(Thematically) Similar to Eva
Moderator: Board Staff
- Tumbling Down
- Ireul
- Age: 28
- Posts: 656
- Joined: Jun 16, 2014
- Gender: Male
(Thematically) Similar to Eva
Can you guys think of any works of fiction that handle depression as well as or in a similar way to Eva?
True Detective.
the prophecy is true
Statistical fact: Cops will never pull over a man with a huge bong in his car. Why? They fear this man. They know he sees further than they and he will bind them with ancient logics. —Marty Mikalski
Statistical fact: Cops will never pull over a man with a huge bong in his car. Why? They fear this man. They know he sees further than they and he will bind them with ancient logics. —Marty Mikalski
- StarShaper7
- Arael
- Posts: 860
- Joined: Mar 28, 2014
- EvangelionGodMode
- Sachiel
- Age: 28
- Posts: 234
- Joined: Apr 25, 2014
- Location: WhataintnocountryIeverheardof
- Gender: Male
- Tumbling Down
- Ireul
- Age: 28
- Posts: 656
- Joined: Jun 16, 2014
- Gender: Male
I wasn't sure if I wanted to mention this in the OP, but here it is now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45a1NTArG-g
Bojack Horseman becomes Eva-esque towards the end. I honestly don't know if that's going to carry on into the next season. I mean, it'll definitely be a very different show, but I don't know if I'll still get Eva vibes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45a1NTArG-g
Bojack Horseman becomes Eva-esque towards the end. I honestly don't know if that's going to carry on into the next season. I mean, it'll definitely be a very different show, but I don't know if I'll still get Eva vibes.
- Tumbling Down
- Ireul
- Age: 28
- Posts: 656
- Joined: Jun 16, 2014
- Gender: Male
I can't think of a work of fiction that is quite like Eva in its treatment of depression. But here's a couple works that come to mind as at least being in a similar ballpark.
Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I know the title and premise of this show sound silly, but it is actually quite good at character drama once the show finds its voice -- which I would say is somewhere around Lie to Me, episode seven of season two.
Over the course of season six, Buffy struggles with and overcomes a debilitating depression. If you identified with that shot in End of Evangelion during the attack on Nerv where Shinji is sitting limply on the floor and Misato is pulling on his arm to try to get him to stand up, that is basically what Buffy goes through in Season Six. It's a feeling of debilitation where the world is collapsing and Shinji and Buffy are numbed and can't bring themselves to care. You'd have to watch a lot of the show to get to this point, though, since Buffy (both the show and the character) is much less dark in earlier seasons. So your willingness to work your way toward this part of the show would depend on how interesting the rest of the show is to you, but I found the whole show to be worth it.
Ender's Game and, to a lesser extent, Speaker for the Dead
When I first saw Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji's struggles reminded me (besides of myself) of Ender Wiggin in the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Ender isn't debilitated or numbed the way Shinji is, so he may not seem depressed per se, but both strike me as:
* sensitive, gifted children
* fundamentally gentle but repressing a lot of anger
* burdened with huge responsibility in a war effort
* desirous of the approval of adults while also not really trusting them
* full of shame and self-loathing
There is also a sequel Speaker for the Dead that involves Ender as an adult. If you enjoyed Ender's Game primarily for its battle school setting, you may not like Speaker because it's totally different (a mystery/drama with zero action, set on an alien world). But if you enjoyed Ender's Game for its lead character (which I would think someone who empathizes with Shinji would), then Speaker is also a great, Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning book in its own right that, amongst other things, shows Ender starting to come to peace with himself. The series continues in Xenocide and Children of the Mind, but those are optional.
In Anno's statement about Eva, What were we trying to make here?, he talks about how "Both [Shinji and Misato] are unsuitable--lacking the positive attitude--for what people call heroes of an adventure. But in any case, they are the heroes of this story." Both Buffy Season Six and Ender's Game have a similar blend of a "save the world"-type story, but with a hero character who has a lot of personal psychological pain and dysfunction that makes him or her an unconventional hero for that kind of story. And to some extent the "save the world" scenario in all these stories is used as just a framework through which to wrestle with the character's personal issues.
Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I know the title and premise of this show sound silly, but it is actually quite good at character drama once the show finds its voice -- which I would say is somewhere around Lie to Me, episode seven of season two.
Over the course of season six, Buffy struggles with and overcomes a debilitating depression. If you identified with that shot in End of Evangelion during the attack on Nerv where Shinji is sitting limply on the floor and Misato is pulling on his arm to try to get him to stand up, that is basically what Buffy goes through in Season Six. It's a feeling of debilitation where the world is collapsing and Shinji and Buffy are numbed and can't bring themselves to care. You'd have to watch a lot of the show to get to this point, though, since Buffy (both the show and the character) is much less dark in earlier seasons. So your willingness to work your way toward this part of the show would depend on how interesting the rest of the show is to you, but I found the whole show to be worth it.
Ender's Game and, to a lesser extent, Speaker for the Dead
When I first saw Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji's struggles reminded me (besides of myself) of Ender Wiggin in the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Ender isn't debilitated or numbed the way Shinji is, so he may not seem depressed per se, but both strike me as:
* sensitive, gifted children
* fundamentally gentle but repressing a lot of anger
* burdened with huge responsibility in a war effort
* desirous of the approval of adults while also not really trusting them
* full of shame and self-loathing
There is also a sequel Speaker for the Dead that involves Ender as an adult. If you enjoyed Ender's Game primarily for its battle school setting, you may not like Speaker because it's totally different (a mystery/drama with zero action, set on an alien world). But if you enjoyed Ender's Game for its lead character (which I would think someone who empathizes with Shinji would), then Speaker is also a great, Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning book in its own right that, amongst other things, shows Ender starting to come to peace with himself. The series continues in Xenocide and Children of the Mind, but those are optional.
In Anno's statement about Eva, What were we trying to make here?, he talks about how "Both [Shinji and Misato] are unsuitable--lacking the positive attitude--for what people call heroes of an adventure. But in any case, they are the heroes of this story." Both Buffy Season Six and Ender's Game have a similar blend of a "save the world"-type story, but with a hero character who has a lot of personal psychological pain and dysfunction that makes him or her an unconventional hero for that kind of story. And to some extent the "save the world" scenario in all these stories is used as just a framework through which to wrestle with the character's personal issues.
If you want genre deconstruction and dealing with characters' inner psyches, the quintessential Western equivalent is probably Watchmen.
Among the people who use the Internet, many are obtuse. Because they are locked in their rooms, they hang on to that vision which is spreading across the world. But this does not go beyond mere ‘data’. Data without analysis [thinking], which makes you think that you know everything. This complacency is nothing but a trap. Moreover, the sense of values that counters this notion is paralyzed by it.
And so we arrive at demagogy. - Hideaki Anno, 1996
And so we arrive at demagogy. - Hideaki Anno, 1996
- skulkidcachi90
- Adam
- Age: 33
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Nov 28, 2014
- Location: Argentina
- Gender: Male
Return to “Related to the Filmmakers and Artists”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests