WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Neon Genesis Evangelion, now streaming on Netflix.
So, you've just watched Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix and you have no idea what that was all about. On the surface, Evangelion is a giant robot anime in which teenage pilots controlling the gigantic Eva Series battle monsters known as Angels, frequently fighting under a ticking clock for dramatic purposes.
About halfway through the series, however, Neon Genesis Evangelion gets straight-up weird. Maybe you were following along, only to be bamboozled by the transforming Spear of Longinus, that one live-action shot of a movie theater or everyone suddenly bursting into orange Fanta. Whatever gave you pause -- you are not alone.
Sep 28, 2013 Confused by Evangelion? Look no further than this viewer's guide to figuring out the order of watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and all its movies! Jun 27, 2019 Here’s a question-and-answer guide to everything you need to know about the 26-episode anime and its two movies, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death &. The development of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series ran close to deadlines throughout its production run. The initial cuts of the first two episodes were screened at the second Gainax festival in July 1995, only three months before they were aired on television. By episode 13 the series began to deviate significantly from the original story, and the initial script was abandoned. 53 rows Complementary ending. The complementary ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion is first teased in Rebirth, the second half of the theatrical film Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth. Rebirth comprises the first twenty-five minutes of Episode 25' and ends as the Mass Production Evangelions under the control of SEELE sortie to combat Asuka under command of NERV.
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See, Neon Genesis Evangelion is deliberately abstract. For starters, the show gradually gets metaphysical, with the overarching hidden plot advancing in easy-to-miss details. Likewise, nonsensical jargon like 'Pilot's response is verging on infinite zero!' is often sprinkled in for hyperbolic set dressing. Furthermore, most of the supplemental material for Evangelion exists as Classified Information: a (somewhat) canonical compendium originally available in 2003's Japan-exclusive Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 for Playstation 2.
Even if you caught every detail in Evangelion, however, the series still demands the viewer to garner their own interpretation. To quote series creator Hideaki Anno: 'Evangelion is like a puzzle, you know. Any person can see it and give his/her own answer. In other words, we're offering viewers to think by themselves, so that each person can imagine his/her own world. We will never offer the answers, even in the theatrical version... Don't expect to get answers by someone. Don't expect to be catered to all the time. We all have to find our own answers.'
While Hideaki Anno expects you to find your own answers, we've deep-dived into everything Evangelion to give you a cheat sheet on its most confusing parts.
THE PANTHEON OF EVANGELION
In the beginning, there was the First Ancestral Race or 'FAR.' Facing extinction, these ancient aliens created the Seeds of Life: seven progenitors to carry on in FAR's stead, traveling throughout the cosmos in moon-shaped spaceships to sow the galaxy with life.
Two kinds of Seeds of Life exist: The black Fruit of Knowledge Seeds spawn progeny with a high intellect, like humans. Alternatively, the white Fruit of Life Seeds create lifeforms with enhanced physical abilities, like the Angels.
If a Fruit of Life Seed were to perform a 'forbidden fusion' with a Fruit of Knowledge Seed, then the resulting entity would be almost as powerful as the First Ancestral Race. Thus, FAR stipulated that no two Seeds should ever propagate a single planet. As a fail-safe, each Seed is assigned a Spear of Longinus, a sentient weapon that can hinder a Seed's growth.
Of course, two Seeds of Life wound up on Earth: Earth's designated Seed, Adam of the White Moon, landed first, with his Moon/Egg becoming our Moon. Before Adam-based life -- the Angels -- could form however, Lilith of the Black Moon crashed on Earth, setting off all Lilith-based life, or 'Lilim,' in an event known as First Impact.
The crash encrusts Lilith's Black Moon in the Earth as the Geofront, but destroys Lilith's Spear of Longinus. Adam's Spear fixes the situation by impaling Adam, holding him in stasis for billions of years. Meanwhile, Lilith spreads her blood -- LCL -- across the globe to serve as the primordial soup of life.
Led by Misato's father, the Katsuragi Expedition unearths Adam in the Antarctic in the year 2000, removing his Spear of Longinus. A 'Contact Experiment' is conducted, wherein Adam makes contact with human DNA. This joining of a Fruit of Life Seed with a Fruit of Knowledge based organism results in a cataclysmic explosion known as the Second Impact. Re-impaling Adam with the Spear reduces him to an embryonic form, but the damage is already done. After the ensuing chaos and global climate change, over half of humanity has been eliminated.
THE HUMAN INSTRUMENTALITY PROJECT
The true antagonists of Evangelion, SEELE ('Soul' in German) is an Illuminati-style organization whose sole purpose is to help mankind reach divinity by triggering Third Impact to fulfil the Human Instrumentality Project.
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Following the prophecy of the Dead Sea Scrolls, SEELE believes that since Adam was meant to be Earth's Seed of Life, Adam's progeny -- the Angels -- should inherit the planet as opposed to Lilith's progeny, humanity.
Just as Shinji seeks a means of connecting to other people, the Human Instrumentality Project would unite humanity as a single organism by disrupting the A.T. Fields that separate entities from one another, thus eliminating conflict and pain as humanity becomes a singular sea of LCL.
While Gendo serves SEELE, he secretly plans to trigger Third Impact on his own accord to reunite with his wife, Yui. Yui conducted a 'Contact Experiment' of her own with the Eva Unit-01, purposely binding her soul to its core.
After losing Yui, Gendo uses both Yui and Lilith's DNA to create Rei Ayanami, raising her as a combined daughter/puppet. As a result of her unique biology, Rei houses the soul of Lilith. Similarly, after his body was reduced to an embryo, Adam's soul was reborn into Kaworu, a humanoid Angel and agent of SEELE who can manipulate time and space.
THE MANY ENDINGS OF EVANGELION
For the final two episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, we are informed via exposition that the Human Instrumentality Project is apparently underway, 'but there is not enough time to record all that took place in this process,' which is just lazy storytelling. Compare Evangelion's postmodern arthouse film of a final episode to its action-packed pilot and it's hard to believe they both hail from the same series.
Instead of seeing what the Human Instrumentality Project entails, the final episode is a psychedelic psychotherapy session within Shinji's mind as he debates whether he should remain an individual or accept Instrumentality -- basically, the ending of Mass Effect 3.
