When I was younger, EVA scared the shit outta me. When I look back, I think it was because I did not understand it. Nowadays as I've grown into a more mature person, I can understand it better.

I'm going to sound crazy, but Evangelion is a beautiful creation - the story, yet alone the soundtrack. I don't see why people find Evangelion depressing. Sure, it has it's downs, and there are many questions left unanswered, but I don't see the fear factor of it at all. It's just the journey of an average boy, progressing through a new life. Shinji is just trying to find his identity, which we can all relate to. I think many just see Evangelion as an anime with giant robots and sexy women, and don't pay attention to the REAL plot of the story. I see the 'action' as more of a decoy. I think those who aren't committed to following a unique and complex story hate Eva. EVA is not simply robots. It is more than that. That's what makes it so beautiful. It's an anime, yet it feels like a true story in itself - minus the Evas etc.

I agree with you there. When I stand back from it, I can see its message. Shinji's regression into his Eva is much like a stereotypical otaku's withdrawal from society, and I think I saw a thread in the Discussion sub-forum where Anno is quoted as saying something to that effect.

Maya Ibuki wrote:It's an anime, yet it feels like a true story in itself - minus the Evas etc.

I wouldn't put the Evas down to being "giant robots" irrelevant to the story. They're woven in so deep that some of the principals simply couldn't exist as we know them without. Fitting enough, though, that the Evangelion should be an indispensable aspect of Evangelion.

If someone did a word association test with me, I probably would respond with "Neon Genesis Evangelion" to "Beautiful". For me, the show is a lot of things, and it defies encapsulation into any pat sound byte.

I've always seen Evangelion as a coming of age drama first, and a sci-fi epic second. As the series progressed the psychological investigations almost made the Angel attacks, important though they were, seem like a backdrop to what the series was really about. Of course, what Evangelion is about can still be contested, and the series can work its magic in many ways. But to me, the story was always about Shinji saving himself rather than the world.

So first off let me apologize. I just realized that my last reply said "Yes.". When I read the thread title I was in a hurry and read it as "Does anyone else think Evangelion is 'beautiful'?" rather than "Am I the only one". As such, my "Yes." was meant to offer confirmation that I, too, find it beautiful. Given the actual title, that "Yes." changes drastically. As such:

I, too, find it 'beautiful', in the same sense I find other art 'beautiful' (though I'm admittedly uncomfortable with the word). It's a wonderfully well written tale that, I think, is timeless.

Reichu wrote:I wouldn't put the Evas down to being "giant robots" irrelevant to the story.

Indeed, their use is something you could almost call arbitrary but that doesn't mean they aren't important. There had to be some medium or example to convey certain concepts, and Hideaki Anno was very used to at that point in using giant robots. So, hey, stick to what you know.

As to "beautiful"... I think the first word I'd associate Evangelion with that comes close is "symmetrical", and the "robots" play a part in that.

Hideaki Anno used something that he was passionate about to speak to an issue that he had dealt with, and directed towards viewers who could empathize*, while at the same time who would be willing to listen* because they shared that same passion.

*Caveats and exceptions of course to these both, but I digress.

In Algorithmic terms, he tailored-in a symmetrical key. For his message to be understood by those for whom it was intended, required nothing more than for them to have a sum of experience and a passion similar to his own.

Kenshin: I'd argue that the Angel attacks became increasingly important and integral to the heart of the story as the series progressed. A significant portion of the psychological investigations, in fact, are caused by Angels, or, if not, a direct result of events involving Angels. So, as with the Evangelions not merely being irrelevant "giants robots", the Angels aren't irrelevant "giant monsters". They're used to tell the tale, and the tale would have been much different if they weren't there.

"But to me, the story was always about Shinji saving himself rather than the world." They're hardly mutually exclusive. Shinji condemned himself and everyone else to nothingness because he thought he was unwanted. When he realized he wanted to be with people -- i.e., part of the world -- after all, he could find the path of redemption.

