I need to flesh out my ideas for these upcoming essays. I won't have much time for them in the next two weeks, methinks, so this will be the last thing I'll be putting up for a while. I took this challenge and manipulated it for Eva (and not just the anime, the movies (End and Rebuilds) and the manga.) This will probably help, methinks.
On an unrelated note, I have a driver's test almost first thing tomorrow...of course, I can retake it, but I hope to do well enough the first time. Wish me luck!
Day 1 - Your favorite character
Rei. I can relate to her in so many ways. While I can probably relate to Asuka more, I can understand Rei's underlying temperament (I do believe it's a prominent Melancholic) as well as her problems with repression. She also just fascinates me as a character, and the mystery surrounding her, her multiple incarnations and her association with Lilith. The problem with this show is that so much is left a mystery that it's hard to do an analysis of it without guessing a good deal!
...Though, as far as favorites, Rei might be my favorite, but I still LOVE Kaworu.
Day 2 - Your least favorite character
Like, oh my gosh, those jerks on SEELE. Buncha old jerks who are totally out of touch with humanity. No wonder Kaworu didn't seem to like them much.
Day 3 - Your favorite non-anime version
Highschool Apocalypse, just because I started with it and it made me love Kaworu.
Day 4 - Your least favorite version
The Raising Shinji Ikari Project. Just a buncha fanservice...
Day 5 - Your favorite episode
That's rough...maybe the one where Asuka and Shinji work together to defeat that one angel that split into two. It was so nice and normal-ish. Also, the last two are just awesome.
Day 6 - Your least favorite episode
The End of Evangelion parts were called "episodes"...do those count?
Day 7 - Your favorite Shinji whining scene
Okay, I loved changing that there. Probably when he first comes in, just because it's memorable and says a lot about him.
Day 8 - Your favorite crying scene
When the third Rei finally cries. FINALLY.
Day 9 - Your favorite Angel death scene
Pfffffffff maybe the weird purple one that attacked when Toji and Kensuke were dumb enough to be out above ground.
Day 10 - Your least favorite death scene
The one that Eva 01 ate. Disturbing. VERY disturbing...or maybe Eva 03. Ugh.
Day 11 - Your favorite quote
Beats me!
Day 12 - Your favorite funny scene
Probably the horses' head in Apocalypse. Oh. My. Gosh.
Day 13 - A scene that makes you sad/cry
Do tears of pure utter horror count?
Day 14 - A scene that makes you happy
When Shinji nearly punches his father in the manga after Toji gets killed. GO SHINJI. GO.
Day 15 - A scene that makes you angry
Pretty much everything Gendo does. "Why should I care that my son is getting fried alive? Jeez."
....Jerk.
Day 16 - An episode that scared you
End of Evangelion. All of it.
Day 17 - Your favorite friendship
Shinji and Kaworu in Apocalypse, Shinji and Toji in the anime/manga. Sigh.
Day 18 - Your favorite romance
Shinji and Rei. Yes, I realize how wrong that is...but how are THEY supposed to know?
Day 19 - Your favorite song
That's rough. I like a lot of those songs. Probably Rei's theme. All of them.
Day 20 - Your favorite recap
Hmmmm...I hate recaps!
Day 21 - Your favorite character entrance
Asuka in Rebuild. She's so awesome!
Day 22 - Your favorite minor character
I guess Kaworu counts, since he originally only appears in one episode. I just love him...
Day 23 - The character that is most like you
Asuka, with her angry perfectionism and how that's connected to self-hate...
Day 24 - An episode you wish never happened
The first episode/part of End of Evangelion. Please!
Day 25 - Something that you wish happened but didn’t
Probably for the series to actually completely make sense. Or maybe for Asuka, Rei and Misato to have recoveries like Shinji in the anime ending.
Day 26 - Your favorite fanvid
Oh my gosh you don't have to ask this one:
Day 27 - Your favorite THIIIIING
This is turning lame.
Day 28 - Your favorite finale
Not End of Evangelion. Probably the anime or Iron Girlfriend. That was sweet!
Day 29 - Your favorite fanfic
I don't think I've ever read any, actually. I'm pretty wary of Eva fanfics.
Day 30 - Anything Eva related
I think it is very interesting how Western themes such as the search for/conflict with the father are used and other things that make the show more universal rather than just another Japanese show.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Third Part: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Characters
In the story of Neon Genesis Evangelion are many principle characters. When a viewer steps back and ponders on the characters, they seem to comprise a large cast. But in reality, compared to other animes of the mecha genre, the cast is relatively small.
Within this cast are characters that have great importance to the plot, while others are more minor. Some are only included for their effect on the other characters. And yet, despite their different degrees of importance, they all appear in the end of Instrumentality, either in the anime or the movie (...with the exception of Pen-Pen, the penguin.)
Ikari Shinji is the protagonist of the series. There is not a single episode without him, and his experiences and growth are the ultimate focus of the show. He pilots the biomechanical robot Eva 01, and is known as the "Third Child/Children", indicating that he is the third pilot to have been found for the Eva series. He is a rather isolated boy who does not appear to have had much close interaction with others in his life. Despite this, he does not lack social skills and is not socially awkward, although he is definitely quiet and in some instances extremely thoughtful for a kid of fourteen. His character will be explored deeper later in his own analysis.
Ayanami Rei is the first Eva pilot, the "First Child/Children." Her origins are an enigma for much of the show, but she is later revealed to be a clone of Shinji's mother. Despite this, she is clearly a flawed clone, having inhuman blue hair and red eyes. She is even more isolated than Shinji and, as quoted by Anno, the director of Evangelion: "It's not that she doesn't have emotion, but that she doesn't know what it is." Throughout much of the series, she appears entirely emotionless, except for having an often cold demeanor. She appears to be the least psychologically damaged by any negative experiences while piloting her Eva 00, despite it being the most unstable of all the Evas. Like Shinji, she will later have her own anaylsis.
Katsuragi Misato is the oldest member of the principle main cast at 29 years old. She is the captain, and later major, of Nerv, and directs Shinji and the other Children in battle. Despite her often childish nature, she has a good sense of responsibility and is a strong leader when duty calls. She acts as the guardian of both Shinji and the Second Child/ren, Soryu Langley Asuka, initially taking Shinji into her apartment to keep him from living in utter isolation. While she is a brave and clever leader in battle, she does not have much confidence in guiding the children in personal matters due to her own psychological scars and insecurities. When she was 14, she witnessed the Second Impact, although she did not remember what truly caused it, and later in the series becomes dedicated to finding out the truth. She will have her own further analysis.
