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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