N G Evangelion: I expected more

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pizzaroll said:
It's true man.
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I thought the animation was pretty amazing. It looked like they put a lot of work into it.

tunnel scene w/ new eva.. Eva 2 beast scene.. also the fucking sniper/diamond angel fight... soooo good

Just because it's so different from the original doesn't mean it doesn't have it's own awesomeness. I loved it anyways and I'm a long time Eva fan. I know some people don't lie change, though.
 
lunarworks said:
The unlikeable characters are almost the point of the show. When it comes down to it, EVA is a show about character flaws.

A wimpy kid (and not in an endearing way) who runs away from all his problems being goaded into piloting a giant robot by his father who virtually abandoned him and radiates constant disappointment on him. He's taken in by his supervisor, an alcoholic 29 year old woman with issues of her own, and his co-pilots are pretty disturbed, too. One is almost completely emotionless, and the other is completely bi-polar.

But honestly, at the time in anime history, I'd rather watch that than another hyper-genki "LET'S DO IT, EVERYONE! THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!" mecha romp.
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Hmm, this is almost a flawless post. Don't forget the sexual angst from everybody, though.
 
Gospel said:
Haha, anything else you can add?
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Madoka has a pretty bad start, but it does pick up. I feel like the 12 episode run time wasn't enough to firmly establish the characters beyond their staid archetypes. Honestly, tune into the series for the awesome production values, it doesn't let you down in that sense as it's consistently interesting to look at. The underlying premise, however, is executed far better in Steins;Gate in my opinion. If you could only watch one out of the two, I'd pick Steins;Gate easily.

Anyway, Evangelion is one of my favorite series ever. It definitely helps if you've seen it even 10 years ago, as I did. I'd imagine seeing it in 97 must've been mindblowing. I never understood why people always cited "unlikeable characters" as a flaw of the show, as the exploration of their socially maladjusted psyches was really the entire point. Either way, I feel the End of Evangelion loses none of its dramatic impact today as there's simply nothing out there like it. It's ugly, cruel, and its imagery is unforgettable. Highly recommended.

Also, I enjoyed the Rebuild series very much. It's really interesting to see how polarizing Rebuild is on GAF, it's true that they sort of eschew character development due to the shortened run time, but I feel like the emotional heights the movies strove for made up for that.
 
lunarworks said:
The unlikeable characters are almost the point of the show. When it comes down to it, EVA is a show about character flaws.

A wimpy kid (and not in an endearing way) who runs away from all his problems being goaded into piloting a giant robot by his father who virtually abandoned him and radiates constant disappointment on him. He's taken in by his supervisor, an alcoholic 29 year old woman with issues of her own, and his co-pilots are pretty disturbed, too. One is almost completely emotionless, and the other is completely bi-polar.

But honestly, at the time in anime history, I'd rather watch that than another hyper-genki "LET'S DO IT, EVERYONE! THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!" mecha romp.
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You aren't supposed to like Shinji. Nobody is. You aren't really supposed to like anyone. They all have flaws for a reason!! They are accentuating the flaws in humanity. Some have too much pride-- some don't have any. Some care way too much(Misato) and others don't care at all(Gendo). There's a lot of debate to be had about Eva for sure, but I don't think it's a series where they intend for you to care a lot about the cast. That's why they kind of correct everyone's flaws in the recreated universe that Shinji constructs at the very end of the series. It shows you what life would be like if everyone balanced out...

God damnit you just insulted Evangelion and Gurren Lagann in the same post. F you!
 
I think you're appreciation of Eva depends a lot on how old you were when you first watched it. The show was pretty fucking mindblowing when I watched it when I was 16. As an adult though I find it a lot harder to get into. Shinji was a lot easier to bear back then. Maybe that's just me though.

That being said I still do love the original series and movies. Though I have to agree that Rebuild is kinda stupid. Pretty much all the stuff they've added/changed is just fanservice, which I've found to be completely to the detriment of the movies. I still sorta like em though, in a weird sorta way.
 
