Evangelion Reviewed In LA Times

peter_gzowski writes "Neon Genesis Evangelion, perhaps the greatest anime series ever, has been reviewed in the LA Times. This coincides with the release of the box set of the entire series (not including the movies, which come out on DVD in the fall). Hooray for mainstream credibility!" Best series if I can somehow overlook the final eps of the original series.

Comments

The last eps are the BEST!

[Yam-Koo]

Unless of course you were somehow deluded into thinking this was some sort of mecha action kiddy show. :) :)

Evangelion

[Renraku]

Evangelion is kind of like Lain. Its not all supposed to make sense. The best anime I've found doesn't lead you around, rather, it lets you come to your own conclusions. Evangelion seems to be doing just this. I only have the first 4 out of 8 DVDs, but I'm loving it so far. I really reccomend this series to anyone that is tired of the good-guy-always-wins situation. This anime makes you ask, "What price is too high for victory?"

Re:Evangelion

[GuavaBerry]

Its not all supposed to make sense.

This is kind of the problem with 'high-concept' animation. Lain is very disorienting and has anything but a happy dynamic between the characters. Really, you just don't get to know the characters in Lain (not even Lain herself). This is a different kind of disorientation you receive from watching Evangelion. Evangelion is, on several levels, going out of its way to depress its viewership. You get to the end of the 26 episodes and all you can feel is loss and alienation. Hideaki Anno wrote this after years of depression, reportedly, and it shows. But a failure to make us feel good about ourselves is what makes this kind of unsatisfying. And many viewers are discontent with the somewhat arrogant 'high-concept' response of that as a successfully delivered message. It's not that they refuse to 'get it,' they just don't all believe getting slapped in the face by the artist is a good way to spend your money.

That Evangelion's conclusion fails to thrill and entertain is probably not its biggest detractor. By far what turns people off about this is the absolutely abhorrent characters put in charge of saving the world in Evangelion. While most of them on the surface have decent 'hero' facades, they are all deeply broken on the inside. Shinji mortally despises his father. Misato is permanently emotionally scarred from the trauma of surviving the Second Impact. Shinji's father is cruel and unfeeling towards his only son. The other two pilots do not reach out emotionally to anyone. Everyone else is part of some paranoid agenda to destroy the world.

The plot progression is one where the awesomely scripted robot action decays to the low-level corrosion of the character types in the series. The transition happens about halfway through the series, and it is jarring. "Hey! Where'd the cool robot fights go?" And all this in a series where the ultimate message is one of futility and failure? The ending is just plain gratuitous to these points, especially after the release of the final films (I felt worse after watching them than after watching the 'normal' endings). I hate to spoil the ending for anybody, but you won't feel any better watching it than watching all of Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil,' for comparison.

I don't argue that anime needs to have a happy ending to be engrossing and acceptable to the mainstream. It's just that calling Evangelion the 'greatest anime ever made' both oversells Evangelion and undersells the remainder of the Anime industry.

Try these, if you think I'm lying. Cowboy Bebop delivers a gritty and dark message, but it's plenty fun for all involved. Metropolis, the 'Brazil' of the anime world (although the source greatly predates Gilliam's work) also wanders into the brittle realm of the cheerless mechanization of life. But it's better than Evangelion at doing it. People who declare Anno's work the pinnacle of Anime really do need to watch more Anime. Odds are, all they've watched is Evangelion. It would be particularly enlightening to them, if they get the opportunity, to check out what Anno's been doing since Evangelion.

I may be the only person ever that hated it

[Dixie_Flatline]

But I did. And considering the amount of Evangelion merchandise available right after its release, I think it probably saved me from being in the poor house. Apparently, it's saving me again. Me, I'm an Escaflowne fan. Now THAT'S a giant robot show. Mechs, in capes, fighting with swords. Pure genius.

