Neon Genesis Evangelion - wth?
Cyde Weys
I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched the first one
today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please. I'm just not sure what the plot
is. The mecha in the show is very limited, and must remain attached to a
tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power. What's the
point? Various enemy "angels" or whatever just continue attacking the same
city over and over, and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting them
off? It doesn't make much sense. These "angels" must be mind-boggingly
stupid. All they'd have to do is cut the tether (easily accomplished,
apparently), go away for a bit, come back when the mecha is deactivated,
and continue rampaging against the city. If they even CARE about the city,
anyway. Why it matters so much to destroy that one city that they keep
sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
--
~ Cyde Weys ~
Sub veste quisque nudus est.
David Watson
Keep watching. All I'll say is that some of your questions will get
answered but not all. Not from the show alone, anyway.
--
Dave Watson, Severed Heads Liberation Front (Stretcher CD-R--sevcom.com)
Frezier Balzoff (aka Ottawa), Ontario, Canada Email--shlf[at]ncf[dot]ca
(Remember to remove the spamtrap word before E-mailing a reply.)
My music and anime webpage: http://eyevocal.ottawa-anime.org/
Yvette Watson, 1942-2002--You will be greatly missed and always loved.
Craig Hall, 1975-2005--Good friend and kindred wild spirit.
Kill worms!! http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Ethan Hammond
news:Xns977D1D659DDEF2g...@216.196.97.136...
Well I certainly never told you to watch it!
You sure should be watching Nuku Nuku though, WATCH IT! *SHAKES
DVD's*
--
All Purpose Culture Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
The Eternal Lost Lurker
Okay, so you don't want spoilers, yet you want people to explain to you the
plot of a show you've only watched four episodes of?
Maybe if you, y'know, WATCH SOME MORE OF THE SHOW, it'll start to make
sense?
How many 26-episode series have you been able to completely figure out from
only four episodes, hmm? Hmm? Hmm? HMM?
And Evangelion is NOT your typical mecha show in any case...it's very far
from it, in fact...
--
This message brought to you by S'LITTLES:
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~~*~~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com
Cyde Weys
What is this Nuku Nuku I keep hearing about? A cursory internet search
reveals it's about some sort of catgirl. Errr .. that's exactly the type
of anime I thought I didn't like. Also, there's multiple series? An OAV
and a newer extended OAV or something? Which should I watch? Errghh.
Sea Wasp
> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns977D1D659DDEF2g...@216.196.97.136...
>
>>Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.
>>I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched the first one
>>today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please. I'm just not sure what the plot
>>is. The mecha in the show is very limited, and must remain attached to a
>>tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power. What's
>>the
>>point? Various enemy "angels" or whatever just continue attacking the
>>same
>>city over and over, and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting
>>them
>>off? It doesn't make much sense. These "angels" must be mind-boggingly
>>stupid. All they'd have to do is cut the tether (easily accomplished,
>>apparently), go away for a bit, come back when the mecha is deactivated,
>>and continue rampaging against the city. If they even CARE about the
>>city,
>>anyway. Why it matters so much to destroy that one city that they keep
>>sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
>
>
> Well I certainly never told you to watch it!
He's wasting his time, TIME! *SHAKES FIST*
> You sure should be watching Nuku Nuku though, WATCH IT! *SHAKES
> DVD's*
>
He may not be into android catgirls.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/seawasp/
Cyde Weys
I was just giving my first impressions after four shows. Some people
value those, because once they've already seen the full thing those are
lost to them forever.
> Maybe if you, y'know, WATCH SOME MORE OF THE SHOW, it'll start to make
> sense?
Ohh, I definitely am planning on watching more of the show ... going to
watch more right now, matter-of-fact.
> How many 26-episode series have you been able to completely figure out
> from only four episodes, hmm? Hmm? Hmm? HMM?
>
> And Evangelion is NOT your typical mecha show in any case...it's very
> far from it, in fact...
