Evangelion #17-20
Elizabeth HL Horn
that the American fan and the Japanese fan are actually at the same
point in a series; so it will be with Eva until this Wednesday. I've
gotten the chance, then, to see episodes #18 and #19, which have
caused such an uproar and anti-Gainax sentiment among fans in Japan.
They are certainly correct that they are bloody--on a gargantuan
scale--think of the "Metamorphosis" scene in AKIRA, but with blood
instead of those nice pastel-colored fluids Tetsuo exuded--but again,
I think they are missing the point. You will see that, despite the
initial fears of the audience, the outcome of the ultra-violence is
not lasting upon the bodies of the characters, but once again recurves
into the tormented psyche of Shinji. Any notion that he had come to
terms with his "job" or his father get put aside; most horrible is
that he, for a moment, begins to enjoy slashing the enemy to shards;
he turns into a killer. Therefore it shouldn't be surprising that he
thinks seriously about killing Gendou twice in these four episodes.
It can only be presumed, of course, that Gendou is not putting Shinji,
and everyone else, through this for chuckles and grins: the "future of
the human race" (by now, we're beginning to see why both of those
terms have to be put in quotes) has been entrusted to him. Gendou
never flinches from it; not even when he's showered in blood. It looks
more and more than, unlike series such as "Star Trek," where the
future is a recognizable place, Eva is taking what Vinge would
describe as the "singularity" route--a future where technology will
push humanity over an event horizon where it is no longer recognizable
as such, the future of Clarke's CHILDHOOD'S END or Bear's BLOOD MUSIC.
The increasingly disturbing consequences of relying on the Eva units,
a technology that NERV at best only partially understands, seem
like intimations of an ending now only six episodes away.
Oh, and #20 also has Eva's first sex scene. No, they're still
"children"--get your mind out of the gutter--it's with Misato and
Ryouji. Sort of an affirmation that, somehow, this was never intended
as a children's show, as some of the Japanese fans seem to rather
inexplicably believe.
--Carl "Of our elaborate plans, the end" Horn
"We can't just stop. We're not rocks--progress, migration, motion
is...modernity. It's *animate*, it's what living things do...We
desire. Even if all we desire is stillness, it's still desire *for.*
Even if we go faster than we should. We can't *wait.* And wait for
what? God...? He isn't coming back."
--Prior Walter, in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America"
Harrison33
I really should find this show, it looks like it dodged the 'bullet' Nadia
took, of getting wrapped up in its own self importance, and thus turning
into self parody.
Why did the Japanese fans think Eva was a kids show? Maybe because that's
what has been on mostly, these last few years. Tekkaman Blade was the last
good, serious Hard SF action-adventure TV series, and that was back in
1992.......
Just my thoughts, use them only for JUSTICE!
Steve H.
Yamato guru
Christof Weber
>
>Oh, and #20 also has Eva's first sex scene. No, they're still
>"children"--get your mind out of the gutter--it's with Misato and
>Ryouji. Sort of an affirmation that, somehow, this was never intended
>as a children's show, as some of the Japanese fans seem to rather
>inexplicably believe.
>
>--Carl "Of our elaborate plans, the end" Horn
>
Watching closely, it is rather clear from the beginning of the first
episode that EVA would never be (and never was intended to be) a
happy-go-lucky-adventure-is-fun show like "Nadia" was. The characters are
not at all like it (anyone in EVA that is not at least slightly
schizophrenic or has some paranoia/dark past ?), the setting is pretty
dark (the "Second Impact" almost destroyed humanity, and now the angels
are coming, and it seems to be all mankinds fault), and the future looks
even worse (Ikari Gendou said the EVAs are mainly there to buy mankind
some time, they cannot defeat the angels with them. Only the human
complement project can save humanity, but it is uncertain if the outcome
of this experiment can still be called "mankind"...)
All in all, IMHO, this is definitely a hard-SF show (easily comparable
with some of Greg Bears stuff (Eon, Forge of God) ), and anyone who sees
this as a childrens' show better have a long second look...
--
sayonara,
Christof Weber
"Anime...? Give me MOOOOOOOORE !"
E-Mail : u7x...@sunmail.lrz-muenchen.de
Mayeen Alam
natch... agree... what else?
