Does anyone out there watch Evangeion?

Darkgeohound · Post by **Darkgeohound** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:51 am

When i first saw Evangelion back in the 7th grade i really didn't understand what it was. When i watched it again in the 9th grade, i thought it was the greatest anime i have ever seen. The characters are very well developed and the plot is great, but very confusing at the end.

I think it is very neat how it is based loosely on the Dead Sea Scrolls. After watching this series i actually went and looked up somethings like the Sephironic Tree of Life and the Chamber of Goth. Does anyone else think this series is the best, or even one of the best?

Etherest · Post by **Etherest** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:44 pm

I'm still in the middle of it...and I've gotta cough out the dough to see the rest....btw your avatar owns!

Scorpioeyez · Post by **Scorpioeyez** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:11 am

I watched it all the way through and still think it's one of the worst animes I've ever seen.

NallOne · Post by **NallOne** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:49 am

I wouldn't say it is bad, but it is extremely overrated. I've yet to see any of the movies, so perhaps when I do my opinion will change. To me it is just a jumbled mess of Religious and otherwise references that attempt to be symbolic, but easily go over most people's heads...mine included. I must be too stupid to enjoy it.

I recently purchased the complete set, so I'll probably rewatch it sometime soon. I've been putting it off until I can get my hands on the movies.

Post by **Kizyr** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 1:35 am

I didn't like what I saw much, but that's mostly 'cause I get bored with mecha. Giant robots, machines, space ships, doesn't do it for me. KF

Darkgeohound · Post by **Darkgeohound** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:20 am

It is a little boring at the beginning, but it picks up as the series goes on. I know this will most likely piss some people off, but i thought it was better than any of the Gundam series.

Post by **Rune Lai** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:46 am

Evagelion is to anime what Xenogears was to RPGs, and I incredibly dislike Xenogears, so one can imagine what my feelings are for Eva. It's not the religious imagery that gets me. It's just the complete "what the heck is going on?!" feeling that permeates the whole series. If I thought the writers actually knew what they were doing I'd probably give the series more credit, but I really don't think they do. It feels more like someone was going out of their way to find the biggest mind-trip possible and succeeded (just watch the last two episodes >_<).

NallOne · Post by **NallOne** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:43 am

Thanks, Rune. At least I know it isn't just my stupidity that makes the show near to impossible to understand and follow!

Audric · Post by **Audric** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:24 pm

Hated the ending of it. bottom line

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 4:49 am

This is funny. I had a friend that bought all the Eva manga and DVDs between them both they explain a lot of stuff that makes it all make sense. When you understand it, it's a great series. Unfortunately unless you spend around $200 for all the books and DVDs it's a very wierd nonsensical show. I thought it was cool because he explained it all as I saw it, and knowing everything, it is pretty cool. I just wish they included the stuff in the show. Also the ending sucked cuz they ran out of cash and had to clip together a wierd sequence which replaced the real ending which also sucked.
If you want I could post all the "secrets within secrets" of the show in a big spoiler to clear it up. Or I heard Razephon (sp?) is a similar series that actually makes sense without making you buy tons of manga. So check that out instead I suppose.

Pitch · Post by **Pitch** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:09 pm

Evangelion. Ho-ho boy, get comfortable, I have a feeling that I have a lot to say about this one.

About two years ago, I watched the anime in its entirety. All twenty six episodes, and "both" movies. All subbed - cuz the dub voices suck. And much like you all I sat there at the end thinking "What the hell? These people do not know how to end a series."

How wrong I was.

I rewatched it this year, and now I absolutely love it. While I'll admit it's a little forced at the beginning, ya gotta look beyond all that.

The religious symbolizm is just there for show. In fact, I believe all religious names and other such things are just codenames for stuff, as essentially the Human Complementation Plan was a means to evolve human kind. There's no divine intervention. No "God" in the series. Unless you count Shinji in the End of Evangelion, that is. Ignore the relgious symbols. There's little to learn religiously from the anime.

Hell, I'd say the whole Humans VS. "Angels" thing can be all but ignored as well, because in the end it doesn't even matter. SEELE's plan fails, Gendou gets chomped, human kind lives on... really the only one who achieved their goal is Yui. Like Yui said, humankind will one day be gone, but Eva will live forever, so long as one soul is there to live in it. And there she is, inside Unit one, out there in space. So that psycho-lady achieved her plan that you hear about in ONE episode. ...what's the point?

It's all about the character development. Shinji, Asuka, Misato, Gendou, all of 'em. All with these issues that they hide from everyone else. Ya really feel for the characters. Shinji feeling betrayed by his father, Asuka... poor Asuka... walking in to see her mother hanging.... All these somewhat disturbed characters.

