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[Anime Talk] Neon Genesis Evangelion
Posted On: 4 Oct 2024
It's the 29th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion, that famous (or perhaps infamous?) anime that everybody into mecha has varied opinions about. So, I thought what better way to honor the franchise than to finally sit down and join that collective properly by word vomiting all of my opinions about it?
The Good
Evangelion is... different. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "nouveau" or "unique" in any sense, but Evangelion manages to take the things it's built from and use them in a such a way that I really can't describe it as anything other than itself. I can't point and tell you it's trying to be this or parody that or deconstruct some other thing. I can only point and say it's Evangelion, and I find that a meritable achievement. (Or maybe I'm just some philistine and if only I'd sit down and watch Space Defender Linguini and Faraway Centurion Devilder I'd realize what a hack rip-off Anno actually is.)
I'm quite fond of the concept of the EVA units themselves being Eldritch beasts bound in armor rather than robots to their core. I just think it's cool that the protagonists are effectively playing with fire in order to do the whole "fight fire with fire" tactic. It's a pleasant change of pace from the more played-out handwavium of there being some existential and nigh-unstoppable threat but, thanks to inexplicable fortune, humanity has magicked up some metal giant of steel and Unobtainium Q that just so happens to be superior to every form of conventional warfare and more than capable of defending Earth.
While it's not anything new to face a different monster each week, nor for each monster to entertain a separate gimmick, there's something satisfying about how weird the Angels are. I think they're good monster design, and sometimes that's really all that matters. It's not about finding a new flavor of cake. It's about really nailing an existing flavor of cake in a way that makes the eater say "damn, this is really good cake".
I do think part of what makes it so satisfying is that it feels like each one is a separate problem requiring a separate solution, rather than different problems that converge on the same solution. Ultimately, they do converge, as the battle (usually) has to end with the Angel getting its core destroyed, but the choreography of getting to that point is so varied that I want to see how they get there. It's far more captivating as a spectacle than, say, Power Rangers where the Megazord fights the Big Bad Monster with that same sort of slow fight-block-fight-block routine until it's time to use the Ultra Finisher Move.
Lastly, I just think the Judeo-Christian themes are cool. That's pretty much all there is to that comment. It's a pleasant terminology garnish and I think it helps tie together the fantastical nature of the series in an easily digested way. For example, you really could call the giant Eldritch enemies anything but calling them Angels helps sell the idea of them being something beyond our mortal realm and comprehension (and their Japanese name being Shito, effectively "messenger", really sells the idea of them representing something far bigger than just death and destruction). And, really, you could call your ultimate melee spear anything but calling it the Lance of Longinus sells the idea of it being more than capable of confronting something beyond our mortal realm.
The Bad
Evangelion falls flat in a lot of ways because, ironically enough, I feel it's not nearly as fantastical as it could be. The story sets up all kinds of interesting plot hooks and possibilities, but seems to stagnate on pursuing them beyond the occasional lore drop that may very well go unresolved, or conversation that suggests the scene at hand is more impressive than it appears.
The biggest elephant in the room is the EVA units themselves. They are Eldritch beasts bred from Angel substances, yet it seems as though the only allowed feature in that regard is that they have A.T. Fields. Beyond that, they're merely treated as Big Soldiers With Big Conventional Weapons and their fight tactics feel rather pedestrian. The only time the EVAs get to show their true nature is when they go berserk and potentially do something interesting, but that's treated more as an "oops" to avoid than an actual desirable outcome or path to pursue.
Consequently, the show seems to outright refuse to let the EVA units evolve as tools or even as characters. They seem to remain that same tepid constant. They look the same. They act the same. Their strengths and weaknesses are static. At no point is the viewer ever presented with any kind of meaningful upgrade to the EVA as a concept. Even when EVA-01 acquires an S2 Engine from Zeruel, it still seems to be the same plug-and-play soldier. That's not to say I think it's a mandatory requirement for a mecha show to do mid-season upgrades and overhauls, but I think it's rather narratively impotent that there's so little push to the boundaries of what can be done with an EVA under human control.
If you're going to play with fire, then you need to actually play with fire. The thrill comes from the temptation of fate --of how far you can push your control and discovery without (or perhaps until) creating a runaway blaze. Yet, outside of a few lit candles, NERV seems hellbent on refusing to ever strike a match.
