I watched the show about a decade ago, and I remember disliking it. I gave it another chance.
The OG Series:
It's a good show, at least up until Kaworu shows up. The story then devolves into a bunch of sanctimonious asinine ramblings about how Shinji is a coward, and how you should not ask for help from others. It's all pretentious trash.
Shinji is good kid, and I don't mind him at all. Asuka and Rei are barely characters, and I don't care for them. The SEELE organization makes no sense, and it's never explained. The Human Instrumentality project is absurd, and your typical "The world sucks, so we must destroy it to rebuild it our way" nonsense.
I know they ran out of budget by the end of production, and it shows. I can respect their artistic attempt at finishing it, but the last few episodes just plain suck.
End of Eva Movie:
This movie is where Shinji becomes whinny and useless. Doing the "he doesn't wanna pilot anymore" a third time just doesn't work. All because he killed Kaworu, whom he barely knew at all. Misato goes from mother figure to child predator, Gendo is a complete bastard, everyone fucking dies, and the bad guys essentially win. Animation is incredible, but make no mistake: FUCK this movie.
Rebuild of Eva:
It's alright. I like it more than the OG show. Character relationships and world building are way better. More importantly, Asuka and Rei (both Reis) are actual characters now, and I appreciate that immensely.
New story is good, if a bit flawed. WILLE treating Shinji like crap at the start of Movie 3 was stupid, and made things harder for everyone. Kaworu is also here, but he's alright now. Bonding through playing music together is rather cute. Then he dies, but you actually kinda care this time. Other than Kaworu though, Movie 3 sucks.
Movie 4 is much better, but it drags. You could cut Movies 3 and 4 into a single better movie. The entire village section is great. I just find stories about human resilience and "life after death" far more interesting than stuff like the utter disaster that End of Eva was, where it all boils down to "and then they all die".
Gendo is a self absorbed delusional selfish genocidal maniac. It's truly awful and painful to lose someone, but that doesn't give him any right to control and destroy so many lives.
I like the cheesy happy ending, and that's just who I am.
Overall? It's alright. It gets rather pretentious, but I enjoy a good part of the story and characters. It's also great visually, so that should translate well to both the fights and glam.
One thing though: Evangelion as a whole has a very weird obsession with constantly showing teenagers in different stages of nudity and sexually charged poses. This weird degeneracy better be left out entirely from XIV's raid series.
Cautiously looking forward to the collab.
Re-Watched Evangelion for Raid "Preparation"
Printable View
-
05-07-2026, 09:29 AMDiaDeemRe-Watched Evangelion for Raid "Preparation"
-
05-07-2026, 10:32 AMDestatiThis is one of the reasons - if not the biggest reason - why I've been put off from watching the show. I've seen clips of it here and there and picked up the gist of the story through osmosis. Between the sexualization of underage characters and Shinji coming off as a very unlikable character I don't really care to watch it.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
I get that it's iconic, and I'm happy for the people who are excited for it. I personally haven't been intrigued by any of the alliance raid series since Heavensward (Endwalker's piqued my interest but let me down almost immediately on release) so I'm pretty ambivalent.
If I'm hoping for anything it's that they'll do what they did with Nier and have a mash-up song of Cruel Angel's Thesis and some FFXIV song.
Was gonna say that I expect FFXIV to veer away from that kind of sexualization but then I remembered what they did with Ryne in Refulgence, so.... -
05-07-2026, 10:39 AMStBelenus
Final cutscne in 8.5
https://media1.tenor.com/m/FAqm3wJTI...n-clapping.gif -
05-07-2026, 01:30 PMImmutFrankly I would be extremely disappointed if we did not get a congratulations at the end. In fact, the DUTY COMPLETE screen should just be replaced with CONGRATULATIONS.Quote:
Originally Posted by StBelenus
-
05-07-2026, 01:43 PMFawkesI haven't watched the rebuild stuff yet but your takes on the original series and movie are pretty much exactly how I remember feeling about them.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
-
05-07-2026, 01:52 PMDiaDeemShinji truly is nowhere near as bad up until End of Eva. For most of the OG show, he's just a kid dealing with complex stuff, but he's insufferable once you get to End. And yes: The gratuitous sexualized teens got on my nerves. It's just freaking weird.Quote:
Originally Posted by Destati
Yeah, I still hate that fight just because of that. I hope they do better this time around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Destati
Rebuild is much better, imho. Sadly, it still carries a lot of the BS from the OG show. Gendo has this thing where apparently he can predict everyone's moves like 10 steps ahead, and it's so contrived that it would make Sheev Palpatine blush. I'd still recommend... but with caution.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fawkes
-
05-07-2026, 10:05 PMHanayumi
Considering we still got roughly a year till 8.1, got to wonder if most of it will be based off Yoko Taro's version...
