Introducing Others to Evangelion

[carla]

^ my mother would flip if i ever showed her episode 16. in fact, 15 would definitely be a safer choice, and i think she would actually like something like that. but then she'd be expecting the rest of the show to be like that and... yeah. it really depends on the personality of the parent, i think.

this is, of course, not taking into account that she wouldn't understand a thing if i start from the middle of the series. do you guys usually introduce people to EVA out of order? curious. i never thought about doing it that way. i guess it's because i caught it mid-series and didn't understand what the hell was going on. and of course, i've never really tried to introduce someone to EVA, not really.

i find it interesting that many of you have mentioned your fathers don't care what you watch or feel any need to watch it with you. i find that funny because i don't think my dad even has any idea what anime is-- i'm pretty sure he didn't even watch any of it when he was a kid. my mom has told me she knew and liked astroboy and mazinger and stuff like that, but i don't think my dad even had access to those. so now when he hears my brother and i speaking about anime or catches a glimpse of one while channel surfing, he doesn't even know what the difference between that and regular cartoons is. my poor, uninformed father...

[TehDonutKing]

Don't start in the middle. That's stupid.

[Killer Bee]

Don't start in the middle. That's stupid.

I think what they're saying is to start with an episode you think would get your parent(s) hooked, then start from the beginning. It would be to keep them from losing interest in the beginning because they'd know it gets better. And I say this as someone who absolutely refuses to watch/read/play anything out of order.

[planet news]

Nothing wrong with that. I like the idea.

For me, I think all I need to do is hype it up critically. Keep saying things like "universally hailed as the best anime of all time". I have to be careful though, because maybe they'll be let down by the first few episodes.

[carla]

lol, well, the only "horrible" part of ep. 16 is unit-01 bursting out of leliel in a shower of blood-- my mother isn't too fond of gory stuff, you see. but i don't think she'd much appreciate the rest of the episode either, since it consists mostly of Shinji sitting in his eva, contemplating the meaning of his existence. those are things i could maybe convince her to watch if she was already hooked, but i couldn't really introduce her to the series using that.

I think what they're saying is to start with an episode you think would get your parent(s) hooked, then start from the beginning. It would be to keep them from losing interest in the beginning because they'd know it gets better. And I say this as someone who absolutely refuses to watch/read/play anything out of order.

i also usually resist to watch things out of order. i've gotten used to it, though, because i always wind up catching things halfway through because i keep forgetting. and then i have to download or look it up online to see the series from the top. for example, i got hooked on EVA by the visual of unit-01 eating zeruel in episode 19. needless to say, my mother would not appreciate that scene like i did.

and she gets really put off by stuff she doesn't understand-- she isn't like me in that respect, when i don't understand something it intrigues me so i keep watching, but my mom tends to give it up, instead. if i showed her an episode midway through the series, she probably wouldn't understand most of it, and the sensation of the series being "weird and incomprehensible" would stick with her even if i could somehow convince her to start from the top after all. that's why i said it really depends on the parent's personality, i guess.

with my mom, after much thinking about this, i just decided it was better not to try and introduce her to EVA-- she's not bothered by my watching it as it is, she knows i watch "weird stuff" like that and she doesn't mind, but i wouldn't want to try and get her to watch the "weird stuff" and have her end up thinking there's something wrong with me. i don't really mind that she doesn't like what i like, to be honest. it's the way most things work in my household.

still, if i had to show her one episode, i would definitely choose 15, i think. it's the closest to romance/drama we get in this series.

[SaltyJoe]

I'm pretty sure that my parents are 100% Eva incompatible.

My father has a thing for ships and trains like Anno, though. Maybe if i just showed him the parts that feature either of those....

[Sachi]

I got my mother to watch Evangelion at one point. She liked it, and for a few days we discussed some of the motives of the characters, the details only touched upon in the series, and a few other things, and we haven't really talked at all about it since. However, I think it has improved her appreciation for anime as a whole.

[Assasinate]

anime for KIDS??? how about some ECCHI stuff out there

[Mr. Tines]

anime for KIDS??? how about some ECCHI stuff out there

When things are tagged as "parental advisory" that means you are in general best advised not to bother your parents with it.

[Sun Stealer]

I'm pretty sure that my parents are 100% Eva incompatible.

My father has a thing for ships and trains like Anno, though. Maybe if i just showed him the parts that feature either of those....

By ships and trains, do you mean literal ships and trains or shipping and I can't remember what trains represent?

[SaltyJoe]

^ The literal ones.

[Combs]

I got my dad to watch 1.0 in theatres
If your parents aren't that christian/ conservative it should be fine

2.0 however looks to be a problem :\

[Killer Bee]

2.0 however looks to be a problem :\

Because of the pointless deluge of fanservice or because it would be hard for him to follow the plot?

[cd603]

dude, try getting your non-anime loving friends to watch it, then move on to your parents...

[shinji_ryoji_89]

My brother does this little anime screening at our house. Partly as a way to beat boredom, but also to get family and friends into anime and Evangelion is one of the anime he has been showing.

My father who absolutely hated what he saw of EoE and fell asleep during You are (not) alone, was in the room when my brother was showing the Jet Alone episode and he was strangely intrigued.

Yesterday I made fun of him, telling him that now he sees how awesome Eva is. He didn't confirm or deny it, but that usually means that he did enjoy it. Although he did say "How come that girl (Misato) is not fat or anything? A girl her age who drinks that much beer doesn't look that good"

[Eva]

I talk to my mom a lot about it, and she seems sort of interested. Showing her it would be a whole different story, though.

[thomson777]

using comic books eh? I never thought of relating them to convince my father that anime isn't evil due to unethical characters and lack of censorship (he doesn't know the difference between anime, dojin, and hentai witch will be pretty hard to explain considering he knows they exist.)

[KnightmareX13]

My mom wouldn't understand any of it, but would go berserk once she sees some of the nudity scenes, my dad why be confused and think I am crazy. so it would be safe to say I am not going to introduce them to the series anytime soon.

[Eva Yojimbo]

My mom... would go berserk once she sees some of the nudity scenes, .

Why?

[Fazmotron]

Why?

Because KnightmareX13 is actually only 7 years old.