It's a story about sociopathic autists written by sociopathic autists, for sociopathic autists. The characters don't interact meaningfully, they are completely self-absorbed and the show can best be understood as each individuals internal monologue.
Well thought out characterization is not an excuse for lackluster storytelling, hiding behind well-planned symbolism does not excuse having a cohesive narrative.
What the characters lack is love and the capacity to love, and at the end of the story, they still haven't found it, they've only resolved to keep looking.
It's an ok story the core, but that story itself is wrapped in the most contrived, most convoluted mess imaginable. Audiences are also right to dismiss this show because even its "nuance" and "deeper meaning" falls mostly hollow upon further examination.
Evangelion was not without any intelligence or creative intent, but having half a work of art is probably the biggest problem with most anime. As a narrative, it falls apart, and symbolically, it's about as meaningful as your typical Woody Allen film.
Evangelion had a lot of interesting ideas, but there's also a lot of bad writing and shitty execution. Often characters will just say out loud what they're feeling and what their character arcs are. It's extremely lazy writing that can only be condoned in an Anime, where the majority of the audience is braindead teenagers who need everything spelled out for them.
Ian Hughes
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Caleb Roberts
What's most frustrating is that the characters actually are well thought out, but the story goes basically nowhere with them and the show continually fails in accomplishing its supposed goal (the exploration of character flaws and what makes it difficult for them to form deeper connections and more broadly overcome things like depression and nihilism).
But it's difficult to understand those character flaws when we never see them meaningfully attempt to interact with each-other. This is the show's crippling weakness, interpersonal relationships, which are practically non-existent for all intents and purposes.
That's also what makes the series so disappointing, we actually have a really good idea of how these characters might interact with one another, but instead they're portrayed as sociopathic to the point of absurdity, probably because the writers didn't understand interpersonal conflicts.
Matthew Fisher
You are actually retarded. You have offered quite possibly the worst analysis imaginable.
Whatever the show's problems, it doesn't fail at any of that. It' s not "difficult to understand those character flaws" unless you are IQ 65 or lower. It's not like they're subtle about it. NGE is a story about total fucking losers who can't deal with their problems and their painful and awkward interpersonal relationships are part of that. Obviously. And that's what makes the story work, because otherwise there is no reason to care about the choice they face in the end. >the story goes basically nowhere with them The story goes negative with them. They have to be broken down in preparation for the grand finale. You are too stupid to understand this any of this.
James Morris
Nice blog
Mason Morgan
It's easy to understand what their flaws are, but those flaws aren't examined in a meaningful way, they are simply stated and their existence becomes part of the shows nihlistic debate.
That in itself is a theme worth exploring, but it's not the only theme worth exploring, in every other aspect of narrative the show falls flat, which is tragic, because development of other aspects of the show would have greatly enhanced the core idea.
I definitely disagree that the being "total fucking losers" i.e autistic sociopaths, gives the story meaning, in fact, it muddles the message of story. The characters interact with each-other so meaninglessly that it's difficult to buy the idea that Shinji brought them back for any reason other than abject boredom.
I do understand that someone might be autistic enough to write a meaningless cyclic story about existentialism which ends without significant character growth, and that's exactly what this cartoon offers.
I also understand why sociopathic autists might be attracted to a story which caters to sociopathic autists, but the show itself flouts even the notion of doing that in its half-assed attempt to give the series a "good-ending" based on the power of non-existent friendships. Never-mind the loss of verisimilitude (and any illusion that the writers knew what the fuck they were doing on the level of external characterizations) caused by portraying autistic sociopaths as socially competent.
Austin Campbell
...you mention nothing of the circumstance in which these characters are in.......
Jaxson Lopez
Evangelion is a cartoon, cartoons are watched by idiotic manchildren. Of course these manchildren would find something so shallow and call it deep
Liam King
>What the characters lack is love and the capacity to love, and at the end of the story, they still haven't found it, they've only resolved to keep looking.
Eva is not a romance you trogdolyte. Why you have to force every character to love somebody
Tyler Cox
>they still haven't found it, they've only resolved to keep looking. I wish I had this kind of outlook
Grayson Martinez
It doesn't have to be romantic love. Shinji wanting his father to care for him is like one of his central issues for one.
Thomas Murphy
Well sure, plenty of idiotic manchildren like this show, but they have their reasons. It's not like it doesn't have some merits, but that doesn't make up for how shoddy the production quality is.
Carter Robinson
Yea, what's sad, and what you probably don't understand, is simply attempting social interaction is not some grand mystery for normal people.
Hilariously, the last scene with Shinji and Asuka is the first and only time either character shows any kind of real empathy for another person.
Wyatt Perry
Nice pasta there.
