Would you consider Neon Genesis Evangelion a good mecha show?
I know next to nothing about anime, let alone the mecha genre in general, and a friend recommended NGE to me. From what I've read, people are split between it being "2deep4u lol" or "an artful masterpiece that should be in a museum."
Another question I have is that is NGE a good show to watch with friends? I mean that in the sense of you and a few buds can sit down, and get the same experience from watching it yourself?
>>13730123
>Watch it yourself and make up your own mind.
>>13730123
I wouldn't reccommend watching it with friends, Eva doesn't feel like the kinda show you want a shared experience with. It's at least worth analyzing solo.
It's one of those things where it's been hyped up for years as being ONE OF THE GREATEST ANIME OF ALL TIME and will probably never live up to the version of it people talk about, but even so, is worth watching and experiencing at least once.
I didn't personally like it, but it was an interesting experience and I don't regert the timesink.
Oh and FWIW, you watch all 26 episodes of the TV show and then the finale movie End of Evangelion. If you liked those, there is an ongoing reboot series of movies, Rebuild of Evangelion, which you'll just want the director's cuts (1.11, 2.22, and 3.33). There are official subtitles, a BD release, and a pretty good for the time dub.
>>13730191
This.
Fucking Toast Girl spoiled it for me.
>>13730201
Ah, alright, thanks for your input anon. I'll be sure to check the rest out if I like the series.
>>13730123
its not a very good spiritual sequel to gunbuster, and its more of a solo experience. also watch it yourself to decide what to think, i can only give my opinion.
>>13730123
While it is good to form your own opinion, I'll to try to answer your questions.
In my opinion, it IS a good mecha show. Especially the first half, which actually doesn't stray too far from a standard mecha anime formula (but with an outstandingly well done atmosphere of fear, dread, and lonliness). It's all a great, engrossing, and interesting watch the first time.
You may or may not find it to be a masterpiece (personally I think it is flawed in some areas, but isn't everything?) but the influence Eva had and still has on succeding anime is insane.
If I were you, I wouldn't sit down and watch it with the bros. It's certainly an option and I don't think it'd be detrimental or anything, but I'm gonna be serious here and say that watching Eva for some people becomes very personal.
But who knows what you'll think. I don't mean to sound like a shill or hype it up, but start watching this for yourself.
>>13730123
>people are split between it being "2deep4u lol" or "an artful masterpiece that should be in a museum."
Would you beleive the truth is somewhere inbetween? It's good when it wants to be. It's got a great setting and concept, the action is good when you're watching an episode with action in it, the comedy is good when it's turned on but it's often not on. It's a show with a lot of potential dragged down by artsy directing.
It's ok. Sort of a mandatory watch if you ever want to claim you know shit about anime but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who just wants an entertaining show.
>is NGE a good show to watch with friends?
No. Try something more light hearted and simple for that.
>>13730123
>>13730201
Evangelion got me into trouble back in my day; lent a classmate of mine the DVDs and one day their mother ended up accused me of passing porno to their son due to the audio ofMistato's "sex scene" with Kajiin that one episode. To be fair, I didn't realize my classmate watched it on the family's main TV.
>>13730123
Evangelion is a pretty typical, if incredibly depressing super robot anime. It's good stuff; the animation is fantastic when it's there but Anno didn't know what he was doing, so there's a lot of character development and still frames to keep up with deadlines.
Definitely worth a watch if you've suffered from depression for years.
>>13730123
The TV show on its own is just good, End of Evangelion is what propels it to "great."
The manga, on the other hand is just sort of "meh" and the Rebuilds are turning out to be a hot mess.
If you want a good /m/ show to watch with friends, you can't go wrong with Code Geass. They'll probably have already seen it though, especially if they're mecha fans. In that case, break out Getter Robo Armageddon, the Giant Robo OVA or Kotetsushin Jeeg. If they're casual enough to be recommending NGE to you, chances are they haven't watched at least one of those
>>13732368
Yeah, unless you have friends with introspective tastes, NGE is really the kind of show you watch alone on a rainy weekend.
