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Neon Genesis Evangelion


Eternal Usagi-Chan

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Ok, im done standin up for Esca's endin, as :kitty: basically mentions my view on it anyway (no it didnt end happy, it wasnt gonna, let it go, twas a great series), but here's my Eva summary...

 

I forget the specific terms at the time, but bascially, in a very Eastern philosophical way, all life - and thereby all consciousness - merged.  

This means we'd all literally be somethin of a collective mind, i guess maybe the borg from Star Trek might help a few of you ( :kitty: ), except not in an evil way, but again very buddhist - we all share a life force, linking us as kindred spirits, etc.  

Congratulations.....Congratulations.....Congratulations.....Congratulations.....Congratula

tions.....Congratulations..... :angry:  ggggggrrrrrrrr

 

think bout Shinji-kun.  Lil fella always felt outta place: he wanted acceptance, just like the other eva kid pilots (except Rei, ill get to her).  Remember the first episode's name? I believe it was "Strange Cellings" or somethin....he was always outta place.

One of the finer points of the ending is its dealin with the reprucussions of that merge: one loses their individuality when theyre meshed with others.  However, what little of onesel is preserved, anythin is possible  - one can create a mental utopia, as Shinji did...a world where everyone's happy with him, and thus congratulating him.  Notice the growin # of people as they congratulate, until it seems that he's the center of his entire Eva world...no one's judging him or makin him do things he dont wanna do, just congratulating & accepting him.  

As for the other high points, it occurred to me that Rei & the 13th angel served as the forces of Yin & Yang, female & male, good & evil etc.  Their lil dialgue in the OAV's ending (i think) sealed the deal for me on this, the way they go back & forth with shinji on morality, emotions etc.

Hey, maybe im readin way too much into a damn anime 'cause im a philosophy major, but i just cant take such bashin of the ending just 'cause they made it subtle.  I agree it couldve been dumbed down a bit so everyone wouldnt hate it and possibly still gotten its deeper points across, but that's not the way they went. I agree it coludve been more spectacular, but it had me thinkin for a bit, and i ended up rather liking it, tho not nearly as much as the OAV's ending, granted.

:kodama:

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  • 10 months later...

Just finished watching this series, though really it hasn't ended yet because I need to watch the move, End of Evangelion to finish the series, witch I can't find. I was having trouble getting into it in the first 8 or so episodes. I didn't think it was bad, just a bit sophmoric. I thought to myself "well, the amine I've been watching has been Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and Outlaw Star, giant robots fighting monsters in an urban center just isn't going to do it for me. Of course my standards are high and this series is a bit older than those." But the series starts to get good.

 

*NO PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD, BUT BEWARE CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT SPOILERS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN YOU ASK? IT MEANS JUST THAT.*

 

The characters, most of which seem simple enough at first, all have these deep-seeded emotional problems that all come to the surface by the end of the series. I kinda wish they all have different problems, but even though all their issues seem to be the same (issues with abandonment, feeling unloved, needed to be accepted, sense of having no purpose, etc), they all seemed to have different reasons for these similar problem, and it created different surface personas. It kinda sent me the message that we all feel the same about things, but out different situations makes us deal with them in a different way. So some of us become uber-bitches, others really shy, others complete push-overs, others over-achievers, it's all just different ways we all coop with the same shit we feel inside. Good pyschological profiles on the characters. The giant robot fighting monsters in downtown Toyko really took a backseat to that for me.

 

This is a good series worth sitting through in the beginning if it isn't drawing you in at first. Now here are so pics.

 

evangelion.jpg

evangelion.jpg

evangelion.jpg

Edited by Jack's Meandering Thoughts
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Good call on the characterization, that's about how i felt on them where you're at, too. I assure you by the end its gonna feel more like...i wanna say lain here, but it gets heavily philosophical anyway.

As for the ending - its on DVD now but i know me & :kitty: picked up the fansub over at Anime Hurricane (granted, its subtitled, know you dont like that & i wont recommend it to you cause its the fastest goddamn subs ive ever seen) but maybe someone on Kazaa has the dub?

I'll be intersted to hear your reaction to the ending...most people dont like it one bit but i honeslty dont think they followed it, but then maybe im readin too much into it...check back.

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...i wanna say lain here, but it gets heavily philosophical anyway.

I have seen snipets of, read much about, and are waiting for the mail to deliver to me, Lain.

 

I'm not sure if I'd call the end fo the series "heavily philosophical" as much as "heavily psychological", but then again I have yet to see End of Eva. it certainly is philosophical, but not nearly as much as it is psychological.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finish watching the end of eva movie. Very strange. The end of this movie WAS like Lain, as IC described it. Just so it is known for all who plan to get into this series:

The NGE "Death And Rebirth" Movie is bullshit! It's a feature length clip show that bores the fuck out of you if you've seen the series, and confuses the fuck out of you if you haven't! Either way, if you watch it, the fuck is coming out of you!

Edited by Jack's Meandering Thoughts
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Why does everyone hate death & rebirth...i thought the series ended pretty good...deep too.

Man, fans hated the series' ending (congratulations!) and then the OAV's got everyone all pissy...its like Metal Gear Solid 2, i was all into the philsoophy behind it but everyone else didnt seem to dig it...

Anyway, i fly solo here but i dug the endings.

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  • 11 years later...

The order should be as follows:

 

TV Series-->Death/Rebirth/End Trilogy-->Rebuild Quadrilogy (although only 3 are out so far)

 

Evangelion is arguably ALL about layered characters and their interplay first, and giant robot action second, so I think everyone should start with the TV series. The relationships between the characters are complex, and their exchanges often subtle, most of which is only glossed over in the films. Also, there a great deal of world building which you only get in the series.

 

I remember thinking (way before Rebuild happened) that the ideal way to watch was the TV series up to episode 24, then jump straight to End of Evangelion (which is an alternate ending of sorts, and replaces episode 25 and 26)

 

The Death/Rebirth film was a condensed rehash of the series using mostly the same footage, and now, with the Rebuild project (part 1 specifically) the early parts of the series are 'rehashed' again. This may incline you to skip one of the several re-tellings, but there are some interesting theories that each rehash is not a strict reiteration of the same material, but alternate realities of the events in a sequence, akin to a karmic cycle of sorts. There is actually quite a bit of evidence in the Rebuild project to suggest this is the creators intent, and EVA is enough of a mind fuck to get away with it.

 

Anyway, my suggestion would be to start with the TV series first to gauge your interest and go from there.

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