Shinji ended Evangelion finally doing one great thing (making a choice to return to his flawed individuality and connect with people the difficult, meaningful way)
Shinji's first meaningful action in the rebuilds is monumentally screwing up everything, gets cucked from Asuka by some other dude, continues screwing up, denied comfort from Rei, who becomes a living doll ("how dare you have feelings for her!!" -- Anno)
Shinji fails upward into relationship with a living anime figurine, touches grass somehow, end scene
Not to mention the magical realism/space opera arc with Captain Misato of the USS Whale Zoid, Pirate Asuka, and Elton Kaworu is an insult to anyone who took Evangelion as a real story and not just a psychodrama for otaku therapy purposes.
Shinji ended Evangelion finally doing one great thing
The fact that to this day people still treat the end of EoE as this incomprehensible puzzle shows how fucking stupid most of them are.
Just like the entire rest of the series, half of what is happening is meaningless words and references meant to look cool (like why Angels have blue blood type being a random Japanese movie from the 70s), and the rest is pretty easy to figure out what its getting at.
Its literally a culmination of the message of the entire series, that they repeat so often its comical. Hedgehogs can't huddle for warmth without hurting themselves, but they do it anyway because its better than running away from the pain forever.
Yeah exactly, Rei and Kaworu even show up at one point to tell Shinji the good things about humanity. The ending is a little challenging if you didn't understand the relationship between Shinji and Asuka, or you get caught up in wondering if they have to repopulate the earth, drink LCL to live etc, but the actual meaning is powerful once you see it.
Much of the reason people profess to be confused by Eva is the cottage industry of grifters and pretentious fans that enjoy confusing people with minutia to look more intelligent.
All that being said, Anno went way overboard with the sex imagery in the Third Impact. The dummy plug units penetrating themselves is particularly hard to sit through. For someone that complained about otaku reading porn on the train, he really undermined himself.
I think a lot of people also don't seem to grasp that the entire last two episodes of the series, where Shinji is monologuing and rambling is meant to be his experience going through Instrumentality in the last few minutes of the movie. Including the "high school AU fanfic" type scene being the perfect world its meant to create for everyone. And that the entire Congratulations meme is him finally rejecting it, leading to the final final scene of the movie on the beach where its obvious Asuka did the same.
I figured that much out just watching it, without needing some lore guide, so its mind boggling how many people struggle with something so basic. It doesn't fit perfectly, but it fits well enough that Hideaki "I was just making shit up as I went" Anno can't deconfirm it either.
Anno went way overboard with the sex imagery in the Third Impact
The whole series has a wierd relationship with sex. A lot of it comes from its constant insistence on intimacy and motherhood themes, which will come across as sexual if adults partake in it. So a lot of things I think were meant to be beautiful and wholesome, evoking feelings of being born and bringing life to the world at times, as well as the obvious horror of perverting that natural beauty come across instead of overtly sexual because its just offputting that way.
I think a lot of people also don't seem to grasp that the entire last two episodes of the series, where Shinji is monologuing and rambling is meant to be his experience going through Instrumentality in the last few minutes of the movie.
I would hate to imagine the experience of someone who had no idea what was going on. Surprisingly, the last group I watched it with almost instantly understood the last two episodes.
The whole series has a wierd relationship with sex. A lot of it comes from its constant insistence on intimacy and motherhood themes, which will come across as sexual if adults partake in it. So a lot of things I think were meant to be beautiful and wholesome, evoking feelings of being born and bringing life to the world at times, as well as the obvious horror of perverting that natural beauty come across instead of overtly sexual because its just offputting that way.
I didn't really consider this angle, maybe because the series simply struck a more effective tone throughout. I felt that the hormonal parts of Rei and Shinji's relationship were supposed to be that way, i.e. the good old meet and grope (much to the show's detriment), but their platonic feelings for each other developed very well with the maternal imagery around Rei, as minimalistic as it was.
In some ways the Japanese are more casually transgressive than Western cultures, so that might have something to do with it.
Not to mention the magical realism/space opera arc with Captain Misato of the USS Whale Zoid, Pirate Asuka, and Elton Kaworu is an insult to anyone who took Evangelion as a real story and not just a psychodrama for otaku therapy purposes.
The fact that to this day people still treat the end of EoE as this incomprehensible puzzle shows how fucking stupid most of them are.
Just like the entire rest of the series, half of what is happening is meaningless words and references meant to look cool (like why Angels have blue blood type being a random Japanese movie from the 70s), and the rest is pretty easy to figure out what its getting at.
Its literally a culmination of the message of the entire series, that they repeat so often its comical. Hedgehogs can't huddle for warmth without hurting themselves, but they do it anyway because its better than running away from the pain forever.
Yeah exactly, Rei and Kaworu even show up at one point to tell Shinji the good things about humanity. The ending is a little challenging if you didn't understand the relationship between Shinji and Asuka, or you get caught up in wondering if they have to repopulate the earth, drink LCL to live etc, but the actual meaning is powerful once you see it.
Much of the reason people profess to be confused by Eva is the cottage industry of grifters and pretentious fans that enjoy confusing people with minutia to look more intelligent.
All that being said, Anno went way overboard with the sex imagery in the Third Impact. The dummy plug units penetrating themselves is particularly hard to sit through. For someone that complained about otaku reading porn on the train, he really undermined himself.
I think a lot of people also don't seem to grasp that the entire last two episodes of the series, where Shinji is monologuing and rambling is meant to be his experience going through Instrumentality in the last few minutes of the movie. Including the "high school AU fanfic" type scene being the perfect world its meant to create for everyone. And that the entire Congratulations meme is him finally rejecting it, leading to the final final scene of the movie on the beach where its obvious Asuka did the same.
I figured that much out just watching it, without needing some lore guide, so its mind boggling how many people struggle with something so basic. It doesn't fit perfectly, but it fits well enough that Hideaki "I was just making shit up as I went" Anno can't deconfirm it either.
The whole series has a wierd relationship with sex. A lot of it comes from its constant insistence on intimacy and motherhood themes, which will come across as sexual if adults partake in it. So a lot of things I think were meant to be beautiful and wholesome, evoking feelings of being born and bringing life to the world at times, as well as the obvious horror of perverting that natural beauty come across instead of overtly sexual because its just offputting that way.
I would hate to imagine the experience of someone who had no idea what was going on. Surprisingly, the last group I watched it with almost instantly understood the last two episodes.
I didn't really consider this angle, maybe because the series simply struck a more effective tone throughout. I felt that the hormonal parts of Rei and Shinji's relationship were supposed to be that way, i.e. the good old meet and grope (much to the show's detriment), but their platonic feelings for each other developed very well with the maternal imagery around Rei, as minimalistic as it was.
In some ways the Japanese are more casually transgressive than Western cultures, so that might have something to do with it.