Dechaios said:
I thought the animation was pretty amazing. It looked like they put a lot of work into it.

tunnel scene w/ new eva.. Eva 2 beast scene.. also the fucking sniper/diamond angel fight... soooo good

Just because it's so different from the original doesn't mean it doesn't have it's own awesomeness. I loved it anyways and I'm a long time Eva fan. I know some people don't lie change, though.
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The animation ranges from good to awful. This is speaking in terms of standards for a theatrical anime release of course. The character animation is bad. TV level at best. The hand-drawn mechanical animation is good, but it's mixed in with the atrocious looking CG as well as blurred to shit because of softening filters to help mask the CG (see the last pic.) But yeah, the CG is fucking aaaaawful ugly shit.
ec221112a4c0ac18d37f2eeffb5297c1c136459d.jpg

longshot222-1.jpg

lowdetail222-1.jpg

unit32-1.jpg
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Barf.
 
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Madoka has a pretty bad start, but it does pick up. I feel like the 12 episode run time wasn't enough to firmly establish the characters beyond their staid archetypes. Honestly, tune into the series for the awesome production values, it doesn't let you down in that sense as it's consistently interesting to look at. The underlying premise, however, is executed far better in Steins;Gate in my opinion. If you could only watch one out of the two, I'd pick Steins;Gate easily.
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Appreciate it! it's got an abstract style to the enemies and scenery that I can't say I've seen anywhere else, which is what got my attention to the series in the first place. But as unique as the style was, I didn't think it alone would've carried me through the rest of the episodes (despite there being only 12). Mainly because I just wasn't feeling the characters.
 
pizzaroll said:
Barf.
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Wow that CG really does look terrible. I never noticed when I was actually watching it.


Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
Madoka has a pretty bad start, but it does pick up. I feel like the 12 episode run time wasn't enough to firmly establish the characters beyond their staid archetypes. Honestly, tune into the series for the awesome production values, it doesn't let you down in that sense as it's consistently interesting to look at. The underlying premise, however, is executed far better in Steins;Gate in my opinion. If you could only watch one out of the two, I'd pick Steins;Gate easily.
.
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I agree with a lot of what you said but I don't believe a longer run time would have helped madoka at all. If anything, it would have made it a lot worse. They completely botched the pacing of a tiny 12 episodes show and the writing was pretty terrible. Suffering through another 12 episodes of that sounds really bad.

But yeah the visuals are definitely the best thing about madoka. Mind you not the character designs but the witches and allt hat juxtaposed art. It was pretty trippy/
 
I found it boring and trite.

And hahahaha, "deconstruction" my ass. Go watch actual mecha shows instead of referring to SRW to show how you didn't deconstruct anything!
 
SD-Ness said:
N G Evangelion is good but overrated. Judging by its popularity, I thought it would be a lot better than it is. I’ve known about this series for years but just never watched it. After rewatching FLCL on Netflix, I decided to give NGE a try.
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It's an important part of anime history. It's definitely a must watch but not a must love. I think the general consensus is that much of it are nothing but amazing, top tier entertainment and other parts (Specifically the lectures on existentialism) are damn near unwatchable.

Honestly, the worst part about the show is its philosophical message. Well, that and how the team had to make due after having run out of almost all their budget. Evangelion is simultaneously legendary and infamous for it's laughable ending.

Yes, the animation is top-notch.
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Sometimes.

While the story has some philosophical components, it isn’t as complex and subtle as I was hoping. While there are some dark, psychological moments, they’re not that dark. The narrative just isn’t fleshed out. I think it could have benefited from more episodes and slower pacing.
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Yeah, there is nothing subtle about a 30 minute lecture about existentialism. There are also parts of the story rushed, such as multiple characters whose entire purpose is to make Shinji more upset with little impact on the story or the other characters. The show also makes multiple previously important characters absolutely meaningless.

