19 ms·

Neon Genesis Evangelion (2019)

511 points by impoppy 5y ago

moralestapia 5y ago
NGE has always been a favorite of me because of the UIs that are represented throughout the series. The new(ish?) movies are just gorgeous, I highly suggest you give them a try if you haven't already. If you like this, you may as well enjoy: https://scifiinterfaces.com/ https://scifiinterfaces.com/
- flobosg 5y ago
  Here’s a collection of GIFs showcasing Evangelion’s UIs: https://imgur.com/a/PF3oA https://imgur.com/a/PF3oA https://imgur.com/a/uDeBs https://imgur.com/a/uDeBs
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  Evangelion uses graphical interfaces very effectively in its story telling. My favorite example is in episode 8: there are two pilots inside EVA-02, leading to problems. We know they've won when we see the synchronization gauge maxing out. https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/e/e1/Nigoki_synch_graph_low.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/e/e1/Nigoki_synch_graph_low... https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/2/2c/Nigoki_synch_graph_high.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/2/2c/Nigoki_synch_graph_hig... Episode 13 also has programmers saving everyone against an enemy hacking attempt: https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/1/18/Ireul_Hacking_Magi.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/1/18/Ireul_Hacking_Magi.jpg
  - whymauri 5y ago
    I always liked the pseudo-realistic stack traces in Evangelion. Like, when an error happens a literal stack trace runs through their digital screens. It's realistic enough to be immersive and nostalgic, but sci-fi enough to not warrant deep examination or to poke holes through. The UI is pretty timeless in that regard.
    - pvarangot 5y ago
      The NERV facilities capture the "rushed research facility" vibe quite well. Not only the UIs are spartan but they have a team of scientists running even the most basic systems and still looking at every issue, and you can also see cables laid out on the floor and everything. It's more realistic than the usual "pristine facility that deploys giant robots" on other shows.
      - teraflop 5y ago
        Yep. It reminds me of the striking difference between most space travel sci-fi (in which the pilot of a spacecraft is the captain of their vessel and can go wherever they please) and, say, the Space Shuttle (which required meticulous planning and a large ground support staff for every single mission). Evangelion does a great job of visually conveying how the pilot in the robot's cockpit is, in part, just a focal point for the efforts of thousands of other people. And then, of course, it subverts that portrayal by revealing that (ROT13) gur Rinf jrer npghnyyl perngrq ol na bpphyg frperg fbpvrgl hfvat napvrag nyvraf, naq abar bs gur grpuavpvnaf be bcrengbef unir n pyhr jung gurl'er ERNYYL pncnoyr bs.
      - elihu 5y ago
        I always liked how they portrayed the EVAs, too. Unit 0 was a prototype, which in most shows would mean that it has some awesome special capabilities. But no, in Evangelion, unit 0 is a flaky but very expensive piece of equipment that's dangerous to operate, doesn't even work half the time, and no one really trusts for anything important. Unit 1 is more reliable but the pilot isn't, so it kind of evens out. It's also a nice touch how, as the series goes on, the EVAs end up with different colored parts because they just use whatever replacement was on hand at the time. The city, too, goes from being a semi-normal modern city to barren, dystopian landscape. Not all at once, but in stages.
      - GhettoComputers 5y ago
        That was an era thing wasn’t it? Serial Experiments Lain has that same feeling. The best modern example was probably the opening in 2.22, which felt very rushed.
- ErikVandeWater 5y ago
  I would recommend watching the original, personally. The new movies are sharper and brighter, but lack character.
  - p_l 5y ago
    I have yet to finish the last two movies, but I found the first two a lot more interesting if viewed through the idea that they actually continue from EoE (considering Kaworu's words at the end of 2.22)