Soryu Langely Asuka is half-Japanese, half-German. She is the Second Child/ren, pilots Eva 02 and, as contrast to the reluctant Shinji and the apathetic Rei, takes up this job with relish. Her world is centered on being the very best pilot, and reacts with furious hostility to any sign that this position may be taken by someone else. While she has a relatively lively demeanor and a more outgoing personality, her arrogant behavior prevents her from making many friends. Aside from her psychological issues which stem mostly from pressures from her mother and her mother's later insanity and suicide, she is in many ways a normal girl for her age, at least compared to Rei. She will have her own later analysis.
Out of the numerous classmates of Shinji, Rei and Asuka, only three are given any focus in the series.
Hikari is the class representative, and can come off as bossy, but is a very collected, kind, normal girl. She is the only girl in the class who is Asuka's friend, and at times this lets the viewer see sides of Asuka that she would not reveal to other characters. Despite bossing him around a lot, Hikari seems to have something of a permanent crush on Toji.
Kensuke is a bit of a nerd, and has a fascination with the military, military machinery and weapons, mainly the Evas. It is due to his somewhat thoughtless interest in the Evas that he and Toji went out onto the front lines during an Angel Attack, and were nearly killed in the crossfire before Shinji saved them. Kensuke has very little influence on the plot or characters, despite being a friend to Shinji and giving the boy some sense of normality.
Suzuhara Toji is Kensuke's friend and later Shinji's. We learn little about his background, other than the fact that he has a little sister who was injured in the attack of the first Angel that Shinji fought. He blames Shinji for this once he finds out he pilots the Eva 01, and punches him for it. After being saved by Shinji from the second angel, he quickly changes his mind and insists that Shinji punch him back (a very simple kid, eh?) After this, he becomes a friend to Shinji, arguably, as I see it, a better one than Kensuke. I can not see Kensuke and Shinji becoming as good of friends without Toji around, but I can see Toji and Shinji getting along just as well without Kensuke. And after Toji is nearly literally removed from the picture, Kensuke also disappears as well.
The event that takes Toji away from the show is what causes the series to take a turn for the darker. Up until episode 18, the series had taken a somewhat lighthearted monster-of-the-week flavor. In this episode, Toji was chosen to be the Fourth Child/Children. He was put into Eva 04 as a test. However, the Eva had been taken over by the angel Bardiel, and after activation trapped him inside. It destroyed the area and went towards Nerv.
What followed was arguably one of the most disturbing scenes in the entire show. The angel-infected Eva 04 dispatched the other Evas until Shinji was left. He refused to fight the Eva/Angel, knowing that a pilot was inside, but not knowing who it was. A dummy system was commanded to take over, and it utterly destroyed the Eva/Angel, and crushed the plug that Toji was in as well. Shinji only saw it was Toji when they removed him from the plug in the aftermath.
In the anime, Toji miraculously survived, although with the loss of a leg and arguably some severe mental scarring. It is worth noting that in the manga, Toji died, which made Shinji's emotional response to the affair all the more sympathetic and the whole event more tragic.
Either way, in both the anime and manga, Toji disappears from the story. It is very likely that Shinji was simply too afraid and ashamed to approach him afterwards.
These three characters are part of the staff at Nerv. They are directly involved in both managing the Evas, as well as partaking in monitoring and some controls over the Evas during combat. Although their roles vary by degrees of importance, through them we get different perspectives on the events that occur.
Aoba is arguably the most obscure character. He does his duty well and never shows much weakness or great sensitivity, although he is not cold. Overall, he's arguably an average person. The main exception is in The End of Evangelion movie, in which a very intriguing and character-defining scene takes place that sets him apart from the rest of the main cast. This will be explored later.
Maya is smart and has a warm admiration for those in authority over her. She's arguably the most sensitive of the main staff, being the only one to turn her face away and even seem to cry during the more horiffic events such as the Dummy Plug or the berserk Eva eating one of the angels.
Hyuga has a pretty strong crush on Misato, although he's not forward about it for multiple reasons. He's helpful to her and loyal to her above all the other Nerv supreriors. Later in the series, he helps her in her search for the truth of the Second Impact.
Ryoji Kaji is Misato's old boyfriend, an agent for Nerv, a triple agent, and someone who holds his own agenda at priority one. His mission is one that Misato joins in and, after his murder, continues. He seeks the truth of the Second Impact and in the Instrumentality that takes place in the series, is one of Shinji's greatest guides to truth. His character is somewhat of an icon of truth-seeking in the series, and of acceptance of the truth, including the truth of what has occurred in one's past.
He used to be Asuka's guardian, and Asuka has a very strong crush on him. While Kaji is a huge flirt, he is decent enough not to do any of the sort towards Asuka and fuel her rather strange, dependent infatuation towards him. Possibly due to his easygoing personality, he gets along well with Shinji. After Shinji quits being an Eva pilot after the event with Toji, another angel attacks. During this attack, Kaji does not try to lecture or push Shinji into piloting and saving the day. He just tells him that the choice is his, and that no one else can do it in his place. This leads to Shinji choosing to return to being and pilot, cementing his identity as a pilot.
Kaji also plays a very large role in Instrumentality as well as conveying some key themes of the series, which will be explored later.
Ikari Gendo is Shinji's father. He is the commander of Nerv, and is therefore everyone's boss, more or less. He has history in the Eva projects, back to being involved in the Second Impact. In many ways, he's similar to Shinji. Both are not physically isolated from others, both are emotionally so. They have very low opinions of themselves, and apparently of each other. The only reason he calls Shinji to Nerv is because he wants Shinji to pilot the Eva. It is also suggested that Gendo, like Shinji, runs away from other people in fear of being hurt or, in Gendo's case, the belief that he would be hurting them. However, any sort of care that he might have is utterly lost.
The largest difference between Gendo and Shinji is that Gendo clearly uses people, usually without any remorse in the least, and he is very cold even towards though he seems to care for even somewhat. Shinji on the other hand, does not use people, especially if he respects them and his feelings of caring for them are pure (Rei is a prime example of this) and he treats them warmly if he isn't undergoing some sort of psychological mope or depression.
Gendo is in contest against the organization of SEELE, which funds Nerv. Both he and the members of SEELE want Instrumentality to occur and see it as their ultimate, supreme goal. Gendo's reason for this is so he can be reunited with his deceased wife, Ikari Yui.
