Why do so many people hate evangelion and say that its not meaningful? Are they just trying to be hipsters?
>>135124482
Yes
>>135124482
Yes
>>135124482
There really isn't much to the psychological analysis of the characters, to be honest
It's difficult to fully grasp, anon. There's a few different layers of understanding the show and not a lot of people feel like taking the time to figure all the bullshit out.
>>135124505
>>135124514
So, Yes, it's not meaningful, and yes, they're trying to be hipsters ?
I like these answers.
>>135124545
http://ritsumaya.tumblr.com/post/88279631797/eva-analysis-asuka-langley-sohryuu
NGE is deep anime 101
>have teenagers make psycho faces
>biblical namedropping everywhere
>something something secret plan to something whatever entire humanity
>have characters do something sexual, but in disgusting way, sex is fucking disgusting and shallow
>put in giant robutts because we still need them otaku bux
>>135124545
So depth can only mean one thing? That's pretty shallow of you, anon
>>135124571
immature memer trigger
>>135124482
There's also the fact that it was unironically 2deep5u for many people. Meaning they just couldn't follow the narrative. Evangelion is too entertaining for its own good. If it went the path of Texhnolyze casuals would drop it on the first ep. But it has intense action, attractive female characters and humor from the start which mislead many people as to what kind of show it's going to be.
I personally like the fact that it has both these surreal and psychological elements mixed with more entertaining ones. But it is true that it caused many people to watch the kind of show that just wasn't meant for them and they would have dropped more early on if it focused on those elements since the beginning.
>>135124571
>calls it deep
>then proceeds to say its a shallow pretentious cashgrab
DECIDE
>>135124647
Why can't anime fans be more open minded?
>>135124653
>thinks people use the word 'deep' unironically
>>135124762
Redditors are not people so yeah, people do use it unironically.
>>135124571
Evangelion is literally the most genuine anime of all time, the way you describe it makes me think you didn't see it.
>>135124482
I really hope you are not defending cinephile rejects who project their christian guilt allegories into everything. They can fuck right off.
Otherwise yes.
>>135124908
>thinking people like evangelion only because it has christian imagery
>>135124727
I think watching more anime usually makes you more open-minded. For example when I started out I'd never think I'd enjoy over the top stuff (FLCL, Kill la Kill, JoJO) or SoL shows (Aria, Yokohama, Sora no Woto), never thought I'd watch a mahou shojo.
Going back on track, I actually found that people that complain about Eva are usually the ones that never really get deeper into anime. After all, lots of anime go along the lines of complex visual exposition, surreal narrative and heavy, psychological, character development. If you didn't like Eva you're probably not gonna like lots of the anime "classics": Angel's Egg, Utena, Lain, Haibane Renmei, Texhnolyze or even newer stuff like Penguindrum.
Evangelion has an extremely vocal fanbase who love to overinterpret everything in their favourite anime when in fact much of it is bullshit symbolism that Anno himself admitted to have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
Now fuck off.
>>135124908
Evangelion has nothing to do with Christianity other than symbolism.
>>135125038
The religious symbols serve a narrative, atmospheric and thematic purpose. Or at least you can put them into those contexts.
>>135125084
"There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool."
>>135124482
Probably because of people who keep saying it's the best thing ever and everything else shit
Regardless of what's actually true, that kind of behavior is unbearably obnoxious and gives birth to haters.
>>135124482
even anno said it's not meaningful.
>>135125037
>that Anno himself admitted to have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.
sauce?
>>135125164
I firmly believe in the death of the author.
Anno was in a really weird place when he wrote quite alot of Eva, and Anno of 2015 is really not the same man who wrote Eva.
>>135125164
This: >>135125205
Also, he really didn't. He only said he chose the title name because it sounds cool, but he was talking to a batch of kids that barely came out of pre-school in that film. Plus, that statement doesn't imply there wasn't actual meaning. On the other hand he has also stated that it's up to the viewers to figure out the meaning. Take into account that Anno is very humble, or rather just plain shy and not really sociable. I think he'd have a hard time trying to admit how he values his work and how much effort he put into it. He's just like that.
The guy who said they chose religious symbols because they looked interesting wasn't Anno, it was one of the art directors or producers.
I mean, you don't have to be some kind of genius to figure out it has meaning.
>>135125345
I would say that its true that Anno wrote it so that everyone got something out of it.
But Eva's strength REALLY isn't in the setting at all. Its a confused match-up of conflicting iconography.
What makes Eva unique among anime is its characters.
>>135124571
Who are you quoting?
>>135124571
>everyone ripped it off so it's bad
Daily reminder
It's like modern art. The fan's look at it like it has character and a deeper meaning but when you really look at it it's just a animated show with edgy characters.