>
>
--
Cyde Weys
Alright, I just watched through episode six and I caught something bizarre.
Anyone ever play the series of Armored Core games for PlayStation and
PlayStation 2? In the PS1 versions there was this energy rifle. It seems
to be an exact duplicate of Nerv's prototype positron rifle in episode 6.
How strange that I should remember such a thing ... I last played that game
over five years ago. Such a distinctive shape, though. I guess this was
an Armored Core "homage" to Evangelion?
The Eternal Lost Lurker
> Alright, I just watched through episode six and I caught something
bizarre.
> Anyone ever play the series of Armored Core games for PlayStation and
> PlayStation 2? In the PS1 versions there was this energy rifle. It seems
> to be an exact duplicate of Nerv's prototype positron rifle in episode 6.
> How strange that I should remember such a thing ... I last played that
game
> over five years ago. Such a distinctive shape, though. I guess this was
> an Armored Core "homage" to Evangelion?
Possibly. Some design aspects of the WEAPON which attacks Midgar at the end
of the third disc of Final Fantasy VII seem to have been adapted from
Evangelion...
Actually, there's a LOT of Evangelion refs in FF7...like the "Reis" in the
Gold Saucer...
And don't tell me it's coincidence that both Evangelion and FF7 use the
*exact same diagraph* of the Tree of Life..
Cyde Weys
>
> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns977D8425812B02g...@216.196.97.136...
>> Alright, I just watched through episode six and I caught something
> bizarre.
>> Anyone ever play the series of Armored Core games for PlayStation and
>> PlayStation 2? In the PS1 versions there was this energy rifle. It
>> seems to be an exact duplicate of Nerv's prototype positron rifle in
>> episode 6. How strange that I should remember such a thing ... I last
>> played that
> game
>> over five years ago. Such a distinctive shape, though. I guess this
>> was an Armored Core "homage" to Evangelion?
>
> Possibly. Some design aspects of the WEAPON which attacks Midgar at
> the end of the third disc of Final Fantasy VII seem to have been
> adapted from Evangelion...
>
> Actually, there's a LOT of Evangelion refs in FF7...like the "Reis" in
> the Gold Saucer...
>
> And don't tell me it's coincidence that both Evangelion and FF7 use
> the *exact same diagraph* of the Tree of Life..
Wowo, I didn't realize Evangelion was older than FFVII! That really puts
things into perspective ...
And what exactly are you talking about, diagraph of the Tree of Life? Or
have I not seen enough of Eva (first 8 eps so far) to know what you're
talking about?
Another thing that's interesting about Eva, or at least the DVDs I have, is
that there are FOUR language tracks: English, Japanese, French, and
Spanish, and then English subs. I'm watching it in English right now but I
am tempted to rewatch in French, just to get some practice in :-P
The Eternal Lost Lurker
> Wowo, I didn't realize Evangelion was older than FFVII! That really puts
> things into perspective ...
Evangelion: 1994-1995.
Final Fantasy VII: 1996-1997.
> And what exactly are you talking about, diagraph of the Tree of Life? Or
> have I not seen enough of Eva (first 8 eps so far) to know what you're
> talking about?
It's in the bleeding opening sequence of every episode, and also on the
floor and ceiling of Gendo's office. (Hint: it's a *diagraph*, not a literal
TREE...)
Cyde Weys
>
> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns977D90F3E4D8A2g...@216.196.97.136...
>> Wowo, I didn't realize Evangelion was older than FFVII! That really
>> puts things into perspective ...
>
> Evangelion: 1994-1995.
> Final Fantasy VII: 1996-1997.
>
>> And what exactly are you talking about, diagraph of the Tree of Life?
>> Or have I not seen enough of Eva (first 8 eps so far) to know what
>> you're talking about?
>
> It's in the bleeding opening sequence of every episode, and also on
> the floor and ceiling of Gendo's office. (Hint: it's a *diagraph*, not
> a literal TREE...)