Reichu-san: I don't hope my praising of Eva's psychology in that last post made me seem belittling to the role of the Angels; of course they're essential to the plot and direction of the series, but their actual purpose in the story was always elusive and kept in the shadows, and I think for good reason: Anno simply didn't think it was that important for viewers to fully know what the Angels were or were up to. We the audience just need to realize they're a massive threat to humanity: let one reach the inner regions of Nerv and boom, Game Over. With those stakes raised, the healing can begin. I think Anno was right in so using them primarily as a plot device for the majority of Eva in order to focus on the humans and, indeed, I even think it's a stretch to call the Angels actual characters in the series, due to their highly "varied and ambiguous" nature (to quote the wiki), almost to the point of being totally unknowable (decades of fanwankery notwithstanding). But I'm sure many people would disagree with me on that. Again, of course they're invaluable to the series (as a plot device), and Eva wouldn't be the same without the little rascals, but my point is that the strength of Eva's themes (which I find to be the meat of the whole thing) always lay in the human cast. Leliel interrogates Shinji, Arael violates Asuka, true, but they only serve as catalysts for the therapy. It is the Eva pilots, the patients, who do all the hard work.

I think NGE is easily one of the most (or the most) beautiful works of art i have ever seen.

Well, i don't think i could describe it in words, but i think "beautiful" is as close as i can get

I'm not sure how useful it is to carve things up like this. Sure, the Angels are "only a catalyst", but you can describe damn near everything else the same way. You can say that the Skywalker/Vader lightsaber fights in Star Wars are only a catalyst to the issue of father-son relations... well, yeah... but so what? Why penalize metaphors for being visual?

Shinji's literal stumbles during his first Eva fight represent figurative social stumbling. What goes on inside the Eva feeds the things outside. Minimizing either as the "real" story is short-sighted.

Eva is extremely beautiful.

The most beautiful words ever written:

"To my father, thank you
To my mother, good bye
And to all the children
Congratulations!"

I know a lot of us are going for higher definition of "beautiful," higher than pretty pictures set to pretty music and pretty dialogue, but what I thought of first was stuff like the Geofront in the evening, or the scenery as Shinji journeys through the outskirts of Tokyo-3; the sunflowers, the mountains, Kensuke's misty campsite. Even when the drawing quality seems dated, that just gives me this nostalgic feeling. It's a weird kind of nostalgia, because it's nostalgia for a childhood I'd never had, a childhood watching anime in Japan in the late 90s. The dated vision of the future is beautiful for the same reason.

Evangelion is about fourteen-year-old girls. Hot, wet, naked fourteen-year-old girls who sometimes wear skin-tight rubber.

Yes. Evangelion is a good anime but it isnt beautiful.Anime made by KEY,now those are beautiful.

It isn't beautiful like the Qubeley is.

MugwumpHasNoLiver wrote:Evangelion is about fourteen-year-old girls. Hot, wet, naked fourteen-year-old girls who sometimes wear skin-tight rubber.

True...only thing beautiful about it though , Eva is cool, epic and the best anime ever!!! (opinion) but its not beautiful. There are other animes that are purposely made to be beautiful but Evangelion is not one of them.

http://forum.evageeks.org/thread/7852/You-know-youre-obsessed-with-NGE-when-thread/1120/
....you think Eva is beautiful.

In my opinion, Evangelion is a quite an inspiring work of art. For a story that attempts to convey what it means to be alive, among a plethora of other themes, it sure does do a damn good job at it, and I often see the messages reflected in my own life, which I think makes it beautiful. But I also think shit like this is beautiful, so perhaps I'm not so credible in my opinion.

MugwumpHasNoLiver wrote:Evangelion is about fourteen-year-old girls. Hot, wet, naked fourteen-year-old girls who sometimes wear skin-tight rubber.

Clearly, you're not seeing this in the right view. Seriously, though... oh. God damn it, Anno.
Anno:
Me: ... Ok... All joking aside, it's not purely that. From what I see, story wise, it's a beautiful thing. The climax in Episode 24 will leave you breathless with that one minute of pause... then, (CRUNCH)... we all know how we felt after that. Episodes 18-19 are also powerful when it comes to the use of violence. Has there ever been any other show later on that has this type of explicit imagery like this... in a regular programming?

EoE, on the other hand, is a different beast. Not only is it traumatizing, but the way death was portrayed, it makes it as if death's not that big of a deal to worry about, for "the Fate of Destruction is also the Joy of Rebirth". Yeah, that film changed my life... for the better. As for the music... it's my #1 favorite score in any Anime film. It's powerful, it's motivating, it'll make you , it's... a lot of things. Well done, Shiro Sagisu. No other anime film has this type of soundtrack... well, there's Eva 2.22, but it's not the same.