    - ErikVandeWater 5y ago
      I fully support watching the last two movies. Just the recap movies lose so much character compared to the original.
      - p_l 5y ago
        Oh, sure, on the first look at 1.11 it felt dangerously close to losing a lot of the character to me - it was 2.22 that made it work, partially because of what I mentioned :)
        Pxtl 5y ago
        1.11 felt completely unnecessary to me, personally. It didn't add anything to the original story, and took away too much. The only real achievement for me was the final battle, since the octohedron angel was otherwise a forgettable villain-of-the-week episode. The sequels that stop tracking so close to the original is where it takes off. I still prefer the original but it didn't feel like a simple re-make at that point.
        GhettoComputers 5y ago
        If you watched it instead of the episodes it could be seen as a mine death/rebirth, but agreed. 2.22 is the best!
- dclowd9901 5y ago
  I’d say this for most digital interfaces in anime. They really hit the “thud effect” perfectly (blame a PM for that absolutely astonishing phraseology), where a UI manages to actually become part of the timing and beat of an audio-visual narrative. Ex: there are few things in life as utterly satisfying as watching gigantic mechanicals lock firmly into place and a big screen filling digital display say something of the effect of “ENGAGEMENT OK”. I don’t know what it is, but it _works_.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
quirino 5y ago
If you like this, you might also appreciate Typeset In The Future (https://typesetinthefuture.com https://typesetinthefuture.com). The article on the typography of Wall-E is especially fascinating.
quacked 5y ago
The coloring, fonts, monsters, sets, and UIs of NGE are so pleasing to look at. I hold NGE in much higher regard than other similar IPs, and would continue to do so even without the excellent art direction. Like many other stories, NGE asks "what would happen if a young boy with an unusual ability was entrusted with the saving of humanity?" However, unlike many other stories, the show answers "he would fail, be driven insane in the process, and humanity would fall."
- dclowd9901 5y ago
  Finishing 3.0+1.0, I was met with the same realization. The story is a bit Lord of the Flies with giant mecha, and I think it’s unexpected because we’re used to seeing protagonists in media being young people who are far more emotionally and psychologically developed than they have any right being. The trope leads you to believe it’s going to be one kind of show, but it ends up as something very different. FLCL, which I’m sure most Eva fans have seen, follows a similar conceit about the ineptitude of kids to cope with circumstances beyond their understanding, and is another show that I hold in similarly high regard. Incidentally, it also references Eva a lot.
  - willis936 5y ago
    FLCL was a collaboration of Gainax (who made NGE) and Production IG. Also, I feel that FLCL is a more true coming of age story than a commentary on teenage psychology. You're taken along for the ride too, so the viewer can connect on multiple levels if they're also coming of age. That's in part why I enjoyed it so much as a teen.
    - tombert 5y ago
      FLCL was one of those shows I hated the first time I watched it at age 19, but I also got a vibe that there might be some subtext and metaphors that I missed. About a year later, I saw that it was on Netflix and decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense. NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.
superfamicom 5y ago
Lots of good comments from the last time this was posted too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21323736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21323736
javchz 5y ago