Ikari Yui was the daughter of a member of SEELE, Gendo's wife, Shinji's mother, a rather out-of-the-box scientist and, along with Gendo, a member of Gehirn, the predecessor of Nerv. She died as result of an experiment with Eva 01, which resulted in her soul being trapped inside of it. The presence of her soul within the Eva is probably why it refuses any pilot other than Shinji. At other times, the Eva has moved on it's own, other than going into beserk, in response to Shinji in danger, presumably prompted by her desire to protect him.
While not exactly physically present, she is the source of much of the series' drama. Rei is her clone, made utterly without her knowledge or consent, as something of a consolation replacement for Gendo. She was also the cause of one of the first Rei clone's deaths, and was loved by one of her teachers.
Kozo Fuyutsuki is the second-in-command at Nerv, and takes care of much of the mundane work. He is also arguably closer to the staff than their commander Gendo, though not by much, but is clearly far less harsh on them. He knew Gendo and Yui years earlier before the two married, being Yui's teacher, and it was revealed that he did and still does love her, at least to some degree. He was also involved in Gehirn and has a deep knowledge of the Evas. At one point, he is captured by SEELE and was interrogated, but was freed by Kaji. This resulted in SEELE cornering Kaji and having him murdered.
Akagi Ritsuko is the head scientist of Nerv. She is a college friend of Kaji and Misato, and has apparently been engaged in sexual activity with Gendo, who she seems to have been attracted to for a good while. She is jealous of Rei, who has so much of Gendo's attention. She is one of the few who knows that Rei is a clone, and her jealousy eventually leads her to destroy the Rei replacement clones. In charge of maintaining the Evas, she appears to know the most about them and their identities out of the main cast aside from Gendo.
She has many issues with her mother, who was the lead scientist before her. Her mother also was in a sexual relationship with Gendo (after Yui died) and was similarly dissatisfied due to it being sexual only. In a further parallel, her mother killed the first Rei clone, who bore an even stronger resemblance to Yui than the rest of the Rei clones. After this murder, Ritsuko's mother committed suicide. While Ritsuko's relationship with her mother was reportedly rather strained, she becomes emotionally reliant upon deceased her mother as the series progresses, perhaps due to a realization of the numerous similarities between them.
Ritsuko has some of the most iconic lines in the series in regards to the pain and misunderstandings that can some with human interaction. She is also the only other character besides Kaji who comments on the strangeness that divides men and women. These will be expanded upon later.
Nagisa Kaworu is introduced as the Fifth Child/Children, as a replacement pilot for the now catatonic Asuka to pilot Eva 03. He is remarkable, and can synchronize with the Eva before it is rewritten to accept him. Later in the episode, he is revealed to be Tabris, the final angel. He also has the soul of Adam, the first angel, within him. He descends to where Lilith is kept, and there is willingly killed by Shinji in the Eva 01.
Kaworu is the only character in the cast that offers unconditional regard and care towards Shinji. Many of his words have led to a homosexual interpretation of his character. Shinji, who is blushing throughout almost every scene with Kaworu, seems to think so, even if it's just subconsciously. However, Kaworu is an angel, and arguably does not have any understanding of human sexuality. Additionally, when his word choices are examined as he talks with Shinji, they seem very vague and broad, though not cold or uncaring. He just seems to be vague and broad, and he only truly makes sense when seen as learning to understand humans through Shinji. If Shinji is examined as humanity as a collective, then Kaworu's words take a very different sense.
Whatever Kaworu's approach to their interaction was, the fact remains that Kaworu was, in the very short time they knew each other, an extremely important person to Shinji. He will be reexamined in this light within Shinji's analysis.
It is worth noting that in Evangelion, which is full of the theme of misunderstanding and distance between persons, Kaworu is the only character who ever vocalizes his feelings; he is the only one who ever says three important little words "I love you."
Kaworu's role has many possibilities of interpretation. The end of his life is one that embodies what he represents: free will. He states that death will come to him no matter what he does, and he wants to die as he desires. It is to this that he asks Shinji to kill him.
But at the same time, Kaworu is Adam. Adam and Lilith are both Seeds of Life, with their own creations that are in direct competition with each other. Adam's children are the Angels, and Lilith's are humanity. Because of this, Kaworu and other characters always refer to humanity as Lilin, the name for Lilith's offspring of myth. If Kaworu/Adam were to destroy Lilith, he could take back the earth from the Lilin and give it to new angels. But he did not, and chose for Shinji to kill him.
Arguably, there are some strange moral issues with Kaworu's choice of, more or less, assisted suicide. But still, considering that he simply had Adam's soul within him, and was clearly still present in The End of Evangelion, it's unknown if he completely died or not. Death to a Seed of Life is evidently different than human death.
One strange thing about Kaworu is that people seem to have a penchant for pairing him with Rei. When the scene before the body of Lilith takes place between Kaworu and Shinji before the former is killed, it is made clear that Rei is there, watching them. Rei is partially Lilith herself, and clearly the possible destruction of the body of Lilith would concern her. Oddly, one of the last things Kaworu does is to look up at Rei, showing he clearly knew she was there.
Could it be probable that, in a sense, Kaworu was letting himself die for Rei/Lilith as well as the Lilin? Possibly.
The potentials of the love that people seem to desire from the Rei/Kaworu interaction is one that deserves a lot of analysis. Also, the concept of Shinji being the collective of humanity//the Lilin to Kaworu, Kaworu loving humanity, and the death connected with free will being for humanity also needs more than what I can offer it now. I'll probably do another part on that, probably after I've finished with the analysis on the principle characters.
As it stands now, I'll analyze Misato next. This will focus on her representation of adults, the Hedgehog's Dilemma, her involvement in seeking truth and how this is connected with her relationship with Kaji (yet goes beyond that) and ultimately her role in Instrumentality within the series.
After that will be Asuka, Rei and then Shinji, then End of Evangelion. I might include the Rebuild Movies, but I am unsure.
If I do an essay-analysis on my musings on Kaworu as mentioned above, another thing that must be included is my idea (that will be fleshed out in Shinji's analysis) is the idea of Shinji's journey showing the journey of a human soul during a stage of life. And if Shinji is the representation of the human soul, that means even more for his relationship with Kaworu and what that could symbolize. Rei could also be included as a comparison for this...we'll see.
 | |||
 |
| From left to right: Hikari, Kensuke, Suzuhara Toji |
Hikari is the class representative, and can come off as bossy, but is a very collected, kind, normal girl. She is the only girl in the class who is Asuka's friend, and at times this lets the viewer see sides of Asuka that she would not reveal to other characters. Despite bossing him around a lot, Hikari seems to have something of a permanent crush on Toji.