-
05-08-2026, 12:32 AMviriannaHonestly i wouldn't be surprised. We have like a year until 8.1 so it's enough time to get the anime going. Unless, as it is with eva media... it will be cooking for years to comeQuote:
Originally Posted by Hanayumi
-
05-08-2026, 12:45 AMWildheaven182
Now watch Gurren Lagann. Some of the people worked on Eva went on to form studio trigger and made Gurren Lagann as a sort of response to the premise of Eva, and even an antithesis to Eva.
-
05-08-2026, 12:54 AMArriusDepression and existential dread?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanayumi
That's right's right up his sleeve, giving us a broadside of both. -
05-08-2026, 03:32 AM_Aelys_
I consider the series, especially its second half and EoE, to be personal masterpieces.
I know a lot of people hate the end of the series, EoE, and 3.0 precisely because it avoids all the clichés of Japanese animation, namely a shonen hero ready to save everyone. What 2.0 basically does
The fact that you prefer the Rebuilds 1.0 or especially 2.0 but hate EoE and 3.0 is more or less proof that you don't really like it when works delve a bit into the psychology of the characters or events that don't end well.
This is not a criticism, everyone has their own tastes and expectations. Don't get me wrong, I think 2.0 is a good movie and entertaining. However, I think it's a bad Evangelion movie.
Finally, I think I must be one of the rare fans who loved Evangelion without focusing particularly on the mecha aspect, where many shots were reused, there were many still images, and the music played on the tension, all of which made Hideaki Anno's work unique (For example, the hacking of Magi in episode 13 or the last 7 episodes).
I also really like it when he develops the "military" aspect and the planning stages. This is something we see in episode 6 or Evangelion 1.0 (Who wanted to improve episode 6 and one of the reasons behind the Rebuild movies), this aspect can also be found in the Shin Godzilla movie.
As I said in the other thread, what worries me about the FF14 crossover is if they push the meta aspect in the Alliance raid.
FF14 is a refuge for many of us. It would be incredibly bold to finish the raid with images of reality, to see YoshiP himself and tell you, "Stop spending your hours in a virtual world to escape your depression."
This is a recipe for disaster in the forums or Social Media and could put Square and FF14 in fire, especially in Japan.
That's why I think it'll be fan-service oriented. Mecha, waifus, plugsuits, school uniforms.
That said, if the raid finale takes place in an increasingly desperate event with an EoE-style finale and a reprise of Komm Susser Tod, it'll be a 10/10 for me. -
05-08-2026, 03:47 AMTurtledeluxe
I think its easy to type out plot points in a way that makes any story look reductive. You can argue XIV has done the same ending 3 or 4 times (wanna take a trip down memory lane) but it also takes all the detail and nuance away. I find the analysis of episodes 22-24 here pretty off the mark. Regarding oversexualization, I won't defend egregious camera angles or poses but I will say Evangelion does deal with dark subject matter and traumatized individuals. You might not notice this because they emotionally oscillate between extremes and it can be easy to see this as contrived. Regarding Kaworu its like, I guess you don't know disregulated people can be prone to lovebombing. And that's exactly what happens, its not unbelievable whatsoever.
Growth and rehabilitation do not just continue to tread off in a linear way. Those are bs stories. Experiencing setbacks, falling back into old patterns, is extremely common. The way arc happen in XIV for example, thats not the average case where someone grows and just stays in a permanent state of success. Alphinaud for example. -
05-08-2026, 04:01 AMDiaDeemThanks for the recommendation :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildheaven182
-
05-08-2026, 04:27 AMTeresaFortellIn my humble opinion, it is the engagement with the works of Hegel and, to a lesser extent, Kierkegaard that sets this anime apart from the others, as it rejects Hegel's end-of-history. Looking at the surface, it is just mechas fighting. However, it touches on many of the elements Hegel wrote about in his Phenomenology of Spirit. Particularly, the concepts of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in the process of Determinate Negation represent the conflict between individualism and collectivism.Quote:
Originally Posted by _Aelys_
Thesis, or the immediacy, represents the state of the individual, or the entity that represents each character in the show. In this state, individuals are incomplete and isolated, and they cannot truly understand one another, thereby becoming capable of hurting one another (Hegel, 1807, p. 61). This conflict, called the antithesis or negation, is evident in the interactions among Shinji and Asuka, Misato, and Gendo (Hegel, 1807, p. 62). As such, the Human Instrumentality Project pursued by SEELE is therefore viewed as the synthesis, or the sublation, the resolution of these conflicts via the merging of all contradictions into unity, wherein this state, the individual is obliterated, and the unity resolves the conflicts brought upon by the thesis, or individuality (Hegel, 1807, p. 75).
