Thesis about Eva

[carol]

Hello
I'm writing a thesis on Neon Genesis Evangelion, and I would like to ask to those of you who are interested, some questions about the body of work we love.
It's like a questionnaire that you can feel free to reply if you want (for example you can also just answer to some of the questions and not to all of them)
I'll just leave the questions right here so that you can have an idea of what I'm working on.
Let me know if this is a possible thing to do on this forum and if someone could be interested about this.
Thank you so much
Carolina

Neon Genesis Evangelion questionnaire

- How did the series and the movies impact on your life?
- When did you watch it the first time and why?
- Do you prefer the series or the movie? why?
- What’s the character you identify with the most and why?
- What do you think is the moral of the whole body of work?
- What do you think is the religious message behind the work?
- What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about family ties?
- What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about love?
- What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about sexuality?
- What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about psychology?
- What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about the relationship between human and technology?
- Do you think Evangelion is important and should be watched by the people? If yes, why? if no, why?
- Do you think Asuka Langeley is a positive character or a negative character? Why?
- Do you think Rei Ayanami is a positive character or a negative character? Why?
- What do you think about Shinji Ikari?
- What do you think about the relationship between Shinji and his father Gendo?
- Who do you think is a positive mentor between the adults presented by the series and the films? (Misato, Ritsuko, Gendo, Kagi,…)
- Who or what do you think is the most evil character of the series? Why?
- What do you think about the suicide of Rei Ayanami?
- What do you think the battle between the evas and the angels represents?
- What do you think the first, second and third impact represent?
- What do you think are the saddest moments in both the series and the movies? Why?
- What do you think are the happiest moments in both the series and the movies? Why?

[Berserker]

I believe the general sub forum would be a more suitable place for this topic. It'd get more attention there than what it's getting and be more relevant.

Each of those questions are worth multiple essays of some answers, if not one. So here's my answers to some of them in short.

1. The whole franchise basically changed my life, made me learn a lot about myself and others while also spurring interest in a lot of things like psychology, religions and myths that I never thought I'd get immersed into. It has also brought up a lot of latent aspects of mine, some positive(e.g optimist, environmentalist) and some negative(e.g misanthrope) obviously and made them prominent.
2. Watched it last year, exact month would be February. The reason would be a friend's recommendation 5 years ago from now on and finding the AMV really intriguing.
3. Both equally for what they are, even if it sounds impossible and hilarious to some.
4. Shinji and Rei for their introversion, social awkwardness, submissiveness and so on.
5. There's just too much to pick one or two from. You really can't just finish finding and comprehending the moral lessons, understandings and implications of the whole thing imo.
12. Well, it depends. From my perspective, yes, it's obviously important and everyone should watch it cause there's just too much to understand and discover, about oneself and others. But from some other people's viewpoint that I know of, not really, cause they're just too infatuated with other trivial stuffs.
13 & 14. Yes, both of them are positive characters, obviously. Everyone has their qualities and flaws, good and bad side, strength and weakness and they make no exception. That doesn't make their characters negative. They're both great, in their own way. And both of them are pretty strong and bold, gotta give them that.
15. Shinji's just, well...Shinji. There's lot we can say about him, but in the end he's truly a great guy. There's really no way I can conclude otherwise.
16. It's complicated. But whatever it is, it's for their own good I guess. Shin really concluded it perfectly.
17. Mostly Kaji and Ritsuko in some degrees. It's self explanatory for Kaji and for Ritsuko, she's really bold and diligent along with some other potential aspects and qualities of her that some fail to grasp, sadly.
18. There's....really none that I can say who falls in the typical antagonist or evil category like that of any other film or movie in every industry. My past self would've straight up written something like fuck Seele and Gendo or something, but after a while even I started to get what they had in mind and how they felt. Part of me still dislikes them for some of the acts and deeds of them and another concedes and empathizes with them unironically. It really is a great internal conflict. Don't know what this says of me.
19. I..don't quite think it's a suicide. It's more of an self sacrifice, to protect the ones who she cared for. That said, I don't really know what to say of it. It was tragic and there was not other options, not that I can see more.
20. Mankind's capability and resilience? Typical war between two parties for power and dominion? I know there's a lot of more deeper things that the battle between Evas and Angels represent, but these are what I could think of on top of my head. Obviously someone else can explain it elaborately and more meaningfully.
21. First- creation of (Lilin) life , second- apocalyptic flood, third- Ragnarok
22. Rei's "death"(both in series and rebuild), Fuyutsuki's flashback of Yui and her sacrifice(some will argue) too, Shinji's helplessness while Toji/Asuka(rebuild) getting almost butchered, Asuka's loneliness and the whole flashback segment of her memory of Kyoko and her childhood and so on.
23. Shinji getting along with Toji and Kensuke and him finding happiness and what he wants in the end, Asuka finally learning what it means to pilot the Eva along with Kyoko and successfully butchering the MPs before everything goes astray, Rei's smile segment(both in series and rebuild), tour to the marine ecological containment facility, Rei's planning on the dinner party and the village segment in Shin.

