Apox wrote:I truly believe anno is at his worst when there is no one to reign him in and keep him in check. If this was the case I doubt that the gap between the rebuilds would be so large or the narrative so disjointed.
Most artistic types are at their worst when there is no (legitimate) pressure. They work on their own schedules, and if it takes them 7 years to write a script, so be it, they want it the way they want it. This is clearly shown with rebuild, as from the original rough idea, many changes and delays have been made, dragging out a three year, four film engagement to what is pushing a decade of work, and will most likely be at least 12 years in before the final film is released. Basically, they need a kick in the ass from the business types that want things to roll along, like how the trilogies for
Back to the Future and
The Matrix were done in five years each. Yes, animation takes time, but if they can put out animes weekly (like Gundam has been doing forever), or if they had a solid script (as SEELE-01 mentioned) then we wouldn't be waiting on the edge of our seats (or sanity) for the end of this tetralogy.
pwhodges wrote:Nearly everything you said is a criticism of Rebuild when viewed as a version of NGE. Is it the people for whom NGE resonated the strongest who are least able to judge the films separately from it, I wonder?
The reason some of us can't separate the two is that they have been spearheaded by the same man. It is only natural to compare the
original work of Anno to the
new work of Anno. If a different person was behind the rebuilds, they would not be compared as heavily to the original work. The same way the prequels for Star Wars are heavily scrutinized because George Lucas did them, while the sequel trilogy is faring far better because a new director is taking a shot at the space opera. If Anno turned over control of the series, the reaction could be fairly good. Also, we seem to forget about the manga on this forum, that was a wonderful take on the series done by Sadamoto, if they made an anime based on that take (or even movies) I think it would be a bit better than the rebuilds.
I agree with everything Guy Nacks said. NTE is a pale imitation of NGE, and any continuation or reboot, or whatever the rebuilds are, are always going to be judged against the original work they are based on. Look at Terminator, the originals are fantastic, and then after T2 it just goes downhill. While the rebuilds are good entertainment, they are somewhat disjointed, and they may as well be labeled "NGE Zero" Evangelions without the angst, introspection, and character building. While the rebuilds are "
good" they lack all the intricacies of the series, those intricacies which make NGE a "
great" anime.