I'm sorry, what definition of diagraph are you using anyway? Are we
talking about two glyphs in an alphabet that are strung together to make a
single sound? Are we talking about "A drawing instrument, combining a
protractor and scale."? I don't see what either of these has to do with a
Tree of Life.
And I haven't really noticed anything about Gendo's office, either. I'll
keep my eyes open.
Pete Granzeau
wrote:
>Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.
>I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched the first one
>today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please. I'm just not sure what the plot
>is.
Welcome to the rest of us. We're not sure, either. Maybe there isn't
one.
> The mecha in the show is very limited, and must remain attached to a
>tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power. What's the
>point? Various enemy "angels" or whatever just continue attacking the same
>city over and over, and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting them
>off? It doesn't make much sense. These "angels" must be mind-boggingly
>stupid. All they'd have to do is cut the tether (easily accomplished,
>apparently), go away for a bit, come back when the mecha is deactivated,
>and continue rampaging against the city. If they even CARE about the city,
>anyway. Why it matters so much to destroy that one city that they keep
>sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
I guess Angels are (1) very big, and (2) very stupid.
The EVAs are not even beta copies, they are pure alpha prototypes, it
appears, full of bugs.
Pete Granzeau
wrote:
>Sayeth The Eternal Lost Lurker:
I guarantee, after you watch everything (that has aired so far--I'l be
hornswoggled if I pay in the $hundreds to watch this stuff), you will
still be wondering what the heck it was all about, anyway?
But, come to think of it, in what way does this differ from any other
anime?
The Eternal Lost Lurker
> > It's in the bleeding opening sequence of every episode, and also on
> > the floor and ceiling of Gendo's office. (Hint: it's a *diagraph*, not
> > a literal TREE...)
>
> I'm sorry, what definition of diagraph are you using anyway?
One I made up because 'diagram' doesn't exactly fit the damn thing :P
(I'm BARELY awake today...)
Cyde Weys
> Pete Granzeau wrote on [Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:10:03 -0500]:
>> On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 10:46:30 -0600, Cyde Weys <cyde...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>I was just giving my first impressions after four shows. Some people
>>>value those, because once they've already seen the full thing those
>>>are lost to them forever.
>>
>> I guarantee, after you watch everything (that has aired so far--I'l
>> be hornswoggled if I pay in the $hundreds to watch this stuff), you
>> will still be wondering what the heck it was all about, anyway?
Ohhh yeah, that's right, this is airing on TV, right? I don't watch
anime on TV anymore. I pretty much exclusively download it or buy it.
I can't stand what American media corporations do to anime - throw in
extra commercial breaks, chop it to bits, censor it, etc.
> While I have probably spent a couple hundred on Eva DVDs, you can get
> the whole series for 50ish
>
> Or, $8 if you were really lucky
$8?! Crap. I got the Perfect Collection for $40 last summer from TRSI,
I believe. Incredible sale. I'm wondering where that EIGHT DOLLAR
figure is coming from!!!
>> But, come to think of it, in what way does this differ from any other
>> anime?
>
> You have some more anime to watch if you think they are all the same.
That's like asking in what way does any live-action TV show differ from
any other live-action TV show. It's a patently absurd question. Anime
is a description of how the show is made, not a genre. Anime runs the
gamut of genres from horror to scifi to fantasy to romance to porn.
Cyde Weys
>
> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns977D9529194512g...@216.196.97.136...
>> > It's in the bleeding opening sequence of every episode, and also on
>> > the floor and ceiling of Gendo's office. (Hint: it's a *diagraph*, not
>> > a literal TREE...)
>>
>> I'm sorry, what definition of diagraph are you using anyway?
>
> One I made up because 'diagram' doesn't exactly fit the damn thing :P
>
> (I'm BARELY awake today...)
Ohh okay, you were using diagraph as a portmanteau of diagram and graph.
Got it. I shall look out for that. I think a more descriptive (real) word
might be "figure". As in, "See Figure 4.2a".
