I think it was a dead angel) nailed to a cross that Shinji's dad seemed to be all about...do they explain what the hell that is in the movie?

Basically, I guess I'm wondering if there's any value in looking that movie up (anyone know if it's on Netflix streaming?) or whether its just yet more of an already hackneyed narrative.

As you can see second impact was a big ass angel waking up.

The crucified angel thing was called lillith and was the thing humanity was born from or something. I'm pretty sure they said that in the series.

I liked the movie for the good action and pure mind-fuckery in it. Its a bit more straight to the point with everything than the random philosophical episodes that happened at the end of the TV series, but it still can leave you going "What the fuck!?". Its not on Netflix streaming, but I think some people have managed to post it on youtube while avoiding copyrights somehow.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Lost all faith/interest in it really. It was disgusting, that scene. Thankfully the ending to FMA (the original, not brotherhood) brought renewed interest in the entire genre.

*twitch* Original?

I would also with whoever mentioned that Anime shouldn't be a genre, dismissing all animation from a country because of one weird scene is kind of going overboard.

OT: I was never really that much of a fan of NGE, especially after the last couple episodes. It was just such a bad way to end the series. I want to check out the later movies though to see if the new endings rectify any of that as the show did at least hold some interest to me until that point.