>>13730123
>Implying NGE is a mecha anime
>>13732428
According to >>13724068 it is.
>>13730123
I dunno, never got through the show or movies. I'd suggest watching Rahxephon instead.
>>13733069
Rahxephon is five times as dense as NGE without even having half as much character or action. I couldn't think of a worse gateway mecha show. The only thing it has going for it is animation quality
>>13733104
Don't even pay attention to him, rahxephonfags think it's better than eva just because it isn't eva, but they don't realize it's a boring clone of it.
>>13733117
nah, it's just a lot less pretentious, plus it has really good OST and actual mecha design instead of lol geometric shapes vs Ultramen.
>>13733104
Eva sucks as a gateway show too because it deconstructs the genre too hard to be actually bearable and to represent it as a whole.
Watch TTGL instead, OP, it's fairly modern, pays homage to all mecha goodness instead of trying to turn it upside down and is action-oriented unlike Eva.
>>13733154
>a lot less pretentious
I could not name a mecha show more pretentious than Rahxephon. The entire thing seems to be the author masturbating over Mayan symbolism and Raideen references
>>13733192
it's better than masturbating over comatose teenage girls anyway.
>>13733154
>it's just a lot less pretentious,
I hope you're joking. RahXephon is a prime example of pretentious.
>actual mecha design instead of lol geometric shapes vs Ultramen.
Oh yes, tell me which one of both is the more iconic then talk to me.
>>13733174
>Eva sucks as a gateway show too because it deconstructs the genre too hard
So Eva sucks for the exact reason that makes it interesting in the first place. Gotcha.
>>13733221
And Bayformers are more iconic than Dougram, your point?
>>13733174
Also GL felt like a one-trick pony after a while.
>>13733235
Okay, now imagine you want to get into samurai movies and someone recommends you Roller Blade Seven.
>>13733247
That analogy doesn't work in the slightest.
>>13733240
>bayformers
>more iconic than G1 optimus
Kill yourself please.
>>13730123
It's alright I guess, not my favorite but still cool.
>>13733263
Why? It's a deconstruction of samurai movies, just like Eva is a deconstruction of super robot stuff.
>I posted it again
>>13733286
...you're trolling.
>>13733286
Evangelion is a genre deconstruction that had a massive influence on what came after it. Roller Blade Seven is a shitty b-movie that doesn't deconstruct anything.
It's my favourite mecha show, but I wouldn't recomend it to anyone, because it is too focused on its psychological undertones that characterized my generation, those otakus that now are in their 40s.
Maybe the new version (or is a sequel?) is more accessible to a wider audience.
>>13733308
>Evangelion is a genre deconstruction that had a massive influence on what came after it
>>13733328
>>>/bait/
>>13733328
>>13733286
>>13733247
>>13733174
>being this samefag
>>13733351
>one of those posts doesn't have the hippie line break
>one of those posts is also mocking the idea that Eva is a deconstruction while the others support it
>none of those are replies to the same post
I've got some bad news, Anon. It turns out you're retarded.
>>13733372
>a troll can't write different things for the sake of trolling
>>13733421
>any opinion I dislike or disagree with is trolling
>"samefagging" is replying to different posts in the same thread
I'm afraid your status has been downgraded to critically retarded. Can I call your next of kin?
>>13733174
>deconstructs
You have to be at least 18 uears of age to post on this website.
Didn't know we were on TVTropes right now.
Eva didn't deconstruct anything. Only retards who are new to the mecha genre would think that.
I smell that we're getting too many newfags on /m/. Old /m/ wasn't that dumb.
>>13734835
Deconstruction is a term used to describe essays, not actual literature. For reasons that should be incredibly obvious to someone who hasn't appropriated phrases like "death of the author" to mean "my fanfiction is canon," it's not even possible for Evangelion to be a deconstruction.
>>13734835
I think Gundam 79 should be THE gateway mecha. It's good. it simultaneously gets you used to the 70s-80s style and the Gundam franchise. Its basically assumed viewing on any mecha board. It kicked off the entire RR subgenre.