However, what really defines eva is the ultimate choice Shinji made at the end of the EoE. He rejected the synthesis for the end of history and embraced the flaws of the individual, thereby bringing the world back to its original state. In other words, he negates the unity as he believes only the existence of pain, the antithesis, can provide proof that the individual, or the immediacy, exists. Therefore, Eva is seen as both a representation and a slight subversion of the Hegelian Dialectic, which isn't something you see commonly displayed in animations.
Reference:
Hegel, G.W.F. (1807). The Phenomenology of Spirit. -
05-08-2026, 04:52 AMDiaDeemYeah, that time where Shinji slips and "accidentally" lands on top of a naked Rei with his hand conveniently landing on her boob had never been done before or since in Japanese animation. Then there's that time where the tsundere girl kicks a pervert boy that just did something obscene in front of her, or the EVIL dark room with the EVIL BAD GUYS lurk, or that time where after Kaji tells him to do something, so he goes back and saves the day like a shonen Hero at the end of Episode 19 and into Episode 20.Quote:
Originally Posted by _Aelys_
There's more. All those cliches are there. You are just deciding they don't bother you when they're in Eva, which is fine, but don't pretend they aren't there.
Oh, I was enjoying OG Eva alright. Shinji is a good kid, and I think the hate towards him is rather unwarranted. The whole Misato/Ristuko/Kaji dynamic was super engaging, and I even like Maya, Makoto and Shigeru.Quote:
Originally Posted by _Aelys_
But then the show stopped being about any of that, and it became about a pretentious nihilistic message about the end of the world, and how Shinji is a coward, despite him coming through every single fucking time up to this point.
The whole movie is a self indulgent mess... Unless you think Shinji jacking off to a comatose teenage woman was "deep psychological analysis" and an integral part of the story.
I don't think Yoshida would do that.Quote:
Originally Posted by _Aelys_
As a species, we have always gravitated towards fantastic stories to enjoy and live in their worlds. For literal millennia, people told stories to one another, which then became paintings, songs and books throughout modern history. People would devour books and get lost in their worlds. Then the 20th century came, and we got motion pictures, animation, and gaming.
Telling people to "fuck off, go outside" is rather insane and reductive. People don't escape to games, movies, books or music because they don't wanna live in the real world. They let us explore our human condition and visit unique places and emotions.
People that don't go outside and obsess over fiction were not invented by Japanese anime. People did that with books for literal centuries, and those that don't wanna interact with the real world just won't, regardless of anime existing or not.
At this point I just hope the raid is fun, the story is entertaining, and that we get some cool glam. -
05-08-2026, 05:01 AMDiaDeemYeah, Rebuild 4 did that too in the village. But to go back to the OG show: I like Shinji. I genuinly don't understand why people hate him so much. He's reacting like any kid would, and still coming through for those he cares about. It'd be insane if this didn't affect him, and not only do I think it's remarkable, but it also speaks to the strength of the growing bonds he formed through shared experiences with the other pilots, and through daily life with his friends and Misato as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtledeluxe
End doesn't care to build upon any of this. You could cut all of Eva, introduce Shinji as a troubled kid pilot that had to kill Kaworu last episode, and it'd make no difference to the movie's plot. It's clumsy and feels incredibly rushed, imho.
I'd rather watch them play piano and bond through music and shared experiences than a single awkward bath scene. -
05-08-2026, 05:19 AMDiaDeemThank you so much for this, truly.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeresaFortell
I'm not a philosopher, and I will accept the fact that a lot of this stuff really just plainly flew over my head while watching.
