Will be scarred for life in two days.

[Midori]

Come monday morning, I will be viewing the infamous End of Evangelion. Iv'e seen small chunks of it, but never the whole thing in order.
Anyone have any tips on how to handle/understand/survive this sudden rush of insanity?

[UrsusArctos]

Live on. And do your best to forget the scene in the hospital.

[Midori]

-headdesk- Haha, yeah, I already saw that. Needless to say, I still use it whenever I feel like sending my other Eva fan friend into a frenzy.

... It was quite "effed up" as Shinji likes to put it.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Watched it subbed (although there are a few translation mistakes) and don't listen to Manga's stupid commentary. It'll just fill your head with misinformation or blatant BS. ("There's no word for "I" in Japanese?" )

[Midori]

Watched it subbed (although there are a few translation mistakes) and don't listen to Manga's stupid commentary. It'll just fill your head with misinformation or blatant BS. ("There's no word for "I" in Japanese?" )

I'm generally not a big fan of dubs, so I'll make sure to do that. I assume EoE entails a lot of screaming, and since I despise Spike Spencer's screaming skills, I'll go for the jap audio even more.

[UrsusArctos]

If it's screaming you want, Shinji's Japanese VA won't leave you disappointed.

[jim_loves_randy]

I'd say watch it a few more times if you can to try and get most of it.

[MatrixRefugee]

I know I'm going to be dubbed a masochist for admitting to this, but...

I watched EoE before I watched the rest of the series.

[Otakon 08 Ikari]

Do acid before watching it and save yourself the time. Its a great movie though....lawl..Hospital scene.

[Semisubtle]

Same with me, and I was completely lost and confused, as can be expected. But hey, it didn't ruin the series for me, and that's what counts.

[CorporalChaos]

When I watched it, I watched it twice, one to get the gist of what was going on, and again to look for the little stuff I might have missed. Except for the live action part, which gets a little murky with what was going on, the movie was fairly straightforward. To me, its not really a mindfuck, just brutal.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Also, just a slight fyi: Before I saw the movie I read reviews saying it gave people nightmares. While it somehow didn't affect me, I felt I should let you know.

[TheAyanamiOtaku]

I was war whooping and applauding like madness at the end. My parents got mad at me.

[slothen]

Watch it in a dark room, with NO DISRUPTIONS. Have a blanket handy. Also, having crazy expectations that it'll make you hallucinate and freak out and have nightmares won't make it a good experience. Just watch it expecting to learn something about the story and the characters.

[jim_loves_randy]

it gave people nightmares.

Really? That's just silly.

[ZapX]

I don't like Eva (I think it's one of the worst series I've seen) but my girlfriend, Konata, likes it and she says this about it:

The secret of Evangelion is that they took super robot pilots and reversed their genders. If Rei was male, he’d be the awesomely silent/cool/calm guy. When he rushes that angel with an N2 mine under his arm sacrificing his life … that is the scene where MANLY TEARS flow for A MAN’S WAY OF LIFE AND DEATH. Asuka, if a man, would be an awesomely HOT BLOODED pilot. And pervy with his advances on Shinji, but a little tsundere. And Shinji, as a weak little girl, as a girl, puts it into context. You’d be fapping furiously to Shinjiko every night because of her shy demeanor. And with girl Kaworu, Shinji x Kaworu would be amazingly hot.
Shinjiko has been called to NERV by her estranged father, called to pilot the EVA. She is reluctant, lashes at her father and says why had she been abandoned. Gendo silently orders ManRei to resume piloting. Manrei comes out, arm in cast, bandage over face. He stoically lifts himself from the hospital bed, ready to fight on.

This is the part where your eyes moisten, for this MAN OF MEN will FIGHT TO DIE, Silent to Death, bound to duty. And yet... only a weak little girl abandoned by her father can face the killer angels in his place. And imagine the reaction to star HOT BLOODED pilot Mansuka, kicking ass and ass kicking angel killer, saving Shinjiko's ass here and there, but she's catching up. She's caught up. She's surpassed him. Out does him consistantly, leaves him behind. For a man who swore to be the best of best, to be second to none, swore on the death of his mother who never loved him... outdone by a timid weak little girl. That would drive him mad, frustrated, furious, psychotic.

That's the secret to understanding Evangelion according to her. I'd just not watch it. Pretentious and overrated.

[Ramiel²]

I think you should watch it once with dubs to get the content ,and once with original jap. dub to get the authentic feeling and the looking up for the details.

Allthough i've watchen it allready more then 10 times(with friends,familiy etc.) and i don't think i understand all of it.
So let it overwhelm you ,Only a few Storys/movies/anime had managed to get me this blown away feeling, therefore enjoy it as much as you can, it is worth it!

[BobBQ]

I watched EoE, said "Huh" and got on with my life.

Kids these days, no spine at all...

[V]

my one big tip: Shinji's opening scene at Asuka's bedside....a lot of people mistake that for part of the "actual movie"

it's really the creators raising a middle finger to the fapboy fans, as if to say "THIS is what you are! You didn't care about the wonderful story we creaeted! All you cared about was the hot girls! You didn't treat them as characters! You should be ashamed of yourselves! Screw you!"

but beyond that, it's pretty straightforward (Keep in mind, when I say its "straightforward" this is coming from a guy who read Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End" ahead of time)

[Mr. Tines]

but beyond that, it's pretty straightforward

Precisely -- if you've read enough SF, then the ground will be familiar. I put most of the miscomprehension that this movie spawns to a lack of suitable pre-reading.

That said, it is still one of the most emotionally raw pieces of cinema I have seen.