Evangelion and Gurren Lagann dont create mecha fans, they create /a/ users. I think 79 is much better for introducing long term fans and people that we can discuss with.
>>13735292
Nope.
79 only creates Gundam fans, not mecha fans.
Therefore, if you want gateway mecha, Zambot 3 is a far better choice.
But if you go further back, then the Mazinger movies are even better.
And even further, you should at least watch a few episodes of Tetsujin 28th, or at least read Yokoyama's original manga.
>>13735292
0079 is good but the animation is so god awful it's going to turn people off of anime forever.
For as much as people say it has required viewing, I've found that people that don't watch a lot of anime have a very positive reception to Unicorn. I've shown it to about 5 people now, and only 2 of them had seen any Gundam beforehand, and no UC. All of them loved it and no one felt like they were expected to know anything beforehand. Overall it has wonderful animation, a decent enough story and plot, and the characters are pretty likeable. It has it's flaws but it's a very good gateway mecha.
>>13735317
>Overall it has wonderful animation
True.
>a decent enough story and plot,
kek.
>>13735317
People who like Unicorn have pretty low standards.
I don't want that sort of people in the fanbase.
>>13735348
Everyone starts somewhere. My first anime that I truly loved was Gundam Wing, and it's what got me into mecha and anime as a whole, but 15 years later I know it's garbage. Unicorn is the new Wing. It looks cool and it's easy to follow along with what's happening. That's all you need to introduce someone else to anime and mecha. Give them five to ten years, have them rewatch it, and they'll probably see it for what it is.
>>13735344
It's not the greatest, but it's not bad. Certainly watchable, and it's not going to confuse anyone.
>>13735304
Oh
Well 0079 was one of my first mecha, and immediately after it I saw Macross, VOTOMS, Xabungle, Ideon, Dougram, Vifam, Gunbuster, Big O and RahXephon. The last thing on my mind was more Gundam. So I was speaking from personal experience.
>>13730201
>it's been hyped up for years as being ONE OF THE GREATEST ANIME OF ALL TIME
I have never heard this sentiment. Both before and after I've seen it, the way I always hear people describe Evangelion is "that mecha anime with a really trash ending because they ran out of money". It's very infamous for its first ending, with such a glaring flaw can anyone truly call it "the greatest of all time"?
>>13735495
Go to /a/ and marvel as they tell you that EoE is shit and that the first ending is the perfect symbolic conclusion of the character arcs and how everything else is irrelevant. Post results so we can laugh.
>>13735616
Funny, that kind of reaction is the sort of thing I'd expect from /m/.
But of course /m/ can do no wrong.
>>13735628
>Funny, that kind of reaction is the sort of thing I'd expect from /m/.
I'd expect /m/ to tell you that EoE is shit and that MSG 0079 is the perfect symbolic conclusion of the character arcs and how everything else is irrelevant.
>>13735652
I want UC to go and stay go.
>>13735628
I'm not saying /m/ wouldn't say that, I just wouldn't know since /m/ doesn't often discuss Eva. On the other hand /a/ goes through Eva threads like /m/ goes through Gundam threads, so I saw that shit plenty over there when I used to frequent /a/.
>>13735308
Not him, but I'd love to read some OG Tetsujin-28. Unfortunately, there are no scanlations of the original manga nor subs for the 60's anime.
>>13737675
Probably because there doesn't need to be. The 2004 series was the only time Imagawa's done something for a franchise that was 100% faithful to its roots, so I hear, because he was a huge Tetsujin fanboy as a kid, whereas he didn't care quite so much for Giant Robo, Getter Robo, Gundam or Mazinger.
I just finished my second watching of the serie and movie thank to the new BD release.
I was afraid watching it again might be a chore but it was still a blast for the most part untile the end.
It has interesting characters, a dense plot with great worldbuilding and exciting events. Every episode has its strong own personnality (I'd always get excited at the preview because I remenbered the next episode also being awesome), and the shpw itslef is just gorgeous and extremly stylish.