[JoelcrNeto]

Thread moved into “Evangelion General and Chit-Chat” subfora. A shadow topic has been left in place for guidance.

That other sub-forum is strictly dedicated to our EvaWiki, and like Berserker said, it really wouldn’t have much visibility there.
There are also some threads on this board that might help you out with your thesis.

[OutlawThirds]

Each of these questions could probably be an entire thread, but I'll take a stab at some of them. Also I'm thinking more of NGE here because I haven't fully processed NTE so I'm talking NGE unless otherwise noted. Also the answers are chock full of spoilers, so be warned.

1. It's occupied an inordinate amount of my idle thinking. It's showed me new ways that fiction can work. It's encouraged me to put more of myself into my work.

2. First watched it in 2020 because I heard it was good during a discussion of power lines in Anime, and we wanted to try a mecha anime.

3.

4.

5.

6. I think that the monotheistic religious themes are a thin veneer designed to add a cool factor. I think that the real religious story of Eva is it's presentation of the divine masculine (Adam and his Angels as the destroyers, Gendo the father, the Old Men of Seele) and the divine feminine (Yui/Unit 01 the protector, Rei/Lillith the creator.) Even Rei and Kaworu are cast differently here: for all his great qualities, Kaworu ends up breaking Shinji's heart, and Rei ends up sacrificing herself for Shinji. You have a goddess who created the world and a god who created monsters trying to destroy it.

7.

8.

9. The most telling scenes of sexuality, imo, are the scenes where Shinji sees visions of Rei/Misato/Asuka all saying the same thing or speaking in unison. He's seeing them as interchangeable or as all representing the same thing to him. Asuka calls him out on this in the kitchen scene in EoE, saying that he does not want her, he just wants someone. That's one slice but I think it's an interesting one.

10.

11.

12. It's difficult viewing to be sure, but I do recommend it to people who I think need to see it.

13. Asuka is the hero of a different, simpler story about becoming the best Eva pilot and kicking maximum ass. She does display a lot of jerk behavior, but we find out that she's doing it because she believes it's what she needs to do to be respected or even loved. One tragedy of her character is that none of the characters she's surrounded by have the bandwidth to figure her out.

The other is that she builds her entire identity around her job as an Eva pilot. We almost never see her without her brain connector thingies-she wants everyone to see that she's a pilot. When the plot starts throwing her into losing battles, that identity falls apart. But she ultimately overcomes that self doubt and when she finally gets her shit sorted out in EoE and kicks some proper ass, it's an emotional high point.

14. Rei's limited human contact and short life has left her with no idea how to deal with her own emotions, and each of her incarnations deals with this to some degree. But flawed does not equal negative.

Rei is naively loyal and in NGE that loyalty is brutally, tragically betrayed by Gendo with callous treatment. She obeys and obeys, but at the very end she tells Gendo she's not a doll and siezes control of the apocalypse, which makes you cheer right up until she lets Shinji tang everyone.

15. Pushed to the edge multiple times and finally he cracks like an egg. He frequently makes decisions that make the audience groan but it's because he's human, not some sort of superhero like Yui. He's incredibly real. And we've all had moments where we want to run away from our problems and just sit on a train listening to headphones (even if we'd all opt not to turn the world into tang!)

Shinji comes out of EoE looking pretty ugly unlike the other pilots, but NTE is much more just his story and in Shin he's got a pretty satisfying redemption arc.

16. Have I said tragic enough yet? Shinji's relationship with Gendo is similar to Gendo's relationship with Rei and Reiutsko: they want his approval, so he uses them and ultimately betrays them.

17.

18. In NGE I think Gendo actually takes the cake on this one. I know he's got a tragic backstory to excuse his actions, but I don't buy it. His little moments where he kicks the dog basically every time he has a chance to add up to a person who not only wants to destroy the world just to resurrect his dead wife against her apparent wishes, but also treats everyone he encounters with pointless cruelty. He hurts everyone he touches.