The Typeface work in NGE it's amazing. Despite using the most common typefaces, you can recognize the card titles as the "Evangelion Art Style" despite only using fonts, copywriting and layout as design elements. Plus I love how Evangelion falls into a middle of exaggerated UIs to have the "hacker look" of /r/itsaunixsystem/, and at the same an amazing level of detail that make sense in their own world. Like when MAGI it's being hacked by the Computer Angel or SEELE, you can see they use a form of assembly and a Unix System to fight it. And then, the MAGI system by itself it's an amazing use of redundant architecture with 3 computers that should have the same output. That a system that it's resistant to data corruption, but at the same time working as an GAN AI. Amazing to think this it's from the 90s, and the most amazing part that those details are just 1% of what makes evangelion interesting.
- downrightmike 5y ago
  Eureka 7 hits like this in parts, once you get past the first bits, you get to see the reality the world is built on.
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  I wonder if the mechanical compression is an artifict of the times, and if it wasn’t stylistic as much as for other reasons. The cards are obviously “Evangelion” but stylized fonts are really memorable, such as the 2 color gradient images, and text of final fantasy titles with white stroke.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Claude_Shannon 5y ago
Is NGE worth watching for someone who never was really into anime? The only animated thing I've watched in ages was Arcane, but that's completly different style that NGE.
- ajford 5y ago
  As a long-time fan of NGE, I'd say yes. It's got a fair bit of the classic "teens in mechs" tropes to it, but there's definitely more to it under the hood, and it's universe is rather well put together in my opinion. I'd try to walk into it without focusing on it being animated though. It's cinematography like anything else, it's just a different medium and a different style that makes use of the flexibility it's medium provides.
  - Claude_Shannon 5y ago
    I grew in a environment where admitting to even thinking about watching anything anime was like a social suicide. Only in high school it changed. I just can't help but treat everything anime related as childish (and I know that genre has some problems, with, uhh... fan service). Thank you, I will. The only thing I know about NGE is that ending(?) song, Komm Susser Tod.
    - ajford 5y ago
      I luckily got into anime right on the verge where it became more socially acceptable (late 90s early 2000s). Also, I grew up in an area where the dominant local culture was more accepting of anime since Dragon Ball Z, Gundam (of some flavor), and Saint Seya were all localized into Spanish and popular with my age group. The more off the beaten path animes like NGE, Hellsing, etc. didn't become as popular until a few years later when I hit high-school.
    - aidenn0 5y ago
      I remember my mom walking into the room during one of the more soap-opera-ish moments of Robotech and saying "What on earth are you watching?" I assured her that people would start shooting lasers at each other in giant robots soon...
Pxtl 5y ago
I think so many people focus on the personal emotional journey of Shinji and the horror of the Evas, it's so easy to miss how good NGE is at things like this. Personally what surprised me on re-watch and through the rebuild-series is how much emphasis there is on the beauty of industry itself - so many scenes of machinery on landscapes. This is particularly notable with Ramiel, the beam-weapon octohedron - in the original series they explain that the weapon to defeat it will require all of the electrical power in Japan. In the rebuild, they make the effort of "we have to build electrical equipment to get all the power in Japan into one spot for a few seconds, and we have to do this in like a day or two" feel real and amazing. As much as Evangelion is a story about isolation and loneliness, visually there's a sort of celebration of industrial civilization - especially the rebuild. Not just individuals, but kind of a "together look what we can achieve" thing. In most other series, the images of machinery and industrial equipment weaponry splayed out over beautiful mountain landscapes and put to task would be dystopian... but in Evangelion, the artists instead make it heroic. The original series has this too - everybody loves the machinery of Tokyo 3, even poor Shinji, it's just amped up in the rebuild.
