Jul 20, 2023
This anime isn’t ‘brilliant’ no it actually sucks, but that’s what’s so brilliant about it. Makes sense? Yeah just like the show.
Don’t watch this show with any expectations and definitely don’t focus on the plot or story because there aren’t ones. All the unanswered questions about the Nerv organization, Adam, the Evas and their purpose, who the angels actually are, what Seele is, what Shinji’s father is planning, the purpose of all that they’re fighting for, WHAT are they even fighting for, who and what is the second impact—none of it matters, literally NONE of these plot points and world building tools matter
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at all, they just exist without ever being addressed or explained. Which is why the anime sucks, it has no coherent plot, no story, no context AT ALL, no world or character development, but that’s also what makes it so brilliant. How? Because the writer is showing us this tragedy of a story with the same perspective that Shinji views the world.
For example, all that we, the audience, can clearly understand is that the Eva exist to destroy angels and that’s it, there’s no context or history, no motive or goal, just that simple fact. And that’s exactly the way Shinji thinks. To him, nothing matters except for the fact that he has to pilot the Eva and destroy the angels. Why should he? For who? Doesn’t matter. Everything is worthless and meaningless except for the Eva vs Angel fights, and this applies both plot-wise and character-wise from his perspective. Everything this show lacks and is hated for is everything that Shinji lacks and is flawed for. The anime and its plot are literally a parallel of their main character and just like him the whole show just has an unpleasant and hopeless vibe to it.
Another example are all the side characters, we only see some of their backgrounds and know of their existence but we don’t know or see their purpose in the show’s development, and that’s because there isn’t, they have no purpose in development because there IS NO development. Just like Shinji. He never grows out of his self-hating mindset, he meets people, form connections and learn things but he never grew or developed. At least until the very end which imo didn’t feel real but more like a fantasy in his head.
This show has no purpose, moral lesson, plot, or point, it just exists for the sake of existing, much like its MC. It leaves you feeling something negative, whether that’s disappointment, hatred, anger, disapproval, or in my case some mixture of disturbance and disgust, it’s so brilliant that it accomplishes its main goal of leaving the viewers with some unpleasant feeling that mirrors what the sick characters (and writer) have been feeling without actually telling a story.
Tbh it’s overhyped, not because of its brilliance but because of its ability to make you feel something no matter what it is, hence why I gave it a ‘mixed feelings’ because it’s not for everyone. Senseless negativity isn’t entertaining but it’s thought-provoking which is why it comes down to its viewer’s individual preference rather than a target audience as a whole, which again beautifully mirrors the anime’s idea about loneliness and the instrumentality project to join everyone together. It’s the type of show that makes you feel and question everything but nothing at all, it puts you in some weird unpleasant feeling with no explanation as to why you’re feeling this way.
Don’t mistake the negative tone of my review as disapproval of the show. True I didn’t enjoy watching it but I truly enjoyed the feelings and thoughts it left me with. My journey as a viewer with this anime was just like Shinji with his depression, it sucked but the final result was satisfying (in his case realizing self love and acceptance).
Finally a piece of advice; don’t watch this when you’re in a good mood or it’ll surely ruin it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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