The Critical Miss Experience

[Something Amyss]

That's kind of a convenient excuse to disregard any criticism. "It's your own fault for getting riled up about us constantly being up in your face about how ridiculous you are."

I'm not against making jokes at someone's expense, but when you pick the same target again and again it starts to resemble, as someone already mentioned, jock behaviour.

Yeah, they've done what? Three, four comics over a period of what? Months, a year? That's not constantly being up in someone's face. That's someone being hyper-defensive.

The fact that people are calling this a "constant" offense and describe it as "again and again" borders on the absurd and does more to make NGE fans look ridiculous than the comics do. Except the second one, which uses quotes from the fanbase.

So far, two of the comics have really been up in the face of the fans. The first wasn't. The "fuck anyone" one wasn't. People just got super hostile because they didn't like the source material being poked fun at. I'd wager a bunch of these people are the same ones who tell women, gays and black people to "take a joke," and I KNOW I've seen a few of the same people telling everyone to "take a joke" about the kid who said he was going to shoot up a school full of kids. So rape and child murder are acceptable targets for humour, but NGE is sacrosanct?

Not specifically aimed at you, Shinji, but this is a fanbase that needs to get over themselves. and stop finding offense in something that wasn't aimed at them in the first place. Otherwise, they're kind of fulfilling a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Hey, anyone more dedicated than me interested in looking at how many topics Critical Miss has covered more often than this one? I'm betting the numbers would be delicious. I mean, they actually made a whole comic arc going after the fact that Gabe Newell could effectively pull the plug on Steam and satirising the concept of ownership in the digital era to less histrionic effect from fans of the product in question.

 

[Olas]

Is this seriously what you're going to do EVERY SINGLE TIME you can't think of what to make? Are you NEVER gonna stop beating this dead horse? Seriously, if you can't find any new material to use, then go back and make comics about old games, or political issues, or whatever. The constant piling of Evangelion comics isn't even funny more, it's just boring and predictable.

You're overreacting to a joke about how overreactive Eva fans are.

Just thought I'd point that out

 

[Something Amyss]

I just want to say this.

As a Dragon Ball Z fan, some of my favorite comics, videos, and pictures openly mock the show. DBZ Abridged is Gold. I've seen several parodies that mocked it and enjoyed them thoroughly.

More often than not, I like things that mock things I like. Because, I am never so blind as not to see the flaws. Nor do I take them too seriously. As long as the parody is good, and the jokes hit a mark, I will enjoy it.

And like Daystar was saying, they are obviously making fun of themselves as much as anything else.

I was going to quote this in my last post, but I felt it went on too long already.

There is no show I follow, no entertainment product I enjoy so sacrosanct that I cannot enjoy jokes at the expense of the item in question. There should be some basis in reality, of course, but I expect any flaw to be magnified and distorted.

And while I'm loathe to say "I'm okay with it, so should you," I find it hard to imagine any show being so off limits that jokes should be this level of offensive. The Abridged series, like the DBZ ones you mentioned, work better if you're a fan than not (though I still enjoy what my girlfriend has made me watch of Yu Gi Oh abridged, and all I know about the shows it there's a card game). These jokes tend to work better for the initiated, though that's not necessarily true here (the "fuck her" joke from a prior CM is something I assume could be inferred as funny by anyone with a scrap of sense).

So yeah, I agree. I have a blast with people mocking Doctor Who and Stargate and Harry Potter. I just don't understand this world in which entertainment is such super serious business it can't be poked.

 

[Grach]

Woah woah woah.....you're supposed to understand Evangelion?!

I just watch it to see giant robots in battle with monsters and to oggle Asuka.

Watch the rebuilds then. They're a lot more action heavy.

I've watched all three so far.....they left me feeling more scared, alone and confused than the full series and "end of" additions. A little too light on the Asuka front as well.

Damn it! I could've sworn that you'd like the new Asuka suit.

 

[Something Amyss]

Is this seriously what you're going to do EVERY SINGLE TIME you can't think of what to make?

Yes. Yes, that's precisely what they said. This webcomic is actually a binding agreement, and if they don't, they could go to jail. DO YOU WANT THEM TO GO TO JAIL?????

But seriously, you're taking a comic that's not taking itself seriously way too seriously. Not only are you overreacting to a joke about people overreacting, you're taking it as though it's also a future promise. Which, because of the reactions here, promises to be a future recurring deal.