Ultimately, the story of Evangelion just stagnates into a quirky pseudo-Sentai anime where the characters never grow and the plot devices barely change and the only inertia to mark the passage of time is that the battles are always different. And then it's over. It's a wrap. There's no ultimate Big Bad, no thrilling climax, and absolutely nothing learned or gained. The day is saved, everybody trauma dumps for an episode or two, and then it's "Congratulations, Shinji!" as they presumably resolve to move on with their lives as if the entirety of the show was merely a detour or distraction. Even End of Evangelion does little to give the series a proper feeling of closure. It feels more like an angsty retort to the show's ending having a bad reception. "Oh, you didn't like how it ended? Okay, turns out everybody's one giant puddle now and the future of the human race is nebulous! Enjoy!" It builds upon nothing, answers nothing, and is narratively non sequitur to everything that came before it.
The Desired
I wish that Evangelion had been a proper descent into madness. I wish the sheer hubris of the story and the conflicts of interest of all its characters reflected on the battlefield, not just with character dialog but with the EVAS themselves.
I wanted to see the EVAs start as horrifying Pandora's Boxes kept tightly sealed, but slowly grow into even more horrifying weapons of unnatural might as NERV slowly masters their Angel-like nature. At the start, yes, have them be nothing more than lumbering giants with conventional weapons and a horrifying secret beneath their armor. But by the end, I wanted them to become monuments to the arrogance of NERV as filtered through the egos of their pilots. Their forms should have grown ever limber, and ever distorted. They should have gained greater exotic abilities, trading in pallet rifles and progressive knives for weaponized A.T. Field shapes, metaphysical weaponry, and savage raw strength.
I wanted to see the series consistently raise the question of whether the EVAs are truly under human control, or if the EVAs have perverted their pilots in some insidious fashion. Did we take the reins of the monsters or did the monsters take the reins of us?
I feel that if the final form of the Angels --the Angel Tabris, aka Nagisa Kaworu-- resembles a Human, then the final form of the EVAs should resemble an Angel. These two opposing forces should converge in a way such that they seem to become each other in their bids to destroy each other.
Furthermore, it would be fitting for the End of Evangelion to be a story where we learn that SEELE was desiring this nebulous state all along as part of its plan to begin Instrumentality --that the true path to mixing Adam and Lilith starts with mixing their offspring (Lilin/Man and EVA).
So In Conclusion...
Honestly, I like Evangelion. I am disappointed by how far it doesn't go but that doesn't make it bad. Yes, it's stupid. It's a little bit schlocky. It's a lotta bit insane. But I like robots, I like crashy bashy robot smashy, and I like that Evangelion goes and does things that make it memorable (for better or for worse). It's certainly not a masterpiece and I definitely don't think it's as deep of a philosophical plunge as some folks think it has to be, but I don't think there's really anything to lose in watching it. And I think if you're the sort of person who can lose yourself in the moment, then you might find yourself humming along to A Step Forward Into Terror as Shinji gets in the goddamn robot.
But Wait! What About Rebuild?
Okay, I suppose I can't really talk about Evangelion without talking about its do-over. But for sanity and length purposes, I'm going to keep it brief.
Rebuild of Evangelion is absolutely an interesting film tetralogy. Approximately the first half of it feels like simple revision and improvement over the original material... and then the rest of it goes off and does its own thing completely differently.
I do think a lot of my mechanical criticisms are addressed to some degree in the Rebuild continuity. There are backdoor codes and controlled berserk mutations. There's yielding control of bits of the EVA to the EVA itself. There's literally everything EVA-01 does in the fight against the 10th Angel (aka Rebuild Zeruel). There is absolutely more utilization of the EVA's true natures in Rebuild. And yet....
I feel Rebuild is two steps forward, and one step back. There's so much more to Evangelion thanks to Rebuild, but so very little to explain it and tie it together coherently. Ultimately, it feels like an overcompensation for its predecessor's blandness that veers too far into the fantastical in an unpalatable way. It's metaphorically responding to a criticism that "this edible ain't shit" by giving the complainant a deliberate overdose. And despite its legitimate improvements over the original, it all just kind of melts together into one massive "what".
That Rebuild Zeruel fight, though? That is everything I ever wanted out of Evangelion.
(And I will never stop laughing at how I jokingly drew an EVA roomba with a knife duct-taped to it and then the final movie introduces units that are basically just floating balls with arms and knives. Not quite the same and yet somehow I called it! What even?)