Kensuke is a bit of a nerd, and has a fascination with the military, military machinery and weapons, mainly the Evas. It is due to his somewhat thoughtless interest in the Evas that he and Toji went out onto the front lines during an Angel Attack, and were nearly killed in the crossfire before Shinji saved them. Kensuke has very little influence on the plot or characters, despite being a friend to Shinji and giving the boy some sense of normality.
Suzuhara Toji is Kensuke's friend and later Shinji's. We learn little about his background, other than the fact that he has a little sister who was injured in the attack of the first Angel that Shinji fought. He blames Shinji for this once he finds out he pilots the Eva 01, and punches him for it. After being saved by Shinji from the second angel, he quickly changes his mind and insists that Shinji punch him back (a very simple kid, eh?) After this, he becomes a friend to Shinji, arguably, as I see it, a better one than Kensuke. I can not see Kensuke and Shinji becoming as good of friends without Toji around, but I can see Toji and Shinji getting along just as well without Kensuke. And after Toji is nearly literally removed from the picture, Kensuke also disappears as well.
The event that takes Toji away from the show is what causes the series to take a turn for the darker. Up until episode 18, the series had taken a somewhat lighthearted monster-of-the-week flavor. In this episode, Toji was chosen to be the Fourth Child/Children. He was put into Eva 04 as a test. However, the Eva had been taken over by the angel Bardiel, and after activation trapped him inside. It destroyed the area and went towards Nerv.
In the anime, Toji miraculously survived, although with the loss of a leg and arguably some severe mental scarring. It is worth noting that in the manga, Toji died, which made Shinji's emotional response to the affair all the more sympathetic and the whole event more tragic.
Either way, in both the anime and manga, Toji disappears from the story. It is very likely that Shinji was simply too afraid and ashamed to approach him afterwards.
 |
| From left to right: Aoba, Maya and Hyuga |
Aoba is arguably the most obscure character. He does his duty well and never shows much weakness or great sensitivity, although he is not cold. Overall, he's arguably an average person. The main exception is in The End of Evangelion movie, in which a very intriguing and character-defining scene takes place that sets him apart from the rest of the main cast. This will be explored later.
Maya is smart and has a warm admiration for those in authority over her. She's arguably the most sensitive of the main staff, being the only one to turn her face away and even seem to cry during the more horiffic events such as the Dummy Plug or the berserk Eva eating one of the angels.
Hyuga has a pretty strong crush on Misato, although he's not forward about it for multiple reasons. He's helpful to her and loyal to her above all the other Nerv supreriors. Later in the series, he helps her in her search for the truth of the Second Impact.
He used to be Asuka's guardian, and Asuka has a very strong crush on him. While Kaji is a huge flirt, he is decent enough not to do any of the sort towards Asuka and fuel her rather strange, dependent infatuation towards him. Possibly due to his easygoing personality, he gets along well with Shinji. After Shinji quits being an Eva pilot after the event with Toji, another angel attacks. During this attack, Kaji does not try to lecture or push Shinji into piloting and saving the day. He just tells him that the choice is his, and that no one else can do it in his place. This leads to Shinji choosing to return to being and pilot, cementing his identity as a pilot.
Kaji also plays a very large role in Instrumentality as well as conveying some key themes of the series, which will be explored later.
The largest difference between Gendo and Shinji is that Gendo clearly uses people, usually without any remorse in the least, and he is very cold even towards though he seems to care for even somewhat. Shinji on the other hand, does not use people, especially if he respects them and his feelings of caring for them are pure (Rei is a prime example of this) and he treats them warmly if he isn't undergoing some sort of psychological mope or depression.
Gendo is in contest against the organization of SEELE, which funds Nerv. Both he and the members of SEELE want Instrumentality to occur and see it as their ultimate, supreme goal. Gendo's reason for this is so he can be reunited with his deceased wife, Ikari Yui.
While not exactly physically present, she is the source of much of the series' drama. Rei is her clone, made utterly without her knowledge or consent, as something of a consolation replacement for Gendo. She was also the cause of one of the first Rei clone's deaths, and was loved by one of her teachers.
She has many issues with her mother, who was the lead scientist before her. Her mother also was in a sexual relationship with Gendo (after Yui died) and was similarly dissatisfied due to it being sexual only. In a further parallel, her mother killed the first Rei clone, who bore an even stronger resemblance to Yui than the rest of the Rei clones. After this murder, Ritsuko's mother committed suicide. While Ritsuko's relationship with her mother was reportedly rather strained, she becomes emotionally reliant upon deceased her mother as the series progresses, perhaps due to a realization of the numerous similarities between them.
Ritsuko has some of the most iconic lines in the series in regards to the pain and misunderstandings that can some with human interaction. She is also the only other character besides Kaji who comments on the strangeness that divides men and women. These will be expanded upon later.
Kaworu is the only character in the cast that offers unconditional regard and care towards Shinji. Many of his words have led to a homosexual interpretation of his character. Shinji, who is blushing throughout almost every scene with Kaworu, seems to think so, even if it's just subconsciously. However, Kaworu is an angel, and arguably does not have any understanding of human sexuality. Additionally, when his word choices are examined as he talks with Shinji, they seem very vague and broad, though not cold or uncaring. He just seems to be vague and broad, and he only truly makes sense when seen as learning to understand humans through Shinji. If Shinji is examined as humanity as a collective, then Kaworu's words take a very different sense.
Whatever Kaworu's approach to their interaction was, the fact remains that Kaworu was, in the very short time they knew each other, an extremely important person to Shinji. He will be reexamined in this light within Shinji's analysis.
It is worth noting that in Evangelion, which is full of the theme of misunderstanding and distance between persons, Kaworu is the only character who ever vocalizes his feelings; he is the only one who ever says three important little words "I love you."
Kaworu's role has many possibilities of interpretation. The end of his life is one that embodies what he represents: free will. He states that death will come to him no matter what he does, and he wants to die as he desires. It is to this that he asks Shinji to kill him.
But at the same time, Kaworu is Adam. Adam and Lilith are both Seeds of Life, with their own creations that are in direct competition with each other. Adam's children are the Angels, and Lilith's are humanity. Because of this, Kaworu and other characters always refer to humanity as Lilin, the name for Lilith's offspring of myth. If Kaworu/Adam were to destroy Lilith, he could take back the earth from the Lilin and give it to new angels. But he did not, and chose for Shinji to kill him.
Arguably, there are some strange moral issues with Kaworu's choice of, more or less, assisted suicide. But still, considering that he simply had Adam's soul within him, and was clearly still present in The End of Evangelion, it's unknown if he completely died or not. Death to a Seed of Life is evidently different than human death.