That said, I find some of the stuff Hegel says (at least in the way you present it) as... at least questionable. Of course it's impossible to fully ever understand one another, and of course we're meant to hurt each other, even those we love most, but that's just part of the human condition. There's no "perfect fix" to this.
Who are SEELE and why are they even pursuing the Instrumentality Project? What drove them to conclude that this was the only way forward? Even the most dense objects in the universe are held together from literal implosion by individuality. Neutron degeneracy pressure is the only thing that prevents a neutron star from becoming a singularity, which by itself is not even an object anymore, rather just an infinite point of density. In a true Human Instrumentality fulfillment, there would be no humanity left by definition, which makes the whole thing sound even more insane as a plot point in the story.
And that's the thing in the end: If we consider Eva as an allegory for all these philosophical concepts, I can see why it can be interesting as an exercise... but as a story? I still think it's not very good when it comes down to trying to wrap all these ideas in a way that makes said story complete or even reasonable, at least when we're talking about OG and End. It's a mess, and makes me wonder if they themselves delved into something they just didn't fully understand. I can respect the attempt, but the story only ever got so far.
In this philosophical sense, Rebuild is far more simplistic, but I think it's more successful as a complete story.
Again: I'm not a philosopher. I was only talking about Eva as a story and its characters. I don't think I'd be capable of engaging a true philosophical debate without dedicating myself to studying it for a while. But truly, thank you very much. Your post was very valuable to me. I wasn't trying to engage Eva in bad faith. There's a reason I gave the whole thing another chance. This perspective is far more valuable to me than "you don't like it because it's not cliche anime". -
05-08-2026, 06:58 AMTeresaFortellThat's more often the criticism levelled against Hegel in his writing, as he was trying to establish logical frameworks for the human condition, which is itself abstract and hard to quantify, and therefore should not rely on a rigid framework. As for the "fix" to the underlying issue, you are correct in saying that there isn't a perfect fix, and Hegel does indeed address this and proposes a potential solution. He recognises that it is impossible to achieve full understanding, so he proposes a solution which is known as the Mutual Recognition. In this concept, which is presented as a rebuttal against his very own dialectic, he writes the following "Self-consciousness is in and for itself while and as a result of its being in and for itself for an other; i.e., it is only as a recognised being"(Hegel, 1807, p. 109). Put it in layman's terms, he means that the other, the pain and hurt we do to each other, are the essential elements that determine the "self", and we cannot truly recognise each other as free individuals until we recognise the impossibility of fully understanding each other, since the inability to fully understand each other creates the aforementioned conflicts. In other words, knowing that we cannot truly fully understand each other is the step towards recognising each other as individuals.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
References:
Hegel, G.W.F. (1807). The Phenomenology of Spirit. -
05-08-2026, 07:01 AMTeresaFortellRegarding SEELE, they want to pursue the Instrumentality Project because they fear the Hedgehog's Dilemma presented in humanity. The Hedgehog's Dilemma is an example provided by Arthur Schopenhauer in his Parerga and Paralipomena. In the Hedgehog's Dilemma, Schopenhauer describes a group of porcupines wanting to stay warm in the winter, lest they freeze to death. However, staying together for warmth means these porcupines need to stay close, and their spines can injure each other. Equating this to humanity, he believes that the social friction, the pain and suffering we inflict upon each other, is essential towards "the middle distance" where we "finally discover and at which a coexistence is possible, courtesy and good manners" (Schopenhauer, Adrian Del Caro and Janaway, 2015, p. 584). SEELE sees humanity in its current state as flawed and imperfect. These elements precipitate the Hedgehog's Dilemma, dooming humanity to eternal suffering. Therefore, SEELE concludes that pursuing synthesis through the project is the ultimate way to resolve this dilemma, because human suffering is evident only when humans are separate individuals. The fulfilment of which would see SEELE elevate themselves to a higher level, tantamount to godhood.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
References:
Schopenhauer, A., Adrian Del Caro and Janaway, C. (2015). Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays / Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. -
05-08-2026, 07:05 AMRedLollyWhat's funny is how many players mentioned Endwalker was basically Gurren Lagann with how many details in the messaging were similar while playing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildheaven182
So I'm extra interested to see how the one that's supposed to be heavy and difficult to get through being in FFXIV after EW pushed such hope in spite of hell. -
05-08-2026, 07:07 AMAstronisIt's been awhile since I watched Eva and End of Eva, but the impression I came away with was that the guy who wrote it was Going Through Some Shit and it bled into his anime pretty hard. I still enjoyed it, more or less.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
But yeah, Shinji is a good kid going through some hard times, and I think ultimately he does the right thing. -
05-08-2026, 07:22 AMTeresaFortellThey certainly tried to insert these concepts to make the overall plot feel more profound. However, I don't think they fully committed to these concepts until very late in the show, which I believe is around episodes 25 and 26.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
-
05-08-2026, 08:06 AMDiaDeemThis is really interesting, and for once, I can see some logic to it. I still believe relationships are also a basic part of the human experience, and thus Hegel's idea needs to reconcile with the fact that such bonds can overcome complete understanding and flourish, but I don't wanna walk out of my depth here xDQuote:
Originally Posted by TeresaFortell
Thanks for your posts, they're all really interesting reads :)
Fuck em https://cdn.betterttv.net/emote/60c9...c3e7e3/1x.webpQuote:
Originally Posted by TeresaFortell
-
05-08-2026, 09:29 AMTurtledeluxe
I don't remember Shinji being useless for more than about 25% of End's content given he isn't central to several scenes. Once he sees the particularly gruesome result of a certain battle close to mid film, his sympathetic nervous system is off the charts the rest of the film.
