MARATHON:Ever watched Eva start to finish?

[Halicat]

If I get some time off work, [Maybe at Easter] I plan to marathon 1-26 and EoE and MAYBE 0.1 and 0.2. I've only managed to watch 1-26 over three days [Curse you job!]

[Zeruel]

I did it stupidly the first time I ever watched it. I got the black box set perfect collection by adv for x-mas along with EoE and Death and Rebirth and I started at like 8 at night and didn't finish till 6 or 7 the next morning...........what a mistake that was, didn't understand anything and being 15 at the time didn't help either........

[scarmullet]

I did it once. I was fixing some stuff at the time. I was repairing NES consoles, Famicom Disk Systems, my moms DVD recorder, the works. I have mild ADD, I cant just sit and watch an Anime, after an episode or two, I get bored even if I like the show.

[unholyagent]

I tried once, I made it through the entire series but fell asleep halfway through EOE

[MisatoCrush]

I'm sorry about bringing back all these really old posts, but all the new threads that I want to create have already been spoken about in these ancient threads. Please let me know if this is annoying and I will stop.

Re the OP:
I did a quasi-marathon over a few days, Japanese language with English subs.

But I was kind of conflicted about watching it all so fast.
After the first few episodes I knew I really liked the show.

Is it a bad thing to watch it all so fast for the first viewing?
Isn't it better to stretch it out over a few weeks or months and actually savor it?
Did I spoil or sully my experience by watching everything so quickly?

[Gorbatschow]

Is it a bad thing to watch it all so fast for the first viewing?
Isn't it better to stretch it out over a few weeks or months and actually savor it?
Did I spoil or sully my experience by watching everything so quickly?

It's kind of a double-edged sword. I watched it my second time in a marathon (11 hours more or less straight and it was really depressing. (I really liked that) ) If you watch it in a marathon (And stay "concentrated") you get the best impression of the emotional qualities, characters and sociological elements of the of show, although it can be hard to get a clue what's going in the background story. (It's almost impossible to understand "Angels, NERV, Fruits, SEELE, Instrumentality, etc. on the first run, anyway)

If I would be able to watch EVA again, without any foreknowledge, I'd choose the first run to be a marathon (To bet hit in the face by the character development, sociological and emotional elements) and the second run to be based on 3-4 episodes a day (To understand the background story and sub-text). This would be my solution the understand and enjoy all layers (Plot(s), Characters, Sub-Text) as comfortable as possible. So, you're on the best way to understand "completely". IMO

[CJD]

As I've stated before, marathoning it is how I watched it both my first and second viewings (and kind of my third and fourth).

I'm sorry about bringing back all these really old posts, but all the new threads that I want to create have already been spoken about in these ancient threads. Please let me know if this is annoying and I will stop.

Don't apologize for it. Bringing back these old threads also has the benefit of bringing their attention to new users who never saw them, giving them a chance to respond.

[Gorbatschow]

Don't apologize for it. Bringing back these old threads also has the benefit of bringing their attention to new users who never saw them, giving them a chance to respond.

Excactly I'm quite thankful to see these threads.

[NemZ]

Personally I think it's better to break it up by quarters/arcs (1-7/8-13/14-21/22-26[or 22'-EoE]) as that let's you enjoy each chunk of the story more for what it is and gives a more concrete narrative direction to each 'movement'. Doing it this way blunts the sharp tonal changes Shinji would be going through emotionally, yes, but it's a much better user experience.

If giving yourself a bad case of 'teh feels' is your goal, however, by all means watch it all in a row.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Watched it all the way through in one night. I can honestly say that it was the worst idea that I've ever had.

Next time I marathon it like that, it will be when the sun is shining and the flowers are singing.

[Sephizim]

I came close twice. Upon my very first viewing of the series, I marathon'd episodes 14-23 (up until that point I was watching it on a shitty DVD player that made even watching a single episode without interruption nearly impossible). Years later, I introduced it to two of my friends over a weekend. We watched OA 1-26, then did the NPC episodes, then Death, then EoE. I can't remember at what point we stopped on the first day (it was pretty early on) and then we stopped at 26 on the second day, then did the NPC episodes and movies on the last day. Even that was an interesting experience. Tried to show them the first two Rebuild movies after that, but, as they put it, they were "too EVA-ed out."