In his NTE incantation many of his cruelest moments are cut (he does not force Rei to suffer the pain of dismembering Unit 00, he doesn't kill Ritskuo, etc) and we get to see his side of the story a bit, so it's more gray there.

19. Suicide isn't quite the right word for Rei II's death in NGE. She was trying to save Shinji and save the world, and there.might not have been another way. She displayed a consistent disregard for her own survival throughout because she knew that unlike the other pilots she could be "replaced." Being replaced seems to be incredibly traumatic though.

20.

21.

22. Top sad moments, mostly characters getting killed:

* Shinji finds out he just watched Unit 01 squash his friend
* Asuka getting forced to relive her traumatic childhood
* Shinji's reaction to a tiny shred of praise from his father
* Rei Q's tears in the rain speech
* Misato's final speech to Shinji
* Asuka eaten alive right after finally becoming the hero
* Finding out Fyutsuki's been holding a torch for Yui

23. Top happy moments

* Shin's healing scenes
* Asuka's wild joy while annihilating JSDF's armor and aircraft
* The aquarium scene in 2.0
* Rei Q's sequence in Shin
* Seeing Kensuke and Toji alive in Shin.

[Axx°N N.]

1. EoE was my gateway into surreal visuals and experimental narrative. My taste to this day is for the mystic, psychedelic, and anything that is willing to dive into psychology at the expense of linear or literal plot. The Rebuilds disappointed me on that metric; I was grumpy for a few days.

2. I watched EoE when very young and before I had seen the series, so it was especially incomprehensible to me. It was on a shelf at Blockbuster. I saw NGE proper for the first time when I was around 18, four or so years after its conclusion. I'm old enough that I watched each Rebuild as it was released.

3. The series & EoE for sure, without question. Everything feels like it works and comes together. My answers will mostly be about NGE & EoE as a result, as that's where anything actually resonates with me. As for Rebuild, while I like thumbing through the concept design art books, the animation is at times impressive, and there are moments of gravitas, overall they feel extremely incoherent both on their own and as a film series. While some of the changes and new ideas are theoretically interesting on paper, nothing is given enough room to breathe. I once felt like I hated the changes the Rebuilds made, but now I feel more like the accurate thing to say is that I feel as if I haven't even seen these films; they feel like too-short recap movies, and in the case of 3 and 4, recap movies for something that doesn't exist in longer form. Characterization is rushed, time jumps around too often (not just in terms of the timeskip, but between scenes), and there's too much stilted exposition.

4. I relate to many of the characters, major and minor, but Shinji and Asuka represent the most fleshed out and relatable of the cast to me. They're almost symbols in themselves for fear of others and fear of abandonment, and the various related neuroses.

5. I'm not sure I believe there's a moral, but I believe there's a deliberate theme, best encapsulated in EoE's beach scene. These are two people that have endured an unthinkable pain to be able to glimpse into each other. Despite everything, even relapse into violent paranoia and rage, there's a not minor gesture that they can begin to recognize each other.

6. It's not religious. How much validity it has under the lens of religious bodies of work is something that can be argued, but to categorize it as religious would involve outside categorization, and neither Anno nor his team nor Japanese society at large is religious.

7-11. I feel like it would be redundant to wax on about these, as the series does its own self-analysis on these subjects and has never been very subtle about them.

12. The original? Yes. Despite any faults, it was inarguably innovative and had an impact on the medium. I'd say anyone interested in experimental narrative should see it, and anyone interested in anime history is almost obligated. The new ones? Not broadly, because not only do I feel that they won't have any impact whatsoever on the state of anime or film, but that their faults are enormous and that even the minor faults, like an over-abundance of pointless fanservice, can alienate many potential viewers.

13. Positive. She's given dignity and used as a catalyst to communicate central themes about connecting to others. Her faults are emphasized and highlighted, but there's never a moment where I feel the narrative is trying to communicate that she has no capacity for betterment.

14. Rei is the least human of the characters, and her character arc involves self-humanizing. I don't even see how anyone can make an argument for her being a negative character.

15. Shinji exemplifies the troubles of Anno's generation, including the sensation of being obligated by impossible tasks in the face of an extremely fraught, bewildering world. He's a more relevant, more essential character and character journey than ever.

