Does anyone out there watch Evangeion?

[Guest]

Well I think Evangelion is better than gundum to

[drumlord]

There really are a lot of people who don't "get" Eva. And in particular the ending. If you paid attention for the 7-8 episodes leading up to the ending, it really shouldn't have been a surprise for you, except maybe for the stock photos used But if you watched any Gainax stuff before Eva, even the stock photos wouldn't surprise you as they use them in some way in everything.

One thing people in particular forget about Eva because they enjoy watching giant robots kill monsters is that Eva was one of the first mecha animes to NOT be about human empowerment. Shinji was one of the first young whiny pilots to NOT want to pilot. The entire point of his character is that he doesn't want to be involved, with Evas, with his classmates, or with his father. This comes to a head as we reach the end of the show with the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji uses the Evas to achieve a godlike state. Within this state, we see that the world is essentially nothing and can be shaped how he chooses. He ends up choosing a messed up harem anime to live in. And in the ending of the movies when he decides to live in the real world and it's only him and Asuka she says he makes her sick. Understandably so.

Basically, despite how much you enjoy the giant mech monster battles in Eva, that isn't the core of the show and that's why it strayed from that in the last two episodes. The movies are almost like fan service. But they also explain more about the Human Instrumentality Project, which is only hinted about in the series and you are left to figure out on your own WTF happened in the last two episodes.

[localflick]

Drumlord, that's one of, if not the single best summary I've ever read.

The show's ending, and the movie endings were both pretty cool, but I know so many people who were confused by them. I was pretty confused the first time I saw the last episode myself. Partially because the text on the black screens was shown for like a second a screen. Anyway, way to put it all in perspective.

[Pitch]

And so few people see the kinda irony in the ending(the movie ending anyway). lol It's kinda that 'back to the norm' idea. Plus in the beginning of the movie in the (disgustingly perverted) hospital scene, Shinji was begging Asuka to "Call me a fool, just like every other day!"(<something along those lines anyway), and in the end, she does! So in a sort of warped perspective, it's a happy ending.

One thing that puzzles me is whether or not the rest of humanity will be given the choice to come out of the blob. Was it just Shinji and Asuka? They don't say anything about it in the movie - correct me if I'm wrong - and I've heard varying things from varying sources. I've always assumed that everyone else would be given the choice to be human or not, but I still can't be sure.

[drumlord]

Drumlord, that's one of, if not the single best summary I've ever read.

Thanks. That's one of the best compliments I've ever received

pitch: I haven't seen Eva in a few years. And last I saw it (in marathon form), my friends and I had difficulty qualifying what actually happened in the end. In one sense, it isn't important what really happened. A lot of the ending seems to be more of an experiential experience for the viewer, not something that's supposed to enlighten you of something.

But if I had to pick a specific solution, I would say that the Human Instrumentality Project was a success. The trouble is that Shinji became this godlike figure containing all of humanity and with this newfound power he decided to live on what appears to be a dead Earth alone with Asuka. So, there is no choice for the rest of humanity; Shinji makes the choices for them because they all died and were absorbed. But again...it's been a while, so I'm not sure. Honestly, it's the kind of thing that I wouldn't be surprised to hear the actual creators disagreeing or occasionally changing their minds.

[SSSFan]

never heard of it

[Jyd3n]

Neon Genesis Evangelion is by far one of the greatest anime ever made. I don't care what people say about episodes 24-25 being confusing they make perfect sense if you pay attention to what is going on. If you are serious and want to get Evangelion you definately need to buy the perfect collection DVD boxed set on Ebay. It is so worth it.

[SilverOcean]

I've seen the TV series and the two movies. I haven't read the manga yet though; I've been meaning to.

[DevNall]

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.

Manga? Where can I get this?

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.

I'd always heard there was a disagreement about how to end the series.

[Jyd3n]

Manga? Where can I get this?

I'd always heard there was a disagreement about how to end the series.

You can find the manga at a nearby Borders or online. Go to Borders website and see if the nearest one has it in stock.

No, the people making it ran out of money, that's kind of why all of the animations in the last two episodes are drawings that are not completed. This is what made many people angry and caused them to make End of Evangelion which closes the series with more fighting than the true final episodes.

[localflick]

This is what made many people angry and caused them to make End of Evangelion which closes the series with more fighting than the true final episodes.

A lot of people believe the fight when Asuka waking up, and started kicking all forms of ass was just for the fans. Actually, now that I think of it, there was commentary or something on the Death and Rebirth disc that had the creators mentioning that. (Or something close... it's been a while since I've watched it).

Devnall, sorry I didn't reply to your post, I checked my e-mail, and for some reason, I never opened the reply notification. Again, sorry. But as Jyd3n said, Borders is the way to go. It's the only store around here that carries the Eva manga, but if you don't mind the wait you can almost always find them cheaper on e-bay and half.com. As for the ending, I guess it's best to leave it up to each individual's interpretation of what happened.

I think it's kind of funny that they ran out of cash, but to this day Evangelion merch is still selling like crazy. I have a NERV courier bag myself. It was really funny when I took it to the corporate job (once you take the manufacturer's patch off, it looks fairly professional) because my nice bag was getting too banged around in the commute. My co-workers for the most part knew what NERV was, and my two bosses assumed that it was some computer company since other people had bags with Dell and other computer logos.