And I mean that battle itself is a great example, it takes up a decent chunk of screen time. -
05-08-2026, 12:17 PMAidorouge
I remember thinking the show was kinda mid and not understanding the hype over it after finally getting to watch it on Adult Swim way back when. Never saw the movies or Rebuilds, but that's because the show its self didn't do enough to make them worth seeking out.
Much like the Nier and FF11 raids, the Eva one is just going to end up another series I don't bother doing (and people wonder why others are so allergic to unlocking more alliance raids when half of them are collabs). -
05-09-2026, 12:56 AMTeresaFortellOne thing about SEELE and NERV is that they are both sides of the same coin. The show tried to present NERV as the overall good guy in the anime, but it was a front for SEELE, and its attempts to stop the angels from reaching Lilith were carried out under instructions laid out in the Dead Sea Scrolls. NERV, under Gendo's guidance, was also attempting to trigger an impact. However, unlike SEELE's goal of elevating humanity, Gendo only wanted to reunite with Yui via the impact. The grief from the bereavement made the man desperate, after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
This dichotomy between SEELE and Gendo's NERV, in terms of the "why" in seeking another impact, may be seen as a reference to Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. In this writing, Nietzsche presents two opposing concepts: Dionysianism and Apollonianism. Dionysianism refers to the Greek god Dionysius, who was the god of wine, chaos, and madness. Nietzsche uses Dionysius’ characteristics to represent the death of the individual. In Nietzsche’s view, this is the state of an “intoxication”, and in this state, “their heightened forms cause the subjective to dwindle into complete self-oblivion”, resulting in “nature” in reconciliation with “its prodigal son, man” (Nietzsche and Smith, 2000). Using Schopenhauer’s Hedgehog’s Dilemma, Nietzsche believes the dilemma is resolved through the “oneness” of all individuals, culminating in the death of the “ego”, and the principium individuationis, or the principle of individuation (Nietzsche and Smith, 2000 & Schopenhauer, Adrian Del Caro and Janaway, 2015, p. 584). This is what SEELE believes: that the death of the individual and their “ego” through synthesis can end the pain that we, the individuals, cause each other.
Regarding Apollonianism, it refers to the Greek god Apollo, characterised as the god of light and order. Here, Nietzsche presents it as another state. In this state, the boundaries of individuals, determined by "me" and "you", are clearly defined. The "ego" exists due to the set boundaries, and thus, the principium individuationis also exists. Putting this into the context of eva, it makes Gendo's motive of triggering an impact clearer. He wanted to create a synthesis of all individuals, in which all would be united, so that the boundaries between himself and Yui could be removed. Therefore, he was driven by his desire for his wife, Yui. Yet, such a desire cannot exist with the death of the "ego" and the individual (Friedrich Nietzsche and Douglas Smith, 2000). Therefore, viewed from this angle, Gendo's NERV is portrayed as the opposite of SEELE, in which they, despite also wanting to throw the world into a Dionysian state, are portrayed as the opposite of SEELE.
References:
Friedrich Nietzsche and Douglas Smith (2000). The Birth of Tragedy.
Hegel, G.W.F. (1807). The Phenomenology of Spirit.
