More than meets the eye is the first thing that pops to mind if someone mentions aliens referred as Angels and the human piloted machines known as Evangelion that fight them. There is a lot of good and a lot of not so good things to say about this series and some of it does come down to perspective and how you think about the scenario, but there are some points of interest that everyone should take into account.
The very first episode gives perhaps the worst impression on what the actual objective of the series is.
An outside force is threading earth and everything living and
...
only a selected few are able to stand up against them is the basic premise that you will get from the series and yes it does seems like a narrow setting and to a certain degree it is. However this battling against the unknown and figuring out where the Angels are coming from and why are they attacking earth is not where the series focuses on, which for a mecha anime for the time is pretty rare.
You need to step down a level and take a better look at the pilots. Our main protagonist Shiniji Ikari, who is 14 years old and due to his fathers order who is in charge of the Evangelion project selects him as the "Third Child" to pilot the EVA as they refer to the robots. Shiniji is not fond of his father when he abandoned him as a younger child and even hates him for doing so as anyone would. Shiniji grows to be afraid of being loved because of the fear of being left alone like his father did and has a difficult time socializing. This lack of trust in others leads to a lack of confidence and self doubt in questioning his purpose in life and whether his only redeeming factor is piloting the EVA and after that will he become useless.
Asuka Langsley Soryu is the "Second Child" of five appearing in the show as they call the children who are chosen as the pilots for the EVA's. Asuka has a very unfortunate past where her mother has a mental illness and suffering in such a way that she thinks a doll is her daughter as her real child looks behind the glass and looks at her. Despite the fact that her mother ignores Asuka she comes to see her mother, but one day she finds her mother hanged from the ceiling. Asuka had to live without her mother's affection and be replaced by a lifeless doll, she didn't have a father and she had no one that paid any attention to her so she ended up being lonely and unloved. she hid her feelings and turned her loneliness into arrogance and fake confidence and aimed to be the center of attention she never had.
The last Child in the main cast and also the first one to be chosen Rei Ayanami comes across as a shell of a human who seems to only reply when necessary and not be concerned about herself even in the most dangerous situations. Her face, her appearance and expressions are as pale as snow. It almost feels like she has given up on life and only lives for the orders she receives and if she ends up dying she is fine with it. Her identity is almost as if she didn't have one, eventually it comes clearer as to why she is the way she is, but she starts to question her own existence as a result.
Characters aside, while they are a big focus in the series there are more elements than that, and these elements make the show feel less polished. The plot itself does leave questions unanswered and questions that only lead to more questions, for that in the respective of story telling leaves a bit of a unhappy feeling, but it does remain interesting and rarely makes you think that a scene was unnecessary. Symbolism occurs in the show quite often and it leaves the viewer to decide what to make of it, and since there may not be a real answer to them it makes the story more difficult to follow.
As for the animation style and sound department it is nothing out of the unusual, they serve their purpose for dramatic effects and makes the scenes have a better flow. Quality of the animation varies from time to time, but the battle scenes usually are good looking. Not mind blowing, but you could certainly do a lot worse. As for the opening and ending songs I think they fit, and especially the opening is memorable.
The series has its obvious short comings, however that doesn't mean that those faults make the things that this series does fantastically faulty as well. The action is a good way to make you feel that the danger is real, but what is fighting against the danger are children who can at any moment die. The characters are made extremely well and as you watch and see the development in their life and even mental state. It gives very frightening food for thought as to if it's right to make the children go through such a thing and this becomes the strongest element in the show.
Jun 21, 2015
Shinseiki Evangelion
(Anime)
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More than meets the eye is the first thing that pops to mind if someone mentions aliens referred as Angels and the human piloted machines known as Evangelion that fight them. There is a lot of good and a lot of not so good things to say about this series and some of it does come down to perspective and how you think about the scenario, but there are some points of interest that everyone should take into account.
The very first episode gives perhaps the worst impression on what the actual objective of the series is. An outside force is threading earth and everything living and ... |
