Everyone seems a little more...

[Sailor Star Dust]

For some reason that one thread about how the guy was hoping for a happy ending in RoE got locked, because the mods for this site have OCD

More like newbies need to LURK MOAR before creating something based on a pre-existing thread.

Or as say:

It is always better to post in a preexisting thread than to create a new one. Always check to see if a thread satisfying your specifications has already been made.

[DEMOLITION D+]

For some reason that one thread about how the guy was hoping for a happy ending in RoE got locked, because the mods for this site have OCD

More like newbies need to LURK MOAR before creating something based on a pre-existing thread.

Or as say:

It is always better to post in a preexisting thread than to create a new one. Always check to see if a thread satisfying your specifications has already been made.

Then again, the thread that guy made was far enough from this topic that it merited it's own thread, as did a couple of my threads that have been deleted without explanation. And if he were to post in here, this point may not have been observed and discussed by as many people that would have if he were to create a new topic. Now if it were completely similar to this one, then I would understand and consider it locky-worthy, which it wasn't.

But it's fine, I won't argue and try and change anyone's ways around here. Honestly this is the only large Eva community out there I am happy to be a part of, and I don't want to do something to where I might be banned from it. Even if it means enduring harsh moderating procedures that feel as though they've been done just because someone was bored and wanted to expend their power.

[Sailor Star Dust]

First off, it was a judgment call and just because a thread is locked doesn't mean it can't be unlocked later on.

Secondly, if you don't like the way things are happening, it's best to take it up with the Staff.

Now topic.

[cress20]

Well I got the feeling that the characters were made more friendly less extream and generally more realistic but thats just my view happy ending god no!

[Holy Diver]

I hope it will all come tumbling down before 3.0 is over.

Rebuild just wouldn't be Evangelion without a surreal, melancholy ending.

[Duskbyday]

It all goes well for Shinji then BAM! Shinji GETS TRAUMATISED!

but srsly it will all end horribly

[Great Genius Shinji-Sama]

Ive already unintentionally gotten two strikes, so Im hoping this wont be my third but seiously it should have all that stuff, but just have it come around and be happy in the end. You know, its like The Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, it was made when the main star was going through a depression, and Anno-sama was going through a depression when the orginal NGE was made, so hopefully happy Anno= Happy Ending?

Again, seeings how people were talking about the ending in this thread I HOPE Im not out of line. But back to the ACTUAL topic.......... they do seem more grounded. But then again, the entire series is having to be wrapped up in a great considerably less amount of time then they had to make the original series.

[Gendo'sPapa]

In Rebuild Shinji's just repeating what he did with Kaworu in NGE.

When Kaworu showed up in NGE Shinji had personally cut all his ties with everyone in Tokyo-3 and was even neglecting Misato.

In Rebuild, due to Asuka's "Death" he's forcibly pushed everyone away, even Misato, Touji, & Kensuke. Once again Shinji has put himself in the fragile position of putting all his hopes and emotions into another INDIVIDUAL (...but Rei's a clone...oh dear god!).

Sure, his grasping for a final emotional connection with Rei here is more external than his "Well...Kaworu seems nice...and I need someone" relationship in NGE but they're both destined for destruction.

The minute Shinji finds out the truth about Rei is the moment the shit will really hit the fan. In NGE he ignored her. In Rebuild I could see him "Running Away"

SO yeah, there's a lot of angst and doom to come in Rebuild.

[Soul Fire]

Dont forget that Asuka will be coming back and then there is Mari so it isnt all bad. He has Rei in that entry plug to keep him company as well . How it works with Yui, Shinji and Rei being in the same evangelion and tanged is something else though. Yui and Rei having a conversation should be interesting.

[SaltyJoe]

Dont forget that Asuka will be coming back and then there is Mari so it isnt all bad.

I'm starting to get this horrible mental image about Shinji being devastated over something or another involving Rei. Cue EVERYONE throwing quick motivational oneliners at him, giving him the final push to do what needs to be done.

He has Rei in that entry plug to keep him company as well.

I'm thinking that the real drama will start once they got out.

Yui and Rei having a conversation should be interesting.

True that. Now that i think about, holding a three way, disembodied discussion would be a great way to exposite about the past, what is to come and Gendo's motives. Gendo through Yui's eyes... that is an interesting angle.

[CATO]

Just a thought: why is so many people allergic to a reasonably healthy Eva? The whole point of NGE was to critic anime and how isolated anime fans are, but not just for the sake of it. The end of NGE is optimistic in nature, so a happier continuation is the natural path to go. If not, all these years of "therapy" for Anno were useless.

[Synapsid]

In Rebuild Shinji's just repeating what he did with Kaworu in NGE.

When Kaworu showed up in NGE Shinji had personally cut all his ties with everyone in Tokyo-3 and was even neglecting Misato.

In Rebuild, due to Asuka's "Death" he's forcibly pushed everyone away, even Misato, Touji, & Kensuke. Once again Shinji has put himself in the fragile position of putting all his hopes and emotions into another INDIVIDUAL (...but Rei's a clone...oh dear god!).

Sure, his grasping for a final emotional connection with Rei here is more external than his "Well...Kaworu seems nice...and I need someone" relationship in NGE but they're both destined for destruction. ...SO yeah, there's a lot of angst and doom to come in Rebuild.

