01-10-2014, 01:00 PM
Well, I must say that I am a huge Evangelion fan:)
And I feel the need to elaborate on that a bit, as my fascination with the series is perhaps a bit more rational and non-standard:)
I have been a big fan of psychology and philosophy and, for something like 15 years I've been studying them (as an amateur and hobbyist, though) and I've read hundreds of books, publications, I've gone as far as talking and befriending a lot of psychotherapists and even made them open up and tell me all the dirty stuff from practice and I've read my share of actual testimonies and therapies. Even at some times, some therapists were discussing therapies with me and sometimes I was able to give legit advice etc.
Please don't see this as some "I am awesome" speech, because I am not awesome:) For every field I am interested or (semi)proficient in, there are thousands in which I suck, so it's a simple matter of distribution of one's interests. I am saying this because I want to present my approach to the series and why I feel the way I do about it.
When I saw Evangelion, I was literally shocked by the quality of characterization and level and execution of psychoanalysis. And, I really mean shocked, to the point of disbelief. To the point that I've decided to surgically analyze it just for the sake of discovering what was that all about. Because, I thought that maybe I was misled somehow or that my perception was clouded due to some emotional trigger or something like that. And I saw it as some kind of hobby challenge, so it was really fun to me:) Anyway, I have watched it, and read about it, and watched it, and wrote about it, and googled, and consulted books and watched it and write and read and watch etc etc etc.
And, after all of that, I've formed my opinion - Evangelion is a masterpiece on several levels. It's characterization is, for me, surpassed only by Dostoyevsky's (later) novels. It's psychoanalysis is frighteningly authentically presented. It sounds strange, even silly, it IS still strange to me. But that is my conclusion after a very long and "cold" dissection of the series.
And that goes for the infamous last two episodes as well and for EoE too. Everything in Evangelion that LOOKS like the low level cinema teenage psychology, it really is quality stuff. I might sound cheesy here, but there really are a lot of levels to be analyzed and perceived, and even checked for in Evangelion and it really is not empty talk, surprisingly, even in moments when it might look like it - I mainly blame the classic shounen way of presenting things for that.
Of course, I might be wrong and of course, many will disagree (the world would be quite a boring place if everybody agreed on everything:) ), but I really spent a lot of time on this and I really tried very hard to be objective and to utilize all the resources I have and to make that analysis as solid as it could be. And that's why I had the need to share my "findings" here, seeing that Evangelion was mentioned:)
Considering psychoanalysis of his characters and playing with them, Anno did his homework. And he REALLY did his homework. Though he insisted on Freud too much and sometimes he throws some terms and setups a (tiny) bit naively - still, I am amazed at his level of understanding and application of aspects he tries to convey being a nonprofessional in the field.
Also, I don't want to look like some angsty fanboy or something - which might be a mission impossible, since I am aware of Evangelion's reputation and actually, that is the main reason why I dislike "fanboism" - it can make good things look bad and mis-aimed fandom can ruin honest positive critiques. So I must also say that I watched Evangelion when I was something like 28 or 29 years old, so it's not about emotional teenage catharsis for me:) Also, I've been unaware of the franchise until I watched the series (I watched it kinda by accident).
I think that one of the problems in perception of the series is that it keeps getting pushed in the mecha genre. Which is, from one aspect, justified, as that's the setting, and also, the show plays with mecha tropes quite a bit. But then, the value, point and ALL other relevant aspects of the series would remain virtually unchanged and untouched if the series was set in, I don't know, 17th century family bakery in France:) Or in a single room, for that matter.
So, I think it affects the viewer even before he actually sees the show, which is kinda bad, as it can create specific expectations in various aspects.
So, that would be, in short, my perception of the infamous Evangelion:) Unfortunatelly, I can't paste parts of my analysis here (like someone would be masochistic enough to read through it), there are like literally hundred pages of that stuff and they are in tens of places AND it's not in english lol:)
Phew, that was some wall of text:) It might be a bit unnecessary, since this is not a topic about Evangelion, but I felt like I should write it. Maybe some of you might give it another chance some day:)
The one thing I wouldn't wish to happen is for this to start some debate or some "edgy" tedious discussion - I simply wanted to write my take on the show and I certainly respect different opinions. The reason why this post is so long and it might give away the impression of something "serious" is because I wanted to elaborate my view of Evangelion, as without that elaboration, I might seem like some 15 year old emo kid that "nobody understands":)
As for the Rebuild movies, well, while I do find them enjoyable, they are like all the blockbusters - expensive, epic, shallow and masterfully directed. Their intention and presentation is very clear and their aim is also very clear. Which doesn't make them bad per se (it just makes them different), but that in itself is practically a bad thing, since it means they are stripped off of almost every aspect that was relevant to the original series. The psychoanalysis is very blunt and basic, characters are dumbed down A LOT and the show goes a bit in the story driven direction, which takes away from the characterization and puts it in the plot. Which would all be fine if that wasn't Evangelion. Not because I have some "omg don't touch the franchise I love" kind of view (I never do that), but simply because Evangelion is not about that (I don't talk about quality, I talk about direction). So I don't see the point of recycling the old franchise to do that - I mean, it's like you take "One flew over the cuckoo nest" and remake it as a comedy, why not making some new comedy instead? Well, we all know why the Rebuild is being made, but still:)
The one aspect I really think is jaw dropping in the Rebuild is how it's directed. I find the action scenes amazing, especially the cuts and individual shots and camera movement and positioning. The start of the third part blew me away.