Ryder Davis
this
Benjamin Rodriguez
Theory confirmed: you are retarded. Honestly, it sounds like you didn't watch the show + EoE because you are so clueless. You have picked up some half-baked analysis from reddit, completely lacking specifics, and are shitposting with it. Kys >I definitely disagree that the being "total fucking losers" i.e autistic sociopaths, gives the story meaning, You missed the point of the story by about 1000 miles. This doesn't muddle the story. It's narratively critical that it be this way. Armageddon comes with the promise of perfect oneness or "heaven" so to speak vs. trying to make the best of life, as shitty as it might be. That is not a challenging dilemma if Asuka and Shinji are awesome people. They have to be losers because if they were brave heroic champs the ultimate choice at the end wouldn't be narratively interesting at all.
Matthew Gutierrez
>It's a story about sociopathic autists written by sociopathic autists, for sociopathic autists I fail to see the problem.
I hate comments like this because you use made a bunch of sweeping generalizations that are more or less untestable so people can only refute you in a generally vague handwavy way, at least offer a few ideas for how you would have changed the show to improve it so there is something concrete to respond to.
One of the themes of the show that they bash you over the head with is the hedgehogs dilemma, which at a basic level requires shinji to learn how to: 1. Assert himself so that he has social agency on others 2. Open himself up so that he can form bonds with other people even if they hurt him. The growth here is mostly seen in his interactions with Asuka, where he becomes more aggressive with her as the series progresses, and it culminates with the fight they have where he strangles her, and then the resolution to that in the last scene of EoE. The ending of EoE where he brings everyone back is symbolic of his completion of that character growth arc, he is given the ability to do the very thing he spent the first 20 episodes he wishes he could do, and he decides not to because his grew up. It's the opposite of meaningless. There's also the whole thing where Shinji refuses his father's orders and leaves Nerv of his own volition, which is unthinkable for the Shinji of the first ten episodes, and then rejoins on his own terms. Yes the execution on this is a ham fisted, but to claim there is no growth is wrong. The ending of Eva is very hopeful, it isn't particularly existential at all.
Also remember the context the show was written in: Anime had been in decline for some time and a huge chunk of the remaining audience used anime as blatant escapism. NGE is an intense criticism of otakus targeted at otakus, and you have to make some allowances for the heavy handed parts on account of that.
Camden Morales
the only sociopathic autist around here seems to be you. that's the only way we can explain your oblivious commentary. You sound like massive faggot who is analyzing something based on a wikipedia plot summary.
>thinking this hard and yet stumbling on the finish line
Blake Wilson
Wasnt EoE just Anno ejaculating his deep depressive hatred and Nihilistic Mysantrophy at the time? nothing else?
Levi Russell
Opening up to people is nominally a theme of the show, but it's not something that any of the main characters ever actually do. Every action is explained by pathology instead of something even as basic as a desire to be social, not even going so far as love, but just the idea of interacting with people for the sake of it is absent from the minds of the main characters.
It's really cold, because normal people, even severely fucked up people, don't act like that. Dead, soulless people act like that, and it's scary when they do.
You can understand the motivations of the characters in Evangelion, the same way you can understand machines or simple animals by observing them, but not the way you understand people. The characters in Evangelion don't think about what the other characters are feeling, never fucking ever, and they don't care. They don't know how. But they wish they did.
That's what makes the show unrealistic above anything else, though a few poor souls might be able to relate to it, and I pity them.
Christian Green
Man, brainlets just don't get eva no matter how hard they try.
Your pedantic shit has been refuted and now you are just repeating yourself. >I pity them Meanwhile everyone else pities you for being a stupid retard who can't even understand a fairly straightforward quasi-intellectual mecha action show. Anyone criticizes NGE because of its "severely fucked up" characters is incurably stupid and might as well just stick with pokemon cartoons.
Dominic Garcia
To clarify, what I mean by this, is that every action taken in eva between the main characters, even if it's just a bit of conversation, is based entirely on that character acting out their all-dominating pathology instead of taking the time to be human with each-other on any level.
Instead the entire show the characters are searching for what to them is an ephemeral concept, human connection. I think it's a level of awkwardness which is unfortunately prominent in Japanese culture.
Alexander Perry
>To clarify, what I mean by this, To clarify, no one cares.
Adam Cox
I think you're hiding behind hostility now, to be clear, I wasn't implying you were soulless.
You claimed that Shinji opening up to people was part of his development, I think I aptly pointed out that he never did such as thing (except, perhaps, at the very last scene).
Jose Anderson
I didn't read all that but lets assume all your criticisms are valid. Eva isn't perfect, it's just better than all the other anime out there. They simply have way fucking worse shit wrong with them lol