Fans were understandably upset with this first finale, so the film Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth was released on March 15th, 1997. Those expecting an explanation were instead treated to a clip show of the first 24 episodes containing deleted scenes and a sneak peek of the actual ending, The End of Evangelion. Fortunately, watching all three finales nets you a cumulative understanding of Evangelion's ending.
THE END OF EVANGELION
Released in 1997, End of Evangelion provided a more 'objective' perspective of what happened during the final two episodes of the original series. Made from Angels, SEELE deploys their mass-produced Evas and the JSSDF to seize control of the original Evas. Desperate, Gendo attempts Third Impact by merging with Rei.
As seen for a split second in Death & Rebirth, Gendo had combined his right hand with the embryonic Adam. Rei refuses to merge, severing Gendo's Adam-hand. Now carrying both the soul of Lilith and the body of Adam, Rei joins with Lilith's body, transforming into a gigantic white Rei, or 'Giant Naked Rei' (GNR) as fans dubbed her. Despite her stature, Lilith appears on biometric scanners as 'human,' which makes sense as Lilith is the source of all human life.
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After using them to kill Asuka, SEELE has their Mass Produced Evas restrict Shinji and Unit-01. Lowering Shinji's A.T. Field by appearing as Kaworu, Lilith makes contact with the Angel-derived Unit-01, joining the Fruit of Life with the Fruit of Knowledge to create the Tree of Life. Connected to all of the souls on Earth from within the Tree, Shinji must decide whether or not humanity should accept Instrumentality.
Essentially, this question posed to Shinji is the Hedgehog's Dilemma, which is the crux of Evangelion: Does a hedgehog/human seeking warmth in others learn how to get achieve closeness in spite of the inevitable pain that others bring, or does the hedgehog just learn how to live alone in the cold?
THE THIRD IMPACT
Unable to deal with the pain that others bring, Shinji chokes out Asuka, signifying that humanity should perish in Instrumentality. This triggers the Third Impact, as Lilith pulls her Black Moon/the Geofront into space, with NERV command still inside.
Lilith opens the Chambers of Guf -- those suggestive slits on her palms -- releasing little red balls of energy. These are essentially emissaries of Lilith resembling Rei, to gather the souls of humanity, starting with the remaining NERV personnel within the Geofront.
These ghastly Reis appear as someone comforting to their targets, getting them to unwittingly lower their A.T. Field so that they may be reverted back into LCL. Everyone is gathered from NERV with the exception of Gendo, who is killed rather than assimilated. Incidentally, three Reis appear before Gendo, representing the three main Rei clones.
The mass produced Angels pierce their S2 engines with their imitation Spears of Longinus, spreading Lilith's Anti-A.T. Field across the globe. The Tree of Life enters Lilith's third eye. Within Lilith, Shinji sees a large egg surrounded by a sea of tiny swimming Reis, basically representing the fertilization of a new world.
THE MOST CONFUSING PART OF EVANGELION
Shinji's life literally flashes before his eyes as we get one last rapid-fire clip show, overlaid with supporting characters hating on Shinji. Suddenly, we're in a live-action sequence of Tokyo.
In the original version of this sequence, Shinji creates an alternate reality, a 'dream' where Evangelion is a light-hearted slice-of-life anime in which his parents are happily married and Rei is a bubbly girl. Shinji realizes that he cannot live in this dream he has created though, and the cracks in his reality begin to show as the animation downgrades to watercolor images.
This alternate reality 'dream' could be represented in End of Evangelion during the live-action portions. The swing set mirrors the swing set from Shinji's childhood, while the 'real-world' Tokyo skyline isn't real. The buildings in the background were inserted digitally, featuring non-existent buildings based on the animated Tokyo-3's skyline.
Likewise, the live-action shots of an audience watching Death & Rebirth could represent the reality where Shinji is just a character in a super confusing giant robot anime. Either way, Shinji wakes from this dream, rejecting Instrumentality.
Unit-01, acting autonomously as Yue, emerges from Lilith's eye to behead her, flooding Earth with her LCL blood. Taking the Spear of Longinus, Unit-01 destroys the Mass Produced Evas, removing their Anti-A.T. Fields.
Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 1
Transforming the Spear of Longinus into an infinity symbol, Unit-01 drifts throughout space as Yui reveals that she had always planned to merge herself with the Eva, ensuring humanity's survival.
After a drip sound effect, Shinji emerges from the sea of LCL. Hearing another drip, Shinji turns his head to see Asuka laying beside him, with Rei hovering above the sea before vanishing.
How did a freshly bandaged Asuka get resurrected? As Lilith explains, an individual can still bring themselves back to life from Instrumentality, so long as they can still vision themselves within their minds. Essentially, this is what Shinji was doing during the pencil sequences in the original final episode. The 'drip' was an individual returning to Earth, escorted back to life by a person close to them -- the floating Rei that turned the individual into LCL in the first place.
At first, you think Shinji is reaching out for Asuka's hand, only for Shinji to start choking her before breaking down in tears. Contemplating her current situation at the end of the world, Asuka calls Shinji disgusting before we fade to white.
Why did Shinji choke Asuka, again? Is it because Shinji really did interact with Asuka during his trippy visions, thus the desire to strangle her for not helping him lingers? Could Shinji and Asuka represent Adam and Eve becoming Cain and Abel? No matter the reason, Shinji repeats the cycle of hurting those who are close to him before realizing he actually needs them, again.
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Ultimately, the beauty of Neon Genesis Evangelion is that we will never receive a concrete explanation for what is going on. Just as Shinji had to answer the question of what he wanted to make of reality, each individual viewer must construct their own explanation as to what is going on in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
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Neon Genesis Evangelion | |
新世紀エヴァンゲリオン (Shin Seiki Evangerion) | |
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Genre | Apocalyptic,[1]mecha,[2]psychological drama[3] |
Created by | Hideaki Anno |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Hideaki Anno |
Produced by | Noriko Kobayashi (TV Tokyo) Yutaka Sugiyama (NAS) |
Written by | Hideaki Anno |
Music by | Shirō Sagisu |
Studio | Gainax Tatsunoko Production(animation assistance) |
Licensed by | Netflix(worldwide streaming license) |
Original network | TV Tokyo |
English network | Anime Network, KTEH, Cartoon Network (Toonami), Adult Swim |
Original run | October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996 |
Episodes | 26 (List of episodes) |
Films | |
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Related works | |
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Neon Genesis Evangelion[4] (Japanese: 新世紀エヴァンゲリオンHepburn: Shinseiki Evangerion, literally 'The Gospel of the New Century') is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. The cast included Megumi Ogata as Shinji Ikari, Megumi Hayashibara as Rei Ayanami, and Yūko Miyamura as Asuka Langley Soryu. Music for the series was composed by Shirō Sagisu.