One of these days I'll watch it start to finish. Without stopping it would take somewhere around 13-14 hours (to do it the way I described above), so that is totally doable.

[Giji Shinka]

I've only marathoned all three Eva films. (Two times)

[MisatoCrush]

We watched OA 1-26, then did the NPC episodes, then Death, then EoE.

Hi. Could you explain some acronyms for me the newb?
OA 1-26...original airing?
NPC?

[NemZ]

OA would be the original series as broadcast, yes. NPC is the new production cut, also labeled DC (director's cut) or just denoted with a '. Episodes 21-24 of the series were altered before video release in many ways, some small and some blatant.

[Sephizim]

Hi. Could you explain some acronyms for me the newb?
OA 1-26...original airing?
NPC?

Ah, sorry. I've been thinking entirely in abbreviations due to all my work on music stuff in the wiki.

OA: On-Air version. This is pretty much used to describe the normal versions of the episodes. I don't know offhand if it also refers to the pre-Renewal versions (Renewal being the restored and revamped version from the early-to-mid 2000's). I use it to distinguish from NPC which stands for New Production Cut. Its a fancy way of referring to the 4 "director's cut" episodes (which are episodes 21', 22', 23' and 24'). Those are found on the American Platinum releases of the series, as well as a few other places.

The reason I describe watching the series like that is because as I see it, the OA versions of 21-24 lead into episodes 25 and 26 of the series. Then, looping back to episodes 21'-24' leads better into the movies (since the next episode preview in 24' is for episode 25', the first half of End of Evangelion). I include Death because I will argue to the ends of the earth that it is necessary to watch, and then you have a more seamless transition into the movies.

However, I'm just thorough. Supplanting the OA versions of those four episodes with the NPC ones, and then watching EoE after episode 26 is also valid too. I guess.

EDIT: Wow, beaten to the punch mere seconds before I posted my reply. Well done, sir.

EDIT 2: Or 4 minutes actually. Huh, your reply didn't show up in the little box below when I went to preview my post...

[MisatoCrush]

Thanks for helping the new kid.

[AngelNo13Bardiel]

First time through, it took me a week to watch it through (series--Death/Rebirth--EoE). Turns out I was just pacing myself, now that I look back on it in hindsight.

After that, marathons were the only way to do it. You can't just watch one episode/volume. As far as to how many? Um...let's see...I'd have to say it's near two dozen by now, give or take a margin error of two or three (I can't recall an exact number).

[NemZ]

The reason I describe watching the series like that is because as I see it, the OA versions of 21-24 lead into episodes 25 and 26 of the series. Then, looping back to episodes 21'-24' leads better into the movies (since the next episode preview in 24' is for episode 25', the first half of End of Evangelion). I include Death because I will argue to the ends of the earth that it is necessary to watch, and then you have a more seamless transition into the movies.

I'm with you on all of this, save Death. With the DC episodes already containing all the new footage and more there's no need for it... it's just a recap, much like the first half of 14. At least 14 has a framing story that actually matters however, unlike Death's rather pointless string quartet that can't possibly fit in anywhere in the narrative.

[Gorbatschow]

I'm with you on all of this, save Death. With the DC episodes already containing all the new footage and more there's no need for it... it's just a recap, much like the first half of 14. At least 14 has a framing story that actually matters however, unlike Death's rather pointless string quartet that can't possibly fit in anywhere in the narrative.

The best about Death is the complete lack of tension or a golden thread. And a friend of mine watched the first time he wanted to watch Evangelion, Death and after that EoE.

The theories he had were quite ... interesting

[Sephizim]

I'm with you on all of this, save Death. With the DC episodes already containing all the new footage and more there's no need for it... it's just a recap, much like the first half of 14. At least 14 has a framing story that actually matters however, unlike Death's rather pointless string quartet that can't possibly fit in anywhere in the narrative.

Like I said, I'm thorough. The way I see it, a lot of thought and effort was put into making Death, and even though the content of the DC episodes was excised from the version of Death we have available, I still feel like it was always intended to be an essential part of the viewing experience. It is another connection to Ideon, where the first movie was also a recap. Is it necessary for the viewing experience? No. But if you want to be thorough, yeah, it should be watched. Otherwise they wouldn't keep releasing it as part of the lineup. But that's just my opinion, and I will always fiercely defend that movie.