Neon Genesis Evangelion

What do you mean acting? I mean the references were easy for me to pick up since I knew about that shit since before I saw the series. As for the ending, there really isn't much to it. After the Instrumentality Project takes affect, all humans' AT fields are let down or forced through, dissolving mankind's sense of individuality. In doing so, the whole of humanity's consciousness merged into a single entity, the sea of LCL. Those with a strong enough sense of self to reject Instumentality were able to retain or, eventually, regain their form as individual beings. Only Shinji and Asuka were shown, but its presumable that others managed to do so as well.

Shinji and Asuka's little bit of interaction in the end was produced so that it is left up to the viewer's interpretation. You really should watch it again.

didn't enjoy it enough to do so; it wasn't just those part that caused confusion; the entire space scene with the large rei character , what was that?, what exactly were the white mechas there for and what was the spear required for; do they all have any significance? What exactly was Rei? an angel like the 5th candidate? If all human AT fields were dissolved then why did it look like Misato was still alive/part of the people able to survive when she was killed before the AT field thing? I understand the visions of Misato/Rei/Asuka inside shinji but were they aware of them as well or was it simply his own image? Why was it presumable that others managed to regain form? Would it happen over time or instantly and they seemingly never really finished the Asuka deals with her mothers suicide other than making it look like she snapped. Did shinji give up or did fight; and was he fighting loneliness or the feeling of not being liked? I probably misinterpreted half of the end but I'm also going on something I saw 3 weeks ago and was not particularly moved by in the end (i did love the fight scene though).

i have other questions but i didn't care for the show enough to bother watching it again.

I think they left quite a bit open to interpretation for a reason and to assume you have the "right" idea a bit presumptuous (no offense).

People who have only watched Eva once shouldn't talk as if they know something! And if you "didn't enjoy it", why are you even posting in this thread?! Grrr! Whether intentional or not, there are certain ideas that fit the circumstances in Evangelion better than others. There are parts that are completely open to interpretation, but most have a very narrow scope of possibilities.

Yes, there was a lot open to interpretation, but the events leading up to the end were pretty clear. I'll get back to you with a better response later.

This IS the Neon Genesis Evangelion discussion thread, deshou? I'll have to agree with Waar and some of the others. An anime that requires another run through implies that the series is your harder-to-understand type of series that less than 5% of the anime watching population will comprehend. I'm not saying that the series sucked ass, the creativity was there, but it turned from a psychological/mecha/religious show to one of almost pure symbology and near insanity.

The thing is, if everyone has to give a show a mental capacity capable of understanding high level literature, then NGE was not meant for the general populace but rather a small targeted audience that even they don't understand everything. I heard that the director of NGE had some personal issues, and whether or not that warped the anime or not is yet to be determined, but I know that he was against "Gainaxing" the series and wanted it to be something on a different level than your average anime.

NGE has always left me in ponder, I remember sitting around on a farm during the summer with nothing to do. I realized that I had the Platinum box set of NGE that my friend lent me.

It's great to go into deep thought about something when your doing something as boring as milking a cow or digging a hole for god knows what reason.

This is the Eva discussion thread (I guess) -degozaru. The problem is that it's more of a Q&A session than an actual discussion right now. From the sound of it, The Jesus and me have things 'figured out'. We might disagree on things, but we feel that we have a firm grip on things. What I want to happen is for people to form their own ideas, rather than asking questions, and then we compare notes.

At least I'm not posting questions.

Another point that I believe is worth discussing is shift in the theme, quality, and direction that the show was in heading in.

Quoting from "A STORY OF COMMUNICATION: The Kazuya Tsurumaki Interview", "Episode 16 marked a distinct shift that would characterize the second half of Evangelion as being more psychological than action or adventure[33]. This change in emphasis was partly due to the development of the story, but also partly because by this point, production had begun running out of funding and failing to meet the schedule; this collapse has been identified by at least one Gainax employee as the impetus for Evangelion's turn into metafiction: I didn't mind it. The schedule was an utter disaster and the number of cels plummeted, so there were some places where unfortunately the quality suffered. However, the tension of the staff as we all became more desperate and frenzied certainly showed up in the film … About the time that the production system was completely falling apart, there were some opinions to the effect that, "If we can't do satisfactory work, then what's the point of continuing?" However, I didn't feel that way. My opinion was, "Why don't we show them the entire process including our breakdown."