Evangelion is set fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm, particularly in the futuristic fortified city of Tokyo-3. The protagonist is Shinji, a teenage boy who was recruited by his father to the shadowy organization Nerv to pilot a giant bio-machine mecha called an 'Evangelion' into combat with alien beings called 'Angels'. The series explores the experiences and emotions of Evangelion pilots and members of Nerv as they try to prevent any and all of the Angels from causing another cataclysm, and as they deal with the quest of finding out the real truth behind events and organizational moves.[5] The series features imagery derived from Kabbalah, Christianity, and Judaism.
Neon Genesis Evangelion received critical acclaim but also garnered controversy.[6] Particularly controversial were the last two episodes of the show, leading the team behind the series to produce the original intended version of the ending in the 1997 film The End of Evangelion. Regarded as a deconstruction of the mecha genre, the original TV series led to a rebirth of the anime industry and has become a cultural icon. Film, manga, home video, and other products in the Evangelion franchise have achieved record sales in Japanese markets and strong sales in overseas markets, with related goods selling over ¥150 billion by 2007 and Evangelionpachinko machines selling ¥700 billion by 2015.
- 5Related media
- 7Reception
Plot[edit]
In 2015, fifteen years after a global cataclysm known as the Second Impact, teenager Shinji Ikari is summoned to the futuristic city of Tokyo-3 by his estranged father Gendo Ikari, director of the special paramilitary force Nerv. Shinji witnesses United Nations forces battling an Angel, one of a race of giant monstrous beings whose awakening was foretold by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Because of the Angels' near-impenetrable force-fields, Nerv's giant Evangelion bio-machines, synchronized to the nervous systems of their pilots and possessing their own force-fields, are the only weapons capable of keeping the Angels from annihilating humanity. Nerv officer Misato Katsuragi escorts Shinji into the Nerv complex beneath the city, where his father pressures him into piloting the Evangelion Unit-01 against the Angel. Without training, Shinji is quickly overwhelmed in the battle, causing the Evangelion to go berserk and savagely kill the Angel on its own.
Following hospitalization, Shinji moves in with Misato and settles into life in Tokyo-3. In his second battle, Shinji destroys an Angel but runs away afterwards, distraught. Misato confronts Shinji and he decides to remain a pilot. The Nerv crew and Shinji must then battle and defeat the remaining 14 Angels in order to prevent the Third Impact, a global cataclysm that would destroy the world. Evangelion Unit-00 is repaired shortly afterwards. Shinji tries to befriend its pilot, the mysterious, socially isolated teenage girl Rei Ayanami. With Rei's help, Shinji defeats another Angel. They are then joined by the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, the multitalented, but insufferable teenager Asuka Langley Sōryu, who is German-Japanese-American. Together, the three of them manage to defeat several Angels. As Shinji adjusts to his new role as pilot, he gradually becomes more confident and self-assured. Asuka moves in with Shinji, and they begin to develop confused feelings for one another, kissing at her provocation.
After being absorbed by an Angel, Shinji breaks free thanks with the Eva acting on its own. He is later forced to fight an infected Evangelion Unit-03 and watches its pilot, his friend and classmate Toji Suzuhara, incapacitated and presumably permanently crippled. Asuka loses her self-confidence following a defeat and spirals into depression. This is worsened by her next fight, against an Angel which attacks her mind and forces her to relive her worst fears and childhood trauma, resulting in a mental breakdown. In the next battle, Rei self-destructs Unit-00 and dies to save Shinji's life. Misato and Shinji visit the hospital where they find Rei alive but claiming she is 'the third Rei'. Misato forces scientist Ritsuko Akagi to reveal the dark secrets of Nerv, the Evangelion boneyard and the dummy plug system which operates using clones of Rei, who was herself created with the DNA of his mother, Yui Ikari. This succession of events leaves Shinji emotionally scarred and alienated from the rest of the characters. Kaworu Nagisa replaces the catatonic Asuka as pilot of Unit-02. Kaworu, who initially befriends Shinji and gains his trust, is in truth the final foretold Angel, Tabris. Kaworu fights Shinji, then realizes that he must die if humanity is to survive and asks Shinji to kill him. Shinji hesitates but eventually kills him. He is overcome with guilt.
After the final Angel is defeated, Seele, the mysterious cabal overseeing the events of the series, triggers the 'Human Instrumentality Project', a forced evolution of humanity in which the souls of all mankind are merged for benevolent purposes, believing that if unified, humanity could finally overcome the loneliness and alienation that has eternally plagued mankind. Shinji's soul grapples with the reason for his existence and reaches an epiphany that he needs others to thrive, enabling him to destroy the wall of negative emotions that torment him and reunite with the others, who congratulate him.
Characters[edit]
Hideaki Anno attempted to create characters that reflected parts of his own personality.[7] The characters of Evangelion struggle with their interpersonal relationships, their personal problems,[8] and traumatic events in their past.[9][10] The human qualities of the characters have enabled some viewers of the show to identify with the characters on a personal level, while others interpret them as historical, religious, or philosophical symbols.[11]Shinji Ikari is the series protagonist and the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. After witnessing his mother Yui Ikari's death as a child, Shinji was abandoned by his father, Gendo Ikari. He is emotionally hypersensitive and sometimes does as expected out of fear of rejection, but he has often rebelled and refused to pilot the Eva because of the extremely excruciating harm that has been done to him or to his friends. Throughout the series, he says to himself 'I mustn't run away' as a means of encouraging himself to face the threats of the day, and this sometimes actually gives him bravery in battle, but he has a lingering habit of withdrawing in response to traumatic events. Anno has described Shinji as a boy who 'shrinks from human contact' and has 'convinced himself that he is a completely unnecessary person'.[12]
The withdrawn and mysterious pilot of Evangelion Unit-00, Rei Ayanami, is a clone made from the salvaged remains of Yui and is plagued by a sense of negative self-worth stemming from the realization that she is an expendable asset.[13] She at one time despised Shinji for his lack of trust in his father Gendo, with whom Rei is very close. However, after Shinji and Rei successfully defeat the Angel Ramiel, she takes a friendly liking to him. Towards the end of the series, it is revealed that she is one of many clones, whose use is to replace the currently existing Rei if she is killed.