One strange thing about Kaworu is that people seem to have a penchant for pairing him with Rei. When the scene before the body of Lilith takes place between Kaworu and Shinji before the former is killed, it is made clear that Rei is there, watching them. Rei is partially Lilith herself, and clearly the possible destruction of the body of Lilith would concern her. Oddly, one of the last things Kaworu does is to look up at Rei, showing he clearly knew she was there.
The potentials of the love that people seem to desire from the Rei/Kaworu interaction is one that deserves a lot of analysis. Also, the concept of Shinji being the collective of humanity//the Lilin to Kaworu, Kaworu loving humanity, and the death connected with free will being for humanity also needs more than what I can offer it now. I'll probably do another part on that, probably after I've finished with the analysis on the principle characters.
As it stands now, I'll analyze Misato next. This will focus on her representation of adults, the Hedgehog's Dilemma, her involvement in seeking truth and how this is connected with her relationship with Kaji (yet goes beyond that) and ultimately her role in Instrumentality within the series.
After that will be Asuka, Rei and then Shinji, then End of Evangelion. I might include the Rebuild Movies, but I am unsure.
If I do an essay-analysis on my musings on Kaworu as mentioned above, another thing that must be included is my idea (that will be fleshed out in Shinji's analysis) is the idea of Shinji's journey showing the journey of a human soul during a stage of life. And if Shinji is the representation of the human soul, that means even more for his relationship with Kaworu and what that could symbolize. Rei could also be included as a comparison for this...we'll see.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Thinking on love
So a picture by me for once!
This is also on my deviantart account: http://mahira-chan.deviantart.com/#/d4dbmlf along with a huge gigantic essay thing on the natural order, order and beauty, love, and breast cancer. Yeeep, not much else to say!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Second Part: Neon Genesis Evangelion
This second part of the analysis of Neon Genesis Evangelion shall summarize the story line, including an examination of the key prompters of the story: the angels.
The story itself takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of eternal summer. It begins in 2010, 10 years after the Second Impact. The Second Impact is apparently what caused the harm on the world. It is believed by the public and almost every single character in the show to have been caused by a meteorite clashing into Antartica. This also provoked nuclear war and economic distress. As a result, we have the half-empty Neo Tokyo that the story begins in.
Later in the show, the main characters discover that the Second Impact was caused not by a meteorite, but a result of contact with and experimentation on a single angel that was dubbed "Adam." The picture above is of Adam.
Let me note right now that it should be pretty clear that the angels in Evangelion have little to no similarity to Biblical or traditional Western angels. It was pretty much just the name that was given to correlate them with the angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The story begins with the angels returning to earth. An organization called NERV is in charge of the resistance against the angels. Within the basement of the NERV building is another dormant angel. It is believed that the angel there is the original Adam that caused the Second Impact, and that if another angel were to make contact with it, the Third Impact would occur and the world would come to an utter end. Of course, the dormant angel is revealed to be not Adam, but an angel called Lilith.
This raises the question of why they didn't just destroy Lilith and end the troubles. There are several reasons:
1: SEELE, the organization supporting NERV, planned to use Lilith to cause the Third Impact in their own way, in a way that would result in Instrumentality.
2: Lilith seems to be the substance of marshmellow, and since angels seem to be fire-resistant, it would be pretty much impossible to destroy her.
I mean, look at her:
She's all white and freaky and marshmellowy.
Oh, and while a lot of religious symbolism in this show actually makes sense, not all of it does. Sometimes the writer just liked throwing crosses and crucifixions everywhere. But more on that later.
Anyways, so the angels themselves don't all have such an invulnerable consistency, but they're pretty much totally resistant to all machine weapons. So NERV and SEELE develop Evangelions, which are humanoid biotechnological giant mecha robots that can only be piloted by children, specifically teenagers around fourteen years old.
Why? Maybe they're just really mean and like to let kids experience traumatic events like risking their lives fighting abominations from some distant place in the galaxy.
Despite being made to protect humanity from the vicious threats of the otherworldly aliens, the Evangelions are designed to look pretty darn freaky, on purpose. To quote Anno:
"There's a monster in Japan called the Oni; it has two horns sticking out of its head and the overall image of the Eva is based on that. I also wanted to give the impression that beneath this 'robot monster' image is not so much a robot, but a giant human."
Okay, so, to be fair, the Evas themselves with the armor don't look that scary. Unless if they're having a hissy fit.
Of course, it's worse when the armor (restraints) come off:
And yes, putting children inside of these things is a totally good idea.
They just won't accept adults (maybe because a lot of the adults in the series are scheming jerks.) This may be because the Evas have human souls inside of them, which I presume, animate them. And these souls are directly connected to the pilot, at least in the examples of Eva 0, 1 and 2.
Going back on track, the series hits off with the main character, Ikari Shinji, traveling to Neo Tokyo and becoming (with great reluctance) a pilot of Eva 1 (seen above in both pictures.) He fights his first angel, winning when the Eva goes beserk and pretty much does all the work for him. But as more angels come to town and he gets more adjusted to life as a pilot, he proves to be pretty good at it and the Eva only goes beserk when he is utterly and totally overmatched or if the power for the Eva runs out and his life is in grave danger.
The other two pilots, Ayanami Rei and Soryu Langley Asuka who pilot Eva 0 and 2 are there to stay throughout most the series. Rei appears in the first episode, while Asuka does not appear until episode 8 (out of a 24 episode series.) Yet once introduced, they stay and pilot, defeating several angels together with Shinji.
At the arrival of Bardiel, the 9th angel, another pilot is briefly put on the scene. The character will be covered more indepth later, but he was seen as early as the second episode. In the episode with Bardiel, he is chosen as a pilot for Eva Unit 3, which is corrupted and controlled by Bardiel. It defeats both Eva 0 and 2, and when it attacks Shinji, he refuses to retaliate or hardly defend himself, fearing for the pilot (even though he has no idea who the pilot is, much less that it is his school friend.) Shinji's jerk of a father who is the leader of NERV has a dummy system, which was installed into Eva 1 earlier in the episode, take over. It takes away all of Shinji's control of the unit, and has it utterly destroy Eva 3, crushing the pod with the pilot in it to boot.
After this, Shinji leaves NERV, but returns, affirming his identity is connected to his Eva, when the 10th angel Zeruel attacks and utterly defeats Eva 2 and Asuka. Shinji fights the angel effectively, but his power runs out. The Eva 1 goes beserk worse than before, and eats the angel alive, taking some of it's power. The unit absorbs Shinji for months while the boy takes a introspective, odd journey into his own mind.