And the point of all that? Put simple, we all have our issues, but we have to learn to live with it. "Don't die until you're dead" as they say. And sure, it took twenty four episodes to finally come to that point - whether you prefer the series ending or the movie ending, either way ends the same. But ultimately it's just that message, that "You'll be okay." type of thing. It's a hopeful message.

Sure none of us are ever gunna be at the end of the world and have to decide the fate of all humanity based on whether or not we can deal with our emotional baggage, but mayhaps at the end of our own world. And either way, it's sci-fi, it's not supposed to be completely realistic, though I must say they did a WONDERFUL job with it. They explain practically everything so that it would almost seem real. A LOT of effort was put into this anime. More than most people see if you're just looking at the surface.

So yeah, try to take a closer look at the characters when you watch it. And if you wanna get all into the confusing stuff, there are people who have all but figured the entire anime out. I believe there's a site called Project Evangelion that has some sort of Evangelion Encyclopedia most likely taken from the Red Cross Book - a little book that people in Japan got when they went to see the anime.

That's my take on it anyway. Wow I had a lot less to say than I thought. Ah well. Maybe I'll stretch it out over a few more posts later.

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:46 am

Way to put it all in perspective! I still think it's strange that there's this series which seems to be about a man who's goal is to create a new paradigm for existence and reality itself but it's really about a clinicly depressed kid and his father issues. Am I alone in thinking that focusing on the other parts of it would make the series A LOT more interesting?

But the subtlety, and the parts that were intentionally left out were also a big part of what made it work.

It's like how on DVDs of The Ring and The Grudge they explain that American audiences want the full story told to them right now, unlike Japanese audiences who enjoy subtlety and mystery. After you watch it are you asking questions reflecting on what you just saw? ...or are you just confused?

Genocide · Post by **Genocide** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:29 pm

I just rewatched the TV series. Now I'm on to the movies. IT's gonna be hard watching them because they really mess with your mind.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 3:29 pm

It was... 5 years ago I beleive when I watched it for the first time, a friend brought over the DVD's... I really enjoyed it, but I guess it got a little... odd near the end, although I'de like to give it a watch again.

Audric · Post by **Audric** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 1:28 am

bottom line Ending Sucks

Pitch · Post by **Pitch** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:28 am

On the surface perhaps the ending is less than satisfying. Certainly not very climatic, but that's why the movie is there. And it's certainly very climatic. I honestly don't see why people don't like the movie's ending. o.O

Anyone care to explain?

localflick · Post by **localflick** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:10 am

Okay, a lot of people have beef with the show's ending. The sad truth is that they ran out of funding, so they clipped together that episode to represent what they really wanted to do. The movie (I'm assuming we're talking about "The End of Evangelion" and not "Death & Rebirth") is sort of an epilogue that actually shows what happened. They don't explain it to you any more than they explained anything else in the series. Generally if you get it the ending is cool. If you don't get it, it sucks. As with the rest of the show, if you don't get it, watch it again and you'll pick up all kinds of little things that make it clearer.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:39 am

Well I never watched the anime or dvd's of Evangelion but I did love the Evangelion novels.

Pitch · Post by **Pitch** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:54 am

localflick wrote:Okay, a lot of people have beef with the show's ending. The sad truth is that they ran out of funding, so they clipped together that episode to represent what they really wanted to do. The movie (I'm assuming we're talking about "The End of Evangelion" and not "Death & Rebirth") is sort of an epilogue that actually shows what happened. They don't explain it to you any more than they explained anything else in the series. Generally if you get it the ending is cool. If you don't get it, it sucks. As with the rest of the show, if you don't get it, watch it again and you'll pick up all kinds of little things that make it clearer.

actually there's quite a bit more of an ending in the movie. And ultimately, everything is pretty much explained too... to a much greater degree. o.o

it's not so much an epilogue as it is the episodes re-done. Eva wasn't appreciated as much, while the series was first running, so yes, there was little fundage. Then fans really hated the ending - despite the fact that it covered a lotta deep concepts... for something that was practically drawn with a crayon. Anyway, the result is the movies. Death and Rebirth was a recap of the series, plus the bit about the attack on NERV HQ, ending at the launch of the Eva series(iirc), then End of Evangelion went further with that, following it through to the end.

A whole helluva lot more's explained. Of course, ya really gotta look at stuff to get it, as usual(like I wonder how many people know the significance of Ayanami "absorbing" Gendou's hand), but there's certainly a lot more explained. Hell, it even makes Eva almost make sense. o.o Shoot, I think it does make it make sense.

Spirit Icana · Post by **Spirit Icana** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 5:08 am

Darkgeohound wrote:I know this will most likely piss some people off, but i thought it was better than any of the Gundam series.

Nah, Gundam SEED was just too good for ya! Just kidding pal.

Evangelion sounds interesting enough. Maybe I'll watch it one of these days.

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