Does NGE Attract the Insecure, Depressed, Damaged?

[MisatoCrush]

I know NGE is hugely popular worldwide (according to Wikipedia, and the existence of this forum 18 years after the original TV run) so it must have fans across the entire spectrum.

But I'm wondering if certain people with traumatic or unhappy/unfulfilled/regretful lives are drawn to NGE, or once they're exposed to it, latch onto it stronger than people with relatively unscathed lives and "normal" relationship skills.

Or perhaps the mega fans are people with a strongly developed empathy.

Just curious about your thoughts.

[Reichu]

Based on my experience with this forum and its user base, a rather good percentage of those who are drawn to Eva are damaged in some significant way: depression, socialization issues, family problems, etc. Online fora being havens for the obsessive and reclusive, a solid chunk of the regulars are Aspies, as well.

[Dataprime]

I guess I fit the bill
*raises hand*

[MisatoCrush]

People with Asperger's?

Also:
I'm guessing that people who love NGE are able to empathize with the characters.
I mean, that's a huge part of the show, making us care about them and delving into their pasts.

It'd be interesting to consider this question by country instead of on an individual basis.

2 things I've heard are critical to developing a strong sense of empathy: The presence of the father in the household, and unstructured exploration of nature.

I know in Korea (and supposedly it's true of Japan too) the father is largely absent because they work like 10-12 hour shifts and the kids are asleep by the time they get home.

So, hypothetically Koreans and Japanese would have weaker empathy. I wonder how that would affect their enjoyment of the show. I can say confidently that Korean children do not have unstructured playtime outdoors. Not sure if that's true of Japan. Japan seems to be pretty "into" nature seemingly. In Korea the kids are studying 24/7.

[pwhodges]

Based on my experience with this forum and its user base, a rather good percentage of those who are drawn to Eva are damaged in some significant way: depression, socialization issues, family problems, etc. Online fora being havens for the obsessive and reclusive, a solid chunk of the regulars are Aspies, as well.

Hmm. I don't recognise myself under any of those headings, really. Maybe that makes me lucky!

[Shinoyami65]

2 things I've heard are critical to developing a strong sense of empathy: The presence of the father in the household, and unstructured exploration of nature.

Wow, guess that explains a lot about my shriveled empathy sense.

This forum has all sorts of damaged people but we also have loads of friendly, funny and well-adjusted people. A mixed bag, really.

[Reichu]

People with Asperger's?

Yah.

Hmm. I don't recognise myself under any of those headings, really. Maybe that makes me lucky!

Out of curiosity, what's the reason for your affinity for Shinji?

This forum has all sorts of damaged people but we also have loads of friendly, funny and well-adjusted people. A mixed bag, really.

Being damaged doesn't preclude being friendly, funny, and/or well-adjusted. If that's what you were implying here.

[Dataprime]

I'm guessing that people who love NGE are able to empathize with the characters.

I'll take it one step further. It isn't scared to hold up a mirror and reflect all of a persons flaws back on themselves. As for me seeing characters who are/were just like me. To have all these emotions I been feeling for a long time being shown to me thru a tv show. It was a 'eye-opener' to me, for sure and actually made me re-think many things in my life.

[Gorbatschow]

My "theory" would be spitted in two parts.

-The first consists mainly of the already named arguments, addressing identification with characters.

-The second part would be, that (at least according to my experience) depressed or in any other way socially "damaged" people tend to think a lot about sociology, the essential question, philosophy and so on and so forth. And I guess we can all agree, that EVA is an excellent source for discussion, interpretation and thoughts of this kind.

As for my part: I came because of the hype and stayed because of the two reasons I mentioned.

[pwhodges]

Out of curiosity, what's the reason for your affinity for Shinji?

That's putting me on the line a bit, I guess! If you base this on my choice of avis, note that on other forums I have a randomly served "avatar" which alternates a number of different anime and comic characters (of which Shinji is indeed one of the main ones); but I may have made remarks that support your suggestion as well.

Well, um... I recognise his sense of being put-upon, and I do have a tendency to keep myself to myself - but that's not to the extent of being reclusive these days; I function normally in my job (which is support, so means dealing with people), sing in (and help run) a choir, get lively at parties (though I tend to resist going to them). So the flaws I'm aware of are not to an extent such that I would call myself damaged - it's just where I am on a spectrum of normality which is wider than some people like to admit (for instance, I have considerable reservations about diagnoses of things like ADHD and ASD conditions in some children that I consider normal even if inconveniently hard to look after!).

But I will admit that I would probably have been correctly described as reclusive during my teens*, until I went to university; and perhaps some of my current interest in anime in general is a revisiting of that part of my life to fill in some gaps in my experience.

* (for instance, I never had even a date with a girl before I was introduced to my first wife, by a family friend, so that it was almost an arranged marriage - though earlier I did get to go to the cinema and concerts with a female cousin who shortly after became world-famous...)

[MisatoCrush]

Wait, what am I talking about? NGE's popularity in Japan is likely magnified by the lack of father interaction (due to insane working hours).

[Chuckman]

To be truly funny you must know great sadness. That's why I'm such a puckish rogue.

[heavytread]

Define "damaged"

Although until defined I'd say ya more or less.

especially those with selfesteme issues.

[Dataprime]

Define "damaged"

Emotional issues. That would be my guess.

One of the running themes in the show is that many of the characters
were hurt emotionally and struggle to regain trust with others again. Since they were 'betrayed'
once by someone they cared about. Whats to stop another person from doing
the same thing again to them?



So yea.. having emotional damage can really mess a person up.

(One of Evangelion episode titles is called "Hedgehog's Dilemma" and if you look it up,
you can see many of the Eva charterers share this in common)

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I don't suffer from chronic depression, anxiety, loneliness, or anything like that really. I just get sad sometimes. And Eva is kinda there fore that.

At the same time, I don't suffer from chronic BAMF, badassery, pwnage, or "like-a-boss" syndrome either. But Eva is kinda there for that as well. (Until it's not, that is.)

Really I just like challenging material, especially in art. If I just wanted to feel sad, then I would watch Marley and Me or something like that. If I just wanted to feel adrenaline, then I would watch Transformers or something like that.

[driftking18594]

I watched NGE before I knew what it was about, probably because I was spurred into doing so by a guy on an anime thread in a Gran Turismo forum who kept posting pics of Asuka.

However, the whole theme of the "hedgehog's dilemma" resonates quite strongly with me. I suffer from Asperger's (yes, I did use the word "suffer") and I find it nearly impossible to make friends. The whole thought of it makes me feel miserable and on the verge of tears.

[gatotsu911]

Peops around here are pretty fucked up, yeah.

(I'm no exception, mind.)

[heavytread]

Emotional issues. That would be my guess

Under that definition, most definitely.

I'll adimit that these characters seem relateable because they're messed up so much

[Coldwire]

Is there anybody that isn't damaged in a way?

[Gorbatschow]

I'll adimit that these characters seem relateable because they're messed up so much

That's actually the reason why so many people hate Shinji and keep calling him a wimp. Shinji isn't a normal character, he's a realistic character. (at least in NGE) He reacts the same way everyone else would react and not how everyone would except an anime character to react.

The fact, that nearly every character is more or less authentic and "damaged" is a reason why so many people here and in the general fandom are "damaged". I and apparently many others stick to the characters and the show because they (or at least I) feel "understood".