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.
There are plenty outright sexual bits, but I do think a lot of it is meant to be either directly or subversively motherly instead. Or even just "raw intimacy" like with Kaworu that isn't meant to be gay but just something warm.
Like I felt the entire Rei/Shinji dynamic was meant to be his unsettled feelings towards his mother being driven insane by what was essentially a clone of her in a lot of ways while also still being a hot girl his age. A lot of Eva is Freudian, and therefore that Oedipal Complex is almost certainly intentional to some extent.
I do think there needs to be a lot of consideration given towards Eva when comparing the first half versus the second. Like the first half is a lot more straightforward with being an anime and using its tropes, including the "love triangle/harem" elements of his relationships with all the girls. By the second half almost all sexual elements are played for horror or allegory for something else.
I don't think that was some 4D chess move, they simply ran out of money and Anno's depression spiraled him down the rabbit hole out of just a simple mecha show. It just does work to the show's favor.
There are plenty outright sexual bits, but I do think a lot of it is meant to be either directly or subversively motherly instead. Or even just "raw intimacy" like with Kaworu that isn't meant to be gay but just something warm.
I did feel that way about Kaworu, and if there was anything truly homosexual about it that's because Shinji was at his most emotionally broken thus far and was desperate for any kind of human affection.
Rei does start as a sexual figure to Shinji, but he quickly becomes taken by higher feelings. By the time of her famous smile the connection might have even started to drift from romance, and when Asuka is into her self-destructive arc, Shinji and Rei are definitely in a deep non-romantic relationship. It's impassioned, confusing, and Oedipal, but it ends up developing away from that.
I do think there needs to be a lot of consideration given towards Eva when comparing the first half versus the second. Like the first half is a lot more straightforward with being an anime and using its tropes, including the "love triangle/harem" elements of his relationships with all the girls. By the second half almost all sexual elements are played for horror or allegory for something else.
I think there is a bit of truth to this, but there are several profound scenes of isolation and despair in the early episodes that foreshadow the later catastrophes. Gendo's introduction is a forceful and effective impression of his character. There's a scene of Shinji literally staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above his bed in the first episode which is clearly evocative of displacement-induced anomie and wouldn't appear in a straightforward mecha show. Also the first of many Shinji flameouts and despairing Misato lectures appear in the first few episodes.
Editorial influence might have played up the fun times in the first half, but they effectively counterpoint the landslide in the second half and make it more realistic. To that point Anno infamously said he had no idea what he was doing with Rei, but if that's true then I guess he just has a talent for spinning gold.
I think him being an Angel removes any sexual aspect to it, as he was too "pure" for such sinful and simple desires. That might be me reading too much into the Angel thing as a whole, but I think to shackle him with something so simple as just homolust is almost too humanizing of such an otherworldly being.
In a way doing so is reminiscent of Gendo's failure to understand Rei and how far above his control she had grown, making it a really wild case of audiences emulating in universe character's failures.
which is clearly evocative of displacement-induced anomie and wouldn't appear in a straightforward mecha show
I do think a lot of the pieces were already in place from the outset, because as you said its all being set up from almost moment one. But I think the way it unfolded and the brutality and extremity of it in the latter half wasn't fully set from the outset.
In the same way a lot of the most famous shots like the long tension before killing Kaworu or the elevator were brought about by literal money issues, I feel the series without Anno's breakdown and the company's issues would have continued along a path it was already set on but landed a lot differently.
Rebuild proves that in many ways.
To that point Anno infamously said he had no idea what he was doing with Rei
You don't even need his words for that. Almost every Rei we see is subtly or even overtly different from the last. I remember reading a speculation a long time ago that every single one we see was a new clone, though its been so long I can't remember if that violates lore or not.
Either way, Reifags are literally obsessed with an empty slate and this is why they are the biggest losers. Asuka always winning, 30 years on.
I think him being an Angel removes any sexual aspect to it, as he was too "pure" for such sinful and simple desires. That might be me reading too much into the Angel thing as a whole, but I think to shackle him with something so simple as just homolust is almost too humanizing of such an otherworldly being.
In a way doing so is reminiscent of Gendo's failure to understand Rei and how far above his control she had grown, making it a really wild case of audiences emulating in universe character's failures.
That's an interesting angle. I guess it depends on how much you view the Angels as alternate visions of humanity, but even so.
You could say Rei-III's disobedience is more of an expression of her latent bond with Shinji, which was only obscured, not erased, by the cloning process.