And I feel the need to elaborate on that a bit, as my fascination with the series is perhaps a bit more rational and non-standard:)
I have been a big fan of psychology and philosophy and, for something like 15 years I've been studying them (as an amateur and hobbyist, though) and I've read hundreds of books, publications, I've gone as far as talking and befriending a lot of psychotherapists and even made them open up and tell me all the dirty stuff from practice and I've read my share of actual testimonies and therapies. Even at some times, some therapists were discussing therapies with me and sometimes I was able to give legit advice etc.
Please don't see this as some "I am awesome" speech, because I am not awesome:) For every field I am interested or (semi)proficient in, there are thousands in which I suck, so it's a simple matter of distribution of one's interests. I am saying this because I want to present my approach to the series and why I feel the way I do about it.
When I saw Evangelion, I was literally shocked by the quality of characterization and level and execution of psychoanalysis. And, I really mean shocked, to the point of disbelief. To the point that I've decided to surgically analyze it just for the sake of discovering what was that all about. Because, I thought that maybe I was misled somehow or that my perception was clouded due to some emotional trigger or something like that. And I saw it as some kind of hobby challenge, so it was really fun to me:) Anyway, I have watched it, and read about it, and watched it, and wrote about it, and googled, and consulted books and watched it and write and read and watch etc etc etc.
And, after all of that, I've formed my opinion - Evangelion is a masterpiece on several levels. It's characterization is, for me, surpassed only by Dostoyevsky's (later) novels. It's psychoanalysis is frighteningly authentically presented. It sounds strange, even silly, it IS still strange to me. But that is my conclusion after a very long and "cold" dissection of the series.
And that goes for the infamous last two episodes as well and for EoE too. Everything in Evangelion that LOOKS like the low level cinema teenage psychology, it really is quality stuff. I might sound cheesy here, but there really are a lot of levels to be analyzed and perceived, and even checked for in Evangelion and it really is not empty talk, surprisingly, even in moments when it might look like it - I mainly blame the classic shounen way of presenting things for that.
Of course, I might be wrong and of course, many will disagree (the world would be quite a boring place if everybody agreed on everything:) ), but I really spent a lot of time on this and I really tried very hard to be objective and to utilize all the resources I have and to make that analysis as solid as it could be. And that's why I had the need to share my "findings" here, seeing that Evangelion was mentioned:)
Considering psychoanalysis of his characters and playing with them, Anno did his homework. And he REALLY did his homework. Though he insisted on Freud too much and sometimes he throws some terms and setups a (tiny) bit naively - still, I am amazed at his level of understanding and application of aspects he tries to convey being a nonprofessional in the field.
Also, I don't want to look like some angsty fanboy or something - which might be a mission impossible, since I am aware of Evangelion's reputation and actually, that is the main reason why I dislike "fanboism" - it can make good things look bad and mis-aimed fandom can ruin honest positive critiques. So I must also say that I watched Evangelion when I was something like 28 or 29 years old, so it's not about emotional teenage catharsis for me:) Also, I've been unaware of the franchise until I watched the series (I watched it kinda by accident).
I think that one of the problems in perception of the series is that it keeps getting pushed in the mecha genre. Which is, from one aspect, justified, as that's the setting, and also, the show plays with mecha tropes quite a bit. But then, the value, point and ALL other relevant aspects of the series would remain virtually unchanged and untouched if the series was set in, I don't know, 17th century family bakery in France:) Or in a single room, for that matter.
So, I think it affects the viewer even before he actually sees the show, which is kinda bad, as it can create specific expectations in various aspects.
So, that would be, in short, my perception of the infamous Evangelion:) Unfortunatelly, I can't paste parts of my analysis here (like someone would be masochistic enough to read through it), there are like literally hundred pages of that stuff and they are in tens of places AND it's not in english lol:)
Phew, that was some wall of text:) It might be a bit unnecessary, since this is not a topic about Evangelion, but I felt like I should write it. Maybe some of you might give it another chance some day:)
The one thing I wouldn't wish to happen is for this to start some debate or some "edgy" tedious discussion - I simply wanted to write my take on the show and I certainly respect different opinions. The reason why this post is so long and it might give away the impression of something "serious" is because I wanted to elaborate my view of Evangelion, as without that elaboration, I might seem like some 15 year old emo kid that "nobody understands":)
As for the Rebuild movies, well, while I do find them enjoyable, they are like all the blockbusters - expensive, epic, shallow and masterfully directed. Their intention and presentation is very clear and their aim is also very clear. Which doesn't make them bad per se (it just makes them different), but that in itself is practically a bad thing, since it means they are stripped off of almost every aspect that was relevant to the original series. The psychoanalysis is very blunt and basic, characters are dumbed down A LOT and the show goes a bit in the story driven direction, which takes away from the characterization and puts it in the plot. Which would all be fine if that wasn't Evangelion. Not because I have some "omg don't touch the franchise I love" kind of view (I never do that), but simply because Evangelion is not about that (I don't talk about quality, I talk about direction). So I don't see the point of recycling the old franchise to do that - I mean, it's like you take "One flew over the cuckoo nest" and remake it as a comedy, why not making some new comedy instead? Well, we all know why the Rebuild is being made, but still:)
The one aspect I really think is jaw dropping in the Rebuild is how it's directed. I find the action scenes amazing, especially the cuts and individual shots and camera movement and positioning. The start of the third part blew me away.