- debo_ 5y ago
  In comparison, I continually found myself wondering how the heck Gendo kept building so much crazy stuff when it seemed like his entire staff consisted of him and Kozo (especially in the rebuild movies.)
  - EamonnMR 5y ago
    Yeah, that definitely stretched believability. In NGE Nerv has a huge support staff that we see glaring at Shinji in ep1.
  - Pxtl 5y ago
    Hah, yeah. The (spoilers!) more prolonged apocalypse of the rebuilds combined with the larger industrialization of the Evas in Rebuild does make the absence of the industry that marked the first two volumes a bit conspicuous.
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
standardUser 5y ago
I am not a big font guy, but the first image in that article is somehow stunningly beautiful.
EamonnMR 5y ago
I've recently been way into this show. I highly recommend it as well as the "rebuild" movie series. You may have to grit your teeth and bear some scenes, but I recommend it without reservations.
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  I would recommend skipping 1.11 if you seen the anime and 3.33 except the beginning and ending fight scene. The peak was definitely 2.22.
coolandsmartrr 5y ago
The typography in Evangelion's titlecards is a tribute to Japanese film pioneer Kon Ichikawa. For instance, Ichikawa lets diagonal and horizontal layouts coexist in the titlecard to bring more dimension into typography (as opposed to being just linear). In his masterpiece "The Inugami Family"[1], the opening title is just 90 seconds of white Gothic typeface on a black background, but the layout is playful, letting the font speak more than just the text themselves.[2] In fact, director Anno Hideaki drew inspiration from this in Evangelion. Ichikawa was very keen on layout. While Ichikawa mainly focused on live action features, he began his career as an animator, where he honed his craft of laying out "deliberate" camera shots. Later in "Brother",[3] he was even criticized for a jarring camera layout, where characters sometimes bifurcate the shot composition by standing in the middle. [4] Ichikawa continued with his "jarring" style; he would insert sudden bursts of opposite shots in the middle of characters speaking. The influence of Ichikawa's cutting style is evident in Anno's works too. For example, in the expository scene in the "End of Evangelion", he would also insert brief shots of the subjects the characters are talking about. (e.g. "Second Impact", "Adam", and such jargon) Anno is like a Japanese Tarantino; he absorbed much influence from his predecessors, and refines their qualities in his own works. Right now in Tokyo, the Anno Hideaki exhibit is gathering much fanfare. A good portion of the exhibit is devoted not to his works, but the prior art he was heavily influenced by. Clearly, he wants to give more credit to his predecessors by giving them the spotlight they deserve. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074691/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074691/ [2] Opening title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkAryQPocLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkAryQPocLA [3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054151/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054151/ [4] Ichikawa also innovated in film color processing, where he and cinematographer Kazuo Miyakawa left the silver while processing film, giving an eerie lush glow to the colors. P.S. I've also commented on Evangelion in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15906758 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15906758
- GhettoComputers 5y ago
  Thank you for this! I know NGE parodies/tributes a lot of other media. Do you know if the computer interfaces were also influenced by other similar media?
kevwals 5y ago
I love everything on the page, it looks so retro yet so modern and futuristic.

