Author: John Oppliger
Source: Anime Nation
Dated: July 20th, 2001
Question:
I was wondering, what is the pull of Neon Genesis Evangelion? To me, it merely seems like cross between normal mecha anime and Xenogears. It's not too terribly original (or is it?) like Cowboy Bebop or Serial Experiments Lain. What is it that people love so much?
Answer:
As with anything, personal evaluations and attraction will vary between viewers, but
there are several reasons why Evangelion deserves a degree of its popularity. Some fans
are put off by Eva's somewhat pretentious cinematic style and "homage" to anime
archetypes, and some fans are deterred from Evangelion by the massive
"over-exposure" the show has received from fans, Gainax and AD Vision. To give
credit where it's due, though, Eva can be said to have simply managed all of its elements
masterfully, and balanced it appeal to its target market perfectly.
Evangelion is simultaneously a character study and a revisionist homage to the traditional
anime giant robot genre. It's not totally accurate to call Eva a "cross between
normal mecha anime and Xenogears," though, because Evangelion was released in Japan 5
years before Xenogears was. As a robot anime Evangelion utilizes the anime cliché of a
teen boy piloting a mecha built by his father to protect the world. This archetype goes as
far back as the giant robot anime of the early 1970s such as Tetsujin 28. Eva expanded
this theme from its appeal to only mecha fans by introducing distinctive looking robots
that didn't move or act like traditional giant robots, and by infusing the series with a
captivating degree of mysticism and symbolism that engenders a greater degree of
intellectual stimulation and involvement than the simple good vs. bad of the "Super
Robot" genre or the heavy political and hierarchal machinations of Gundam.
Further complimenting the exciting and nerve wracking action set pieces and choreography
is a cast of thoroughly diverse and totally fleshed out characters including the brash yet
vulnerable Misato, the outspoken yet haunted Asuka, the enigmatic Rei, the stern and
mysterious Gendo, the personable and double faceted Kaji, the aloof yet passionate
Ritsuko, and the unconfident and timid Shinji who represses a great anger and resentment.
From the main cast to even minor supporting characters, all of the people glimpsed in
Evangelion are distinct, fully characterized individuals. This depth of characterization
and attention to detail makes the cast, and the show, thoroughly affective. Furthermore,
this great diversity of characterization allows any viewer to find relation to and empathy
with at least one character in the series.
The originality of Evangelion isn't its pieces, but the sum of its parts and the
presentation of those parts. Lain may be more esoteric, but in some regards that actually
works against Lain's accessibility. Evangelion deals with lofty concepts, but never strays
too far from literal comprehensibility. Thus unlike Lain, which establishes itself purely
in the realm of theory and academic interaction, Evangelion perfectly balances its
intellectual concepts with primal concerns and conflicts, engaging both the viewer's mind
and heart rather than mind alone, as in Lain, or heart alone, as in Fushigi Yuugi, for
example. Cowboy Bebop may seem to have equal focus on character as Evangelion, but doesn't
provide the depth of character analysis that Eva does. Series like Berserk and Fushigi
Yuugi, which do present characters of the depth, diversity and fragility of Evangelion
simply don't employ this characterization within the context of immediately identifiable
genre and situation. While Eva places the viewer into the context of religion and family
dispute and adolescence- all fairly identifiable circumstances for most viewers, Berserk
establishes the foreign context of a barbaric, medieval European war, and Fushigi Yuugi
establishes the foreign context of a stranger in a strange land.
Not everyone will or even should like Evangelion. The series should appeal to those, and
only those who appreciate its strengths in characterization and action that's
simultaneously instinctively primal and intellectually engaging. At the same time, that's
not to say that the sheer fanaticism commonly associated with Evangelion is totally
justified. Evangelion is a technically masterful series, but to blindly consider it the
greatest anime series ever is to ignore, overlook or otherwise sacrifice the experience of
far too many other equally deserving and equally, if not more so technically and
passionately superior anime series.