Asuka Langley Soryu is a child prodigy who pilots Evangelion Unit-02 and possesses a fiery temper and an overabundance of pride and self-confidence, which often gets her in trouble and difficulty, especially during battles. As a little girl, Asuka discovered the body of her mother shortly after she committed suicide, leading the child to repress her emotions and vow never to cry. Asuka and Shinji develop intense but ambiguous feelings towards each other having difficulty to reach out to others, as their relationship was initially modeled on the one between Jean, Nadia's love interest and eventual husband in the earlier Nadia.[14] Compared to Shinji, Asuka and Rei are presented with their own flaws and difficulty relating to other people.[15]Misato Katsuragi is the caretaker and commanding officer for Shinji and Asuka.[16] Her professional demeanor at Nerv contrasts dramatically with her carefree and irresponsible behavior at home. Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto conceived her as an older 'girl next door' and promiscuous loser who failed to take life seriously.[17] Hideaki Anno described Shinji and Misato as 'afraid of being hurt' and 'unsuitable—lacking the positive attitude—for what people call heroes of an adventure.'[12]
The teenaged Evangelion pilots are ordered into battle by the steely Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father and the commander of Nerv. He abandoned Shinji and recalled him only to serve as an Evangelion pilot. Gendo salvaged the remains of his dead wife's body to create Rei, whom he viewed as a mere tool at his disposal to defeat the Angels and enact Instrumentality. Similar to Shinji, he is somewhat asocial and is afraid of being insulted by others and often runs away from such, often committing immoralities in the process. This fear is also what drove him to abandon Shinji. He is depicted as relentless in his drive to win, a man who 'takes drastic and extreme measures, by fair means or foul, or by hook or by crook, in order to accomplish his own purpose.'[18] According to Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the characters of Gendo and Fuyutsuki are based on Ed Straker and Alec Freeman of the television series UFO.[17] Sadamoto designed the visual appearance of the characters so that their personalities 'could be understood more or less at a glance'.[19] The distinctive aesthetic appeal of the female lead characters' designs contributed to high sales of Neon Genesis Evangelion merchandise. The design of Rei in particular became so popular that the media referred to the character as 'Premium Girl' due to the high sales of books with Rei on the cover.[20]
Production[edit]
Director Hideaki Anno fell into a deep depression following completion of work on Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water[21] and the 1992 failure of the Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise sequel project.[22] According to Yasuhiro Takeda, Anno agreed to a collaboration between King Records and Gainax while drinking with King representative Toshimichi Ōtsuki;[23] King Records guaranteed Anno a time slot for 'something, anything'.[24] Anno began development of the new series in 1993 around the notion of not running away, which had been the underlying theme of Aoki Uru, an earlier Anno project that had failed to move into production.[25] Early into the production, Anno stated his intent to have Evangelion increase the number of otaku (anime fans) by attracting interest in the medium.[26] According to him, the plot of the series reflects his four-year depression.[12][27] In the early design phase of the Evangelion project several formats were considered, including a film, a television series and an original video animation (OVA) series. The producers finally opted for the television series as it was the most widely accessible media in Japan at that time.[17] The proposed title Alcion was rejected due to its lack of hard consonant sounds.[17]
Evangelion borrowed certain scenarios and the use of introspection as a narrative device from a previous Anno project entitled Gunbuster.[28] He incorporated the narrative structure of Nadia and multiple frames of reference to leave the story open to interpretation.[29] Over the course of the writing process, elements of the Evangelion storyline evolved from the original concept. A female protagonist was initially proposed for the series, but the idea was scrapped.[17] Originally, the first episode presented the battle between an Angel and Rei, while the character of Shinji was only introduced after the Angel had been defeated.[30] Further changes to the plot were made following the Aum Shinrikyo sect's sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in March. Azuma Hiroki has said that the original Evangelion story was 'too close to reality' from Anno's point of view. Basically, Anno thought that the original scenario was not suitable for broadcasting, and he feared censorship. However, he also criticized Aum Shinrikyo, because 'they lost any contact with reality'. For this reason, Azuma stated that Evangelion 'is an intrinsic critique of Aum'.[26] The final version of the story reflects inspiration drawn from numerous other anime and fictional works.[31] Chief among these are Space Battleship Yamato,[32]Mobile Suit Gundam,[33][34]Devilman[35][36] and Space Runaway Ideon.[37][38] The series also incorporates tributes to Childhood's End,[39] the novels of Ryū Murakami,[31][40]The Andromeda Strain, The Divine Invasion, the poem Pippa Passes,[41]The Hitcher, and several television series including The Prisoner, Thunderbirds, Ultraman[31][42] and Ultra Seven.[43]
The development of the Neon Genesis Evangelion series ran close to deadlines throughout its production run. The initial cuts of the first two episodes were screened at the second Gainax festival in July 1995, only three months before they were aired on television.[44] By episode 13 the series began to deviate significantly from the original story, and the initial script was abandoned. The number of Angels was reduced to 17 instead of the original 28, and the writers changed the story's ending, which had originally described the failure of the Human Instrumentality Project after an Angel attack from the moon.[30]