After this, Arael, 11th angel appears. It uses a light beam to probe into Asuka's mind. The angel, which had been staying high in orbit over the earth, was destroyed by Rei in the Eva 0 Unit by throwing a lance called The Lance of Longinus (for no good reason.) After this, Asuka's mental state spirals steadily downwards, and when the next angel attacks she is unable to use her Eva at all. It is destroyed by Rei, whose unit had been contaminated by the angel, by gathering the angel in her unit and self-destructing. Miraculously, she appears to survive...
The very last angel is Tabris, who came in human guise, sent by SEELE to replace Asuka. He is killed by Shinji at the angel's own request.
The series then ends with Instrumentality in full swing.
I've left out some pretty key terms that I need to cover and define. The main thing is the A.T. Field. By the way, I know there was a rumor going around that A.T. Field was some sorta medical term that had to do with autism and that's totally false, so just forget it.
The A.T. Field is at first only seen from angels. When they are attacked, the field appears around them, like a glowing force field. It is called the "shield of the soul that none can penetrate" and other such things. It's the absolute defense for the angels against most attacks, except for most Eva attacks. The strength of the shield varies with each angel. The only thing that can absolutely penetrate it without fail is the Lance of Longinus.
The Evas also have a field, though it seems to be used far less; at any rate, it's nowhere near as strong. Angels and Evas are supposed to be the only creatures that have A.T. Fields, but it is later revealed that every being has them, but just not in the same force-field form.
The A.T. Field for humans holds them together in a singular shape. When the A.T. Fields of all beings is destroyed in End of Evangelion, all life disintegrates into a primordial soup (frequently called tang or orange juice because it's very orange. If you see me refer to either beverage, that's what I'm referring to.) This soup is formally called LCL, which is also what fills the inside of the pods that the Eva pilots control the Evas in. Shinji says it smells like blood, which makes sense, since it comes from the side of the dormant Lilith...go back up to the picture. See that orange stuff rolling down like blood? Yep, that's it.
Another thing is Instrumentality itself. It basically refers to the loss of all A.T. Fields, but the two main bidders for it, SEELE and Shinji's jerk of a dad, seem to want to go about it in different ways. Why it would make any difference, we never really find out.
I think that covers it. For those of you who are like "Hey, you left out Adam's history with Lilith and the Angels and the Lilin and Gendo's name and blah blah blah" I'll get to it later.
From here on out, I'll do a rough but more precise introduction of all the characters. Then I plan to examine Misato, Asuka, Rei and Shinji, and include more specific info on the side characters/other main characters within these examinations. I was thinking of doing it in reverse order, but Misato's more directly connected to the main plot than the kids are, so it would suit to do her first before I get into the big indepth human experience that will be mainly examined in the kids and kinda deviates away from the plot.
I'll probably give End of Evangelion it's own examination, too....though it really doesn't deserve it. I'll probably just include it as part of the analysis on the main four characters.
The story itself takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of eternal summer. It begins in 2010, 10 years after the Second Impact. The Second Impact is apparently what caused the harm on the world. It is believed by the public and almost every single character in the show to have been caused by a meteorite clashing into Antartica. This also provoked nuclear war and economic distress. As a result, we have the half-empty Neo Tokyo that the story begins in.
Later in the show, the main characters discover that the Second Impact was caused not by a meteorite, but a result of contact with and experimentation on a single angel that was dubbed "Adam." The picture above is of Adam.
Let me note right now that it should be pretty clear that the angels in Evangelion have little to no similarity to Biblical or traditional Western angels. It was pretty much just the name that was given to correlate them with the angels in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The story begins with the angels returning to earth. An organization called NERV is in charge of the resistance against the angels. Within the basement of the NERV building is another dormant angel. It is believed that the angel there is the original Adam that caused the Second Impact, and that if another angel were to make contact with it, the Third Impact would occur and the world would come to an utter end. Of course, the dormant angel is revealed to be not Adam, but an angel called Lilith.
This raises the question of why they didn't just destroy Lilith and end the troubles. There are several reasons:
1: SEELE, the organization supporting NERV, planned to use Lilith to cause the Third Impact in their own way, in a way that would result in Instrumentality.
2: Lilith seems to be the substance of marshmellow, and since angels seem to be fire-resistant, it would be pretty much impossible to destroy her.
I mean, look at her:
She's all white and freaky and marshmellowy.
Oh, and while a lot of religious symbolism in this show actually makes sense, not all of it does. Sometimes the writer just liked throwing crosses and crucifixions everywhere. But more on that later.
Anyways, so the angels themselves don't all have such an invulnerable consistency, but they're pretty much totally resistant to all machine weapons. So NERV and SEELE develop Evangelions, which are humanoid biotechnological giant mecha robots that can only be piloted by children, specifically teenagers around fourteen years old.
Why? Maybe they're just really mean and like to let kids experience traumatic events like risking their lives fighting abominations from some distant place in the galaxy.
Despite being made to protect humanity from the vicious threats of the otherworldly aliens, the Evangelions are designed to look pretty darn freaky, on purpose. To quote Anno:
"There's a monster in Japan called the Oni; it has two horns sticking out of its head and the overall image of the Eva is based on that. I also wanted to give the impression that beneath this 'robot monster' image is not so much a robot, but a giant human."
Okay, so, to be fair, the Evas themselves with the armor don't look that scary. Unless if they're having a hissy fit.
They just won't accept adults (maybe because a lot of the adults in the series are scheming jerks.) This may be because the Evas have human souls inside of them, which I presume, animate them. And these souls are directly connected to the pilot, at least in the examples of Eva 0, 1 and 2.
Going back on track, the series hits off with the main character, Ikari Shinji, traveling to Neo Tokyo and becoming (with great reluctance) a pilot of Eva 1 (seen above in both pictures.) He fights his first angel, winning when the Eva goes beserk and pretty much does all the work for him. But as more angels come to town and he gets more adjusted to life as a pilot, he proves to be pretty good at it and the Eva only goes beserk when he is utterly and totally overmatched or if the power for the Eva runs out and his life is in grave danger.
The other two pilots, Ayanami Rei and Soryu Langley Asuka who pilot Eva 0 and 2 are there to stay throughout most the series. Rei appears in the first episode, while Asuka does not appear until episode 8 (out of a 24 episode series.) Yet once introduced, they stay and pilot, defeating several angels together with Shinji.