Cyde Weys
I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot with a control
system so finicky it can literally only be controlled by a few people on
Earth, and what's worse, those people are exclusively teenagers.
Is there any reason you couldn't just put a normal control system in the
Eva, and then any trained pilot could run it?
Mo
1. 13-year olds are going through coming-of-age
2. The series is about MOTHERS.
3. you EVA n00b.
Abraham Evangelista
wrote:
>Sayeth Pete Granzeau:
>
>> On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 01:53:23 -0600, Cyde Weys <cyde...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis
>>>Evangelion. I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched
>>>the first one today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please. I'm just not
>>>sure what the plot is.
>>
>> Welcome to the rest of us. We're not sure, either. Maybe there isn't
>> one.
>>
>>> The mecha in the show is very limited, and must remain attached to a
>>>tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power.
>>>What's the point?
Well, even Gundam tackles this one occasionally. If you wanna power
something as big as a mecha, you need a lot of power. You've already
seen the problems with batteries and tethered power. If you wanna
move futher out, or have more autonomy with regards to your movement,
you need to make your power source both pwoerful and compat enough to
be self-contained.
Barring fantasy technology, that probably means nukes. Consider Japan
and Nukes. Then watch the Jet-Alone episode on disc 2. There's your
answer.
>>>Various enemy "angels" or whatever just continue
>>>attacking the same city over and over, and this same mecha on a tether
>>>continues fighting them off? It doesn't make much sense. These
>>>"angels" must be mind-boggingly stupid. All they'd have to do is cut
>>>the tether (easily accomplished, apparently), go away for a bit, come
>>>back when the mecha is deactivated, and continue rampaging against the
>>>city. If they even CARE about the city, anyway. Why it matters so
>>>much to destroy that one city that they keep sending angel after angel
>>>at it is beyond me.
>>
>> I guess Angels are (1) very big, and (2) very stupid.
>>
>> The EVAs are not even beta copies, they are pure alpha prototypes, it
>> appears, full of bugs.
>
>I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot with a control
>system so finicky it can literally only be controlled by a few people on
>Earth, and what's worse, those people are exclusively teenagers.
Plot Device. If for no other reason than plot, we need teenaged
protagonists to explain the rationality of the insanity to come.
Eva relies on it's protagonists being young enough to exhibit
confusion, but old enough to tangibly emotionally SUFFER.
Younger childern wouldn't work; they'd be too innocent to suffer at
the hands of thier actions, and too easily manipulated.
Adults wouldn't work either. If you're past the teenage years, any
quasi-professional military trained adult wouldn't have half the
doubts or regrets about thier actions. For the same reasons, AI
wouldn't work either. A character that can't feel, can't be
emotionally invested enough to be sucessful in Eva's plot.
>Is there any reason you couldn't just put a normal control system in the
>Eva, and then any trained pilot could run it?
If you're not past disc 1 and 2 yet, this is a pretty damn big
spoiler, so please don't read it if you're spoiler adverse.
<rot13> Gurl'er ovbybtvpny flfgrzf. Jung gurl qb qrcraqf ba jung
SRRYF evtug. Vs gur cvybg srryf jebat, vg jba'g jbex.</rot13> This
ties into issues of power/propulsion systems.
--
"ZAKKENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Abraham Evangelista
Fish Eye no Miko
> shut your trap before you dumb us all down.
> 1. 13-year olds are going through coming-of-age
The characters in Eva are 14.
n00b.
Catherine Johnson.
--
fenm at cox dot net
Right now you are reading my .sig quote.
Cyde Weys
> Cyde Weys wrote on [Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:36:07 -0600]:
>> $8?! Crap. I got the Perfect Collection for $40 last summer from
>> TRSI, I believe. Incredible sale. I'm wondering where that EIGHT
>> DOLLAR figure is coming from!!!
>
> Overstock had a misprice a few months ago, $8 for the platinum set.