Starting with episode 16, the show changed drastically, discarding the grand narrative concerning salvation for a narrative focusing on the individual characters.[45][46] This change coincided with Anno's development of an interest in psychology after a friend lent him a book on mental illness.[47] This focus culminated in a psychoanalysis of the characters in the two final episodes.[8] The production ran so close to the airing deadline that the completed scenes used in the preview of the twenty-fifth episode had to be redesigned to work with the new ending.[48] These episodes feature heavy use of abstract animation,[49] flashbacks,[50] simple line drawings, photographs[51] and fixed image scenes with voice-over dialogue.[52] Some critics speculated that these unconventional animation choices resulted from budget cuts,[53] but Toshio Okada stated that while it wasn't only a problem of schedule or budget, Anno 'couldn't decide the ending until the time came, that's his style'.[54] These two episodes sparked controversy and condemnation among fans and critics of the series, including significant vitriol directed at Anno himself.[55] In 1997, Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax released two animated feature films, providing an alternative ending for the show: Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion.[56]
Themes[edit]
The series is permeated with references to Kabbalah, Christianity and Judaism,[57] complicating viewers' attempts to form an unambiguous interpretation of the series.[58] The series seems to be influenced by the Midrash, the Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts on the Book of Genesis,[59] which are apparently reworked within the series to create a new Evangelion-specific mythology while still maintaining a connection with the original texts.[58] Assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said the religious visual references were intended to make the series more 'interesting' and 'exotic',[60] and denied the existence of a 'Christian meaning' for the use of Christian visual symbols in the show.[61] However, according to Anno: 'As the symbols are mixed together, for the first time something like an interrelationship or a meaning emerges'.[62] The plot combines elements of esotericism and mysticism of the Jewish Kabbalah,[63] including the Angels, which have many common features with the Angels of the religious tradition, such as Sachiel, Sandalphon and Ramiel.[64]
According to Patrick Drazen, the series contains numerous allusions to the Kojiki and the Nihongi, the Shinto vision of the primordial cosmos and the mythical lances of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami.[65] Elements of the Judeo-Christian tradition also feature prominently throughout the series, including references to Adam, Lilith, Eve, the Lance of Longinus,[66] the Dead Sea Scrolls,[67] the Kabbalistic concept of Adam Kadmon, the Tree of Life, among many others.[65] The merging of all human souls into one through the Human Instrumentality Project at the end of the series is similar to the Kabbalistic concept of tikkun olam.[68] The Evangelions have been likened to the golem of Jewish folklore,[43] and their visual design resembles the traditional depictions of oni (Japanese demons or ogres).[69]
Evangelion has been interpreted as a deeply personal expression of Hideaki Anno's own emotional struggles with depression.[43] During the production of the series, he became interested in mental illness and psychology.[47] According to him, Rei is a schizophrenic character[70] and she represents the unconscious of Shinji.[62][71] Shinji has an Oedipus complex,[72][73] and is characterized by a libido-destrudo conflict.[74] Similarly, Ritsuko has an Electra complex, in which she loves Gendo, a sort of substitute for her father figure.[75] Anno himself stated that he identifies with Shinji, Asuka and Misato in a conscious manner,[76] whereas Rei and Kaworu are part of his subconscious, with Kaworu as his Jungianshadow.[77] It has even been suggested that Shinji's entering into Unit-01 is a Freudian 'return to the womb', and that his struggle to be free of the Eva is his 'rite of passage' into manhood.[78] The series contains many references to philosophical and psychoanalytic concepts, such as the oral stage, introjection, oral personality, ambivalence,[79] and the death drive,[80] including some elements of the works of Sigmund Freud,[81][82]Arthur Schopenhauer,[83]Søren Kierkegaard and others.[84]
List Of Evangelion Episodes
Related media[edit]
Music[edit]
Shirō Sagisu composed most of the original music for the series. The soundtracks released to high rankings on the Oricon charts, with Neon Genesis Evangelion III reaching the number one slot for highest sales in 1997;[85] that same year, Sagisu received the Kobe Animation award for 'Best Music Score' for his work on Evangelion.[86] Classical music by Ludwig van Beethoven,[52]Johann Sebastian Bach,[87]Giuseppe Verdi and George Frideric Handel[66] were also featured throughout the series. Additional classical works and original symphonic compositions were used to score later movies produced within the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. In total, the series' discography includes 21 full studio, live, compilation and soundtrack albums and six CD singles. The series' opening theme is 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis', performed by Yoko Takahashi. It ranked on two TV Asahi polls, reaching #55 for best anime theme songs of all time, and #18 for best anime theme songs of the 1990s.[88][89] Fifteen years after its release, the theme won JASRAC's annual award for the royalties it continues to generate from its usage in pachinko, pachislo, karaoke and other venues.[90] The end theme of the series was a version of 'Fly Me to the Moon' arranged and sung by Claire Littley (credited only as CLAIRE).[91]
Films[edit]
In May 1996, Gainax announced an Evangelion film[92] in response to fan dissatisfaction with the series finale.[93] On 15 March 1997, Gainax released Evangelion: Death & Rebirth, consisting of 60 minutes of clips taken from the first 24 episodes of the series and only the first 30 minutes of the new ending due to production issues.[94] The second film, The End of Evangelion, which premiered on 19 July 1997, provided the complete new ending as a retelling of the final two episodes of the television series. Rather than depicting series' climax within the characters' minds, the film provides a more conventional, action-based resolution to the series' plot lines. The film won numerous awards[95][96] and grossed 1.45 billion yen within six months of its release.[97] EX.org ranked the film in 1999 as the fifth best 'All-Time Show', with the television series at #2.[98] and in 2009 CUT Magazine ranked it the third greatest anime film of all time.[99] In July 1998 the films were re-released as Revival of Evangelion which combined Evangelion: Death(true)2 (the director's cut of Death) with End of Evangelion.