But then I got to the end, and while it still had some cool stuff like the NERV backsotry episode, it started to hammer the message of the show a little too hard.
I know they had budget issues and stuff but what's the point of making feel the character so alive and insert their subtle and not so subtle trauma to the events occuring during the whole serie if it's to just throw all that stuff out of the window and make them yell about their fear in front of the audience.
I couldn't stop thinking about that Tomino interview about broken people (when he talks about going out in the street with a gun), which I used to laugh at. The last quarter of the serie gets incredibly dark; most character get broken and all hope seem lost until the very end. Sure CONGRATULATION is joyful but it's like a 1 min scene at the very end after hours of despair where nothing is resolved.
Continued from >>13737782
Then there's the movie which I wasn't a big fan of the first time. I think I dislike it even more now. It's even more full of angst, with most of the cast turning insane at some point and a whole lot of painful screaming.
Human instrumentality itself is yet another excuse to repeatedly rant about Anno's message to otaku with little to none subtlety (going as far as just addressing the audience while showing footage from a theater). I used to think Anno was stupid for being diapointed that well adjusted individuals were enjoying his show; but thinking about it I'd be pretty embarassed if such a ridiculous attempt to address a personnal problem gained so much exposure.
In the end I still think Evangelion is a great watch. It's fascinating and exciiting on many aspects.
However I think that BOTH the serie and movie have very disapointing ending, if not downright insulting. If you're going to be condescending, at least try to incorporate it well. Could you imagine if at the end of Patlabor 2, a sign telling the viewers to fuck off would appear.
With all that shit being said I'll probably watch it again in a few years.Maybe I'll get to like the ending and/or movie more then.
Pardon the bad grammar, good night.
EVA is terrible to watch with people unless they are already invested into the show.
I watched it with some friends and it turned into nonstop complaining about how the ending didnt make any sense. Any kind of explanation I gave was met with "youre just pulling that out of your ass" and when I finally resorted to telling them to come up with their own interpretations of the ending, they said that was sloppy writing .
>>13740546
But it is just sloppy writing that people overanalyze because of MUH CHRISTIAN THEMES
>>13740555
True, people overanalyze the show a lot and find christian themes where there are none, but its not sloppy. The ending is humanity ended for better or for worse. Thats it. Its basically a twisted anime version of Childhood's End. Everything else is Anno's personal statements on Otaku culture and human interaction in general.
>>13740555
But muh cross shaped explosion.
There must be a deep meaning behind it.
Whatever happened to the final reboot movie?
>>13743725
You mean sequel? It's not been announced yet.
>>13730284
> mother gets upset by porno
> the previous 2 episodes had blood and guts everywhere
AMERICANS
>>13730191
>>13730204
wording this
>>13743774
>>13743725
It's been announced, anno is just working on the new Godzilla.
>>13743774
The last I heard, they changed the title from 4.0 to 3.0+1.0 but that was like last year.
>>13730123
most overhyped anime ever, watch a fight compilation and dont bother with the boring rest
good opening tho
>watch with friends
Until the end of the show when they all stand up and say "Congratulations, anon"
>congratulations
>>13730123
>Would you consider Neon Genesis Evangelion a good mecha show?
no
>>13733221
>Evangelion is a prime example of pretentious
fix that shit for you
>>13733298
>...you're trolling.
trolling is dead it's just shitposting now
>>13733308
>deconstruction
here's that pretentious word again
>>13735287
hello wikipedia reader
I really liked it.
Only teenage autists who want to show to their friends and family that it isn't just another kids cartoon to validate their pastime, overanalyse it. The Christian imagery is researched and well placed, but it isn't there for a significant reason. Most of the show was Anno lashing out at Japanese otaku culture and then using it as an outlet for his bouts of mental ills.
Overrated.
>>13735628
>But of course /m/ can do no wrong.
they really don't
>>13743725
it's the evangelion that should be not emo crap anno made in the 90's
>>13744830
Fuck are you even saying?
>>13744823
Hello troper