Compare it to this picture. Is there a deeper meaning? Probably not.
>>135125829
>when you really look at it
"When you look at it like I do"
>>135125860
Unless the author said that he just was making edgy shit up. Which he did.
>>135125764
Look at this:
>>135125345
>>135125164
How does this get brought up so often
Anno has never said anything about it not being meaningful. He said that the Christian symbolism doesn't mean anything. It's just to look cool. People seem to think eva fans only like it because of religious motifs and slap down this quote like it means they've proven you aren't allowed to take anything away from the show.
>>135125829
Define edgy.
>>135125953
Angsty. Moody.
The actual message doesn't really matter, and it can mean different things to different people. It's the sensation of there being a meaning that makes it so thrilling.
>>135125926
He said that nothing he did had meaning. But he allowed the fans to interpret it their own way.
Fans interpretation ≠ cannon.
>>135125946
He didn't say that. Was some other gainax guy.
>>135125889
I want a source where Anno admits to just making the story up to be edgy
there isn't one
>>135125976
What? No.
Edgy is when you think you are cool or mature if you disregard social norms and act like an asshole.
>>135126068
Ohhh, I'm confusing it with the quote where he says he made the name up to sound cool, which I definitely believe. Do you have a source about the religious symbolism not meaning anything? I've been looking for a while
>>135125205
>I firmly believe in my own headcanon
ftfy
>>135126113
Wrong.
>>135126150
>headcanon
Literally its saying he believes you can believe what you want without a canon dictating it.
How can you fuck up so much
>>135126190
All of the characters in evangelion are genderfluid trans-kin then. Death of the Author approved.
>>135126167
Ok if we approach it from a neutral point of view, what's wrong with being edgy?
>>135126278
Nothing. I have a problem with people calling it "art". Or it having a "Deeper Meaning".
>>135125472
Definitely agree. The setting/plot is a mess, the strongest thing about eva are the characters and their interactions.
>>135126276
That interpretation may only be shared by one person, but it still works. Do you really need to be hand held all the way and constantly told exactly whats happening? Are you five?
>>135126278
M-my Reddit buzzword tells me its bad!
>>135126303
So something that's angsty or moody cannot be art or have a deeper meaning to you?
>>135125171
Chinese whispers from when Anno said that he used christian imagery because it was something that wasn't done a lot at the time
>>135126359
It can at times. But spewing symbolism and the creator saying it sounded cool does not count in my opinion.
>>135126343
Not five. Just prefer the author's opinion over some random guy on the internet.
Postmodern ideas are bullshit anyways.
>>135126385
The title and Christian symbolism is there to look cool, so the whole show cannot be art or have a deeper meaning?
>>135125976
So depressed, bipolar and people under stress are edge? >>135125976
>>135126303
Well art is subjective so I won't get into that.
But why does it not have a deeper meaning?
It has a messenge about escapism and communication.
>>135126343
We are literally having a discussion. Fuck of with your meme shit.
>>135126428
>I appreciate no art other anime and video games
>>135126436
By literal definition it can be called "art". But I meant by art as in some masterpiece. It's just a show with deep character development.
So far the author has said nothing about a deeper meaning and more about how he was just writing a show with random symbolism.
No unless explicitly stated otherwise. No. There is no deeper meaning.
>>135124482
>evangelion
>meaningful
>>135124482
Because they didn't derive meaning from it. I found it a mediocre show overall.
>>135126491
I can see the straw oozing from this post.
>reminder that this is considered art
>it's literally just supposed to look cool
>>135124566
>tumblr
>talk trans eva to me
>this is the eva fanabse
>>135126436
Not that guy and not a particularly big fan of the series, but the symbolism does have it own underlying narrative and it's inherently gnostic.
Enraged Angels are attacking humanity and man-made godlike humans aka Evas are the only ones that can stop them. An ascended human than makes the choice for mankind in defiance to the heavens.
It all fits with the Shinji temptation/depression narrative and choosing whether humanity deserves to be saved or otherwise.
Having said that, I think it's badly executed and only really makes sense in the last few episode and I highly doubt Anno really thought about this
>>135126579
>3d reaction image
>watermark
>fanabse
>this is /a/Maybe sometimes, just sometimes you should think about what you are complaining about and how you do it. It will make you look like less of an idiot.
>>135126501
If you want to make that leap of logic then I guess I dont blame you, but I don't think admitting that superfluous design choices have no meaning extends to an admission that the entire thing means nothing. To me it means a lot, and I took a lot away from it. I think Anno put a lot of his feelings into it too
>>135126657
>being this much of a bloody newfag
>defending tumblrinas
>being a tumblrina
No wonder /a/ has gone to shit with utter tools like you around.