> All orders except those using "Buy it now" as a payment option were
> cancelled. I happened to use "Buy it now"
What's "Buy it now"? Isn't Overstock an online store, not an auction
site? Wouldn't all of their orders be "Buy it now"?
And what's the diff between "Platinum" and "Perfect", anyway?
Abraham Evangelista
wrote:
>Sayeth Justin:
The "Perfect" collection was a full sized 7 disc release, with the old
transfer, none of the remastering, and none of the new animation.
The "Platinum" collection is a thinpacked release, compressed over 6
discs instead of 7 with no inserts, but containing both the original,
and the "Director's cut" version of the episodes 21-24, a newly
remixed 5.1 track in Japanese and English, and the remastered
animation.
Just to add to the confusion, there were "Platinum Collection"
editions of Eva release as single discs, which had all of the features
of the thinkpacked "Platinum" version, but spread out over 7 volumes
instead of 6.
Confused yet?
--
"ZAKKENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Abraham Evangelista
The Eternal Lost Lurker
"Mo" <morri...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141594943....@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> shut your trap before you dumb us all down.
Making you any dumber than you already are would take a miracle of God's own
hand.
Get off my Internet.
The Eternal Lost Lurker
> I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot
*snip*
You apparently failed to notice several things in the first two episodes,
like the fact that the Evangelions are *NOT ROBOTS*.
Cyde Weys
>
> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns977DA945E8AAA2g...@216.196.97.136...
>> I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot
>
> *snip*
>
> You apparently failed to notice several things in the first two episodes,
> like the fact that the Evangelions are *NOT ROBOTS*.
You know what I meant.
Mike Swaim
> And don't tell me it's coincidence that both Evangelion and FF7 use
> the *exact same diagraph* of the Tree of Life..
Maybe they're getting it from the same source.
--
Mike Swaim sw...@hal-pc.org at home | Quote: "Boingie"^4 Y,W & D
MD Anderson Dept. of Biostatistics & Applied Mathematics
mps...@mdanderson.org or msw...@odin.mdacc.tmc.edu at work
ICBM: 29.763N 95.363W|Disclaimer: Yeah, like I speak for MD Anderson.
Farix
> Sayeth The Eternal Lost Lurker:
>
>> "Cyde Weys" <cyde...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:Xns977DA945E8AAA2g...@216.196.97.136...
>>> I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot
>> *snip*
>>
>> You apparently failed to notice several things in the first two episodes,
>> like the fact that the Evangelions are *NOT ROBOTS*.
>
> You know what I meant.
Think of it along the lines of organ compatibility, especially since the
Evas are organic "creatures."
Farix
----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
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Mike Swaim
> The mecha in the show is very
> limited, and must remain attached to a tether or live off of only
> five minutes worth of battery power. What's the point?
They're still the only thing that can defeat the angels.
> Various
> enemy "angels" or whatever just continue attacking the same city over
> and over, and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting them
> off? It doesn't make much sense.
Maybe they're trying to get to something.
> These "angels" must be
> mind-boggingly stupid. All they'd have to do is cut the tether
> (easily accomplished, apparently), go away for a bit, come back when
> the mecha is deactivated, and continue rampaging against the city.
> If they even CARE about the city, anyway. Why it matters so much to
> destroy that one city that they keep sending angel after angel at it
> is beyond me.
I don't think that the angels communicate much with each other, or do
much recon. Unlike most giant robot shows, they're not really an
invading army. They're more a bunch of individuals after a similar goal.
Hiroyuki
> Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis
> Evangelion. I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched
> the first one today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please. I'm just not
> sure what the plot is. The mecha in the show is very limited,
I believe that in ep.1 Ritsuko refers to the Eva as a synthetic life form.
This is why they're such problematic things, e.g requiring a neural link up
to pilot them, and having to be kept on a short leash.
> Why it matters so much to destroy that one city that they keep
> sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
What makes you think they want to destroy the city? Maybe they're after
something else. They always attack NERV, that's for sure.