At the arrival of Bardiel, the 9th angel, another pilot is briefly put on the scene. The character will be covered more indepth later, but he was seen as early as the second episode. In the episode with Bardiel, he is chosen as a pilot for Eva Unit 3, which is corrupted and controlled by Bardiel. It defeats both Eva 0 and 2, and when it attacks Shinji, he refuses to retaliate or hardly defend himself, fearing for the pilot (even though he has no idea who the pilot is, much less that it is his school friend.) Shinji's jerk of a father who is the leader of NERV has a dummy system, which was installed into Eva 1 earlier in the episode, take over. It takes away all of Shinji's control of the unit, and has it utterly destroy Eva 3, crushing the pod with the pilot in it to boot.
After this, Shinji leaves NERV, but returns, affirming his identity is connected to his Eva, when the 10th angel Zeruel attacks and utterly defeats Eva 2 and Asuka. Shinji fights the angel effectively, but his power runs out. The Eva 1 goes beserk worse than before, and eats the angel alive, taking some of it's power. The unit absorbs Shinji for months while the boy takes a introspective, odd journey into his own mind.
After this, Arael, 11th angel appears. It uses a light beam to probe into Asuka's mind. The angel, which had been staying high in orbit over the earth, was destroyed by Rei in the Eva 0 Unit by throwing a lance called The Lance of Longinus (for no good reason.) After this, Asuka's mental state spirals steadily downwards, and when the next angel attacks she is unable to use her Eva at all. It is destroyed by Rei, whose unit had been contaminated by the angel, by gathering the angel in her unit and self-destructing. Miraculously, she appears to survive...
The very last angel is Tabris, who came in human guise, sent by SEELE to replace Asuka. He is killed by Shinji at the angel's own request.
The series then ends with Instrumentality in full swing.
I've left out some pretty key terms that I need to cover and define. The main thing is the A.T. Field. By the way, I know there was a rumor going around that A.T. Field was some sorta medical term that had to do with autism and that's totally false, so just forget it.
The A.T. Field is at first only seen from angels. When they are attacked, the field appears around them, like a glowing force field. It is called the "shield of the soul that none can penetrate" and other such things. It's the absolute defense for the angels against most attacks, except for most Eva attacks. The strength of the shield varies with each angel. The only thing that can absolutely penetrate it without fail is the Lance of Longinus.
The Evas also have a field, though it seems to be used far less; at any rate, it's nowhere near as strong. Angels and Evas are supposed to be the only creatures that have A.T. Fields, but it is later revealed that every being has them, but just not in the same force-field form.
The A.T. Field for humans holds them together in a singular shape. When the A.T. Fields of all beings is destroyed in End of Evangelion, all life disintegrates into a primordial soup (frequently called tang or orange juice because it's very orange. If you see me refer to either beverage, that's what I'm referring to.) This soup is formally called LCL, which is also what fills the inside of the pods that the Eva pilots control the Evas in. Shinji says it smells like blood, which makes sense, since it comes from the side of the dormant Lilith...go back up to the picture. See that orange stuff rolling down like blood? Yep, that's it.
Another thing is Instrumentality itself. It basically refers to the loss of all A.T. Fields, but the two main bidders for it, SEELE and Shinji's jerk of a dad, seem to want to go about it in different ways. Why it would make any difference, we never really find out.
I think that covers it. For those of you who are like "Hey, you left out Adam's history with Lilith and the Angels and the Lilin and Gendo's name and blah blah blah" I'll get to it later.
From here on out, I'll do a rough but more precise introduction of all the characters. Then I plan to examine Misato, Asuka, Rei and Shinji, and include more specific info on the side characters/other main characters within these examinations. I was thinking of doing it in reverse order, but Misato's more directly connected to the main plot than the kids are, so it would suit to do her first before I get into the big indepth human experience that will be mainly examined in the kids and kinda deviates away from the plot.
I'll probably give End of Evangelion it's own examination, too....though it really doesn't deserve it. I'll probably just include it as part of the analysis on the main four characters.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
First Part; Neon Genesis Evangelion
This blog has been dead due to school and work (and laziness.) For this I apologize. Another thing is that I'm steadily more and more unsure as to what I want to do with this blog. However, Neon Genesis Evangelion DESERVES all the review and examination I can give it, which I must and shall do.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a nearly painfully 90s anime which has become a cult classic in Japan akin to how Matrix is in America, as well as being one of the most popular animes in the last two decades. Its basic premise was a deconstruction of mecha animes of the time (Gundam, for instance), especially of the hero character(s) of such shows. On top of that, the writer and director, Hideaki Anno, was recovering from major depression while working on the show, had a thing for inserting what seemed like random references to Christianity, Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and thought that one of the most gory and complex shows ever written was meant to be targeted towards children (no joke. The show started off in an after-school timeslot until parents realized what had happened and threw a fit.)
Oh, and the show also increasingly lost budgeting and support from the studio. It sort of helps that the studio, Gainax, sort of intended for the show to be a huge failure for company and budget reasons.
So, the show should be a gigantic mess, right? And it's popularity is only explainable for the same reasons why poorly written chick-flick vampire romance novels are popular, right?
A look into the show, the characters, and the very appeal of the story shows that this is not the case. True, it's not a perfectly structured show, nor is the writing flawless and clear, nor even is all the mystery comprehensible as the watcher looks back on it, or rewatches it.
And yet, it's undeniably appealing to all types of people. There are many reasons for this, which we will go through:
1: The fanservice. This is OBVIOUS. The show may have been written to just have some discreet, questionable morality in the characters and/or their lifestyles. But instead, much of it was thrown in the viewers face. What is the most disturbing about this is that two of the biggest providers of the fanservice are fourteen year old girls. There is little else to be said on this, other than I find all the prevalence of this trash to be the show's greatest flaw. The only people who were attracted to the show solely on this basis, and still are, are just perverts.
2: The action. With giant humanoid robots fighting aliens coming to end the world as we know it almost every single episode, you're bound to have a fair bit of action. Though, there really isn't that much to please a hard-core action/adventure fan.
3: The plot/story, though really, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who STAYED in the show for the long run just for the plot. The plot is referring to the entire aliens-called-angels-coming-to-earth-and-what-caused-the-first-apocalypse etc. etc. etc. It's a mindscrew, but the mystery is intriguing. Once you figure it out however, the truth behind it will either be interesting, decent, or plain mundane and overdone.
4: The final great appeal, which is what I think calls such a great variety of people and ultimately keeps them, is the pure human appeal of the show. The show is polarizing: people either love it or hate it. It's mainly for this reason. People often decide whether they love the show based on whether or not they could empathize with any of the characters, or find any particularly intriguing. It's the characters, their struggle, and the human story of the show that makes it ultimately appealing, inspiring, and worthy of becoming legendary in the minds of the fans.