This was something I noticed when watching the series... I don't know if anyone else noticed it. But see, this show would have been better off staying in the action/adventure genre... but on the contrary, I also think that the vagueness and ambiguity that the end of the series present sparked off NGE's popularity and raging flamewars on forums.

i'll second to that, bro
totally agree

Is my opinion less valid because I saw the show once? Goodcall ass

I was asked to explain why I did not enjoy the series and what possible problems I saw... don't dismiss my posts simply because i have questions about the series which i never even requested be answered; I'm the one who said you guys wanted us to determine our own meanings.

I noticed the change in tone, but I used to place it at episode 14. I disagree about NGE staying in the action genre would be good. Gundam already filled that part quite well. If it had to be confined within a single genre, I think that Drama would be better.

@ Waar: Wait. You saw the show once, you don't desire to see it again, and the ending made your ears bleed, yet you want answers? Isn't that a paradox? You can get answers here. If you are not seeking answers, then what do you want here?

not sure why i have to repeat myself again but here goes: I don't want answers to my questions, i was simply answering what TJ said to me...

I don't care to learn more about it but giving my opinion on something is a right i have; and you really don't have a right to look down on me because i don't agree with your opinions.

And this is getting nowhere. Take a breather guys because there's no point in getting riled up.

@ZeroOBK - well, I agree with that NGE would be better placed in drama... but once mecha is put in there, it enters the realm of sci-fi action/adventure. I've never sure why the director bothered putting mecha other than to a) conform to studio producer demands, b) show the link between machines and humans and the Japan Otaku culture, or c) mecha can embody the soul and the loss/strength of religion. Because once he introduced mecha, the anime audience expected something of an action anime with humans against angels.

However, there is one thing that bugs me other than the ending of the series. Why are the angels attacking the Earth/Nerv again? It was something along the lines of retrieving Lilith/Adam or something like that, but for what purpose? Anyone care to enlighten me on that?

@ Waar: I'm sorry for getting worked up and crossing the line. It doesn't happen very often. Please forgive me.

@ g-money: I think that mechas were added to relate to the Otaku culture and bump things up onto a bigger scale. It is ironic, though, that there is only one real mecha that appears in Eva, and it only has a role in a single episode. All the other 'mecha' are completely biological with armor on them.

The Angels were attacking to retrieve Adam, although it seems like they can't tell the difference between Adam and Lilith. I think Kaworu touched on the reason for the Angels' actions, though it is still vague. The Angels' desire to return to Adam could be similar to Human Instrumentality, a desire to fill a void that can't be filled by existing as an individual.

Wait, then why are the humans keeping Lilith/Adam? For what purpose?

Adam and Lilith are necessary to implement the Human Instrumentality Project. Also, all Evas are cloned from Adam except for Unit 01, which is cloned from Lilith. Rei possesses the soul of Lilith and Kaworu possesses that of Adam. I'm not sure if they have any significance other than being the basis for the Evangelions and Dummy Plugs and their essential, yet not clearly defined, role in Instrumentality.

It is mentioned that Adam and Lilith were the first two Angels, created as equals. Adam acted as the progenitor of life in the beginning and he is where all angels, other than Lilith descended from. After the First Impact, although the details on what exactly happened are vague, Lilith became the progenitor of life and became the descendant of all life on Earth. This might factor into mankind's motivation for keeping the two.

I see. I also read the wikipedia article on the Human Instrumentality Project... and surprisingly everything became clear, especially Gendo Ikari's motive and what how the series ended... but the end of episode 26 does somewhat contradict the movie End of Evangelion.

Wikipeida is mad helpful, because now I understand more than 75% of the show.

What contradictions do you see?

When Shinji Ikari meets up with everyone in the sea of LCL, everyone's saying congratualions - that can either mean they're congratualating him on finding his own identity or he has accepted the Instrumentality Project. However, in End of Evangelion, the Lilith/Rei egg that is taking in all the human souls is broken because Shinji clearly has rejected unison and reclaims his individuality. See the contradiction? It's really open to suggestion at this point.

This is how I see it:

The task of deciding how Instrumentality will play out is given to Shinji. Because he is insecure about having relationships with other people, his choice is to run away to a world in which he is the only person that exists. The entire last episode basically attempts to paint a picture of what is going on inside Shinji's head as he is forced to evaluate his very existence. Throughout his introspection he dwells on how much he hates himself and when he tries to perceive how other people look at him, he finds a reflection of his own inner hatred. In actuality, that isn't the case because during the series everyone is going to great lengths to be there for him and help him, but he only sees that as pity. When he finally comes to see that he does have some value, he is able to realize the appreciation that other people have for him. At that moment, he chooses to reject Instrumentality and return to a world where interaction with other people is a possibility.

The whole scene is just a mental manifestation of Shinji's realization that he does have some purpose and that others do, in fact, appreciate him.