16. I can really only answer this by going backward. Not only do I find Rebuild's treatment of Gendo's redemption to be redundant, because there's a very good argument for EoTV and EoE's instrumentalities giving Shinji a glimpse into his father's intentions and regrets, but I find it to undermine its other themes. The things Shinji has to reconcile in the original, including a father he never gets to dialogue with, are far more difficult and realistic. The way Rebuild attempts to boil things down is to me not only a failed premise, but verging on wish-fulfillment platitude: all the abused need to do are dialogue with their abuser and things will magically work out; the malevolent are just people who similarly can't reach out; all problems, really, are solved by reaching out. It's too neat and too unwilling to allow for any tragedy that sticks or acknowledge that there are in fact things that are irreconcilable, and so it has no weight that resonates with reality and its difficulties. The omission of overt and unambiguous happy ends was more interesting to me than their inclusion.

17. All of the characters, including the adults, are stuck in their situtions and variously trying their best, with the exception of Gendo and Seele, who are obsessed with turning reality around, unable to accept and cope with reality as it is. The mere existence of otherwordly beings and means to end the world almost justifies their attempts to do so, though, and anyway, the theme is arrived at only because the eschaton was attempted to be immanentized. This is why Evangelion (at least NGE & EoE) feels extremely organic and the themes marry to the plot and its obligations.

18. Above kinda answers that. I don't think anyone is really presented as capital E evil, though.

19. It's ambiguous. You can argue the existence of suicidality in her choice and it would be fair.

20. The uncomfortable reality of the need to survive, even at the expense of other organisms. It's interesting to note that Eva, neither old or new, undoes the suffering or death of the angels.

21. They function too centrally as part of the plot to feel like I can say anything but that--plot devices, but ones that lend a specific and unique atmosphere and timeline.

22-23. Funnily enough, they're kinda simultaneous to me. Moments where the characters triumph against the odds are often counterbalanced by the brutal circumstance of their needing to fight in the first place. Asuka embracing the reality of her need to survive begins with potent enthusiasm and sense of acceptance and purpose and ends, of course, tragically. The ending, and the hope it signifies, occurs against an eroded and eaten up backdrop and the pain it took to get there.

[carol]

Thank you so much for your time and for your patience ! It's been a pleasure seeing your replies and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Have a happy new year

Thread moved into “Evangelion General and Chit-Chat” subfora. A shadow topic has been left in place for guidance.

That other sub-forum is strictly dedicated to our EvaWiki, and like Berserker said, it really wouldn’t have much visibility there.
There are also some threads on this board that might help you out with your thesis.

Okay thank you so much !!

Multiples posts; reduced into one. - JoelcrNeto

[carol]

* Rei Q's tears in the rain speech

Hi! I wanted to ask you something: which episode are you referring to when you talk about Rei Q's tears in the rain speech? I thought about the 23rd but still I don't get why you're talking about rain...I'm just curiose ! Thank you very much

[nerv bae]

Rei Q is a character in the Rebuild movies, rather than the episodic TV episodes. See here.

[PFARN]

Hi, let's answer those questions.

1. How did the series and the movies impact on your life?

Well, very different on how I see others people live impact, in my case was very good, my esteem go very high, and it gave me a lot of happy moments, also I generate an little taste for evangelion, I was searching wallpapers and comics hehe.

2. When did you watch it the first time and why?

I watched evangelion nearly on October of 2021, and all was because I found "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" on YouTube music and I said "Oh, a beautiful song" "Oh is from Evangelion, that anime that no one understands, I don't know why" "Let's watch it to see if I can see why other complain about final". And because that I watched evangelion.

3. Do you prefer the series or the movie? why?

I prefer the Movie (Rebuilds) because Shinji finally is happy and the history is similar but have some plot twist and changes from the Anime. Also the CGI was beautiful.

4. What’s the character you identify with the most and why?.

Well, that's a little bit difficult but...
But maybe with Gendo, because he can go for his objectives without stop on little troubles, he can be an good Leader, also he was alone a long time but when he found the love, the happiness comes, and hi will do everything to recovery she again.

Or maybe with Kaji, because he is farandulero, also simple things can give him happy moments and a wey to relax his self, also he care about the people that is special to him.

5. What do you think is the moral of the whole body of work?

There are a lot of morals into the show, for example:

A mother can do all for his son, also the imposible.
Every person is special, not all people are the same
The love can change a person
A big power need a big responsibility

Also, the power of a man can guide the humanity to his end, the proud and ego can cloud the vision of a man. Also I can't remember more hehehe.

6. What do you think is the religious message behind the work?

The gods are deities, but the man can be a god too, and remplace them, also the fanaticism on the religion it's very bad, and seele is an very great example.

