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This is almost random, but I probably wouldn't had ever made this connection had I not watched the first Rebuild movie and listened to music from Metal Gear Solid in the same week. I'm gonna talk about one scene at the end of episode 24 of Neon Genesis Evangelion and the last scene in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.


The Evangelion Scenario

To briefly summarize the scenes I'm gonna talk about, in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji Ikari, a character who is infamous for being a spineless wimp, is in a position to protect the world from destruction by killing a person he had become close with. He had no choice in the matter, but this character's life was in Shinji's hands and it was up to him to finish this character off. The scene in question was stalled for quite some time, clocking at around a minute and a half. Evangelion is infamous for its non-existent budget, so still shots were frequently used to conserve what little they had, and this scene was one of the worst offenders. It was a minute and a half of a still scene with Shinji at the position of killing this character, while an orchestraic piece was playing in the background. Needless to say, it was awkward and probably annoyed the living crap out of many people. For me though, the first time I watched it I was confused. The second time, I laughed hard. The third time, I think I finally understood that scene, but I don't think I got it completely.


The Metal Gear Solid Scenario

Moving onto Metal Gear Solid 3, there is a similar scene at the end of the game, where after the final boss fight, you, as Naked Snake, are in a position in finishing off the final boss of the game. However, it's presented in a way where Naked Snake was close to this character, and the player had become invested in this character as well. The situation was this: the final boss was on the ground, and you, as Naked Snake, pointed a gun down towards that character. Previously, you were allowed to jump, dodge, roll, and move all you like, but here, the only thing your character could do was stand over the final boss, and the only thing you could control, as the player, was the gun's trigger.

At the time, I waited. I waited for something to happen. I waited for something to change. I thought it was still in cinematic mode. I seriously thought that either something would come to save the day, or somehow Naked Snake would pull the trigger by himself. But no, nothing happened. I put down my controller, and for 15 minutes I waited for something to happen.

But nothing happened.

When I finally pulled the trigger, I was surprised at, how after spending the whole game running and shooting, that one bullet was so heavy. I've always been used to games handing me simple choices, or making the difficult choices for me. I've always been used to characters going through drama while I sat back as the spectator. If I ever killed anyone in a game, it always felt like a "well, that's how the game works" sort of thing. That time, however, it didn't actually hit me, but it challenged my expectations. I've always had a choice in choosing to pull the trigger in games, running away, or choosing not to play. But that was the final scene, and all I had to do was pull the trigger on the controller like I always done. Yet...It took me 15 minutes.


Analyzing the Two Unlikely Scenarios as One

Comparing the two, I wonder what would had happened if someone watched me playing that day. Would I had looked like an indecisive coward like Shinji? Would they just tell me to pull the trigger and get it over with? Would they tell me it was just a game and not to over think it? I placed myself as Naked Snake that day, and now I'm placing myself as Shinji Ikari on that moment. They're completely different people with completely different missions, but the actions are the same. I've always sympathized with Shinji and never really faulted him for anything that went wrong, but now I'm even more convinced. It's not so easy to walk a mile in another person's shoes, especially when they hold responsibilities that far outweigh any of ours.

Well, to get to the point of this all, it's obvious that games are capable of being great things, but also, anime is capable of that too. They accomplish different things in different ways, but looking back at this aged and infamous anime, I can't believe I still found something in myself from that. My point is, I'm not an expert on game nor am I an expert on anime, but I can see that gaming is a medium that is still growing and experimenting with ways they can challenge players as gamers and as people, all the while still producing titles for entertainment. In the same way, anime, as a niche culture in the west and an equally evolving medium, it should also have the potential to go beyond entertainment and fun, force the limits of the medium, and still manage to have fun titles on the side. The possibility is there, but I can only wonder how it can be pulled off. I guess money, time, and creative freedom are the main things, so all we can do is try to support the industry so it'll keep growing and producing new things I guess.


Afterthoughts

Thinking about both of them now, even if Evangelion's scene wasn't intentional, I want to believe that they knew what they were doing at Studio Gainax. There had to have been another scene where they could had stalled to save money. If some studios know how to spend their budget wisely, I want to believe that at the time, Gainax knew how to conserve their budget wisely. I don't know if there's any real connection here, but as of July 5th, 2013, I think I found a new respect for both Evangelion and Metal Gear Solid.




tl;dr - I just compared Neon Genesis Evangelion and the last scene in Metal Gear Solid 3. I just compared Shinji Ikari and Naked Snake. Yeah.