>Why did the Japanese fans think Eva was a kids show? Maybe because that's
>what has been on mostly, these last few years. Tekkaman Blade was the last
>good, serious Hard SF action-adventure TV series, and that was back in
>1992.......
Perhaps everyone regard it more as a "kids show" (in quotes
because none of the people who complained about the violence really said
they thought it was a kids show) because of the humorous turn it took
with the introduction of Asuka Langley.
I'd say that they probably didn't take it as kids show, but
thought that it would be more light-hearted and less bloody than what it
turned into (haven't seen the episode in question, so can't really say
*how* bloody it became).
With Asuka, the show actually became very funny and silly at
times. I'd say Evangelion suffers from the Nadia syndrome in that it
becomes extremely silly for a short period before becoming deadly serious
(and thereby throwing a psychic curveball that has the fans staring at
the TV open mouthed, grunting confusion like idiots).
That's not to say I don't like it... ^_^;
>Just my thoughts, use them only for JUSTICE!
>
>Steve H.
>Yamato guru
-M.
(guru, period.;)
Kentaro ONIZUKA
>Why did the Japanese fans think Eva was a kids show?
Because it is on air in the evening when most Japanese children have a
meal watching TV, and when most adults are still working or in the
jampacked train.
Most of those who protest against the atrocities in Eva says "It
should be a midnight or latenight show."
Kentaro ONIZUKA
Lanzer
>Sometimes, the arrival of a new month's worth of episodes at JBC means
>that the American fan and the Japanese fan are actually at the same
>point in a series; so it will be with Eva until this Wednesday.
But already I'm wondering what important hints episode 21
reveals two days ago. ^_^;;; Sometimes, I wonder if it'll be better
to force myself to watch one episode at a time. ^^;
Episode 17 was pretty slow, personally I enjoy a focus on
one character rather than all of them... But then again when was the
last time we see Shinji in the train?
For those who read the script or know what's happening,
isn't the dummy plug from Rei's mind? If so, might Eva's action
mirror Rei by any magnitude? Just a thought. Personally I enjoy
the episode, I like the way it makes me crinch and tensely wait for
the outcome. The only brutal shot that I saw was the shot on the
head, but otherwise I remember seeing more blood in episode 16 than
this. I consider that angel as much a living being as Eva unit 3.
Lastly, the brutality only reflect Eva01's nature. I've seen similar
scenes in episode 2 already.
>I've
>gotten the chance, then, to see episodes #18 and #19, which have
>caused such an uproar and anti-Gainax sentiment among fans in Japan.
Still wondering how many of us dislike the episode. Those
of us who don't treat Eva as the everyday giant robot show should be
able to take this type of voilence rather easily.
>I think they are missing the point. You will see that, despite the
>initial fears of the audience, the outcome of the ultra-violence is
>not lasting upon the bodies of the characters, but once again recurves
>into the tormented psyche of Shinji.
Agreed, though as seen in episode 20, the brutal nature seems
to reside within Eva but rather than Shinji.
>The increasingly disturbing consequences of relying on the Eva units,
>a technology that NERV at best only partially understands, seem
>like intimations of an ending now only six episodes away.
I think that, though the Eva units might seem potentially
dangerous, End #20 also shows that Eva unit 1 is "gentle" in its
thinking. (don't want to give too much spoiler here) I found it
strange that although Gendou knows so little about the angels and
their core, the Eva units can still be produced to start with.
>Oh, and #20 also has Eva's first sex scene. No, they're still
>"children"--get your mind out of the gutter--it's with Misato and
>Ryouji. Sort of an affirmation that, somehow, this was never intended
>as a children's show, as some of the Japanese fans seem to rather
>inexplicably believe.
#20 has also got the first nude scene too, though knowing how
serious the show is, I can only think of why Eva01 is doing all this.
As for the "children's show" remark, when I saw Eva on the
magazine for the first time, I saw it as the average giant robot
with kits, which equals to a kids show. I was very wrong. ^_^;;
There are big robots, there are kids, but there are ALOT more.
--
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(^_^)Derek Liu, or Lanzer, at lan...@mindlink.net. Vancouver, Canada! (-_^)
(v_v)Full time student, part time street fighter, author of SFLIU too.(^.^)
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