Points of specific interest for us Eva fans are hints at Anno's unease about Evangelion's impact and legacy on anime (the old cliche interpretation about how Eva brought era of "grand narratives" like those of Yamato or Gundam to end and shifted the focus towards characters, "plotlessness" and general increase in "post-modern" consumption habits has a lot going for it after all) and explicit wish to combat this trend and mentality in his "next work".
Given how this text was written in 2005 at dawn of Rebuild project my feelings about Rebuild being attempt at turning Eva into cohesive, grand SF narrative, turning back the clock so to speak, are strenghtened if anything.
Celebrating the Revival of Gundam as Tale
The world of Gundam, drawn once again as a Tale - that, I believe, is the greatest significance of this manga.
Of course we also have here Mr. Yasuhiko's distinctive art, the indescribable charm woven by his gentle, delicate lines, the characters and mobile suits in particular. Yet I feel the greatest pleasure of this "Yasuhiko Gundam" lies in the resuscitation of a Tale lost among our memories of First Gundam.
It has already been twenty-five years since the broadcast of First Gundam.
I'm afraid the legacy of Gundam dwindled down to the mobile suits, in the form of plastic models as a business and military hobbyism. Even these mobile suits were summarized down to protagonist mecha, Gundam, so that friend and foe alike were all uniformly Gundams. One could say this was inevitable: the pivotal creation that made Gundam a classic and drives the franchise expansion to this day is, of course, the mobile suit, represented by the RX-78 Gundam, weapon bearing the elements of a character; and the way of the world is that characters are what ultimately remain with the audience.
It's not a bad thing. I simply find it unfortunate that the Tale that enveloped the worldview and ideas on war presented in First Gundam ceased to function as anything more than device for the mobile suit fantasy.
In recent years, in the world of anime and manga too, the hollowing out of mainstream culture and putative rise of subculture severely diluted and eroded the standing of the Tale.
Audience have come to need a work only as an escape from reality, as an comfortable dream, judging everything on the criterion of moe, while creators' intellectual paucity and the jumble of trivial touches have encouraged that structure. At the same time, TV-type mass consumption, which prizes instant gratification and simplistic results, laid the impoverished grounds of contemporary Japanese entertainment, giving rise to masses that can only respond with praise for superficial details and technical proficiency; with tears, laughter, fear, or some other outpouring of simple emotions; or with identifying and particularism.
And here we are, in this stagnant state of affairs. I am stuck here myself. It's embarrasing and frustrating, and I also regret that I contributed to it.
I want it fixed. The sooner, the better.
That is why I am so glad that Gundam, the animation brand with the largest market in the industry, is showing us here a true Tale through the medium of manga. I want as many people as possible to reconfirm and savor the essence and allure of Tales. I want this work's readers' receptivity to grow more fertile, more embodied.
Only Mr. Yasuhiko, I think, could have accomplished the task of reviving the Tale that is there in First Gundam.
I think this is because I sense a certain equipoise - in that Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the author who seconded diverging with the masses and business, who abandoned the anime industry and, as solitary manga artist, gazed at and depicted the livelihood of individuals and state society historically, finally returns to Gundam after steering clear for over twenty years.
And I sense a certain good grace. He decides to draw Gundam - well-known to the masses as a premier franchise of the plastic model and anime industries - not from weariness, not as expiation, nor to return to his roots, but in earnest, as a work of his own.
That is why we are able to sense from this work a Tale that is both true and distinct from First Gundam anime's.
I think that's fantastic. I think anew that I am able to read Mr. Yasuhiko's Gundam.
Finally, dear reader holding this book, I urge you to pick up Mr. Yasuhiko's other works as well. I sincerely wish for you to know better what Tales are to you, to touch and feel them again.
As for me, I'll do my best so that my next project will come across as a Tale.
Hideaki Anno, Gundam Fan
April 10, 2005
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Sasuga Anno. It isn't quite "What were we trying to make here" but Anno essays of this type are as delicious as they are rare.
I'm genuinely happy Anno is happier in 00s and I don't mind relative lack of author tract in Rebuild so far (even if is what largerly led to greatest heights of creative genius in original Eva) but I wish he'd give me more chances to relinquish in statements that combine his barb and keen head/writing pen a la Mamoru Oshii more often, especially since with Anno there's always that self-deprecating, borderline self-hating quality that is lacking in Oshii's pompousness:
Audience have come to need a work only as an escape from reality, as an comfortable dream, judging everything on the criterion of moe, while creators' intellectual paucity and the jumble of trivial touches have encouraged that structure.
