I recently watched the most controversial and polarizing anime of all time out of curiosity. I went in expecting to be on the side of everyone mocking it's pretentious symbolism and making jokes about how much of a pussy Shinji is, but it turns out that I found Evangelion to be a masterpiece. Not in the sense that it's flawless, because it did have many flaws when analyzed as a conventional work of fiction. It has some tonal issues in the first half, often clueless use of Christian symbolism, plot elements that don't make much sense, and a very noticeable lack of budget.
What I found beautiful about Evangelion was that it was a very human, honest, up-front and deceptively optimistic conversation with its target audience. The entire cast is full of believably characterized and heavily flawed human beings, each with their own troubles and ways of dealing with them, so anyone watching who feels like they are alone can empathize with someone who is like them. At the center of it all is Shinji Ikari who is heavily representative of your common anti-social introvert who would watch an anime about young boys fighting evil as a form of escapism. While I have improved over time, I deeply understood and related to just about every aspect of his character, since I acted like and thought like Shinji himself for a period of time. Evangelion dives deep into his psyche to make sure he, and everyone like him, understands that the pain of being human can not be escaped by running away from reality and choosing to view the reality in a way that validates his thought processes, rather than trying to understand it from a more optimistic and open minded angle. With more self-understanding and changed view of the world, he chooses that his life is worth living. Hence... "congratulations!"
I hear a lot of people say that Evangelion "hates otaku" and I'd say that's almost the opposite of the truth. I'd say it's one of the most caring works of fiction out their I've seen, because it aspires to understand it's audience and give them a reason to live in the most truthful way possible. I've also heard the word "deep" used mockingly to make fun of its supposed pretention, and I think all these claims of pretention and depth come from aspects of the anime that don't really matter to what it is trying to accomplish. Could you spend days analyzing the story for symbolism, conspiracy, and other such nonsense to find nothing of value? Yes, but the plot really only exists to serve as a vehicle that lets Eva analyze its characters because exploring human beings is everything this show is about, and it considers it's goals so important that anything less of than the end of the world isn't worthy of that goal.
So yeah, I liked Evangelion a lot. What did you think of it?
EDIT: what the fuck is with the poll? Why won't it display the whole message? Why won't it change when I edit it?
What I found beautiful about Evangelion was that it was a very human, honest, up-front and deceptively optimistic conversation with its target audience. The entire cast is full of believably characterized and heavily flawed human beings, each with their own troubles and ways of dealing with them, so anyone watching who feels like they are alone can empathize with someone who is like them. At the center of it all is Shinji Ikari who is heavily representative of your common anti-social introvert who would watch an anime about young boys fighting evil as a form of escapism. While I have improved over time, I deeply understood and related to just about every aspect of his character, since I acted like and thought like Shinji himself for a period of time. Evangelion dives deep into his psyche to make sure he, and everyone like him, understands that the pain of being human can not be escaped by running away from reality and choosing to view the reality in a way that validates his thought processes, rather than trying to understand it from a more optimistic and open minded angle. With more self-understanding and changed view of the world, he chooses that his life is worth living. Hence... "congratulations!"
I hear a lot of people say that Evangelion "hates otaku" and I'd say that's almost the opposite of the truth. I'd say it's one of the most caring works of fiction out their I've seen, because it aspires to understand it's audience and give them a reason to live in the most truthful way possible. I've also heard the word "deep" used mockingly to make fun of its supposed pretention, and I think all these claims of pretention and depth come from aspects of the anime that don't really matter to what it is trying to accomplish. Could you spend days analyzing the story for symbolism, conspiracy, and other such nonsense to find nothing of value? Yes, but the plot really only exists to serve as a vehicle that lets Eva analyze its characters because exploring human beings is everything this show is about, and it considers it's goals so important that anything less of than the end of the world isn't worthy of that goal.
So yeah, I liked Evangelion a lot. What did you think of it?
EDIT: what the fuck is with the poll? Why won't it display the whole message? Why won't it change when I edit it?
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