7. What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about family ties?

Well, even if you hate your father, you will love him, because it's your father and you can't change that tie, a father will do the best for his son.

8. What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about love?

The love is powerful, into the anime we can see that a man can do all the things inclusive the imposible only for love.

9. What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about sexuality?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

10. What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about psychology?

Sincerely I don't remember, but when I rewatch the anime I'll update my answer.

11. What do you think the series and the films are trying to communicate about the relationship between human and technology?

A human can do all that he want, with the technology we can break the limits. We can create an God if we want.

12. Do you think Evangelion is important and should be watched by the people? If yes, why? if no, why?

Sincerely, not all animes are important, also if a normal person watch Evangelion and he doesn't understand everything will start complaining the anime and maybe he will doesn't complete all the anime. (movies, anime and rebuilds). But some animes are important on the way that thanks to those animes others anime come up and now genders appears.

13. Do you think Asuka Langeley is a positive character or a negative character? Why?

Asuka is an positive character, but his Ego an Proud makes she unbearable for some persons. Maybe if his past was different, he can shows better his positive. A little example of his positive is when she need to destroy the series of Eva with the new motor on "The End of Evangelion".

14. Do you think Rei Ayanami is a positive character or a negative character? Why?

He is a positive character too, but sadly he do all the orders of Gendo, we can see Rei as a positive character then Shinji asked her if she trust on Gendo.

15. What do you think about Shinji Ikari?

Shinji is a shy boy, with low esteem, a bad relationship with his father, also he though that the person's only care on him because he pilot the Eva, also he can recognize his self in a proper way. Also he can't control his emotions. But at all he is a great boy, he only need care and love from people, friends and an normal live. But anyways he got that on the Rebuilds, so hehehehehe.

16. What do you think about the relationship between Shinji and his father Gendo?

Well, so so, maybe bad, because Gendo's leaves Shinji because he think that Shinji will convert in something like Gendo's do, Shinji only wants the recognition or acceptation of his father. Gendo is scared about Shinji, and to remplace him he cloned Yui and Rei appears. As Gendo's convert on how he was after meet Yui, he didn't socialize and got his alone live, only Rei can makes he a bit happy, thanks to that, he didn't make an effort on make an relationship with Shinji. Only "work" based relationship. But also he can recognize the determination of Shinji when he do something. But sadly only Yui is the one that can a unite between those two.

17. Who do you think is a positive mentor between the adults presented by the series and the films? (Misato, Ritsuko, Gendo, Kagi,…)

Maybe, Misato

18. Who or what do you think is the most evil character of the series? Why?

Seele, because they thanks to his Ego and Proud can destroy all NERV and kill all the workers, pilots, EVA's only to start the Menschheit Instrumentalitäts Projekt.

19. What do you think about the suicide of Rei Ayanami?

If I remember great, it wasn't too useful, but at least she wants to help, also he wanted to make the dream of Shinji possible (Don't pilot a Eva anymore).

20. What do you think the battle between the evas and the angels represents?

Well, it can represent a battle between the wisdom of the men and the divinity of the deities. Where the man created his own God to have his own divinity and wisdom. Something like an maximum power.

21. What do you think the first, second and third impact represent?

First impact: It can represents when the asteroid deleted the Dinosaurs and make a new kind of life.

Second Impact: Something like the consequences of the men's errors, his attempts about be a god.

Third impact: The purify of the humanity, all the person's on a same body with all the Knowledge, divinity, wisdom. The last attempt to be a God.

22. What do you think are the saddest moments in both the series and the movies? Why?

Maybe when Misato died, she only tried to protect Shinji
The contamination of Asuka, because she got that break point
The Yui move to the Eva, then Gendo's life was a hell
When Shinji remember when Gendo's leaves him, you can see the saddest of Shinji in that moment and how Gendo's blame him (If I remember great)
When Asuka dies, there we can see her pain, how the Eva got eat by the Eva Series.
When Kaji disappears, Misato got a bit of depression, and sadness

23. What do you think are the happiest moments in both the series and the movies? Why?

When Gendo's found Yui on the third impact, we can see his happiness
When Shinji view Tokyo III going up after the Angel Attack, he was very excited
Shinji and Kaworu, he gave to Shinji a lot of happy moments
Kaji and Misato having sex, these too was very happy
Into the third impact those who see that thing that they want more ln his live

I don't remember more



Sorry for my bad English hehehe. Also thanks for reading