I feel like the characters are also underdeveloped. I don’t feel attached to any of them. The characters are all damaged or sick in some way, which is maybe why this is the case, but probably not.
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Honestly, I like the characters, but all of them don't feel flawed in a reasonable human way. They all seem a bit too over the top.

I also find the battles with the Angels totally random and ridiculous.
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You're wrong here. Evangelion is the best Monster-Of-The-Week show ever, at least that aspect of the show is.


SD-Ness said:
Anyway, what does GAF think? Am I missing something? Did I not understand some of it? Or is this just an instance of popularity not necessarily being coexistent with quality?
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Nah, you aren't really missing anything. Evangelion is a show that is famous for being critically flawed, no matter how good one thinks the other elements are.

Shalashaska161 said:
I think you're appreciation of Eva depends a lot on how old you were when you first watched it. The show was pretty fucking mindblowing when I watched it when I was 16. As an adult though I find it a lot harder to get into. Shinji was a lot easier to bear back then. Maybe that's just me though.
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This is definitely a big part of it as well. At 14, it was probably my favorite anime. Now? Not so much.
 
RSLAEV said:
You really had to be there. It may not hold up for viewers today but in the late 90's, just as Anime was starting to explode in the US...Eva was *awesome*

And RaXephon was a pale imitation. If someone reccomends that you watch it that person is not your friend.
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Rahxephon is a homage of Brave Raideen. They share similar stories and super robot designs. The creator is a Tomino fanboy.

I prefer Rahxephon, Genesis Climber Mosepeada, Brave Raideen and Gunbuster. These shows all do something similar to Eva, but better.
 
I actually like the series strangely, the first rebuild was terrible, but the second one made up for it, just be sure to watch both one after the other. I did feel bad for Shinji when His father was being a dick, that scene was incredibly powerful and made me think for a few minutes. Overall, it's a pretty good series, I also would recommend Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, much more light hearted than this series.
 
During my most recent review, I found the series as being a bit rushed and not as dark as I had previously imagined. There were scenes that could have been a bit better, but that's irrelevant now.

Evangelion will always be one of my most watched shows, I just hope the next film does the End justice.
 
Gospel said:
Haha, anything else you can add?
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All you're missing out on is overblown melodrama involving underdeveloped characters.
The only reason to watch Madoka are the pattern-obsessed compositions and Shinbomatic sequences, but despite occasionally looking pretty it's not well directed. If you haven't seen them, you'd do better watching Bakemonogatari or Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, where Shinbo's style fits the content, rather than serving as a distraction from it.
Or you could watch Mawaru Penguindrum, which uses very similar visual strategies to Madoka, but in a way that actually supplements and enhances the emotion and themes.

The oft repeated 'the Evangelion of Magical Girl Shows!' line is so stupid. For one, Gainax and Anno actually respected and were fans of mecha anime.
Besides, hadn't Utena claimed that title already?
 
charsace said:
Rahxephon is a homage of Brave Raideen. They share similar stories and super robot designs. The creator is a Tomino fanboy.

I prefer Rahxephon, Genesis Climber Mosepeada, Brave Raideen and Gunbuster. These shows all do something similar to Eva, but better.
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Well I guess if I had watched any of those older series' I would have had more patience with it, but I went in cold and had to do the Seinfeld exit after a handful of eps.
 
SD-Ness said:
N G Evangelion is good but overrated. Judging by its popularity, I thought it would be a lot better than it is. I’ve known about this series for years but just never watched it. After rewatching FLCL on Netflix, I decided to give NGE a try.

Yes, the animation is top-notch. The designs are awesome. The overall concept is engaging.

While the story has some philosophical components, it isn’t as complex and subtle as I was hoping. While there are some dark, psychological moments, they’re not that dark. The narrative just isn’t fleshed out. I think it could have benefited from more episodes and slower pacing.

