Neon Genesis Evangelion. Evan-freaking-gelion.
The second season was good...ish. End of Evangelion was absolutely glorious, because it was Anno's two hour long "No, fuck YOU" to all the fanboys who wanted more action and sex in Evangelion while totally missing the point. But holy Christ, there are so many things that the show could have done better.
Shinji Ikari is the biggest problem with the series, being not only kind of boring, but also a whiny little shit who only becomes bearable when he goes berserk or actually DOES things rather than getting led around by the nose. Yes, I know his subservience and his unwillingness to stand up for himself are central tenants of his character, but it really does not make for an interesting character. The Death Korps of Krieg from Warhammer 40K are incredibly interesting because their subservience and dependency on their commanders drive them to be martyrs and soldiers, rather than ***** when told to kill an obviously dangerous and inhuman foe. Shinji really comes into his own in End of Evangelion when he actually turns out to be a pathetic, weak-willed failure, and when he starts to acknowledge that and actually act in an introspective manner. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, he does not do that, and he is SO FREAKING DULL because of it.
"But wait!" I hear the fans cry, "My waifu, Rei/Asuka, they're the best part of the series! How could you say such things about it when they grace the show with their glorious presence?" And allow me to answer in the language of 4chan: You're waifu a shit.
While Rei is one of the most sympathetic characters in anime history, Asuka isn't. She's a *****. There really isn't much to dissect here, she's a traumatized teenager like EVERY other pilot, but at the same time, I can't care. She's rude, disrespectful, and overly competitive in a way that reminds me of all the jock assholes from high school. Once again, the only time she ever came into her own was during End of Evangelion while fighting the Eva Series, because of reasons I won't spoil here.
In addition, the series makes a number of big mistakes by focusing on the wrong characters and the wrong themes.
- Gendo Ikari, the sociopathic director of NERV HQ is the most legitimately interesting character in the series, because he not only gets things done, but also because he's the only one who seemed to get any good dialogue written for him. Of course, his desire to save humanity and get his dead wife back is looked upon with scorn by the rest of the cast, and the series takes time to wag it's finger at him constantly.
- Shinji is of course the focus of the show when the real focus should have been on Unit 01. I'm serious. A tortured alien soul residing within a hideous cybernetic chimera, pressed into a battle against it's own kind, lobotomized and mind-raped by the humans it hates and has been bred to hate, watching behind its own eyes until those moments when it manages to break free and lash out at the cruel world that has abandoned it. Screaming at the pilot who routinely hijacks its mind, yet struggling with the sense of attachment that it begins to feel with them. Tell me that wouldn't be a great main character.
- Season one focuses too much on the giant robot fights and sillier things about the universe rather than the good bits. No focus is placed upon the Angels; I'd think that you might want to explain a little concerning more genocidal race of aliens that are all armed with personal "control physics" fields and such varied bodies and methods of attack, but no. Season two fixes this to an extent, focusing on the Evas and their nature as half-controlled monsters caged within their armor and piloted by traumatized teens, with several of the questions related to the Angels being answered.
And finally, the fans. Holy Christ the fans of Evangelion are the worst fans I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with. They go on and on about "Deep psychological themes" and "well-defined and nuanced characters" and how wonderful their waifu is, but they don't seem to grasp the complexities. They shrug off the biggest issues with the series as "petty complaints" and argue that it's super-deep and should always be regarded as serious business, lashing out at anyone who dares to make fun of one of the many sillier aspects of their series (including the great shitstorm conjured by those Critical Miss comics). The majority of Evangelion fans are driven by nostalgia, refusing to see the flaws inherent in their favorite series, arguing that their series is great because they came across it when they could easily relate to Shinji Ikari, not realizing that to any well-adjusted member of society, being compared to Shinji is a really elaborate insult.
Glad to finally get that out of my system. If you read this far, congrats.