511 points by impoppy 5y ago

NGE has always been a favorite of me because of the UIs that are represented throughout the series. The new(ish?) movies are just gorgeous, I highly suggest you give them a try if you haven't already. If you like this, you may as well enjoy: https://scifiinterfaces.com/ https://scifiinterfaces.com/

flobosg 5y ago
Here’s a collection of GIFs showcasing Evangelion’s UIs: https://imgur.com/a/PF3oA https://imgur.com/a/PF3oA https://imgur.com/a/uDeBs https://imgur.com/a/uDeBs
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Evangelion uses graphical interfaces very effectively in its story telling. My favorite example is in episode 8: there are two pilots inside EVA-02, leading to problems. We know they've won when we see the synchronization gauge maxing out. https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/e/e1/Nigoki_synch_graph_low.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/e/e1/Nigoki_synch_graph_low... https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/2/2c/Nigoki_synch_graph_high.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/2/2c/Nigoki_synch_graph_hig... Episode 13 also has programmers saving everyone against an enemy hacking attempt: https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/1/18/Ireul_Hacking_Magi.jpg https://wiki.evageeks.org/images/1/18/Ireul_Hacking_Magi.jpg
- whymauri 5y ago
  I always liked the pseudo-realistic stack traces in Evangelion. Like, when an error happens a literal stack trace runs through their digital screens. It's realistic enough to be immersive and nostalgic, but sci-fi enough to not warrant deep examination or to poke holes through. The UI is pretty timeless in that regard.
  - pvarangot 5y ago
    The NERV facilities capture the "rushed research facility" vibe quite well. Not only the UIs are spartan but they have a team of scientists running even the most basic systems and still looking at every issue, and you can also see cables laid out on the floor and everything. It's more realistic than the usual "pristine facility that deploys giant robots" on other shows.
    - teraflop 5y ago
      Yep. It reminds me of the striking difference between most space travel sci-fi (in which the pilot of a spacecraft is the captain of their vessel and can go wherever they please) and, say, the Space Shuttle (which required meticulous planning and a large ground support staff for every single mission). Evangelion does a great job of visually conveying how the pilot in the robot's cockpit is, in part, just a focal point for the efforts of thousands of other people. And then, of course, it subverts that portrayal by revealing that (ROT13) gur Rinf jrer npghnyyl perngrq ol na bpphyg frperg fbpvrgl hfvat napvrag nyvraf, naq abar bs gur grpuavpvnaf be bcrengbef unir n pyhr jung gurl'er ERNYYL pncnoyr bs.
    - elihu 5y ago
      I always liked how they portrayed the EVAs, too. Unit 0 was a prototype, which in most shows would mean that it has some awesome special capabilities. But no, in Evangelion, unit 0 is a flaky but very expensive piece of equipment that's dangerous to operate, doesn't even work half the time, and no one really trusts for anything important. Unit 1 is more reliable but the pilot isn't, so it kind of evens out. It's also a nice touch how, as the series goes on, the EVAs end up with different colored parts because they just use whatever replacement was on hand at the time. The city, too, goes from being a semi-normal modern city to barren, dystopian landscape. Not all at once, but in stages.
    - GhettoComputers 5y ago
      That was an era thing wasn’t it? Serial Experiments Lain has that same feeling. The best modern example was probably the opening in 2.22, which felt very rushed.
ErikVandeWater 5y ago
I would recommend watching the original, personally. The new movies are sharper and brighter, but lack character.
- p_l 5y ago
  I have yet to finish the last two movies, but I found the first two a lot more interesting if viewed through the idea that they actually continue from EoE (considering Kaworu's words at the end of 2.22)
  - ErikVandeWater 5y ago
    I fully support watching the last two movies. Just the recap movies lose so much character compared to the original.
    - p_l 5y ago
      Oh, sure, on the first look at 1.11 it felt dangerously close to losing a lot of the character to me - it was 2.22 that made it work, partially because of what I mentioned :)
      - Pxtl 5y ago
        1.11 felt completely unnecessary to me, personally. It didn't add anything to the original story, and took away too much. The only real achievement for me was the final battle, since the octohedron angel was otherwise a forgettable villain-of-the-week episode. The sequels that stop tracking so close to the original is where it takes off. I still prefer the original but it didn't feel like a simple re-make at that point.
        GhettoComputers 5y ago
        If you watched it instead of the episodes it could be seen as a mine death/rebirth, but agreed. 2.22 is the best!
dclowd9901 5y ago
I’d say this for most digital interfaces in anime. They really hit the “thud effect” perfectly (blame a PM for that absolutely astonishing phraseology), where a UI manages to actually become part of the timing and beat of an audio-visual narrative. Ex: there are few things in life as utterly satisfying as watching gigantic mechanicals lock firmly into place and a big screen filling digital display say something of the effect of “ENGAGEMENT OK”. I don’t know what it is, but it _works_.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

quirino 5y ago

If you like this, you might also appreciate Typeset In The Future (https://typesetinthefuture.com https://typesetinthefuture.com). The article on the typography of Wall-E is especially fascinating.

quacked 5y ago

The coloring, fonts, monsters, sets, and UIs of NGE are so pleasing to look at. I hold NGE in much higher regard than other similar IPs, and would continue to do so even without the excellent art direction. Like many other stories, NGE asks "what would happen if a young boy with an unusual ability was entrusted with the saving of humanity?" However, unlike many other stories, the show answers "he would fail, be driven insane in the process, and humanity would fall."

