Evangelion 3.33 Review

[CrypticMirror]

I've since come to the conclusion that Evangelion is deliberately made more obtuse, impenetrable, or unsatisfactory, everytime the fanbase starts to get too reverent or too on the ball in figuring it out. It is the ultimate practical joke on its own fanbase. It is like how Chuck posits that everytime Voyager showrunners heard "we want less Neelix" they responded with "Sure, here's more Neelix", only with Eva it is on purpose instead of cluelessness.

[MithrandirOlorin]

Chuck complains a lot about being confused by the Lore, but the problem is the Lore was never as important as the hardcore fans wanted it to be.

I recommend watching the YouTube video called The Curse of Evangelion, by a YouTuber who's name is a Period.

Yeah I watched it and now I kinda dislike Eva even more. Oh, yeah, sure, escapism is bad, all these characters actually not being total shit heels is wrong and you fell for it, being shitty asshole people is inevitable, joy is stupid, having fun is self-destructive, cynicism and accepting the world as is and being a closed off asshole is preferable. Don't rely on others ever, cynicism this, nihilism that.

Sorry, I don't like being told I'm a terrible person for enjoying escapist fiction or wanting characters who aren't total pieces of shit who make me hate them merely by existing. You know, the more I try to understand Eva, the more I realize I'm never going to like it because its various themes, beliefs and narrative choices are completely opposite of my own beliefs and I find that offensive to me.

I didn't watch that video, but if that's what you get from it, then I think it got some serious problems...

Like, "escapism is bad, you're a terrible person for enjoying escapist fiction" ? Really? From Anno? The guy who made escapism fiction himself? The guy who chatted with dojin artists on the topic of how to draw better fapping material base on his creations?

"being a closed off asshole is preferable." In a show that ended with stop being closed off and still keeping hope in having contact with other people... right....

In which part of the show will you even get that kind of massage?

I do not know how they got that from the Video, he's clearly predicating a happy optimistic resolution in the 4th movie.

[Carvor]

I've since come to the conclusion that Evangelion is deliberately made more obtuse, impenetrable, or unsatisfactory, everytime the fanbase starts to get too reverent or too on the ball in figuring it out. It is the ultimate practical joke on its own fanbase. It is like how Chuck posits that everytime Voyager showrunners heard "we want less Neelix" they responded with "Sure, here's more Neelix", only with Eva it is on purpose instead of cluelessness.

I wouldn't go so far, I personally like all the rebuilds despite their obtuseness, or perhaps because of it. For me anyway, a large part of the enjoyment I get from EVA is theorizing and discussing the various things that appear in the series, and the rebuilds have certainly done that from my perspective. I really enjoy stuff like the sequel theory, but obviously, this type of enjoyment requires one to be pretty involved in the community, and it is very dependant on my own subjective viewpoint. But nevertheless, simply dismissing the entire series as being "deliberately made more obtuse, impenetrable, or unsatisfactory" seems overly harsh, and I can't really think of any evidence to support it.

[Gruntagen]

Oh, yeah, sure, escapism is bad, all these characters actually not being total shit heels is wrong and you fell for it, being shitty asshole people is inevitable, joy is stupid, having fun is self-destructive, cynicism and accepting the world as is and being a closed off asshole is preferable. Don't rely on others ever, cynicism this, nihilism that.

Sorry, I don't like being told I'm a terrible person for enjoying escapist fiction or wanting characters who aren't total pieces of shit who make me hate them merely by existing. You know, the more I try to understand Eva, the more I realize I'm never going to like it because its various themes, beliefs and narrative choices are completely opposite of my own beliefs and I find that offensive to me.

Dude, wrong interpretation. It’s not about saying “escapism is wrong, resign yourself to an Apollonian existence”, it’s about saying “don’t close yourself off to the rest of the world by reliving fantasies or happy memories in your mind, there’s so much more that you can do.”

That to live is to suffer, but that shouldn’t mean you should suffer alone.