Are you NEVER gonna stop beating this dead horse?

The three non-response comics they've made regarding NGE have all touched upon different subjects. That's not beating a dead horse.

The constant piling of Evangelion comics isn't even funny more, it's just boring and predictable.

I don't get this portrayal as constant. There have been what? Four comics? Looking through both the Escapist and Google, that appears to be accurate. Four comics in aboot a year? That's constant? That's predictable? What?

 

[Basement Cat]

If you're experiencing a drought then BRING BACK PENNY! Woo-hoo!!!

And the other's in Erin's workplace.

Some of us miss them... D:

 

[Ryan Hughes]

Question: Am I the only person who liked "Nadia and the Secret Blue Water" more than "Evangelion"?

No you aren't because Evangelion is a rather weird animal. All those people are totally correct when they talk about it being really important to mecha anime and actually pretty revolutionary, and it isn't a bad show. However it's not a show I'd like to go back and rewatch. You see it once, read about what's really supposed to go on, maybe watch a couple parts of it again,and then you're done. I think it's worth watching, but I don't think it's necessarily worth rewatching.

True enough. I never really saw it as a "mecha anime" though. Really, the story is about the author surrogate, the main character, learning to come to terms with immense sorrow and love himself again. Which is fine. I actually liked the fact that the finale of the series had no mecha battles at all.

But therein lies a problem, particularly because the fan base of the anime was so rabid that they sent death threats to the creator after the finale aired. It was never a show to be taken literally, but I am afraid many people cannot understand that.

The reason I brought up "Nadia" was because it was made by the same person, and in my opinion is a better show. It deals more subtly with social and economic issues without being so. . . aggressively metaphoric.

 

[1337mokro]

It's not complete.... something is missing.

Oh yeah the Evangelion haters (me included) cheering them on.

A dude wearing a "Cry more Shinji" shirt saying "You need a bigger, pointier stick"?

That's a really lazy satire stick, you could at least make it shiny or something.

No more like this.

 

[thanatos388]

I just watched EVA for the first time last week and came here straight from the imdb page for EVA. If there is a god he is trying way too hard to screw with me.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Reaching for that low hanging fruit again I see lads

 

[Something Amyss]

I just watched EVA for the first time last week and came here straight from the imdb page for EVA. If there is a god he is trying way too hard to screw with me.

Actually, that's Shirley from accounting. She gets bored from time to time and decides to screw around with mortals. We're like Farmville to them.

Well, without the microtransactions.

This isn't really funny, and satire that's really satirical for the sake of it and is aimless in doing is is even less funny. This is all sorts of not funny.

Please start being funny again

It's possible they didn't mean the "satire stick" to actually be literally taken as satire. It's also possible this is a little self-deprecating humour. Probably not, but just maybe.

Of course, if you're talking about the aspect of satirizing the NGE fanbase, I wouldn't call it aimless. It seems to have a clear aim, merely a pointless one: to demonstrate the end result of being an easy mark. Since internet fanbases that take themselves too seriously tend to lack a certain aspect of self-awareness that allows them to understand that they are often feeding into the exact cycle a comic like this is inevitably commenting on, and since NGE fans seem to be demonstrating that they fall into that pattern, I would call it futile. However, there's clearly an aim. Two, really, depending on the path you think they're taking.

Either they're commenting on the response I just mentioned, or they're doing exactly what the comic implies and poking NGE fans for hits. The latter aim isn't even satire, so criticism of it on a satirical level falls flat.

The funny thing is that even if the former is true, the latter will still incentivise them to do it more.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Coincidentally, I'm planning on a watchthrough of the Rebuild movies next week, while my parents are out of town and I can use my home theater unmolested. Seeing Pacific Rim kind of put me in the mood -- and no, I'm not saying they're the same. They're just similar enough that watching one seems to put me in the mood to watch the other, like Stargate and The Fifth Element.

 

[LazyAza]

I like reading comments of people experiencing eva for the first time, that original series just fucking breaks by the end. It literally turns in to nonsensical madness and the ending... god almighty how dumb it still is to this day.

Then they made end of evangelion and that movie is 100% mind fuck. Then they made remake movie 1, it was awesome, remake movie 2, it was even more awesome, then they made 3 and... well, now I never want to watch anything eva related ever again. Fuck that third movie was so completely terrible. Two words: time skip.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Shinji, to me, seems to exhibit symptoms of manic depression, or bipolar disorder.