A bit that really stands out for me is this:
At the same time, TV-type mass consumption, which prizes instant gratification and simplistic results, laid the impoverished grounds of contemporary Japanese entertainment, giving rise to masses that can only respond with praise for superficial details and technical proficiency; with tears, laughter, fear, or some other outpouring of simple emotions; or with identifying and particularism.
This reflects the general experience of reading 2ch or 2chan in general so well it isn't even funny. While I do not wish to suggest crude stereotyping is good or deny lack of thoughtful commentary and posts in Japanese subculture fandom are non-existent this is the general mentality has something infantile and emotionally simplistic about it - and when not and fans instead launch into tirades of expertise it tends to be "technical proficiency" Anno mentions here. Detailed, obsessive talk on mechanical design or identifying sakuga animators. There is, however, little in way of grander criticism or analysis. For good and for bad the culture of blogging is not as strong as in west and forums are pretty much non-existent. There's limited degree of highly specialized discussion and analysis can take place in grand stream of ancient BBS threads for a series and anonymity renders bringing forth personal, wide ranging viewpoints and theories quite moot.
But in general I think this is cultural issue, perhaps even better characterized by flat binaryness of public discourse on films and anime I face on twitter and futaba semi-daily.
Anno: What it boils down to is, society only sees the numbers. When it comes to movies too, there’s a need to apply either of two labels, either that it was interesting or that it wasn’t.
and you have no idea how often I see it all boil down to whether something is "omoshiroi"/omoshironakatta". It's all about being omoshiroi and curiously I see otaku often struggle or not see point of going further than that. I wouldn't say intellectual level of discourse is any higher on place like /a/ but in general worth of title is not so heavily linked to singular concept and if needed to average anon is more than willing to dish out list of distinctive reasons why Eva is piece of shit.
But anyway, leaving the willy-nilly of articulated reply behind it's the "outpouring of simple emotions" and its dominance over discourse that really stands out in Japanese internet sphere to me most often. Whether it's idols or anime the average otaku communicates in UWAAAAAHHHs, hidoi wwwww's and endless string of similar low-information, easily replicable replies.
It mixes with the general collectivist streak in Japanese culture I find at best amusing and at worst annoying. Streak which leads to small "reaction screens" in pretty much every fucking program there is (they let audience know how to feel about the footage, generally speaking, by seeing how all those famous talents react - it seems innocious detail at first but it's actually telling sign of huge cultural divide) and gleeful, joyful habit of orienting oneself as small part of mass experience.
Idiocy of Nico Nico Douga and youtube comments may be shared but the way of expression is somewhat different. If someone makes clever comment or funny remark on NND 99% of posters WILL jump to repeat it, thus partaking in the experience. This same exists to lesser degree in Japanese language youtube comments when possible. You don't see this happening in English language posts because 20 different guys writing "ha, he said penis" in a row just comes off retarded.
But I'm seriously losing my focus, let me cap this off with this: I think I understand what Anno means here.
As for me, I'll do my best so that my next project will come across as a Tale.
Ha. Rebuild might really be "anti-Eva" after all, but not because of "selling out" and becoming easy blockbusterfest with slutsuits and all the way people whined pre-Q but in far more radical manner. I think I've brought this before on Rebuild subforums but I really do think the most significant change in Rebuild is how much more seriously it's science fiction story* and how it's been structured as clear narrative with Shinji as active protagonist and Gendo as antagonist figure pulling the strings of fate. Just think of the film series's explicit embrace of the most classical of all Japanese narrative forms: Jo-Ha-Kyu. It's as if Godard went and did narrative film perfectly loyal to Aristotlean theory of drama.
*SciFi elements in original Eva mostly come off as empty symbols or handy metaphors likeinfamous appropriation of judeochristian symbolism to me. Anno obviously didn't care as can be seen from the way about how much crucial SF settei was first eradicated from narrative and then added back as afterthought in Classified Information years later or from his "how can this be considered SF, srsly" puzzlement at receiving Japanese equivalent of Nebula Award for Evangelion.
last but not least in case tags are puzzling you I decided to start tagging threads created by me with "Xard" from now on so I can easily find them all, no matter how far back they've fallen in terms of pages