Jul 29, 2022
Here it is. Arguably the most overrated anime classics of all time, and the most over-interpreted.
I'll quickly sum up what's wrong with the show:
1. The show has religious symbolism, despite the fact it has NOTHING to do with God or religion. The symbolism only exists in this series to create a fake impression that this show is somehow "deep and meta". Meanwhile, the assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said that "they originally used Christian symbolism and themes only to give the project a unique edge against other giant robot shows, that there is no Christian meaning to the series and that it was not meant to
...
be controversial". But of course, half-wits will over-analyze the show and create their own headcanon to stroke their own ego.
The antagonists, so-called "Angels" or "Apostles" in literal translation, have no relation to Christianity at all. The show doesn't explain exactly what they are, but future installments to the series explain they are created by aliens who were looking to colonize planets in the universe.
Other forms of religious symbolism (explosions taking form of a cross, Longinus spear, the robots being called Eva, etc.) are also meaningless, since the aliens have nothing to do with Earth's religions. The comparisons of religious themes in NGE to actual religion just don't have a reason to exist, apart from making the show "stand out" without any deeper meaning.
2. The Angels attack a specific place on Earth to reunite with one of the Angels that arrived on Earth a long time ago. And what did the people who knew about Angels' objective do? They build a city on top of the place where Angels would attack. Even if the organisation needed manpower, they could have simply housed all the workers underground, behind 20 layers of protective steel. But screw logic, this is anime right?
3. The pilots of Evas are somehow 14yo kids. Why? It's never explained in NGE, nor in any other media that came afterwards. Sure, it might be just a coincidence for the case of Shinji and Asuka (their mothers' souls are inside the Evas), but it's not explained for Eva03 pilot. Nor is it explained for any of the other "potential" pilots going to school in Tokyo-3.
4. What would you do if the enemy could attack at any moment? Would you let your pilots roam around free in the city? Or would you keep your pilots in the base, so they can board the Evas within minutes? That's right, the anime keeps those irreplacable pilots without protection in the city. Forget about logic, this is NGE!
5. Flashbacks to characters' past are LITERALLY flashing lights designed to irritate your brain, or even cause epilepsy. In later episodes, they're doing this A LOT. White background for 1 frame, then some weird illegible message you won't have time to read unless you go frame-by-frame. And repeat for multiple seconds. And of course, those cryptic messages are never explained. I even spent time searching for an answer on the internet, and got no hits. Truly meaningless and disturbing scenes...
6. Cheap animation. Lots of scenes are re-used throughout the show. Many times, still images are shown over a long conversation between characters, especially in the later episodes. Half-wits will defend this, saying "it's actually profound" but no, it's actually just cheap.
7. Contradictions. On one hand, the aliens' understanding of the universe is so great, that they have predicted the future for the next millions of years, which is confirmed by the scrolls of knowledge contained in the Angels' spaceships. On the other hand, if the aliens had such fantastic future-reading abilities, why did they accidentally send 2 Angels to Earth? This is never explained, and only serves as "convenient writing" for the show.
Also, the prophecy of Second Impact only came true BECAUSE humans read the scrolls which said it will come true. Which leads to another causality paradox. Oh well... As proven before, overanalyzing this dumb show was never the intention of the writers.
Since the aliens wanted to proliferate their life throughout universe, why would they explode when a son of Adam came into contact with Lilith? Why would they want to obliterate their own kind? It makes no sense, and is a proof of nonsensical writing.
8. It just isn't that interesting half of the time.
9. The show's message is very weak. Shinji must simply stop running away from reality and his responsibilities. He must stop running away from his past and from his family ties. That's it.
The members of SEELE want immortality for themselves and only themselves, to rule over humanity for all of eternity. Cool, but there's no message here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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