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Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
I once wrote Anno a letter expressing my fondness for the TV series. I let him know how much I liked the characters that worked on the bridge, and I thought it was great that everyone worked together to stop the monsters. I wanted him to explain the ending, but that didn't bother me much because everyone seemed pretty happy. I told him I was bothered by the creepy sex stuff with the 14 year old sistermother, but that I was proud of him for not having the sad boy get super rapey with the angry girl. I closed by thanking him for not including a single demon seagull. After all, I hate demon seagulls almost as much as I hate vaginas growing on foreheads.

A year later, End of Evangelion was released.

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Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
I think we're too worried about nudity that might have been intended for nerds to get boners over when there's plenty of nudity to talk about that could only have been less erotic if Freud was one corner of the screen grimacing while circus music played.

Let us pay tribute to whatever in the gently caress you want to call that thing shambling around the second half of EoE, which I refuse to refer to as "GNR" because that just makes me think Instrumentality involves all of humanity listening to Slash deliver a really wicked solo which Axl Rose rejects, being a whiny girlish child himself.

I also think it bears mentioning that Kaworu is literally a ten thousand year old demon in an underage body. I mean, look, we both know the old joke here, but you gotta gimme this one.

Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
It's both and neither, because the TV series ends with Shinji accepting Instrumentality to become free of suffering but ultimately unfulfilled, while EoE ends with Shinji (spoilers for our new friend) rejecting Instrumentality, because he "understands" that the human experience is defined by measuring pain against pleasure and loving with the figures until you come out ahead; to surrender at this point would be a cowardly display in the face of his fallen comrades, plus maybe this time he can finally talk to Asuka without being a total gently caress-up OOPS NO HE CAN'T.

In either case, Rebuild happens for some reason and all these poor souls are dragged back for an extra round or twenty. It will, of course, end by revealing that Mari has been Haruhi the entire time, and we get a full hour of English dubbed RomComGelion. Then she takes a nap and the whole universe explodes and the closing shot is the same as the opening shot from the TV series. I'll take my check now, Anno.

Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
Here's a theory for you! Shinji actually is all of the Third Children; there is only one Eva and he is the only pilot. Each "other" pilot is one facet of his personality; submissive, hateful, assertive, and loving (Rei, Asuka, Toji, and Kaworu respectively). Throughout the series, he is confronted by these different personas and tries to reconcile with them, but they end up being either too strong to conquer or too weak to be useful.

By End of Evangelion, all of these aspects have been killed off and maimed in poetic ways; Rei rejects Gendo for the first time and immediately accepts becoming a monster, Asuka feels loved once again and charges to her death, Toji has long ago been crippled because of his eagerness to pilot, and Kaworu's love for Shinji is twisted by Lilith and used against him. Shinji wakes up on the beach after triumphing over his own extremes, and after briefly trying to strangle his avatar of hate, is finally able to be comfortable as himself.

And hey, hows about that time when the giant robot charged through a wall and punched the calico cat-demon in the face, boy howdy.

Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

I don't think they all need to be Shinji for that observation of their roles to be relevant.

"Not extrapolating wildly"? In NGE? I beg your pardon.

Next you're gonna tell me that the Evangelion horse race video isn't canon.

Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
Does anyone else feel bad for Matarael? He kinda got a bum deal in this "be a world-shattering nightmare" gig. All his evil brothers and sisters are flying around with crazy designs, destroying the minds of children, leveling entire cities, and generally being awesome. I'm giving a free pass to crazy-dancing-gemini guy and lava-manta-ray guy because they had the decency to take effort to kill.

Suddenly, here comes a fat stupid spider that moves at a glacial pace and whose only form of attack requires him to stand perfectly still directly above the target. I understand the point of the episode is to show how vulnerable humanity is without its shiny new god-toys, but any monster that can be defeated by "the electricity not being off" really deserves some sympathy.

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Soho Joe
Aug 11, 2006

the torment of existence
weighed against
the horror of nonbeing
Nap Ghost
I don't think these were posted, they are cool + good



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