I enjoy the 'fragmentation' of it...it's what I would expect from a group of 14 year olds who, let alone are still trying to understand themselves, are expected to go out and save the world from batches of Angels hell-bent on destroying the planet. Of all the pilots, Shinjii seems to be the worse off due to his sexual repression and tramatic childhood.
Eh, it's a hard toss-up between Shinji, Asuka, and Misato for the most traumatized of the characters... though Asuka and Misato had the most tragic pasts out of all of them.
He's a textbook fredian case and, if I recall correctly, CN edited his pseudo-rape of Asuka.
Uh, there was no pseudo-rape of any kind during the series. There was a certain hospital scene during the movie that held other implications, though...
If what you expect is an anime involving very little thinking and a clear plotline, then, obviously, animes such as Evangelion and Key the Metal Idol will be confusing for you. These animes are not so much in the business to tell you a 'kick-arse' story, but to expose the human psyche(or non-human in the case of Key).
The more I hear about it, the more interested I become. Would you fully recommend
Key the Metal Idol?
Punisher said:
Man, I love this show. I saw it after most of the internet had, and so it was hard to go anywhere without having the series spoiled for me. But still, even after knowing what would happen, it is a damn good anime. I don't see why so many people hate it-it's not a mecha show. The drama is first, the action is second. Shinji is not the worst character ever, simply because he has an excuse for the way he acs. Think about all that he went though in his life.
I would say that he is one of, if not arguably the most realistic protagonist that you'll find in anime. People who criticize him and label him off as "a whiny emo kid" reveal more about themselves than the character.
I'm actually waiting for my End of Eva dvd to ship to my house.
If you have not watched it yet... well, sit back and be amazed.
XBebop said:
One thing I think they should have left out of End of Evangelion: [spoil]The Shinji masturbation scene. Was it really useful to have that in? >.<[/spoil]
Yeah, it was. In a way, it served to two points as it showed Shinji's desperation at that point, not to mention his another one of his attempts to only reach out to Asuka when she isn't even awake to face him (until the end of the movie, that is). Plus, on the other side of the spectrum, while the movie was hardly Anno's revenge against the fans (a foolish idea that is pure bullsh*t), that scene also revealed the director's personal disgust with otaku. We have a female, unable to do anything, treated and glorified as a sex object, and something that is out of reach is something that otaku get off on. Rightfully, I think Anno's representation is rather appropriate, and Shinji's sentiments sum it up the best.
On that note, I find it interesting that we have numerous scenes of nudity, violence, blood, suggestive scenes, etc. and yet so many people are more repulsed by that hospital scene. I'm not really disgusted by that scene, but rather saddened by it.
Cutiebunny said:
Hence, Shinjii's 'pseudo-rape' of Asuka is, in my opinion, an act of the new Shinjii...Shinjii is becoming a man, but there are still many parts missing...and they probably always be due to the childhood he's experienced.
So you were referring to that? Honestly, we don't quite know what Shinji was thinking of when he did that deed, other than what lay before. There is quite a difference between masturbating and masturbating while getting off on the idea. Shinji's act was more along the lines of the childish and immature views that both he and Asuka ironically had throughout the story, and for the boy, it was like a presentation of something he liked, took it, and by the end of it, Shinji himself feels even more pathetic than he did to begin with.
(Though, Anno did use that term loosely once, so... meh.)