I always find it funny when people do this, because mental illness in Japan operates on a completely different (anti-Freudian) understanding and does not generally share our diagnostic criteria. The emphasis is far more on correcting flaws in social functioning rather than attempting to alter or treat underlying personality problems.

Bipolar disorder doesn't go away once a person realizes that they don't need to worry what others think about them. That kind of "oh, you're just worrying too much" response is a very Japanese way of thinking about mental illness.

In Japan, it seems to put more of an emphasis on social interaction which is why they focus on social stuff more. I will comment that it's a bit ineffective if not downright stupid but at the same time, I can understand that it may be a first step to full personality recovery.

It seems to be more coping than curing. In the case of bipolar, they probably want people to be able to handle their mind instead of curing it fully.

I will note that my comprehension of psychiatric care is minimal so correct me if wrong

edit: news is coming in that Japan's mental care is horrible, maybe worse than the U.S. and that's saying something given our issues and stigmas combined with inefficiency shown after Sandy Hook.

As I said, please comment and correct if needed

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Woah woah woah.....you're supposed to understand Evangelion?!

I just watch it to see giant robots in battle with monsters and to oggle Asuka.

Watch the rebuilds then. They're a lot more action heavy.

and much more crazy, especially in 3.33 which goes completely insane. I can't imagine what Evangelion:Final will be like.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Not specifically aimed at you, Shinji, but this is a fanbase that needs to get over themselves. and stop finding offense in something that wasn't aimed at them in the first place. Otherwise, they're kind of fulfilling a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Probably, but at this point it's just rattling the cage for the sake of rattling the cage.

If I'd jump on anyone taking the piss out of something I like I'd be dead by now, but when it's a professional content provider riling up the crowd this blatantly, my patience starts to wear a bit thin.

But then I should've know better and simply have ignored the thumbnail bait right from the very start.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

I approve.

Mostly because I think the series was mediocre at best and gets far accolades than it deserves. Also the fanbase is crazy-go-nuts about defending its flaws (which there are plenty, so I guess that can keep them busy) and shouting down opposing arguments because 'we just don't get it' or something.

Seriously, it's the Twilight of the anime world.

 

[The Ubermensch]

I approve.

Mostly because I think the series was mediocre at best and gets far accolades than it deserves. Also the fanbase is crazy-go-nuts about defending its flaws (which there are plenty, so I guess that can keep them busy) and shouting down opposing arguments because 'we just don't get it' or something.

Seriously, it's the Twilight of the anime world.

A lot of Hikikomori and NEETs identify with Shinji and the themes spoke to him, and he was a relatively fresh character archetype, so I guess thats arguably true from the standpoint of "Eva was the first in a long time to cater to the Hikikomori, Twilight was the first in a long time to cater to tween girls interested in supernatural themes but not interested in anime for some strange reason."

And even that's a stretch. I realise I'm taking the bait here, but Anno did at least think about the themes and messages he wanted to get across while he exploited a demographic. You can see this in the way target audiences ideals were challenged. Myer just exploited a demographic by pandering to them.

Anno is really bad at doing this mind you, he either explains things in no uncertain terms, but can't make it entertaining (NGE 25/26), or he can make it entertaining but can't explain what the hell he's rabbiting on about (EOE).

The only man who can do both is this guy

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Wait, it's satirizing Critical Miss Satirizing Eva due to the lack of new gen games to satirize?
Woah.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Is this seriously what you're going to do EVERY SINGLE TIME you can't think of what to make?

Yes. Yes, that's precisely what they said. This webcomic is actually a binding agreement, and if they don't, they could go to jail. DO YOU WANT THEM TO GO TO JAIL?????

But seriously, you're taking a comic that's not taking itself seriously way too seriously. Not only are you overreacting to a joke about people overreacting, you're taking it as though it's also a future promise. Which, because of the reactions here, promises to be a future recurring deal.

Are you NEVER gonna stop beating this dead horse?

The three non-response comics they've made regarding NGE have all touched upon different subjects. That's not beating a dead horse.

The constant piling of Evangelion comics isn't even funny more, it's just boring and predictable.

I don't get this portrayal as constant. There have been what? Four comics? Looking through both the Escapist and Google, that appears to be accurate. Four comics in aboot a year? That's constant? That's predictable? What?

I don't think this bloke quite realises that they're taking the piss out of themselves more than EVA in this strip.
Then again, it's probably just too deep and meaningful for them to understand.