Schopenhauer, A., Adrian Del Caro and Janaway, C. (2015). Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena. -
05-09-2026, 01:30 AMWildheaven182
Didnt the writer say he only used the religious theme visuals because they look cool? Lol
Its kinda like the episode of south park where the kids write a book of disgusting profanity nonsense and everyone reads into it way too far lol.
But i do like that eva captures the hopelessness and misguidedness of a generation. Lack of purpose and direction besides what is forced on you. Everything falling apart around you with the weight of the world threatening to crush you at every turn. Forces beyond your control you can only face with something also beyond your understanding. Relationships are scary, awkward, and dangerous at worst, and at best they are transactional to cope with pain.
Fun to think of how these ideas may be reflected in evercold.
There's a great video essay on youtube about eva and gurren lagann/kill la kill as answers to eva. Saying, be shamelessly individualistic, there's great power in being yourself. Relationships dont have to be awkward and painful, be hot, assert your personality and make a move. The overcomplicated sci fi details dont matter, nonsense is how we roll. -
05-09-2026, 06:49 AMTeresaFortellIt seems to me that there is a shift from artistic expression to capitalisation in the animation medium. The old Eva is but one of many 90s animations that delve deeper into these profound topics. One other shining example that comes to mind is Lain. You could hardly find these elements in most modern-day titles, and it would perhaps be attributed to either a change in environment or a change in audience reception.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildheaven182
-
05-09-2026, 08:28 AMTurtledeluxe
The religious references in general can be considered superficial. Its actually sci fi elements like AT fields, LCL, and the entry plugs that are used to explore the aformentioned influences as well as, imo, Jung.
Also if those are truly themes of Gurren well, there's tons of anime that looks and sounds like that including Rebuid. So people should enjoy those. Eva is commonly misunderstood anyway because there is no "answer" to it. Despite its conclusion, throughout Eva we see through AT fields for example how they not only reinforce individualism but act as conduits for collaboration. Eva does not dismiss symbiotic relationships or collectivism, in fact it explores the pro and cons. -
05-09-2026, 08:41 AMShadowshinra
I'm with you, rewatched it recently too and was like "Why did I like this back in the day and why does it get so much praise today?" Like for the most part it's a fairly decent anime with it's glaring issues, but then it just nose dives when they throw in the rest of the religious stuff. Maybe it's because modern me has since played/watched other things that tackle that stuff better or more my style (the Xeno-series for example). Maybe I need to watch another good mecha anime to hype me back up (any suggestions?)
I do think to help the raid series that we need to go to the Eva world and not them coming to us, I feel like that will be the better option, since Nier and even XI are just kinda there -
05-09-2026, 09:35 AMUnderscore
most media literate ffxiv player
-
05-09-2026, 09:39 AMCNitsahYeah, despite some good themes, the original Eva one of those shows that you would not want someone to enter the room while you watch it because it would be hard to explain, and nobody will actually believe its not some kind of weird show. IIRC Gainax wasn't in its best state at the time, and they did everything they could to keep their viewers. Even obnoxious fanservice. I'd advice to read the manga adaptation (written and drawn by the original charac designer), because it remove most of those awkward moments, and those that are kept are dealt with less voyeurism. The rebuild also limited it, but on the other hand they went for theQuote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
, which is whole other flavor of weird I'm not gonna talk about."they phisically stopped aging, so 14 y.o. looking asuka is actually 24" -
05-11-2026, 01:15 AM_Aelys_It's interesting because, despite the various fan theories on the subject, I've never really taken the time to understand these philosophical or literary inspirations.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeresaFortell
You're never better served than by yourself, even when it comes to impressions. But I always like to delve deeper and put what I see into context.
Thanks.
Oh, I'm not saying Evangelion doesn't have these "clichés." Let's just say, Gainax created or amplified some of these clichés, they were less common in 1995, especially broadcast on prime-time Japanese TV that subsequently became the subject of much controversy.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
Rei Ayanami, for example, you might think she's a cliché (girl with blue/white hair, expressionless, mysterious). But rather, other media outlets drew heavily on her.
Shinji in episode 19 is a middle-good example. Indeed, he's determined to destroy the angel, but his haste causes his EVA-01's autonomy to deactivate and destroys its "physical" shell.