>>135124482
Why do so many people like evangelion and say that its meaningful? Are they just trying to be hipsters?
>>135126757
Fair enough. It is a good show though. Good character development and story. I just don't see the symbolism as a legit thing to obsess over.
>>135124566
>tumblr
>>135126811
It's relative to the message of escapism.
>>135126811
Neither do I really, I don't think I've met anyone that actually thinks it's deep because of symbolism but I'm sure they exist.
>>135126793
>trying this hard to fit in
>>135124482
This just in: not everyone likes everything. Haters tend to be more vocal because there's no reason to keep posting about how great this or that series is.
>>135126871
But the things you call symbolism is part of the story.
>>135124482
People kept telling me that the ending was meaningless and that it's nothing but an absolute mindfuck where you go "wat".
Instead what I got was a story that just runs you through the topic of what an identity is.
Answering questions a la "Who am I", "What makes me, me" "What is a consciousness", "What's a personality"? Stuff like that.
The entire story of the evangelion project is not complicated to grasp either.
However, here is the thing:
The conclusion to the questions above that the anime draws is "you are more than just a reflection of others, so don't only live for others, live for yourself".
And there is a certain irony in the anime being popular and people telling you to watch it, because the anime itself could have been skipped entirely in favor of the last 2-3 episodes where you get told not to rely on others.
Which you did, by following their advice of watching the anime.
It has something artistic to it.
>>135124566
Tell me something I don't know. I don't know why people think that Asuka has NPD. She doesn't. That being said this essay is super repetitive & needs to be edited down.
Also, I remember a story of someone who who had HPD. They were a waiter at a pretty important event at the UN. Then, all of a sudden they dropped their pants in the middle of the floor. Just like that & got fired. Like the entire point of having HPD is that it's a maladaptive coping mechanism, just like any other personality disorder. Like, having it becomes such an issue that it tends to ruin your life since it's a maladaptive coping mechanism.
I would be more convinced of this argument if Asuka was doing more extreme things for attention not just from Kaiji or Shinji, but from everyone that she encountered. Think of it as a very common disorder with those who are famous entertainers. Like it should be on a way grander scale than the author is presenting it as.
>>135127039
>And there is a certain irony in the anime being popular and people telling you to watch it, because the anime itself could have been skipped entirely in favor of the last 2-3 episodes where you get told not to rely on others.
Which you did, by following their advice of watching the anime.
No.
>>135127039
>it's a giant robot anime
>the appeal is giant robot fighting
>I could've skipped all the giant robots to the part with no giant robots in it
the worst kind of faggot
>>135124989
This is actually the opposite for me. I complain about Eva & don't like it that much, yet I have watched a lot of shows. Many Eva fans I have met always complain about other shows not meeting their 'standards' afterwards. It's one of the most annoying things about Eva fans I have encountered.
>>135124482
The kind of people that say Evangelion is not meaningful, are the same scum that says that Digimon reveals the secrets of life and universe.
>>135125829
You are right.
We humans tend to over analyze things to try & make sense of the world that we live in.We try to find patterns where none exist. It's an attempt to find order in the chaos. Take for instance those that try to find beauty or something deeper in a plastic bag blowing in the wind. It's just a plastic bag though & nothing more.
As with this link: >>135124566
The author is even going into the scene where Asuka slept walked went into Shinji's bed that ONE night (which never seem to have happened again mind you) & interpreted it as her attempting to seduce him, because she's starving for attention & it's a sign of something bigger & of deeper meaning. This rather than, possibly, considering that they went the most tropey way of highlighting that, at the end she's a scared & lonely little girl who has mommy issues & Shinji is a horny teenage boy, but a somewhat decent human being for not giving into temptation of sexually molesting her.
If anything these interpretations are more of a reflection of the interpreter rather than the artist or the work. A lot of these are because the person is missing info & their brain is trying to connect the pieces together. It's something that we do. For example, art critics/historians do the same thing. They are not artists so they don't understand why certain choices were made by the artist. Their brain tries to compensate by coming up with some crazy reason instead & will hold onto that reason even when proven wrong.
The same applies here as well.
>>135126606
>>135127039
I agree that the true message of Eva were in the last few episodes that everyone hated. They were my favorite part of the entire series.
Does anybody have a gif of Rei standing on the sea of LCL towards the end of EoE?
>>135124482
It's shit, desu.
>>135129284
This. The whole series was building up to instrumentality.
Though not everyone hated it.
Everyone who hated it was a giant bitch about it though.
True patricians know that the only good ending is a gainax ending.
