Someone help me to like Evangelian!!!!!

[zen_hydra]

I was talked into watching the whole Evangelian anime series (plus the end movie) and I can't understand why anyone likes this pretentious drivel. It started as an only marginally poor giant robot anime, but ended up being the story of a bunch of self loathing, suicidal idiots (the worst being Shinji the main character). The end left more questions than answers and was so mind-bendingly discombobulating that I thought that my head would explode. Can someone please explain to me why I am wrong, and put this show in perspective for me?

 

[talinthas]

eva is great if you like religious psychology and judeo-christian mysticism.

or at least, i liked it for those reasons =) the mechs i could do without, though. not a mecha fan, me.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Sorry, I can't talk you into liking Evengelion, because I myself found it to be nothing more than pretentious, nonsensical drivel that otaku for some reason think is brilliant.

 

[zen_hydra]

eva is great if you like religious psychology and judeo-christian mysticism.

or at least, i liked it for those reasons =) the mechs i could do without, though. not a mecha fan, me.

The only thing Judeo-Christian about the series that was some ham-handed iconic name dropping. I thought for a second that the show might have some interesting gnostic spin to it, but alas...no. What the hell is up with Shinji? He seems to want oblivion (or at least formless union), but then he doesn't. He seems to come to some sort of emotional breakthrough, but then he goes right back to the same behavior. And someone please explain that very last scene with him choking Asuka, and then he starts sobbing and she says "You're disgusting" (fade to black, roll credits). WTF!!!!!

 

[Mog Elffoe]

I like the character and mecha designs in Evangelion. I thought the first few DVDs were okay--not great, but okay--but when everything takes a turn at the end it really shoots downhill for me. I'm at a bit of a loss as to the appeal of the last few episodes and the Death/Rebirth/End of Evangelion stuff. I watched the whole thing primarily to see what all the hoopla was, and it's still a mystery. I tend to impulse buy these sorts of things and I'm real glad I decided to borrow a friend's set first this time around.

 

[Pants]

Why you should like Evangelion:

It's the only physically safe way to emulate a bad acid trip. It has few of the drawbacks, and none of the addiction!

Evangelion: Helping make our streets drugfree.

 

[demiurge1138]

I can't help you like EVA, sorry. A few of its aspects, though...

Like the mecha and Angel designs. Most of them were very good (Saichel, the Third Angel, is a perfect example of a simple design utilized well). Or a few of the characters, like Gendo and how he's the iconic evil genius. Or the incedental music, which was stirring, quasi-Godzilla orchestral.

But the series as a whole? Badly written tripe, with unlikable "heroes", ridiculous Biblical symbolism. And let's not forget how the budget ran out, making stock footage and long pauses the order of the day.

Demiurge out.

BTW, the Black Screen with Text from episodes 23 and 24 is my favorite character.

 

[Alzrius]

It always bothers me to see people bash something just because they don't like/understand it.

It's hard to define what's "good" and what's not, since we are so into pluralism that we've reduced everything to a question of personal taste. That said, if you look at the (supposedly) objective viewpoint of what sells, and what is popular, Shin Seiki Evangelion is a landmark. There's a reason so many people like it, and if you don't, that's fine...but you really can't say its a poor anime: something that's just inherently bad doesn't sell that well.

In regards to the content of the series itself, I would debate this, but since the tone of this thread has already become "Evangelion is teh suxx0rs" (with slightly better spelling), I'm bowing out now. Instead, to understand more of the series, here are some articles about it written by someone far more knowledgeable than I:

What makes an anime good? (general to all anime)

Can you explain the meaning of Evangelion?

Can you explain the final episode of Evangelion to me?

Why is Evangelion so popular?

 

[Teflon Billy]

...It has few of the drawbacks, and none of the addiction!

Acid isn't addictive.

 

[takyris]

I hate to see people accuse people who don't like something of not understanding it.

(Note: Mostly hypothetical on my end -- watched all of one episode and wasn't impressed. I have limited time, and I lack the chronological resources to give everything ten hours to win me over.)

It struck me mostly as stereotypical anime -- like, textbook-case stereotypical anime*. If you like stereotypical anime, then good on ya. This will probably work for you. If you don't, then unless it changes radically some point in the middle, it's probably going to continue to be something you don't like. But again, that's a one-episode opinion, and moreover, a one-episode opinion from someone who liked "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke", enjoyed the early "Ranma" when he saw it, but was unwowed by "Ninja Scroll" or "Akira".

* I know. It's a medium, not a genre. I realize this. There's nonviolent, non-SF romantic comedy anime. I know. Really. However, for the geek on the street, anime has a stereotype of involving partially cyberneticized people in cloaks leaping through the air with katanas and then brooding while flighty ditzy women repeatedly fall in love with them despite the guys' utter emotional uninvolvement and inability to return any sort of affection, usually with really cool mecha-effects at some point. This is true only in the same broad-stroke stereotypical way that all fantasy novels involve a mistreated young person who espouses modern-day values in a quasi-historical setting and is mistreated by people for some not-fault reason until a benevolent father figure intervenes and teaches the young person magic or swordsmanship, and eventually the young person is appreciated by some good-looking person in power and raised up and totally validated as a person, and all the people who were mean to the person back in the person's childhood are totally jealous. Which is to say, it's not always true, and sometimes it's true but good nevertheless.