In the same way a lot of the most famous shots like the long tension before killing Kaworu or the elevator were brought about by literal money issues, I feel the series without Anno's breakdown and the company's issues would have continued along a path it was already set on but landed a lot differently.
The elevator scene does prove this happened to a certain extent. I can't draw any conclusions from Rebuild, though. Too many confounding factors after the reception of Evangelion and EoE.
Either way, Reifags are literally obsessed with an empty slate and this is why they are the biggest losers. Asuka always winning, 30 years on.
Asuka is indeed the best girl for Shinji. I'll admit that much. She definitely edges the popularity contest at this point. Rei as a true blank slate, though, is a Rebuild trash plotline created to indulge the agricultural lobby.
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.
There are plenty outright sexual bits, but I do think a lot of it is meant to be either directly or subversively motherly instead. Or even just "raw intimacy" like with Kaworu that isn't meant to be gay but just something warm.
Like I felt the entire Rei/Shinji dynamic was meant to be his unsettled feelings towards his mother being driven insane by what was essentially a clone of her in a lot of ways while also still being a hot girl his age. A lot of Eva is Freudian, and therefore that Oedipal Complex is almost certainly intentional to some extent.
I do think there needs to be a lot of consideration given towards Eva when comparing the first half versus the second. Like the first half is a lot more straightforward with being an anime and using its tropes, including the "love triangle/harem" elements of his relationships with all the girls. By the second half almost all sexual elements are played for horror or allegory for something else.
I don't think that was some 4D chess move, they simply ran out of money and Anno's depression spiraled him down the rabbit hole out of just a simple mecha show. It just does work to the show's favor.
I did feel that way about Kaworu, and if there was anything truly homosexual about it that's because Shinji was at his most emotionally broken thus far and was desperate for any kind of human affection.
Rei does start as a sexual figure to Shinji, but he quickly becomes taken by higher feelings. By the time of her famous smile the connection might have even started to drift from romance, and when Asuka is into her self-destructive arc, Shinji and Rei are definitely in a deep non-romantic relationship. It's impassioned, confusing, and Oedipal, but it ends up developing away from that.
I think there is a bit of truth to this, but there are several profound scenes of isolation and despair in the early episodes that foreshadow the later catastrophes. Gendo's introduction is a forceful and effective impression of his character. There's a scene of Shinji literally staring at the unfamiliar ceiling above his bed in the first episode which is clearly evocative of displacement-induced anomie and wouldn't appear in a straightforward mecha show. Also the first of many Shinji flameouts and despairing Misato lectures appear in the first few episodes.
Editorial influence might have played up the fun times in the first half, but they effectively counterpoint the landslide in the second half and make it more realistic. To that point Anno infamously said he had no idea what he was doing with Rei, but if that's true then I guess he just has a talent for spinning gold.
I think him being an Angel removes any sexual aspect to it, as he was too "pure" for such sinful and simple desires. That might be me reading too much into the Angel thing as a whole, but I think to shackle him with something so simple as just homolust is almost too humanizing of such an otherworldly being.
In a way doing so is reminiscent of Gendo's failure to understand Rei and how far above his control she had grown, making it a really wild case of audiences emulating in universe character's failures.
I do think a lot of the pieces were already in place from the outset, because as you said its all being set up from almost moment one. But I think the way it unfolded and the brutality and extremity of it in the latter half wasn't fully set from the outset.
In the same way a lot of the most famous shots like the long tension before killing Kaworu or the elevator were brought about by literal money issues, I feel the series without Anno's breakdown and the company's issues would have continued along a path it was already set on but landed a lot differently.
Rebuild proves that in many ways.
You don't even need his words for that. Almost every Rei we see is subtly or even overtly different from the last. I remember reading a speculation a long time ago that every single one we see was a new clone, though its been so long I can't remember if that violates lore or not.
Either way, Reifags are literally obsessed with an empty slate and this is why they are the biggest losers. Asuka always winning, 30 years on.
That's an interesting angle. I guess it depends on how much you view the Angels as alternate visions of humanity, but even so.
You could say Rei-III's disobedience is more of an expression of her latent bond with Shinji, which was only obscured, not erased, by the cloning process.
The elevator scene does prove this happened to a certain extent. I can't draw any conclusions from Rebuild, though. Too many confounding factors after the reception of Evangelion and EoE.
Asuka is indeed the best girl for Shinji. I'll admit that much. She definitely edges the popularity contest at this point. Rei as a true blank slate, though, is a Rebuild trash plotline created to indulge the agricultural lobby.