How Hideaki Anno ruined my life.

[OffthechainJoehovah]

This is my first and probably last post on this forum since I'm most likely about to ostracize myself

Who am I? I'm a young man suffering from depression and social anxiety. Hm, sound familiar? I have been fond of anime since I was a kid. Around 2008-2009, I finally took the time to check out Neon Genesis Evangelion and see what all the fuss was about.

That's when everything changed.

We all know what happened. What starts off as an exiting, funny, action-packed show about giant robots QUICKLY GOES OFF THE RAILS. 26 episodes and 1 movie later and I'm left an emotionally drained shell of my former self. I believed life was pointless.

But then.. there was hope! Oh, they're remaking Evangelion into a 4-part movie series? And Anno finally started taking medication so he's not a depressive, mindraping psychopath? AWESOME!

I watch the camrip of 2.0 (I'm so bad) and I love it. Shinji finally turns into a badass, sets Unit-01 into Godmode, beats up Zeruel, and saves Rei! And Misato was there to cheer him on and TELL HIM TO DO IT! This isn't the same Shinji Ikari that jerks off to girls in comas and sits around crying, doing nothing. This is the new and improved Shinji! Life has hope! Life has meaning! If Shinji Ikari can rise to the challenges he faces in life, so can I! He is an idol to the socially anxious community!

And then Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo is released. Or as I like to call it, Everybody Hates Shinji.

The preview at the end of 2.0? Forget that! Let's go 14 years into the future and blame Shinji for everything that happened! How dare he try to save Rei?! Nice face-heel turn, Misato! Kaji? Who needs Kaji when we have all these new, minor, unnecessary characters to throw into the mix!? Let's also deprive the audience and fans of any answers they may have been waiting 3 years for in this movie. Will such things be revealed in the final movie? Who knows?!

Yes. I am too emotionally invested in this series. I'm going to my therapist's office as soon as I submit this post.

Bottom line, Neon Genesis/The End of Evangelion makes me depressed as does 3.0 because I find it to be both too over the top and takes the series in the wrong direction. I am praying to God that 3.0+1.0 makes it all worth it. Otherwise, I will have to settle for Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaption as my favorite version of the story for the optimistic ending.

P.S.
ANNO, I'LL KILL YOU!

[Arcadia's legacy]

So, why are EOE and Q my two favourite instalments in the franchise?

[OffthechainJoehovah]

So, why are EOE and Q my two favourite instalments in the franchise?

Probably because you are a normal person and don't let Shinji's well-being affect your mental health lol.

[Arcadia's legacy]

His well being is one of the main reasons i'm as big a fan as i am, and i found EOE to be a satisfying resolution for it

[OffthechainJoehovah]

His well being is one of the main reasons i'm as big a fan as i am, and i found EOE to be a satisfying resolution for it

I guess it's how you look at it. In EOE, he's left sobbing once again and in Q all his friendships have been destroyed. He meets Kaworu, but then he dies. I feel like 3.0 makes the ending of 2.0 out to be a mistake when I really enjoyed that ending with him stepping up and rescuing Rei.

I want Shinji to get it together and find happiness and I'm hoping that happens in the final movie. But I don't know if I can trust the preview at the end, because it's evident that the original idea for 3.0 was discarded in favor of the movie we actually saw.

[pwhodges]

I am praying to God that 3.0+1.0 makes it all worth it. Otherwise, I will have to settle for Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaption as my favorite version of the story for the optimistic ending.

I like the manga too. But look around the Rebuild part of this forum, and you'll find a lot of explanations of how many people see Q/3.33 as less bleak than it appears. And my own fan fic (see sig) which continues from Q actually contains much of my own reading and justification of it (and an optimistic ending to keep you happy for the time being).

[Arcadia's legacy]

I guess it's how you look at it. In EOE, he's left sobbing once again

So? As we learnt from earlier in the movie, If you are to find happiness with someone, then you need to put up with all the pain that comes with it. EOE's ending, as bleak and grim as it looks, is actually very optimistic if viewed properly

(Plus, i recommend you read Bagheera's sequel fic here)

[OffthechainJoehovah]

I like the manga too. But look around the Rebuild part of this forum, and you'll find a lot of explanations of how many people see Q/3.33 as less bleak than it appears. And my own fan fic (see sig) which continues from Q actually contains much of my own reading and justification of it (and an optimistic ending to keep you happy for the time being).