Ethan Hammond
news:440ADEEA...@obvioussgeinc.com...
> Ethan Hammond wrote:
>
>> Well I certainly never told you to watch it!
>
> He's wasting his time, TIME! *SHAKES FIST*
No no, wasting his time, WASTING IT! *SHAKES MASTER FIST*
You have much to learn young tiger lotus!
>> You sure should be watching Nuku Nuku though, WATCH IT! *SHAKES
>> DVD's*
>
> He may not be into android catgirls.
So we should just put him down now, or what?
--
All Purpose Culture Randomness
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/apcr/index.html
Ethan Hammond
news:440b86e9$0$2037$a726...@news.hal-pc.org...
> The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:
>
>> And don't tell me it's coincidence that both Evangelion and FF7 use
>> the *exact same diagraph* of the Tree of Life..
>
> Maybe they're getting it from the same source.
FF7 was somewhat inspired by Eva accoring to Squeenix!
Ethan Hammond
news:MNJOf.4278$p43.4262@fed1read05...
> Mo wrote:
>
>> shut your trap before you dumb us all down.
>> 1. 13-year olds are going through coming-of-age
>
> The characters in Eva are 14.
> n00b.
Not Misato, she is actually legal, LEGAL!
Gerardo Campos
You should look for a figure very similar to this one,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tree_of_life_bahir_hebrew.png
--
Saludos
Gerardo Campos
KSM-2501ZX
> Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.
> I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched the first one
> today (eps. 1-4). So no spoilers please.
>
>
to see everything that is on the screen when the subject is
an intelligent anime, exclamation.
"That was quick."
[Shiki --- "Battle Coliseum"]
"In persecutione extrema Stultae Ecclesiae Romanae sedebit Petrus
Romanus,
qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus. Quibus transactis, civitas
septicollis
diruetur, et judex tremendus judicabit populum suum. Amen."
[Saint Malachy]
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Pete Granzeau
<fis...@deadmoon.circus> wrote:
>Mo wrote:
>
>> shut your trap before you dumb us all down.
>> 1. 13-year olds are going through coming-of-age
>
>The characters in Eva are 14.
>n00b.
>
>Catherine Johnson.
One of the first rules of insulting people is that the people being
insulted understand the insult.
On the other hand, your insult wasn't directly directed at me, and
maybe "Mo" understands what you mean. I don't, however. I suppose
some combination of those characters means something--if it's actually
"boon" backward, I might figure it was a racial epithet ("boon" being
short for "baboon").
Fish Eye no Miko
> "Fish Eye no Miko" <fis...@deadmoon.circus> wrote:
>> Mo wrote:
>>
>>> shut your trap before you dumb us all down.
>>> 1. 13-year olds are going through coming-of-age
>>
>> The characters in Eva are 14.
>> n00b.
>
> One of the first rules of insulting people is that the people being
> insulted understand the insult.
> On the other hand, your insult wasn't directly directed at me,
> and maybe "Mo" understands what you mean.
I would so, s/he does, since s/he used the term in his/her post, spelled
exactly the same way I did. In fact, I used the term against him/her for
*precisely* that reason.
Ya know, I know it's a free internet, and anyone can reply to any post; but
if you're gonna do that, at least read enough of the thread to know what's
going on first.
Catherine Johnson.
--
fenm at cox dot net
"At least some oboe player got a paycheck out of all this horse hockey..."
-Mike Nelson, _Mystery Science Theater 3000_.
The Eternal Lost Lurker
"Justin" <nos...@insightbb.com> wrote in message
news:slrne0p48v...@debian.dns2go.com...
> Pete Granzeau wrote on [Mon, 06 Mar 2006 14:37:35 -0500]:
> > On the other hand, your insult wasn't directly directed at me, and
> > maybe "Mo" understands what you mean. I don't, however. I suppose
> > some combination of those characters means something--if it's actually
> > "boon" backward, I might figure it was a racial epithet ("boon" being
> > short for "baboon").