On 9 September 2006, Gainax confirmed a new animated film series called Rebuild of Evangelion,[100] consisting of four movies. The first film retells the first five episodes from the series but from the second film onward the story is completely different, including new characters, EVAs and Angels. The first film, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, was released in Japan on 1 September 2007, with Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance released on 27 June 2009 and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo released on 17 November 2012. The final film, titled Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, is scheduled for release in June 2020.[101]
Neon Genesis Episode List
Manga[edit]
Ten months prior to the television broadcast of Evangelion, the character design Yoshiyuki Sadamoto illustrated a manga version of the story. The first installment of the manga was published in the February issue of Shōnen Ace in December 1994 with subsequent installments produced on an irregular basis over an eighteen-year period. The final installment was published in June 2013.[102][103] Several publishers were initially concerned at the selection of Sadamoto to develop the manga adaptation, viewing him as 'too passé to be bankable'.[104] These concerns proved unfounded upon the strong commercial success of the manga: the first 10 volumes sold over 15 million copies,[105] and the eleventh volume reached number one on the Tohan charts,[106] selling an additional two million copies.[107] The manga series won the 1996 Comicker fan manga poll.[108]
Other media[edit]
Several video games based on the series have been developed, ranging from RPG and adventure games to mahjong and card games. The series has also spawned numerous art books and visual novels, one of which inspired the derivative manga series Angelic Days. The story has been adapted into two other manga series in addition to the original Sadamoto project: Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, a parody series which received its own original net animation serial show, and Campus Apocalypse, a character-focused story that omits the Evangelion robots. Several radio dramas have been released on CD and cassette to make the material more accessible to non-traditional audiences. On February 8, 2015, Evangelion:Another Impact, a 3D-rendered short directed by Shinji Aramaki, was released and streamed by Japan Animator Expo. It depicts 'the story of an Evangelion's activation, rampage and howling in another world'.[109]
Releases[edit]
The original home video releases in Japan included VHS and Laserdisc sets using a release structured around 'Genesis 0:(volume number)', with each of the first 12 releases containing two episodes each. Each of the episodes received minor changes and Episodes 21–24 were extended with new scenes. 'Genesis 0:13' and 'Genesis 0:14' contained the original and the alternate versions of episodes 25 and 26 first presented in Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion.[110] A fifteenth and final release for Laserdisc, entitled 'Genesis 0:X', contained the broadcast versions of episodes 21 to 24 and was a special mail-in offer for fans who purchased all 14 discs.[111] The first Japanese DVD release was spread across seven volumes; all contained four episodes with the seventh volume containing both the original and alternate versions of episodes 25 and 26. This version was identical to the previous laserdisc and VHS release. The Movies were also released as a special set, just like before. In 2000 and 2001, three box sets were released to commemorate the fictional Second Impact which occurred in the year 2000 in the series. The Second Impact Box contained the 26 original episodes and both movies on 9 DVDs—three per Box. The versions were the original broadcast and theatrical versions respectively and therefore different from the previous DVD release. In addition, the video game Girlfriend of Steel was included in the third box set.[112][113]
In 2003, the Japanese-only, nine volume 'Renewal of Evangelion' DVDs were released,[114] with improved acoustic effects, remixed dialogue and remastered soundtrack for 5.1 stereo sound.[115] The first eight volumes covered the original 26 episodes, including two versions of episodes 21 to 24: the (extended) video version (that was available in previous releases) and a reconstruction of the shorter broadcast version, which was now made available for the first time since the Genesis 0:X laserdisc and also wasn't censored like in the original broadcast. The ninth volume was named Evangelion: The Feature Film and Revival of Evangelion and contained Death(true)² and End of Evangelion (omitting Rebirth) on two discs.[116] The Renewal Project release formed the basis for the western 'Platinum Edition'.[115] On December 1, 2014, Studio Khara announced a Blu-ray boxset that will contain a new HD-remastering of the television series, the video versions of Episodes 21-24, as well as the two movies, both as Revival of Evangelion, the director's cut, which was available in the Renewal DVDs, and as their original theatrical versions Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion.[117][118] In addition, another DVD set, titled Archives of Evangelion, was announced that contains the original unaltered broadcast version of the television series as well as the broadcast version of Death (True) & Rebirth that aired in January 1998. Both sets were released on August 26, 2015, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the TV series.[119]
The series was distributed in North America and Europe by ADV Films.[120] The 13 English VHS tapes, released from August 4, 1997 to July 7, 1998, contained two episodes each and were released using the same 'Genesis 0:(volume number)' titling convention as the first Japanese home video release. Two laserdisc collections were released as Collection 1 Deluxe Edition[121] and Collection 2 Deluxe Edition,[122] containing episodes one to four and five to eight, respectively. The first DVD release by ADV Films was the eight disk Perfect Collection in 2002, containing the original 26 installments.[115] In 2004, ADV released two DVD compilations titled Neon Genesis Evangelion: Resurrection and Neon Genesis: Reborn, encompassing the directors' cuts of Episodes 21 through 24.[115] In the same year, the Platinum Edition release was announced by ADV in 2004,[123] consisting of seven DVDs[124] released between July 27, 2004 and April 19, 2005.[125] The Platinum Edition contained the original 26 episodes and the four 'Director's cut' versions[126] of episodes 21 to 24. A six-disc version of the Platinum Edition, the Platinum Complete Edition, was released on November 22, 2005, and omitted several extras included in other versions, including commentary and trailers.[127]
On November 26, 2018, streaming company Netflix announced that it had acquired the worldwide streaming rights to the original anime series, as well as Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death (true)² and The End of Evangelion, for release in Q2 2019.[128] On March 22, 2019, Netflix announced a June 21, 2019 premiere date for the titles.[129][130] Following the dissolution of ADV Films in 2008,[131] the Netflix release includes a re-translated script from Studio Khara's in-house translator Dan Kanemitsu[132][133] and a new English-language cast chosen by Khara.[134] The Netflix release omits 'Fly Me to the Moon' in certain regions due to licensing issues.[135][136]
Reception[edit]
— Nick Verboon, Unreality Mag (13 June 2013)[137]