Posted On: 4 Oct 2024
It's the 29th anniversary of Neon Genesis Evangelion, that famous (or perhaps infamous?) anime that everybody into mecha has varied opinions about. So, I thought what better way to honor the franchise than to finally sit down and join that collective properly by word vomiting all of my opinions about it?
The Good
Evangelion is... different. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "nouveau" or "unique" in any sense, but Evangelion manages to take the things it's built from and use them in a such a way that I really can't describe it as anything other than itself. I can't point and tell you it's trying to be this or parody that or deconstruct some other thing. I can only point and say it's Evangelion, and I find that a meritable achievement. (Or maybe I'm just some philistine and if only I'd sit down and watch Space Defender Linguini and Faraway Centurion Devilder I'd realize what a hack rip-off Anno actually is.)
I'm quite fond of the concept of the EVA units themselves being Eldritch beasts bound in armor rather than robots to their core. I just think it's cool that the protagonists are effectively playing with fire in order to do the whole "fight fire with fire" tactic. It's a pleasant change of pace from the more played-out handwavium of there being some existential and nigh-unstoppable threat but, thanks to inexplicable fortune, humanity has magicked up some metal giant of steel and Unobtainium Q that just so happens to be superior to every form of conventional warfare and more than capable of defending Earth.
While it's not anything new to face a different monster each week, nor for each monster to entertain a separate gimmick, there's something satisfying about how weird the Angels are. I think they're good monster design, and sometimes that's really all that matters. It's not about finding a new flavor of cake. It's about really nailing an existing flavor of cake in a way that makes the eater say "damn, this is really good cake".
I do think part of what makes it so satisfying is that it feels like each one is a separate problem requiring a separate solution, rather than different problems that converge on the same solution. Ultimately, they do converge, as the battle (usually) has to end with the Angel getting its core destroyed, but the choreography of getting to that point is so varied that I want to see how they get there. It's far more captivating as a spectacle than, say, Power Rangers where the Megazord fights the Big Bad Monster with that same sort of slow fight-block-fight-block routine until it's time to use the Ultra Finisher Move.
Lastly, I just think the Judeo-Christian themes are cool. That's pretty much all there is to that comment. It's a pleasant terminology garnish and I think it helps tie together the fantastical nature of the series in an easily digested way. For example, you really could call the giant Eldritch enemies anything but calling them Angels helps sell the idea of them being something beyond our mortal realm and comprehension (and their Japanese name being Shito, effectively "messenger", really sells the idea of them representing something far bigger than just death and destruction). And, really, you could call your ultimate melee spear anything but calling it the Lance of Longinus sells the idea of it being more than capable of confronting something beyond our mortal realm.
The Bad
Evangelion falls flat in a lot of ways because, ironically enough, I feel it's not nearly as fantastical as it could be. The story sets up all kinds of interesting plot hooks and possibilities, but seems to stagnate on pursuing them beyond the occasional lore drop that may very well go unresolved, or conversation that suggests the scene at hand is more impressive than it appears.
The biggest elephant in the room is the EVA units themselves. They are Eldritch beasts bred from Angel substances, yet it seems as though the only allowed feature in that regard is that they have A.T. Fields. Beyond that, they're merely treated as Big Soldiers With Big Conventional Weapons and their fight tactics feel rather pedestrian. The only time the EVAs get to show their true nature is when they go berserk and potentially do something interesting, but that's treated more as an "oops" to avoid than an actual desirable outcome or path to pursue.
Consequently, the show seems to outright refuse to let the EVA units evolve as tools or even as characters. They seem to remain that same tepid constant. They look the same. They act the same. Their strengths and weaknesses are static. At no point is the viewer ever presented with any kind of meaningful upgrade to the EVA as a concept. Even when EVA-01 acquires an S2 Engine from Zeruel, it still seems to be the same plug-and-play soldier. That's not to say I think it's a mandatory requirement for a mecha show to do mid-season upgrades and overhauls, but I think it's rather narratively impotent that there's so little push to the boundaries of what can be done with an EVA under human control.
If you're going to play with fire, then you need to actually play with fire. The thrill comes from the temptation of fate --of how far you can push your control and discovery without (or perhaps until) creating a runaway blaze. Yet, outside of a few lit candles, NERV seems hellbent on refusing to ever strike a match.