dclowd9901 5y ago
Finishing 3.0+1.0, I was met with the same realization. The story is a bit Lord of the Flies with giant mecha, and I think it’s unexpected because we’re used to seeing protagonists in media being young people who are far more emotionally and psychologically developed than they have any right being. The trope leads you to believe it’s going to be one kind of show, but it ends up as something very different. FLCL, which I’m sure most Eva fans have seen, follows a similar conceit about the ineptitude of kids to cope with circumstances beyond their understanding, and is another show that I hold in similarly high regard. Incidentally, it also references Eva a lot.
- willis936 5y ago
  FLCL was a collaboration of Gainax (who made NGE) and Production IG. Also, I feel that FLCL is a more true coming of age story than a commentary on teenage psychology. You're taken along for the ride too, so the viewer can connect on multiple levels if they're also coming of age. That's in part why I enjoyed it so much as a teen.
  - tombert 5y ago
    FLCL was one of those shows I hated the first time I watched it at age 19, but I also got a vibe that there might be some subtext and metaphors that I missed. About a year later, I saw that it was on Netflix and decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did, because it's become one of my favorite animes at this point. I think a lot of the veiled references to erections and the analogies strangeness of a 14-year-old-boy forcing his way through puberty were lost on me the first time, and it took until I wasn't a teenager anymore to step back and view it in an almost "nostalgic" sense. NOTE: I have only seen the first six-episode run of it. I can't speak to the newer reboot series that came out in 2016.

superfamicom 5y ago

Lots of good comments from the last time this was posted too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21323736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21323736

javchz 5y ago

The Typeface work in NGE it's amazing. Despite using the most common typefaces, you can recognize the card titles as the "Evangelion Art Style" despite only using fonts, copywriting and layout as design elements. Plus I love how Evangelion falls into a middle of exaggerated UIs to have the "hacker look" of /r/itsaunixsystem/, and at the same an amazing level of detail that make sense in their own world. Like when MAGI it's being hacked by the Computer Angel or SEELE, you can see they use a form of assembly and a Unix System to fight it. And then, the MAGI system by itself it's an amazing use of redundant architecture with 3 computers that should have the same output. That a system that it's resistant to data corruption, but at the same time working as an GAN AI. Amazing to think this it's from the 90s, and the most amazing part that those details are just 1% of what makes evangelion interesting.

downrightmike 5y ago
Eureka 7 hits like this in parts, once you get past the first bits, you get to see the reality the world is built on.
GhettoComputers 5y ago
I wonder if the mechanical compression is an artifict of the times, and if it wasn’t stylistic as much as for other reasons. The cards are obviously “Evangelion” but stylized fonts are really memorable, such as the 2 color gradient images, and text of final fantasy titles with white stroke.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Claude_Shannon 5y ago

Is NGE worth watching for someone who never was really into anime? The only animated thing I've watched in ages was Arcane, but that's completly different style that NGE.

ajford 5y ago
As a long-time fan of NGE, I'd say yes. It's got a fair bit of the classic "teens in mechs" tropes to it, but there's definitely more to it under the hood, and it's universe is rather well put together in my opinion. I'd try to walk into it without focusing on it being animated though. It's cinematography like anything else, it's just a different medium and a different style that makes use of the flexibility it's medium provides.
- Claude_Shannon 5y ago
  I grew in a environment where admitting to even thinking about watching anything anime was like a social suicide. Only in high school it changed. I just can't help but treat everything anime related as childish (and I know that genre has some problems, with, uhh... fan service). Thank you, I will. The only thing I know about NGE is that ending(?) song, Komm Susser Tod.
  - ajford 5y ago
    I luckily got into anime right on the verge where it became more socially acceptable (late 90s early 2000s). Also, I grew up in an area where the dominant local culture was more accepting of anime since Dragon Ball Z, Gundam (of some flavor), and Saint Seya were all localized into Spanish and popular with my age group. The more off the beaten path animes like NGE, Hellsing, etc. didn't become as popular until a few years later when I hit high-school.
  - aidenn0 5y ago
    I remember my mom walking into the room during one of the more soap-opera-ish moments of Robotech and saying "What on earth are you watching?" I assured her that people would start shooting lasers at each other in giant robots soon...

