Leader Desslock wrote:Question For Anyone: Do most people understand the basic meaning of Evangelion after their first viewing?
I sure as hell didn't. But I guess it depends largely on the viewer.
That's how new folks see Evangelion. But what about the hardcore fans? Well, even those who've seen Evangelion until their eyes turn red and their hair turns white (I've seen it - it's scary) don't always agree on the interpretation of certain points, this thread being a prime example.
Is there anyone here who disputes any of this? That's the impression I get from my time on the AN forums. Assuming that the AN membership is typical of the anime community as a whole, I think I'm making valid statements there.
My bold claim is that pretty much every regular poster here shares a quite similar view of the "core" of the story (i.e. the three-way power struggle between Yui, Seele and Gendo), and what we're doing here is just bickering about the less-important details of the show, most of which don't even have a final answer. Obviously we're doing that because we get
some kind of kicks out of it, but we're just a geeky minority. A healthy, well-balanced individual doesn't necessarily need to understand the soul severability principle or the details about the First Ancestor Race to appreciate the show as much as any "hardcore" fan.
NOW, if Evangelion is a series that requires repeated viewings to 'get', and even those who 'get' it are quite contentious on its meaning, then there are three likely explanations:
1) The series isn't written clearly.
2) The series isn't directed clearly.
3) Anno is such a sublimely clever director that the rest of us simply can't understand his messages.
Granted, Anno's directing style can be a little... art-wankeryish at times, but I'd also like to suggest a fourth option: geeks can - and
will - argue about
anything.
As for those who try to explain obvious editing and continuity errors as "intentional", I'd say that's wishful thinking.
It must be pointed out that
no-one here is trying to explain away
all of the continuity errors in the show. I can ensure you that if some dolt actually tried that, ve'd be ruthlessly laughed at. The results of this poll should be rather self-explanatory in this respect as well.
The recent sh*tfest got started when an alternate explanation was postulated for
one rather ambiguous scene that seemingly contains a blooper. Eva Monkey just somehow managed to generalize the issue, but I forgive him because his Demolition Man reference was so damn hilarious.
It's been a few years since I've seen it, but I remembered picking up on a few of them. Nothing that affected the story, just glitches. If I owned the series, I'd find a few for you. Anyone who does own the series wanna throw out a few more, here?
Sure thing, pops. My all-time personal favorite is the mind-altering transparent hill in episode 12:
What makes this blooper even funnier is how the animators decided to fix the problem two episodes later when the scene in question was recapped:
For reasons unknown, however, the original problem was
not fixed for Renewal despite the fact how laughably easy it would have been. It is my firm belief that they simply forgot to do that because they were busy adding nipples to the Rei-clones.
So, does this restore your faith in fanboy cynicism?
Originally posted on: 30-Jan-2006, 19:41 GMT