>
Psst, he was being sarcastic.
afedakendragon
The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:
> > Okay, so I'm finally getting around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.
> > I've owned all the DVDs for awhile now and I just watched the first one
> > tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power. What's
> the
> same
> > city over and over, and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting
> them
> > stupid. All they'd have to do is cut the tether (easily accomplished,
> > apparently), go away for a bit, come back when the mecha is deactivated,
> > and continue rampaging against the city. If they even CARE about the
> city,
> > sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
>
> plot of a show you've only watched four episodes of?
>
> Maybe if you, y'know, WATCH SOME MORE OF THE SHOW, it'll start to make
> sense?
>
> How many 26-episode series have you been able to completely figure out from
> only four episodes, hmm? Hmm? Hmm? HMM?
Well it worked for Negima.
And the h-game conversions.
Not a bad technique for most of the harem shows too.
But probably not a great idea for EVA. :-)
>
> And Evangelion is NOT your typical mecha show in any case...it's very far
> from it, in fact...
afedakendragon
Pete Granzeau wrote:
> On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 10:46:30 -0600, Cyde Weys <cyde...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Sayeth The Eternal Lost Lurker:
> >
> >>
> >value those, because once they've already seen the full thing those are
> >lost to them forever.
>
> I guarantee, after you watch everything (that has aired so far--I'l be
> hornswoggled if I pay in the $hundreds to watch this stuff), you will
> still be wondering what the heck it was all about, anyway?
>
> But, come to think of it, in what way does this differ from any other
> anime?
In most anime, this is a result of poor writing. In Eva's case, it's
intentional. :-)
>
> >> Maybe if you, y'know, WATCH SOME MORE OF THE SHOW, it'll start to make
> >> sense?
> >
> >Ohh, I definitely am planning on watching more of the show ... going to
> >watch more right now, matter-of-fact.
> >
> >> How many 26-episode series have you been able to completely figure out
> >> from only four episodes, hmm? Hmm? Hmm? HMM?
> >>
Phillip Thorne
awesome power of The Outer Limi... err, Evangelion... and wondered the
eternal and standard questions:
>I'm just not sure what the plot is.
>The mecha in the show is very limited, and must remain attached to a
>tether or live off of only five minutes worth of battery power.
>What's the point?
Maybe the builders of the so-called mecha aren't very good at it, and
this is a stopgap measure? ("No photon torpedoes? Let me guess --
Tuesday.") Maybe they underestimated their enemies? Maybe the
defenders are as dangerous as the enemies, and must be kept on a
literal short leash?
>Various enemy "angels" or whatever just continue attacking the same
>city over and over,
Is it the city they're targeting, or something in the city?
>and this same mecha on a tether continues fighting them
>off? It doesn't make much sense.
It doesn't make sense *yet*.
>These "angels" must be mind-boggingly stupid.
Or alien. Or they have some reason of their own for attacking in this
manner.
>[...] Why it matters so much to destroy that one city that
>they keep sending angel after angel at it is beyond me.
^^^^
You're assuming there, Cyde. Note the complete absence of "cackling
villains behind the machine beast" scenes (per "TranZor Z," "Voltron,"
etc.) -- the motivations of the Angels are being kept deliberately
opaque. Is there, in fact, any single agency sending them? And note
the one-sided nature of explanations regarding them. Is Gendo telling
Shinji an accurate story? Does he even know it? Does he have reason
to obfuscate, mislead, and spin?
When you see something in fiction that makes no immediate sense, or no
sense given standard 20cen assumptions about
physics/computers/warfare/etc., there are two ways to react:
1. That's stupid! The writers are stupid! I'm leaving!
2. Maybe this is actually a clue ("foreshadowing") and there will be
an explanation somewhat later. I'll wait and see.
"Things that make no sense with 20cen assumptions" are very common in
SF -- if none of the technology/customs/etc. were different, it
wouldn't *be* SF [1], and half the fun is figuring out the world
created by the author.
