How did Evangelion impact the anime industry?

[GAP]

I just rewatched Evangelion today but one thing bothers me, how did a show that lasted for 26 episodes impact the anime industry? I know the industry was at its lowest point in the mid 90s yet this series that appeared almost out of nowhere completely changed how anime anf manga in general was designed. It just amazes me how the anime seemed to inspire future writers just as Ideon did with Anno. How exactly did Evangelion change anime forever?

[The Eva Monkey]

By being totally awesome?

I think one of the most important things to note is that anime in Japan is in fact for kids and adult otaku. However Evangelion is one of the rare few that managed to cause a buzz and or sensation amongst the typical television viewer that didn't take anime seriously. It's the classic example of the suited salarymen sitting in a bar, taking long drags on cigarettes whist waxing philosophic about the characters of Evangelion.

Not only that, but it persists to this day, 15 years later. To quote/paraphrase Wildarmheero, "You go to Japan, and Evangelion is FUCKING EVERYWHERE!".

And then of course, there is the fact that numerous shows have since emulated, referenced, and parodied Evangelion.

Evangelion has also influenced the way in which anime is merchandised.

[SAWgunner]

I've noticed that many anime I've seen that were made after Eva have explored similar themes. Sinister, labyrinthine conspiracies directed by cabals of old guys seem to be very popular; even Strike Witches has one! These secret plots are revealed in small chunks concurrent with the progression of the story. I would write more but I have work early tomorrow.

[InstrumentalityOne]

1)Lure in kids and mecha manchildren with mechas and good female character design.
2)Deconstruct everything
3)Troll everyone

INSTA-FAME

[AuraTwilight]

"Only 26 episodes"? This is the typical number of episodes for an anime; after the first 26, a franchise has to buy another 26. Many don't bother because they're complete enough.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Neon Genesis Evnagelion was popular because it took various aesthetics from other anime shows that were also popular, and mixed it all into one. In fact, Evangelion was called "The Remix Anime" by lot of otaku in Japan for this very reason. And to whether or not all of the aesthetics were pre-planned or not is a different conversation all together, but it part of what fueled the impact NGE had on the anime industry back in the 90's.

Ironically enough after people responded to well to the anime show with mixed pre-existing aesthetics, other studios came out with their shows parodying or out-right "plagiarizing" NGE. I just don't know a whole lot more than that since I haven't seen these other shows yet. (Or most other animes, for that matter.)

[jojojoker]

I guess you're comparing this to relentlessly long series like Naruto and Bleach. Well, Evangelion was just something so unexpected back then. You started off with something typical - Mechas trying to save the world. However, as people watched on there was more to the series than the viewers would've originally have thought. Exploring universal ideas of psychology, I guess the series allowed the audience to connect to an extent and was one of the few animes back then to make them think beyond just the mecha plot. Eva was a phenomenon which explored areas many previous series never touched on. Its textual integrity allows it to still be a classic today - a series which a new generation can see as something deeper and more emotionally true than something like Naruto. Not to mention there was a little bit of everything for different viewers e.g. sci-fi, romance(kinda), mecha, humour etc. It was a series that could connect and engage not only just one demographic. When you have something like that, like Eva, during a time of many run of the mill animes of course it would stand out and remain one of the most influential series in history. There are just so many things I just can't describe in this little post about Eva and I believe everything I've just said is a severe understatement to its true greatness. This is compared to series which do not know when to end and are just popular for being popular after running for 5+years.

[Xard]

Quite simply: Neon Genesis Evangelion created the modern anime industry.


So yeah, next time you're cursing all the Lucky Stars and K-ON's of the world and wondering where all Legends of Galactic Heroes went you know what work to look at.

[Allemann]

Quite simply: Neon Genesis Evangelion created the modern anime industry.


So yeah, next time you're cursing all the Lucky Stars and K-ON's of the world and wondering where all Legends of Galactic Heroes went you know what work to look at.

Then we can blame Anno for destroying the Japanese animation industry.

[Xard]

Then we can blame Anno for destroying the Japanese animation industry.

Exactly!

In all honesty I'd rank the late-90s early 00s "Reneissance" as the true golden age of anime but in larger scale eva's influence was hardly what Anno & co intended it to be...

[Merridian]

Anno's sense of cinematic formalism also turned out to be ridiculously pervasive, and it is at its most apparent in the latter half of NGE and in particular EoE. The method in which the series was presented (shot, edited, etc) has shown up again in a many, many works in the past fifteen years, and has had a substantial impact on quite a few recognized anime directors. It'd be pretty easy to say that the prevailing 'method' to presentation has been the "Anno Method" in this sense, though there has been so much material spat out in the last 10 years that it's hard to give any concrete statement on 'prevailing trends'. But techniques that can be traced back to him and to NGE in particular are practically everywhere, showing up in shit as wide-ranging as rom-com ecchi shows to grimdark loldeep shows to mindless super robot fun.

you might find this thread a little useful, but there's a decent amount of text and repetition there. You might be better off just using google and looking for articles on the subject online.

[TheLobe]

how as in, how did it manage to change it, or in what way did it change it

[soul.assassin]

Many things, on several levels.

1. Storytelling and characterization
2. The use of deeper themes and subject matters, especially psychology and philosophy
3. The animation industry
4. Merchandising
5. Audience appeal
6. Character and production design

So yeah, next time you're cursing all the Lucky Stars and K-ON's of the world and wondering where all Legends of Galactic Heroes went you know what work to look at.

Cardcaptor Sakura.

[Born of Lilith]

One thing that I think might've contributed to its enormous success and influence is the way it turns matters of philosophy and psychology that do not on their own have mass appeal into a mesmerizing emotional experience. I think it produced a challenge for anime creators to produce something that impacts the head and the heart equally. I'm not particularly savvy on the history of anime, but I'd imagine that it challenged producers of innocuous feel-good anime to infuse their work with a meaning beyond the face value and producers of "deep" anime to make something that could bring a powerful emotional experience to a casual viewer and a genre savvy one alike.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Neon Genesis Evnagelion was popular because it took various aesthetics from other anime shows that were also popular, and mixed it all into one.

Like I've said, it's the Citizen Kane of anime. The ultimate synthesis and innovation of all that came before.

[Nightweaver20xx]

Because it took two things that the Japanese love so much: giant mecha and cute girls, and combined them with pseudo-Freudian psychobabble in a way that validated it and so we, the audience, could feel justified and even dignified by watching it, and even pretend that we knew what the hell we were talking about when we were discussing it.

/brutalhonesty

[Assasinate]

well for me evangelion is different compare to its rivals
"gundams, SRW vers. ETC"