Neon Genesis Evangelion received critical acclaim[138] both domestically and internationally.[139][140]Evangelion has developed into a social phenomenon beyond its primary fan base, generating national discussion in Japan. The series has also been the subject of numerous media reports, debates, and research studies.[141] The show currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews, with the site's Critics’ Consensus reading: 'Neon Genesis Evangelion, both a cultural touchstone for Japan and an uncompromising auteurist vision by creator Hideaki Anno, doubles as an enthralling apex for the mecha anime genre and as a harrowing exploration of depression - making for a wholly singular epic about angels and inner demons.'[142]
Following the conclusion of the series' original television broadcast, the public and critical reception to Neon Genesis Evangelion was polarized,[143] particularly with regard to the final two episodes. The experimental style of the finale confused[144] or alienated many fans[49][53] and spawned debate and controversy;[138][145] Hideaki Anno received anonymous online death threats,[50][146] as well as a number of letters, which would later be shown in End of Evangelion, expressing both support and criticism.[147] The criticism was largely directed toward the lack of storyline resolution in the final two episodes.[138] Opinion on the finale was mixed,[138] with the audience broadly divided between those who considered the episodes 'deep', and those who felt their meaning was 'more apparent than real'.[6] The English voice actors admitted that they also had trouble understanding the series' conclusion.[144] The Mainichi Times wrote that after episode 25, 'nearly all viewers felt betrayed ... When commentator Eiji Ōtsuka sent a letter to the Yomiuri Shimbun, complaining about the end of the Evangelion series, the debate went nationwide.'[148] Despite the criticism, Anno stood by his artistic choices for the series' conclusion.[138] The controversy surrounding Evangelion has not negatively influenced the popularity of the series, which remains strong both within and outside the otaku subculture.[138][149]
The series has captured the attention of cultural theorists inside and outside Japan,[45] and many critics have analyzed or commented on it, including Susan J. Napier, William Rout, Mick Broderick, Mari Kotani,[150] and the sociologists Shinji Miyadai,[151] Hiroki Azuma,[46] Yuriko Furuhata, and Marc Steinberg.[152] The series has been described as both a critique and deconstruction of the mecha genre.[153][154] Mike Hale of The New York Times described it as 'a superior anime, a giant-robot tale of unusual depth, feeling and detail'.[155] Theron Martin (Anime News Network) described the character design as 'distinctive, designed to be sexy rather than cutesy', and the mecha designs as 'among the most distinctive ever produced for an anime series, with sleek, lithe appearances that look monstrous, fearsome, and nimble rather than boxy and knight-like'.[156] Mike Crandol stated 'It no longer seems contrite to say that Evangelion is surely one of the all-time great works of animation'.[143] Japanese critic Manabu Tsuribe considered that Evangelion was 'extremely interior and is lacking in sociality, so that it seems to reflect pathology of the times.'[157] Zac Bertschy remarked that 'Most of the backlash against Evangelion existed because people don't like to think'.[158]Evangelion has been described as possessing complex characters[159] and richness of narrative.[160][161] In February 2004, Cinefantastique listed the anime as one of the '10 Essential Animations'.[162]
Awards[edit]
Neon Genesis Evangelion has scored highly in numerous popularity polls. In 1996, the series won first place in the 'Best Loved Series' category of the Anime Grand Prix, a reader-polled award series published in Animage magazine.[163] The show was again awarded this prize in 1997 by a large margin.[164] The End of Evangelion won first place in 1998,[165] making Neon Genesis Evangelion the first anime franchise to win three consecutive first place awards.[166] The website IGN ranked Evangelion as the 10th best animated series in its 'Top 100 Animated TV Series' list.[167] The series placed third in Animage's 'anime that should be remembered in the 21st Century'.[168] In 1998, EX.org's readers voted Neon Genesis Evangelion the #1 US anime release[166] and in 1999, the #2 show of all time.[169] In 2007, a large-scale poll by TV Asahi found Evangelion was the second most appreciated anime in Japan.[170] The series was ranked as the most popular of all time in a 2006 survey of 80,000 attendees at the Japan Media Arts Festival.[171]
Evangelion won the Animation Kobe award in 1996,[172] and 1997.[173] The series was awarded the Nihon SF Taisho Award and the Excellence Award Japan Media Arts Festival in 1997.[174][175] The film ranked #6 on Wizard's Anime Magazine on their 'Top 50 Anime released in North America'.[176] In the August 1996 issue of Animage, Evangelion characters placed high in the rankings of best characters with Rei ranked first, Asuka third, Kaworu fourth and Shinji sixth. Rei Ayanami won in the Female Character category in 1995 and 1996 and Shinji Ikari won the Male Character category in 1996 and 1997.[177] In 2010, Newtype magazine recognized Rei Ayanami as the most popular character of the 1990s in the female category, and Shinji Ikari in the male category.[178]TV Asahi recognized the 'suicide of Ayanami Rei' as the ninth most touching anime scene ever.[179] 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis' won the Animage award in the Best Song category in 1996,[163] and TV Asahi recognized it as the 18th best anime song since 1990.[180]
Influence and legacy[edit]
Evangelion has had a significant impact on Japanese popular culture.[145] The series also had a strong influence on anime, at a time when the anime industry and televised anime series in particular were in a slump period.[138] CNET reviewer Tim Hornyak credits the series with revitalizing and transforming the giant mecha genre.[181] In the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese animation saw decreased production[182] following the economic crash in Japan.[183] This was followed by a crisis of ideas in the years to come.[184] Against this background, Evangelion imposed new standards for the animated serial, ushering in the era of the 'new Japanese animation serial',[185] characterized by innovations that allowed a technical and artistic revival of the industry. The production of anime serials began to reflect greater author control, the concentration of resources in fewer but higher quality episodes (typically ranging from 13 to 26), a directorial approach similar to live film, and greater freedom from the constraints of merchandising.[186][187]
Evangelion has influenced numerous subsequent anime series, including Serial Experiments Lain, RahXephon, Texhnolyze, Gasaraki, Boogiepop Phantom,[66]Blue Submarine No. 6,[189]Mobile Battleship Nadesico,[190]Rinne no Lagrange,[191]Gurren Lagann,[192]Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure,[193]Argento Soma,[194]Pilot Candidate,[195]Generator Gawl,[196] and Dai-Guard.[197][198] References, homages and tributes to the series are also contained in the third episode of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi,[199]Koi Koi Seven,[200]Hayate the Combat Butler,[201]Baka and Test,[202]Regular Show[203] and Keroro Gunsō.[204][205] The show's mixture of religion and mecha influenced several Japanese video games, including Xenogears[206] and El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron.[207]
The design and personality traits of the character Rei Ayanami were reused for many anime characters of the late 1990s, such as Ruri Hoshino of Nadesico, Ruriko Tsukushima (The Droplet),[208] Miharu (Gasaraki),[209] Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena), and Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain).[210] The character of Asuka was parodied by Excel (Excel Saga),[211] and some of her traits were used to create the character of Mai in Gunparade March.[212] According to Italian critic Guido Tavassi, Evangelion's mecha design, characterized by a greater resemblance to the human figure, and the abstract designs of the Angels, also had a significant impact on the designs of future anime productions.[213]