Interesting. I'll be sure to check it out.

[OffthechainJoehovah]

So? As we learnt from earlier in the movie, If you are to find happiness with someone, then you need to put up with all the pain that comes with it. EOE's ending, as bleak and grim as it looks, is actually very optimistic if viewed properly

(Plus, i recommend you read Bagheera's sequel fic here)

I get what you're saying. It's just not evident on the surface (which is the way I want it to be) lol. Between the ending of the EoE and the manga, the manga is more appealing to me. My fingers are crossed that Anno sets the new ending apart from End of Evangelion so it isn't so bleak in appearance.

The tone aside, I do stand by feelings towards some of the decisions in 3.0. I felt like a lot of it was poor writing, but I should probably wait until the last movie before I go after it so hard.

[jcmoorehead]

I guess it's how you look at it.

That's exactly it, it's intepretation. EoE is left open, very open to the point where you can take it in the direction you want. Do Shinji and Asuka find happiness? Do others come back? Is the world restored? It's up to you, it's how you interpret it.

In EOE, he's left sobbing once again

This is true but after all he had been through you can't blame him. The sobbing is nothing more than a major emotional release after all he has experienced. He's gone through a massive and traumatic experience, he came through it realizing that he can be happy but that is still going to affect him and him sobbing is a way of getting that out.

I personally like to look at these things optimistically but recognize that it won't be instant or easy for these characters to find happiness. In the two post EoE fics I've wrote I've taken different paths to the characters finding happiness. The Catalyst is vastly different to Human Equation but both have an optimistic take on the world post EoE.

Others might disagree and find it pessimistic but it's down to each person to view it as they desire.

[Sachi]

The preview at the end of 2.0? Forget that!

I like to consider it the Next Time Preview for a lost episode (Eva 2.5?). My headcanon says everything teased within the preview actually does happen, but we simply skipped over to the next episode in 3.0.

Bottom line, Neon Genesis/The End of Evangelion makes me depressed as does 3.0 because I find it to be both too over the top and takes the series in the wrong direction. I am praying to God that 3.0+1.0 makes it all worth it. Otherwise, I will have to settle for Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaption as my favorite version of the story for the optimistic ending.

All signs seem to point toward an optimistic ending for 3.0+1.0. Evangelion 3.0 was a response to the decent arc from the original series and EoE, and so at this point 3.0+1.0 should take us beyond that. EoE left us with the promise for hope and the potential for things to improve, so perhaps 3.0+1.0 will follow through with a bit of that and give Shinji some resolution with his character.

[Arcadia's legacy]

I like to consider it the Next Time Preview for a lost episode (Eva 2.5?). My headcanon says everything teased within the preview actually does happen

Well, almost everything

SPOILER: Show

[SurferJon]

Don't worry, Anno is just kicking us down before something happy happens. It's common to storytelling. You need everything to go to hell before it ends on a happy note. The harder he kicks us down, the happier we'll be at the end when everyone is back together.

[ChaddyManPrime]

Well, almost everything

SPOILER: Show

Is that Eva Null or Mark 06?

[Arcadia's legacy]

Unit 08, Who's role was switched with Eva 13

[BlueBasilisk]

Well, almost everything

SPOILER: Show

Just needs a new number.

I feel like this image really sums up the perception we get from 3.0 vs. the reality of it.

SPOILER: Show

Shinji's so wrapped up in his misery and feelings of hopelessness that he doesn't stop to really appreciate that there are trees and plants growing in the ruins of Nerv HQ. Which is ground zero for Third Impact and most likely well above the tree line. Even in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, life is beginning to return.

[Sachi]

Unit 08, Who's role was switched with Eva 13

Sometimes, scenarios have to be flexible. Unit-08 became unable to use, so a new Eva 13 was created.

(I've got nothing)

[Ray]

I can relate.

After I saw 3.0 for the first time, I was so depressed I didn't even want to get out of bed.

[ChaddyManPrime]

Unit 08, Who's role was switched with Eva 13

I thought Mari has Unit 08?

[Arcadia's legacy]

I feel like this image really sums up the perception we get from 3.0 vs. the reality of it.

SPOILER: Show

Flowers blooming on a ruined red Earth. Why does this sound familiar?

SPOILER: Show