I feel like the characters are also underdeveloped. I don’t feel attached to any of them. The characters are all damaged or sick in some way, which is maybe why this is the case, but probably not.

I also find the battles with the Angels totally random and ridiculous.

Anyway, what does GAF think? Am I missing something? Did I not understand some of it? Or is this just an instance of popularity not necessarily being coexistent with quality?
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You're missing something big time. O_O

NGE is by far one of the best Anime ever, and it get's even better when supported with it's movies and now, the rebuild.

Also, Ultima 5, you are awesome.
 
Ultima_5 said:
I don't understand the eva hate. Love the show.
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Avatar quote

I think the negative aspects of Evangelion are easily discernible.

Ultima_5 said:
Doesn't matter,

Misato_Katsuragi.jpg


makes up for it!
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She really is one of the most dynamic characters I've seen. The more I watch the show, the better she becomes.

On the other hand and at first, Asuka was my most favorite character in the series. However, through countless reviews, I found her character heavily underutilized . . . but it actually adds to her frustration and anger as she becomes overshadowed by both Rei and Shinji. Poor Asuka. :(
 
watch it again in a few years. you will then probably like it/appreciate it. i know when i watch something for the first time, i usually hate it/nitpick because of expectations.. when i watch something for a second time after a while, i end up liking it.
 
AngelSoldier said:
You're missing something big time. O_O

NGE is by far one of the best Anime ever, and it get's even better when supported with it's movies and now, the rebuild.

Also, Ultima 5, you are awesome.
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Hell yeah man. glad somebody noticed.

hateradio said:
Avatar quote

I think the negative aspects of Evangelion are easily discernible.
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Yeah, I wouldn't say that evangelion doesn't have alot of problems... For all I know, I may have just ignored them assuming they were due to the age...
 
Eva is extremely popular now due to the Rebuild movies having been released in Japan. In my neighborhood alone there's a great deal of Eva t-shirts, model kits, even an Eva Pachinco parlor next to the Don Quixote building in Akihabara. I've seen elementary school kids oogling over Eva merchandise and talking about their favorite characters. I have not seen Rebuild yet, but I presume that its tone is probably quite a bit different if it's able to reach the youngest of audiences.

As for the series: when I watched it for the first time at the age of 14, I found it very moving, fun, "deep", and sad. Retrospectively, outside of some overdone christian symbolism, I don't find the show to be particularly interesting. It's rushed and unbalanced, and you basically watch every character melodramatically whine about how unfair life is. And yes, the angels, evas, and anything "mecha" about the show is random and ridiculous. For the most part, I don't really enjoy the show anymore. As another poster said previously, I think you just "had to have been there" to understand the significance of Evangelion in the 1990s.

On the other hand, I know I sound crazy, but I really enjoyed the End of Evangelion and think it's a great movie.
 
Gospel said:
Appreciate it! it's got an abstract style to the enemies and scenery that I can't say I've seen anywhere else, which is what got my attention to the series in the first place. But as unique as the style was, I didn't think it alone would've carried me through the rest of the episodes (despite there being only 12). Mainly because I just wasn't feeling the characters.
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Honestly, Madoka Magica does get better. The show gets dark as fuck.
Disturbingly so in some cases.

As for Eva's popularity, it is partly because Evangelion is by far the most well marketed anime in the history of the medium. You can find pretty much anything Eva branded.
 
I was somewhat disappointed with it the first time I watched it as well.

Come back to it in another year or so, and it will probably have a different effect on you. Since you know what to expect going in, it allows you to appreciate it for more of the finer things than trying to piece everything together with no context.


It's an extremely flawed show, but I find myself thinking about things from it on a regular basis, despite not having watched it in at least a year. It's become one of my favorite series due to subsequent viewings, and the movie (which I initially hated) is now one of my favorite films of all time. It's probably objectively worse than the series, but it's worth watching for the visual feast alone.


edit: +1 Asuka
 
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