Ultimately, the story of Evangelion just stagnates into a quirky pseudo-Sentai anime where the characters never grow and the plot devices barely change and the only inertia to mark the passage of time is that the battles are always different. And then it's over. It's a wrap. There's no ultimate Big Bad, no thrilling climax, and absolutely nothing learned or gained. The day is saved, everybody trauma dumps for an episode or two, and then it's "Congratulations, Shinji!" as they presumably resolve to move on with their lives as if the entirety of the show was merely a detour or distraction. Even End of Evangelion does little to give the series a proper feeling of closure. It feels more like an angsty retort to the show's ending having a bad reception. "Oh, you didn't like how it ended? Okay, turns out everybody's one giant puddle now and the future of the human race is nebulous! Enjoy!" It builds upon nothing, answers nothing, and is narratively non sequitur to everything that came before it.
The Desired
I wish that Evangelion had been a proper descent into madness. I wish the sheer hubris of the story and the conflicts of interest of all its characters reflected on the battlefield, not just with character dialog but with the EVAS themselves.
I wanted to see the EVAs start as horrifying Pandora's Boxes kept tightly sealed, but slowly grow into even more horrifying weapons of unnatural might as NERV slowly masters their Angel-like nature. At the start, yes, have them be nothing more than lumbering giants with conventional weapons and a horrifying secret beneath their armor. But by the end, I wanted them to become monuments to the arrogance of NERV as filtered through the egos of their pilots. Their forms should have grown ever limber, and ever distorted. They should have gained greater exotic abilities, trading in pallet rifles and progressive knives for weaponized A.T. Field shapes, metaphysical weaponry, and savage raw strength.
I wanted to see the series consistently raise the question of whether the EVAs are truly under human control, or if the EVAs have perverted their pilots in some insidious fashion. Did we take the reins of the monsters or did the monsters take the reins of us?
I feel that if the final form of the Angels --the Angel Tabris, aka Nagisa Kaworu-- resembles a Human, then the final form of the EVAs should resemble an Angel. These two opposing forces should converge in a way such that they seem to become each other in their bids to destroy each other.
Furthermore, it would be fitting for the End of Evangelion to be a story where we learn that SEELE was desiring this nebulous state all along as part of its plan to begin Instrumentality --that the true path to mixing Adam and Lilith starts with mixing their offspring (Lilin/Man and EVA).
So In Conclusion...
Honestly, I like Evangelion. I am disappointed by how far it doesn't go but that doesn't make it bad. Yes, it's stupid. It's a little bit schlocky. It's a lotta bit insane. But I like robots, I like crashy bashy robot smashy, and I like that Evangelion goes and does things that make it memorable (for better or for worse). It's certainly not a masterpiece and I definitely don't think it's as deep of a philosophical plunge as some folks think it has to be, but I don't think there's really anything to lose in watching it. And I think if you're the sort of person who can lose yourself in the moment, then you might find yourself humming along to A Step Forward Into Terror as Shinji gets in the goddamn robot.
But Wait! What About Rebuild?
Okay, I suppose I can't really talk about Evangelion without talking about its do-over. But for sanity and length purposes, I'm going to keep it brief.
Rebuild of Evangelion is absolutely an interesting film tetralogy. Approximately the first half of it feels like simple revision and improvement over the original material... and then the rest of it goes off and does its own thing completely differently.
I do think a lot of my mechanical criticisms are addressed to some degree in the Rebuild continuity. There are backdoor codes and controlled berserk mutations. There's yielding control of bits of the EVA to the EVA itself. There's literally everything EVA-01 does in the fight against the 10th Angel (aka Rebuild Zeruel). There is absolutely more utilization of the EVA's true natures in Rebuild. And yet....
I feel Rebuild is two steps forward, and one step back. There's so much more to Evangelion thanks to Rebuild, but so very little to explain it and tie it together coherently. Ultimately, it feels like an overcompensation for its predecessor's blandness that veers too far into the fantastical in an unpalatable way. It's metaphorically responding to a criticism that "this edible ain't shit" by giving the complainant a deliberate overdose. And despite its legitimate improvements over the original, it all just kind of melts together into one massive "what".
That Rebuild Zeruel fight, though? That is everything I ever wanted out of Evangelion.
(And I will never stop laughing at how I jokingly drew an EVA roomba with a knife duct-taped to it and then the final movie introduces units that are basically just floating balls with arms and knives. Not quite the same and yet somehow I called it! What even?)
NEWEROLDER