Exactly, the circumstances seem a bit different but the underpinning behind both is the same, Kaworu's right Shinji hasn't changed at all. Shin-chan's already enough of a mess that he didn't care if he or the world died so long as he wasn't alone. He's very much clinging to a life line, I don't think the twincest would scare him away this time, he's that desperate (I don't know about the being Lilith though), but I doubt that he'll get to chose from all the talk and visual hints about replacement it seems that he's going to loose his Ayanami, which will very much leave him in the same state he was after Kaworu, (Unless if they can't recover him and he stays trapped with Rei, but then that's a whole other twist)

Dont forget that Asuka will be coming back and then there is Mari so it isnt all bad. He has Rei in that entry plug to keep him company as well . How it works with Yui, Shinji and Rei being in the same evangelion and tanged is something else though. Yui and Rei having a conversation should be interesting.

I'm sure that Asuka will hate him now, It's very easy to pin the blame on him so I'm sure she's over her infatuation, and she might be contaminated.
And Mari didn't show any sign of caring for him, I can't see her offering him love. although given the puppy whimper thing she could conceivably violate him, and leave him even more of a mess. I'm pretty sure that his time in the womb might be the last bit of comfort he might get.
@CATO
It's not necessarily a total aversion, EVA did have happier moments during it's action arc, but it would have been a huge waste to just keep everything to the clear looking surface and stick to action comedy and romance, you really can't get a good look at the characters unless if they're split open, and from the darker context it very much seems that that's what Anno's going to do...That doesn't mean that the final ending couldn't be happier though

[Otakon 08 Ikari]

Could be that its all one continuation or Hell could be part of EOE's 3I and maybe this time Shinji is trying something different..Who knows.

[Teague]

I'm still partial to the theory that Rebuild is the result of Father Pucci using Stairway to Heaven, hence the subconscious avoidance of the mistakes made last time...buts that's more for the Sequel Thread...

[CATO]

but it would have been a huge waste to just keep everything to the clear looking surface and stick to action comedy and romance,

But that's not exactly what I refer to when I talk about a healthy Eva. Action comedy and romance are fun but I think it's based on subtle, yet more moving things. I'm talking about a Rei Ayanami who stops a slap to her face, who tries to arrange a dinner for Shinji; an Asuka who reflects on the fact that being with another people could not be bad. These characters are at this point on a state much more advanced than their corresponding episodes in the series, somehow I believe that no matter how broken they are, they have the means to really advance this time.

[wonderluster]

Agreed. Broken minds and souls always have a great reason to move forward.

[MatrixRefugee]

I wouldn't mind a slightly more overtly upbeat ending for this next incarnation of Evangelion, though a close examination of the end of EoE made me realize, there were some notes of hope in amongst all the weirdness. Most obviously, Yui points out that Instrumentality is completely reversible, if a person chooses to emerge from it and embrace individuality once more. And also, Shinji comes to terms with his mom's death and also, he's able to say goodbye to her. When I noticed that, I actually went "awww..." for the first time in this series. What happens after he wakes up on the shore of the sea of LCL, with Asuka beside him remains to be seen, but there could be others who have emerged as well. I like to think of it as the set up for what Brian Aldiss called a "cozy catastrophe" post-apocalyptic story, ie. in which a handful of people figure out how to rebuild After the End...

[Alaska Slim]

but it would have been a huge waste to just keep everything to the clear looking surface and stick to action comedy and romance,

But that's not exactly what I refer to when I talk about a healthy Eva. Action comedy and romance are fun but I think it's based on subtle, yet more moving things.

But things that have occurred in other anime, in other stories, where people don't seem to learn, and the lessons themselves seem to be just "plastered" on.

Remember, Evangelion is not meant just for the characters to develop and mature, but for the viewer to as well, to take something away from it.

As the original plot line of Evangelion went, Hideaki Anno seemed to follow what Jack London learned when writing "To Build A Fire", that sometimes a lesson is best exemplified when the absolute worst is allowed to happen. This also aligns in Hideaki Anno's belief that children should be "exposed early to the realities of life". (Wonder if he meant other things with that)

I'm talking about a Rei Ayanami who stops a slap to her face, who tries to arrange a dinner for Shinji; an Asuka who reflects on the fact that being with another people could not be bad.vThese characters are at this point on a state much more advanced than their corresponding episodes in the series, somehow I believe that no matter how broken they are, they have the means to really advance this time.

And with only one or two sources to motivate these changes, and in what seems, at least to the viewer, a rather short amount of time. In the series, these issues were approached gradually, multiple situations were explored, and yet still the characters did not easily sway, true to their multi-dimensional, flawed, and most importantly, human selves. And yet still, to say if the characters ever learned what they were supposed to is up to interpretation, but there was at least one person who was expected not to ignore these signs, that person being, again, the viewer.

What I' am most afraid of with this sudden heel-face-turn, is that Eva will turn itself into an amiable, parable-esce story where all the characters learn something of themselves, rather than a life lesson speaking on the social ill of a collective group, or indeed, a nation, and trying to motivate change.

It has always been that latter status that has elevated Evangelion from stories of the former, what makes it truly unique, in that what it had to say transcended what it was.

Still, my own determination for if it has crossed over is something I'll save for the last two films. It could be in fact that Hideaki Anno is raising the situation only for the fall to be that much more destructive and revealing. He’s allowed the absolute worst happen before, despites fan pleas and death threats, and he might just have mind to do it again, this time with far more watching, and expectations higher than ever.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish even more tragedy and strife on these tortured souls anymore than the rest, and God knows they deserve a “happy ending”, but I learned long ago that Eva is not meant to take into account what the viewer wants, but what it needs for them to see.

[sean_sean_sean_sean]

Alaska Slim's post captures my own feelings perfectly

[Seph]

Incredibly awesome rant.

Bravo! I don't think we need to be concerned yet though, Anno has two more movie to fuck this entire thing over, which he undoubtedly will.