Evangelion Transcends Typical Anime

[Enonu]

Read this link: Analysis of Evangelion Characters According to the Sephiroth Tree of Life. Tell me that doesn't blow your mind. I've watched the entire series twice and the movie, End of Evangelion, at least three times. It's such a mind fuck that you can't sleep for a bit after watching it. To quote some genius:

Mountain, heavy are the mountains
But that changes, with the passage of time
Sky, blue sky, what your eyes can't see, what your eyes can see
The sun, one, only one
Water, it is agreeable, Commander Ikari
Flowers, so many the same, so many without purpose
Sky, sky of red, red the color, the color I hate
Liquid flows, it drips, ripples, and pours
Blood, scent of blood, woman who does not bleed
From the red soil the humans come
Humans made by man and woman
City, a human creation
Eva, a human creation as well
What are humans?
Are they creations of God?
Humans, that which is created by humans
This is that which is mine
My life, my heart
I am a vessel for my thoughts
The entry plug, the throne of the soul
Who is this? This is me
Who am I? What am I? What am I? What am I?
I am I.
This object that is, is myself
That which forms me
This is the self that can be seen, and yet this is not like that which is myself
A strange feeling
My body feels as if it is melting
I can no longer see myself
My form, my shape fades from view
Awareness dawns of someone who is not me
Who is here? There? Beyond me, here
Shinji
This person I know, Major Katsuragi
Dr. Akagi
People, my classmates
The pilot of Unit Two
Commander Ikari
Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?

Re:No! Not another slahdot editor down?

[threephaseboy]

Dude. If you dont like anime, turn it off in the preferences panel

Re:how many dvds total now

[newbiescum]

Like the others have said, 8 DVDs total for the TV series released by ADV. At least 2 DVDs for the two movies (Death and Rebirth, End of Evangelion) which are suppose to be released this year by Manga. The movies have been delayed quite a while now. BTW, many proclaim the movie as the true ending versus the last 2 episodes of the TV show. Others proclaim the movies as alternative endings. And even some others claim that both are happening except each is told from a different perspective.

The boxset is cheaper and has the "remastered" volume 1 (no overlays among other things). Reviews and whatnot are available on animeondvd.com. Best price is around $95 plus S&H if you can still get the preorder price. BestPrices, DVDPlanet, Amazon (if you use their Share the Love program with coupons), etc. can nail you a good deal. It's a really good value for anime DVDs considering most are around $20-$22 each via preordering and normally retail around $30. So this post isn't totally karma whoring, personally I think, Evangelion, while not necessarily the best anime, is something every anime fan has to watch just to keep up with the times. It's like not watching the Star Wars trilogy for anime fans. You don't have to agree that it's the best anime out there (rumor has it that the director also thought it was not good in the end), and I can bet that most would agree it is definitely not the most fun at times, but it's intriguing just because it has influenced the perception of anime in so many people's minds.

Re:Last two eps...

[sph]

Gainax actually ran out of money, so when they got around to the last two episodes, they had to do SOMETHING. Basically they took a bunch of concept sketches and put them to some strange voiceover so they could fulfill a 26 episode contract. The next two movies were their attempt to raise money for End of Evangelion, the real episodes 25 and 26.

I think Gainax panicked when they quickly announced the movies soon after the end of the series caused controversy. Hideaki Anno himself didn't approve the projects, but did participate. He also said in the interviews that he is satisfied with the original ending. Everyone feels out-of-character in EoE, and there seems to be a strong "F U" attitude aimed at the fans demanding "real" ending. Next time you watch EoE, think Shinji as yelling otakus, and Asuka as Hideaki Anno and the NGE series. It's kind of funny how everything fits :-)

I've always considered the last two episodes of the series being among the best ones. I've also understood that the episode 25 is pretty much what was originally planned, while 26 was heavily rewritten because of the circumstances. I think it is definitely art-by-accident, because the last ep beats the hell out of your-standard-giant-robot-huge-battle-ending any day.

I also consider 25' (the first half of End of Evangelion) to be simply the most awful piece of crap that has ever had the name Evangelion on it. 26' (second half of EoE) is somewhat better, though I still definitely prefer the subjective perspective of the series. So, EoE wasn't necessary in the first place. Giving something to think of is way better than showing some wicked visions first hand.

Re:So...

[SuiteSisterMary]

Alrighty, troll, I'll spell it out. Calling the tools (DVD) evil, as opposed to the wielders (MPAA) is very much like calling the tools (Linux) evil, as opposed to the wielders (crackers and scriptkiddies.)