[Rodan56]

I'm only repeating what the damn video said, "Don't indulge in Escapism", "Eva's characters being actual characters with development instead of being annoying sad sacks is evidence of something being wrong!", "The happy girl who just wants to keep her spirits up is more evidence of something being horrible", "The movie is giving you what you always wanted and it's horrible! You're horrible for wanting this. See? See! The movie has fooled you all! It's giving you the finger and fooling you!" Yeah, fuck that. Sorry, you can't blame me for how the guy who made the video presented his argument.

Dude, wrong interpretation. It’s not about saying “escapism is wrong, resign yourself to an Apollonian existence”, it’s about saying “don’t close yourself off to the rest of the world by reliving fantasies or happy memories in your mind, there’s so much more that you can do.”

That to live is to suffer, but that shouldn’t mean you should suffer alone.

Well, that's what the guy who made the video said, "Escapism bad, reality good." more or less his exact words. If you have a problem with that interpretation take it up with the creator of the video. His entire video sounded like a BS excuse to slip into nihilist cynicism and any other viewpoint meant you were selfish, stupid and shallow. That was what he argued was the message of Eva, not me.

Oh, and as for claiming "I just want a happy ending", buddy, one of my favorite animes is Black Lagoon, which is pretty much one giant "Every character in this is doomed" story. The difference is I want the the characters to get better, despite knowing they won't. I don't care enough about Eva to want anyone to be happy, because they're all horrible people. Shinji is a self-absorbed whiny shit who won't get over himself in favor of saving the lives of others. Meanwhile, everyone forces him to do this shit when he is very clearly not suited for it. Asuka is an asshole. Rei is a blank slate. Misato barely cares. The plot itself is nonsensical and constantly running over itself. I don't care about EVA having a happy ending because I've never cared about Eva to begin with. Now, I finally see a version of it I could like in these movies and apparently the movies are giving me the finger for wanting the series be more like this.

I'll grant EVA as a landmark series which did a lot for the genre. I don't have to like it though because everything I see about makes me less and less interested in really bothering. Now, one guy's interpreation claims that it's a giant anti-escapism screed and that has only turned me more off. At best, before, I saw EVA as a depressing series that was too far up its own ass for me to care about with characters that only served to piss me off because they all sucked. And the more and more I heard about it, the more I knew I'd hate it.

Again, don't blame me for this interpretation. The video I watched literally said "Escapism is wrong, don't do it." I turned it off at that point because I was now sickened by the fact these movies are essentially a longer version of that scene from One More Day where the older fat version of Peter Parker rants about how sad and pathetic people who enjoy escapist fiction are. And this guy was praising them for it. Screw that shit.

At least I still like Shin-Godzilla, that one actually has a decent message.

[MithrandirOlorin]

He is not a Nihilist but rather an existentialist, like Joss Whedon.

[Gruntagen]

I knew that video would be saying something stupid. Goddammit, Mith.

Dude, when people link videos in an attempt to explain a show for people who haven’t even watched it, don’t watch those videos. Maybe try watching the show proper, see what you can get out of it. Then once you’re done that, look for Demolition D’s videos on Evangelion instead.

[Draco Dracul]

I've since come to the conclusion that Evangelion is deliberately made more obtuse, impenetrable, or unsatisfactory, everytime the fanbase starts to get too reverent or too on the ball in figuring it out. It is the ultimate practical joke on its own fanbase. It is like how Chuck posits that everytime Voyager showrunners heard "we want less Neelix" they responded with "Sure, here's more Neelix", only with Eva it is on purpose instead of cluelessness.

Hell a lot of the stuff in End of Evangelion was Anno's spite toward the fan-base due to them being mad about the complete non-ending of the series proper.

[MithrandirOlorin]

I don't necessary agree with his breakdown, I simply finds the best video summarizing Eva. I'd seen all of Eva already before that video existed.

Demolition D couldn't even review Candy Boy properly.

[Gruntagen]

Okay, that’s it, Mith. I’m holding you personally responsible for shooing Rodan away from Evangelion. Your opinions are terrible and you should feel bad.