Quite the opposite of Evangelion 2.0, which takes the cliché to its extreme (red eyes included, lol), in order to retrieve Rei Ayanami, even if it means triggering Third Impact. This time, it's more about fan service, about him saving the one he loves. In both cases, it remains an extreme reaction from a teenager without caring about what is happening around him or others, so rather consistent for his age. -
05-11-2026, 01:21 AM_Aelys_Oh, I'm aware that the scene you're referring to is meant to provoke its very-core audience by holding up a mirror to themselves, given their idolization of those girls. Evangelion is a critique of the Japanese Otaku fandom. (Which is very different from what we in the West call Otaku)Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
I wouldn't call it a profound psychological analysis.
We've rarely seen, in a series, a long, awkward, and hostile silence in an elevator lasting over a minute, only for it to end with a slap.
The goal of the series isn't for you to feel good with every scene. If it evokes discomfort or disgust, then you react normally.
Otherwise, as mentioned above, I also recommend Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It has nothing to do with Evangelion, offers much more optimistic hope, and doesn't delve into human psychology.
I think this anime is also among my favorites and one of the best Imaishi has produced.
Of course, it also has some clichéd scenes with its female characters. But you'll rarely see a series so well depicted in terms of escalating power and exaggeration.
In a completely different vein, much less well-known, but also one of my favorites in the "psychological" shojo genre, there's Kare Kano (Her & Him circumstances), it focuses heavily on the romance of two high school students, but with Hideaki Anno's signature touch (lots of meta-narrative, fear of judgment, social constructs and the false self, family trauma, and self-esteem).
I expect so, Square involved in such a project is more than an honor for all the developers who will be working on it (and also in a way that a lot of money has been put into FF14 EverCold).Quote:
Originally Posted by DiaDeem
Obviously, the fact that it's not original content displeases many.
But I wasn't a fan of the last original raid content with the Twelve. I didn't feel it had any coherence with the 1.0/ARR universe, and I wasn't a fan of the Greek mythology aspect either. No threats intended, except to shower you with compliments. -
05-11-2026, 01:55 AMTheMightyMollusk
As an old school mecha anime fan, Shinji is a deconstruction of the "fell into the cockpit" trope commonly seen in shows like Gundam. He's not an instant ace, he's panicky and afraid, he just really doesn't want to be there. He steps up because there's no choice, but it's clearly not doing great things to his mind. Most of the show follows his arc of coming into his own as a hero, despite the horrors he has to face.
And then the last few episodes and EoE just go full diabolus ex machina, breaking and slaughtering the cast as brutally as they could, and it killed any desire I had to keep up with the series. I finished it, but I have no interest in watching it again. -
05-11-2026, 03:18 AMTurtledeluxe
I don't know if I see the hospital scene as the only way for the writer to explore what's happening between Asuka as Shinji, but I do see it is as relevant. Its possible the scene is related to personal experience in some form (not saying something Anno did exactly this). The film is the summation of a show's worth of ego driven competition, personality conflict, and unresolved feelings (both platonic and sexual). After the hospital scene, I think the next time we see them together, they are having a choke out fight in a room, so it's not exactly "better", its just general physical violence instead of sexual violence. We can view the timeline as hospital scene --> fight scene --> final sequence when she says "disgusting". I see them as all connected which is why they're placed at the beginning, middle ish, end. What Shinji does in the hospital isn't a strictly sexual act in terms of motivation, I see it more like a shameful attempt at asserting dominance when someone he views as a competitor is at their lowest and most vulnerable. It's visceral not just because its inherently a violation but because it's not something I saw Shinji as capable of. I see them interacting in this way as what would be expected in a film concerned with ego boundaries rapidly dissolving both literally and figuratively. So I do see it as psychological.
Worth noting, you can see very similar acts of aggression online in any given multiplayer FPS game insofar as players can actively mock their defeated competitors with available animations.
I also do not expect any of this to make it into the alliance raid since there's not really sufficient time in those raids to build a believable relationship between these characters. There's no precedent in their previous crossovers for this. Typically it stays very "general lore" relevant so we can expect perhaps a story surrounding an institution like NERV, aliens/Angels, Gendo as an antagonist, Shinji as a protagonist. I don't think it will go any deeper than Shinji stopping his father or something. If Asuka is in it at all it'll be a cameo or a highly cleaned up Rebuild-i-fied version of her. I suspect Yoshi P is a big Rebuild fan given the way Zodiark was stylized on the moon.