According to Keisuke Iwata, the global spread of Japanese animation dramatically expanded due to the popularity of Evangelion.[214] After the success of the show, otaku culture gained wide attention.[215] In Japan, Evangelion prompted a review of the cultural value of anime,[216] and with its success, anime reached a new point of maturity.[217] With the interest in the series, otaku culture became a mass social phenomenon.[218][219] The show's regular reruns increased the number of otaku,[220] which John Lynden links to a boom in interest in literature on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Kabbalah and Christianity.[221] Anime director Makoto Shinkai declared that the genre of anime owes a cinematographic debt to Evangelion.[222] In the aftermath of Evangelion, Anno reused many of its stylistic conceits in the live-action Love & Pop and the anime romance Kare Kano.[223]Neon Genesis Evangelion also influenced some music artists, such as the UK band Fightstar and its debut album, Grand Unification,[223] and the Japanese band Rey, which derived its name from the character of Rei Ayanami.[224]
Merchandising[edit]
— Tim Hornyak, CNET (16 July 2013)[181]
The popularity of Neon Genesis Evangelion extends to its merchandising which exceeded $400 million within two years of its release.[69] The series has established itself greatly on the Japanese market, developing a varied range of products for adult consumers, such as cell phones (including a special Nerv and MAGI-themed SharpSH-06D smartphone released in 2012),[225] laptop computers,[226] many soundtracks, DVDs,[227]action figures, and telephone cards.[228] The stylized mecha design that would later earn praise for Evangelion was initially criticized by certain toy companies as being too difficult to manufacture,[229] with some expressing concern that models of the Evangelions 'would never sell.'[230] Eventually, Sega agreed to license all toy and video game sales.[104] At the time of the release of the Japanese film Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, estimated sales of Evangelion merchandise topped $300 million,[228] of which 70% derived from sales of video and laser discs,[231] soundtrack CDs, single CDs, computer software and the three-volume manga.[228][232] Multiple merchandising products were released during the Renewal Project, such as CDs, video games, cel-art illustrations and collectible models.[115]
The commercial exploitation of the series for the home video market achieved record sales and remained strong over a decade later.[233] The fame of the show has grown through home video sales, which exceeded two or three times the sales of other contemporary anime series and films.[234] The series contributed significantly to the spread of the DVD format in Japan and generated a considerable impact on the Japanese economy, calculated in billions of yen.[234] In 2006, Matt Greenfield stated that the franchise had earned over $2 billion.[235] A 2007 estimate placed total sales of 6,000 related goods at over ¥150 billion.[236][237] In 2015, pachinko manufacturer Fields Corporation revealed that Evangelion pachinko and pachislot machines sold over 2million units, generating a revenue of ¥700 billion.[238]
References[edit]
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In the September 1996 issue of the Quick Japan information magazine, Hideaki Anno, the director of Evangelion, described Eva as a 'personal film,' each character reflecting part of his own personality.
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An easily recognizable silhouette is also important, but I designed the characters so that their personalities could be more or less understood at a glance. For example, even the color and length of the hair expresses personality. I thought that Asuka would occupy the position of an 'idol' in the Eva world, and that [Asuka and] Shinji should be just like the relationship between Nadia and Jean.
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There was this replacement by a robot, so the original mother is the robot, but then there is a mother of the same age, Rei Ayanami, by [Shinji's] side. [She is] also by the side of the real father. There is also another father there, Adam, who governs the overall course of events. An Oedipus Complex within these multiple structures; that's what I wanted to do.
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[The final] episode ends with the captions 'To my father, thank you.' 'To my mother, farewell.' 'And to all the Children.' 'Congratulations!' Eva is something of an Oedipus complex story, where a boy feels love and hatred for his father and mother, so the first two captions can be thought to means that Shinji has come to an understanding with his father and grown out of his dependence on his mother.
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The idea of a play within a play and making it like a stage came to me at the last moment, but Shinji-kun went on looking at not only the surfaces of strangers, but their pasts – No matter what kind of person it is, is it not the case that they have filthy aspects? ... That's Dr. Freud's theory of a good mother and a bad mother at the oral stage of development, though. In short, a mother is someone who simultaneously protects you unconditionally and restrains you—which you could call the bad part. Additionally, it's not the case that a mother is in a good mood every day. For example, when you cried, if she was in a good mood, she might have said something like, 'Be a good child, a good child; you mustn't cry,' but if she were irritable and in a bad mood, she might even shout, isn't that right? From a child's perspective, you can't see the two as the same person. Therefore both a good mother and a bad mother exist, and when you recognize that they are contained within a single personality, you're able to see for the first time what's known as a stranger. I intended to do that.
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- Bibliography
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Further reading[edit]
- Endo, Toru. 'Konna kitanai kirei na hi ni wa' ('On a day so beautiful and so ugly'). Poppu karuchaa kuritiiku (Pop Culture Critique), volume 0. 1997. (in Japanese)
- Gainax, Newtype. E-Mono: Neon Genesis Evangelion: All Goods Catalog. ISBN4-04-852868-8. (in Japanese)
- June magazine, ed. Neon Genesis Evangelion June Tokuhon: Zankoku-Na Tenshi no These ('The Neon Genesis Evangelion JUNE Reader: Zankoku na Tenshi no These'). ISBN4-906011-25-X.
- Kotani, Mari. Seibo Evangelion (Evangelion as the Immaculate Virgin). Tokyo: Magajin Hausu. 1997.
- Kotani, Mari. A New Millennialist Perspective On The Daughters Of Eve. ISBN4-8387-0917-X. (in Japanese)
- Lippit, Seiji M. Topographies of Japanese Modernism. New York: Columbia UP, 2000.
- Morikawa, Kaichiro (ed.). The Evangelion Style. ISBN4-8074-9718-9.
- Yamashita, Ikuto and Seiji, Kio. Sore Wo Nasumono: Neon Genesis Evangelion Concept Design Works. ISBN4-04-852908-0.
- 'Evangelion Special: Genesis of a major manga'—Mainichi Daily News
- 'Evangelion Special: For producer Otsuki, success not always a bed of roses'—Mainichi Daily News
- 'Understanding Evangelion'—Anime News Network
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Neon Genesis Evangelion |
- Official websites
- Neon Genesis Evangelion—Gainax official Evangelion page (in Japanese)
- 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン—King Records Evangelion page (in Japanese)
- Articles and information
- Neon Genesis Evangelion on IMDb
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Neon Genesis Evangelion at Curlie