Reaction #1 is usually safe in an episodic show (e.g. "Star Trek") in
which there is no "later" -- and when there is, the plot developments
are one-way, with no foreshadowing.
Reaction #2 should be the default with self-contained anime series
(the 13- and 26-ep kind), which *do* have narrative arcs that contain
hints, foreshadowing, and revelations. It's *possible* that
everything is due to poor scripting, but you should wait for
overwhelming evidence of incompetence.
I'm not sure, but "Evangelion" (1995) might be the *first* anime to
use some of these narrative techniques. If not the first, it
certainly spawned a large number of imitators -- characters, visual
style, story, obscure naming conventions, mystical allusions, etc.
And given the scattershot way in which the average non-Japanese anime
fan encounters series (out of order, and overlooking the production
dates) it's not impossible to get precedence confused.
[1] The key difference between SF and fantasy, IMHO, is the function
of the technologies/aliens/etc. introduced. Are they merely props and
funny costumes that could be swapped out for another set, or do they
induce specific changes in human nature and understanding? By this
definition, "Star Wars" is fantasy, because there would be zero
changes to the plot if it were recast in pseudo-Europe.
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| org underbase ta thorne www.underbase.org It's the boundary |
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\------------------------------------------------------- get you ----------/
Ethan Hammond
> Sayeth Ethan Hammond:
>
>> Well I certainly never told you to watch it!
>> DVD's*
>
> reveals it's about some sort of catgirl. Errr .. that's exactly the type
> of anime I thought I didn't like. Also, there's multiple series? An OAV
> and a newer extended OAV or something? Which should I watch? Errghh.
The first OVA series, WATCH IT!
Pete Granzeau
>You're an idiot.
No, I'm just older than your grandparents. And I have documented
proof that my mental age is greater than 3, or at least, has been, at
some point in my over-long life.
Chris Kern
posted the following:
>I still don't understand the logic of making a giant robot with a control
>system so finicky it can literally only be controlled by a few people on
>Earth, and what's worse, those people are exclusively teenagers.
Who says that they "made" the Evas? And who says it's their choice
that the teenagers can pilot it?
-Chris
arnold kim
> Sayeth Justin:
>
>> Pete Granzeau wrote on [Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:10:03 -0500]:
>>> On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 10:46:30 -0600, Cyde Weys <cyde...@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>I was just giving my first impressions after four shows. Some people
>>>>value those, because once they've already seen the full thing those
>>>>are lost to them forever.
>>>
>>> I guarantee, after you watch everything (that has aired so far--I'l
>>> be hornswoggled if I pay in the $hundreds to watch this stuff), you
>>> will still be wondering what the heck it was all about, anyway?
>
> anime on TV anymore. I pretty much exclusively download it or buy it.
> I can't stand what American media corporations do to anime - throw in
> extra commercial breaks, chop it to bits, censor it, etc.
Actually, it's uncensored (as far as I could recall) and the only commercial
breaks are the ones that were there originally. The only difference is the
fact that it's dubbed.
Arnold Kim
Mo
The Eternal Lost Lurker wrote:
wow, you've all gone way too far. I'm gone for a day doing term
papers, and here you are ranting about baboons.
btw, would the people trying to convert others to see Cat Girl Nuku
Nuku stop already! This IS an EVA post, don't ruin it.
And yes, I apologize, they are 14 years old.
And all you EVA nublets, watch the series, THEN talk.
-Morris
Mo
!!!SPOLIERS!!!
1. They only work because of motherly aspects.
2. Chirs, right on.
Ethan Hammond
news:1141846677.0...@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
>
> wow, you've all gone way too far. I'm gone for a day doing term
> papers, and here you are ranting about baboons.
> btw, would the people trying to convert others to see Cat Girl Nuku
> Nuku stop already! This IS an EVA post, don't ruin it.
> And yes, I apologize, they are 14 years old.
> And all you EVA nublets, watch the series, THEN talk.
No, I won't!