Just to note, I did not start out with the series like most people. I first read the spin-off manga, "Campus Apocalypse", which is enormously different from the original series, but it still got me interested enough to read the manga. I'm extremely happy I read the manga first. People who begin with the anime often find Shinji, the main character, to be positively unbearable because of his passivity. The manga Shinji had more spunk, and he was easier to go along with as I became adjusted to the story and the other characters. Still, I wanted more, so I watched the original series.
When I finished the series, my mind was basically screwed. It all felt totally and utterly confusing, and pointless in so many ways, and if I did not have the manga to fall back on, I probably would have given up on the series then and there. I even watched End of Evangelion, the supposed ending, and that SO did not help. I went ahead and watched the Rebuild movies, which I liked better, because the writing was more clear, concise, the characters more mentally healthy, and not to mention the directing absolutely blew me away. But I still found myself going back to rewatch the infamous last two episodes.
And it was history from there. From there on out, the show has been one of my biggest inspirations, far moreso than I would have ever thought. Why?
It's the characters, and their realness. In the last two episodes, we get something of an interview with the main four characters, Shinji, Rei, Asuka and Misato. We get to understand them in these interviews far more deeply than many authors ever understand their own characters. And ultimately, we see Shinji face the idea of painlessness, and reject it for the human experience. Shinji, who had been running away from pain throughout the entire show, finally accepts that it is a part of life. Shinji, who had been hating himself perhaps more than any other character learns to like himself to fully experience life.
It's not just that we can empathize with the weaknesses and failures of the characters. It's also that we see that no matter how far we fall, we can always choose to change. We can always get back up, or choose not to. Choice and free will are enormously important to the series, and is emphasized in an entire episode, embodied in a single character, which will be discussed latter. There are also numerous themes that all tie together to emphasize or show the truth of different human experiences, and how human nature truly is, that gives the show it's ultimate appeal.
So, I'm thinking I'll probably do an overall summary of the show in the next blog entry, then I'll go on to the characters....probably one post per main character, otherwise it'll get absurdly long. We shall see! This should be fun!
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a nearly painfully 90s anime which has become a cult classic in Japan akin to how Matrix is in America, as well as being one of the most popular animes in the last two decades. Its basic premise was a deconstruction of mecha animes of the time (Gundam, for instance), especially of the hero character(s) of such shows. On top of that, the writer and director, Hideaki Anno, was recovering from major depression while working on the show, had a thing for inserting what seemed like random references to Christianity, Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and thought that one of the most gory and complex shows ever written was meant to be targeted towards children (no joke. The show started off in an after-school timeslot until parents realized what had happened and threw a fit.)
Oh, and the show also increasingly lost budgeting and support from the studio. It sort of helps that the studio, Gainax, sort of intended for the show to be a huge failure for company and budget reasons.
So, the show should be a gigantic mess, right? And it's popularity is only explainable for the same reasons why poorly written chick-flick vampire romance novels are popular, right?
A look into the show, the characters, and the very appeal of the story shows that this is not the case. True, it's not a perfectly structured show, nor is the writing flawless and clear, nor even is all the mystery comprehensible as the watcher looks back on it, or rewatches it.
And yet, it's undeniably appealing to all types of people. There are many reasons for this, which we will go through:
1: The fanservice. This is OBVIOUS. The show may have been written to just have some discreet, questionable morality in the characters and/or their lifestyles. But instead, much of it was thrown in the viewers face. What is the most disturbing about this is that two of the biggest providers of the fanservice are fourteen year old girls. There is little else to be said on this, other than I find all the prevalence of this trash to be the show's greatest flaw. The only people who were attracted to the show solely on this basis, and still are, are just perverts.
2: The action. With giant humanoid robots fighting aliens coming to end the world as we know it almost every single episode, you're bound to have a fair bit of action. Though, there really isn't that much to please a hard-core action/adventure fan.
3: The plot/story, though really, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who STAYED in the show for the long run just for the plot. The plot is referring to the entire aliens-called-angels-coming-to-earth-and-what-caused-the-first-apocalypse etc. etc. etc. It's a mindscrew, but the mystery is intriguing. Once you figure it out however, the truth behind it will either be interesting, decent, or plain mundane and overdone.
4: The final great appeal, which is what I think calls such a great variety of people and ultimately keeps them, is the pure human appeal of the show. The show is polarizing: people either love it or hate it. It's mainly for this reason. People often decide whether they love the show based on whether or not they could empathize with any of the characters, or find any particularly intriguing. It's the characters, their struggle, and the human story of the show that makes it ultimately appealing, inspiring, and worthy of becoming legendary in the minds of the fans.
Just to note, I did not start out with the series like most people. I first read the spin-off manga, "Campus Apocalypse", which is enormously different from the original series, but it still got me interested enough to read the manga. I'm extremely happy I read the manga first. People who begin with the anime often find Shinji, the main character, to be positively unbearable because of his passivity. The manga Shinji had more spunk, and he was easier to go along with as I became adjusted to the story and the other characters. Still, I wanted more, so I watched the original series.
When I finished the series, my mind was basically screwed. It all felt totally and utterly confusing, and pointless in so many ways, and if I did not have the manga to fall back on, I probably would have given up on the series then and there. I even watched End of Evangelion, the supposed ending, and that SO did not help. I went ahead and watched the Rebuild movies, which I liked better, because the writing was more clear, concise, the characters more mentally healthy, and not to mention the directing absolutely blew me away. But I still found myself going back to rewatch the infamous last two episodes.
And it was history from there. From there on out, the show has been one of my biggest inspirations, far moreso than I would have ever thought. Why?
It's the characters, and their realness. In the last two episodes, we get something of an interview with the main four characters, Shinji, Rei, Asuka and Misato. We get to understand them in these interviews far more deeply than many authors ever understand their own characters. And ultimately, we see Shinji face the idea of painlessness, and reject it for the human experience. Shinji, who had been running away from pain throughout the entire show, finally accepts that it is a part of life. Shinji, who had been hating himself perhaps more than any other character learns to like himself to fully experience life.
It's not just that we can empathize with the weaknesses and failures of the characters. It's also that we see that no matter how far we fall, we can always choose to change. We can always get back up, or choose not to. Choice and free will are enormously important to the series, and is emphasized in an entire episode, embodied in a single character, which will be discussed latter. There are also numerous themes that all tie together to emphasize or show the truth of different human experiences, and how human nature truly is, that gives the show it's ultimate appeal.
So, I'm thinking I'll probably do an overall summary of the show in the next blog entry, then I'll go on to the characters....probably one post per main character, otherwise it'll get absurdly long. We shall see! This should be fun!
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