Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

Discussion of the new series of Evangelion movies ( "Evangelion Shin Gekijōban", meaning "Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition"). The final instalment made its debut in Japan on March 8, 2021.

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Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby DantesInferno » Sun Apr 11, 2021 9:03 pm

Apparently, Hideaki Anno said in an interview with him and Megumi Ogata (Shinji's voice) that Eva "is a robot anime after all", and this caused some backlash among the fans. Source (Japanese): https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/eva ... mg00000001.


Pictured: Japanese Eva fans, ca 2021 (colorized):

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(not trying to start a flame war :D )

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Postby BusterMachine4 » Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:08 pm

How is this controversial, exactly? I mean, Eva is literally a robot anime. It’s a cartoon within the subgroup of cartoons known as “anime,” and it features robots as the main driving force of the story. It’s a robot anime. How is a simple true statement so controversial?

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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Kendrix » Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:10 pm

Proably because of pedantic ppl who want to argue that their tastes are better than everyone else & that everything tropey about their fave works is only "ironical"
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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Nuclear Lunchbox » Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:32 pm

Were people ever laboring under the impression that Evangelion was not a robot anime? It's been a robot anime since the 90s. It's one of the quintessential robot anime, a genre-defining show. What are people really frustrated about?

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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby DantesInferno » Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:18 am

View Original PostBusterMachine4 wrote:How is this controversial, exactly? I mean, Eva is literally a robot anime. It’s a cartoon within the subgroup of cartoons known as “anime,” and it features robots as the main driving force of the story. It’s a robot anime. How is a simple true statement so controversial?


I think the point of contention is that the signature "mechas" featured in the show/movies technically aren't robots (they're purely biological*)

Lame detail, I know. Everything else that makes the genre what it is pretty much is there I think...

*save for Unit-02, which in the later movies becomes a "cyborg"!

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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Mr. Tines » Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:17 am

Enough people have pointed out in the past that Evangelion is Ultraman with the serial numbers filed off, right down to the 5 minute activation time. Given that, it would be valid to call it toku rather than mecha.
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Postby Joseki » Mon Apr 12, 2021 1:27 am

Lmao

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Postby DantesInferno » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:36 am

View Original PostMr. Tines wrote:Enough people have pointed out in the past that Evangelion is Ultraman with the serial numbers filed off, right down to the 5 minute activation time. Given that, it would be valid to call it toku rather than mecha.


Yeah, but tokusatsu is supposed live action, virtually by definition!

Do we expect any nods to Eva in Shin Ultraman (like the hex glyphs in Shin Godzilla)?

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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby FreakyFilmFan4ever » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:50 am

Did Anno say this as a joke, or was he 100% serious? Mecha shows tend to feel more like war movies than it does Eva’s monster-of-the-week format.

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Postby Mr. Tines » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:56 am

Post-Gundam "real robot" series are war stories, but Eva is much more like old school super-robots.
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Postby FreakyFilmFan4ever » Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:47 am

Ah, I see.

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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Blockio » Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:00 am

I find the whole debate to be missing the point entirely. Functionally, what's the difference between Unit 01, a Shin Getter and a Unicorn Gundam?
All three are a superweapon with unknown true capabilities, god-like powers and a habit of running wild. The differerence is not nearly as clear-cut as some people would like to claim; at the end of the day, it doesn't matter is it's a biomech, a self-evolving super robot or a "normal" robot with magic armor; narratively, with a bit of tweaking they could all fill the same spot.
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Postby Lavinius » Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:09 am

^Because Yui is a full-on character.
At least in the original. In Rebuild before Final, aren't the only references to her being in the Eva the berserk against Sachiel and the Fuyu shougi scene? It feels like an element Anno included again (like pretty much anything) just because it was there in the original without really thinking about how to use it. A real shame that she's been downgraded into a mere damsel in distress for Gendou.

Is this actually about the Nihonjin saying the Evas aren't robots, or because they don't see it as a "robot anime" in terms of genre?
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Postby Blockio » Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:18 am

Well, there's also more than a fair share of characters who had their soul absorbed into mechs in Gundam; most notably in The Blue Destiny, which funnily enough came out the same year as Eva. in fact that was the original third example, but I didn't like the flow of the sentence starting and ending in "...Unit 01"
I'm not 100% sure which of the two is the case, I can see both happening. From my experience with the Japanese brand of pedantry I'd say the former is more likely, but I can't empirically rule out the latter, either.
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby BernardoCairo » Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:43 pm


lol
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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Archer » Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:28 pm

View Original PostLavinius wrote:^Because Yui is a full-on character.
At least in the original. In Rebuild before Final, aren't the only references to her being in the Eva the berserk against Sachiel and the Fuyu shougi scene? It feels like an element Anno included again (like pretty much anything) just because it was there in the original without really thinking about how to use it. A real shame that she's been downgraded into a mere damsel in distress for Gendo.

Looking back on it, definitely the weirdest thing about NGE is how it doesn’t even try to address the fact that Yui is the one who’s technically responsible for everything bad that happens. If she didn’t abandon her son and her husband chasing the dream of becoming a god, the story definitely would’ve turned out VERY differently. It’s weird how her actions are NEVER even suggested to be questionable, and she’s never portrayed as anything other than a loving mother.

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Postby Zusuchan » Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:33 pm

Well, Unit-01 is Yui, and I'm not sure how fighting against monsters and cannibalism are qualities typically associated with loving mothers. And the thing is, NGE is a show that loves its hints and mysteriousness-stuff like Rei being a clone of Yui is a far more directly important plot point, but it's never outright said, only hinted at. It's also worth pointing out that Eva doesn't really "portray" characters and their actions in a direct light all the time-there's a lot of times where it acts more like a bystander. The only times we see Yui are also from the viewpoints of Gendo, Shinji and Fuyutsuki who'd all be ready to idolize her. Honestly, having Yui's actions be morally questionable, but never outright saying they are is more in line with NGE's aesthetics and some of its themes (perception, incapability to understand everything, mothers and fathers, what it means to "care" etc).

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Postby baldur » Mon Apr 12, 2021 4:47 pm

I don't think NGE gives the audience enough insight into Yui's motivations and goals to form a fair and balanced opinion on her moral character, to be honest. She can seem both villainous and heroic depending on where you're looking at her actions from. Any analysis of her that fails to take that into account is bound to seem reductive, in my view. Also, we already have a thread for this topic.

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Postby Lavinius » Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:58 pm

View Original PostArcher wrote:Looking back on it, definitely the weirdest thing about NGE is how it doesn’t even try to address the fact that Yui is the one who’s technically responsible for everything bad that happens.

Whatever you say, Kiel-kun.
Now, in Rebuild, it really does seem that way...
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Re: Fan Backlash at Anno for Declarations

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Postby Joseki » Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:48 pm

Lav are you from r/titanfolk by any chance?


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