Pxtl 5y ago

I think so many people focus on the personal emotional journey of Shinji and the horror of the Evas, it's so easy to miss how good NGE is at things like this. Personally what surprised me on re-watch and through the rebuild-series is how much emphasis there is on the beauty of industry itself - so many scenes of machinery on landscapes. This is particularly notable with Ramiel, the beam-weapon octohedron - in the original series they explain that the weapon to defeat it will require all of the electrical power in Japan. In the rebuild, they make the effort of "we have to build electrical equipment to get all the power in Japan into one spot for a few seconds, and we have to do this in like a day or two" feel real and amazing. As much as Evangelion is a story about isolation and loneliness, visually there's a sort of celebration of industrial civilization - especially the rebuild. Not just individuals, but kind of a "together look what we can achieve" thing. In most other series, the images of machinery and industrial equipment weaponry splayed out over beautiful mountain landscapes and put to task would be dystopian... but in Evangelion, the artists instead make it heroic. The original series has this too - everybody loves the machinery of Tokyo 3, even poor Shinji, it's just amped up in the rebuild.

debo_ 5y ago
In comparison, I continually found myself wondering how the heck Gendo kept building so much crazy stuff when it seemed like his entire staff consisted of him and Kozo (especially in the rebuild movies.)
- EamonnMR 5y ago
  Yeah, that definitely stretched believability. In NGE Nerv has a huge support staff that we see glaring at Shinji in ep1.
- Pxtl 5y ago
  Hah, yeah. The (spoilers!) more prolonged apocalypse of the rebuilds combined with the larger industrialization of the Evas in Rebuild does make the absence of the industry that marked the first two volumes a bit conspicuous.
GhettoComputers 5y ago

standardUser 5y ago

I am not a big font guy, but the first image in that article is somehow stunningly beautiful.

EamonnMR 5y ago

I've recently been way into this show. I highly recommend it as well as the "rebuild" movie series. You may have to grit your teeth and bear some scenes, but I recommend it without reservations.

GhettoComputers 5y ago
I would recommend skipping 1.11 if you seen the anime and 3.33 except the beginning and ending fight scene. The peak was definitely 2.22.

coolandsmartrr 5y ago

The typography in Evangelion's titlecards is a tribute to Japanese film pioneer Kon Ichikawa. For instance, Ichikawa lets diagonal and horizontal layouts coexist in the titlecard to bring more dimension into typography (as opposed to being just linear). In his masterpiece "The Inugami Family"[1], the opening title is just 90 seconds of white Gothic typeface on a black background, but the layout is playful, letting the font speak more than just the text themselves.[2] In fact, director Anno Hideaki drew inspiration from this in Evangelion. Ichikawa was very keen on layout. While Ichikawa mainly focused on live action features, he began his career as an animator, where he honed his craft of laying out "deliberate" camera shots. Later in "Brother",[3] he was even criticized for a jarring camera layout, where characters sometimes bifurcate the shot composition by standing in the middle. [4] Ichikawa continued with his "jarring" style; he would insert sudden bursts of opposite shots in the middle of characters speaking. The influence of Ichikawa's cutting style is evident in Anno's works too. For example, in the expository scene in the "End of Evangelion", he would also insert brief shots of the subjects the characters are talking about. (e.g. "Second Impact", "Adam", and such jargon) Anno is like a Japanese Tarantino; he absorbed much influence from his predecessors, and refines their qualities in his own works. Right now in Tokyo, the Anno Hideaki exhibit is gathering much fanfare. A good portion of the exhibit is devoted not to his works, but the prior art he was heavily influenced by. Clearly, he wants to give more credit to his predecessors by giving them the spotlight they deserve. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074691/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074691/ [2] Opening title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkAryQPocLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkAryQPocLA [3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054151/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054151/ [4] Ichikawa also innovated in film color processing, where he and cinematographer Kazuo Miyakawa left the silver while processing film, giving an eerie lush glow to the colors. P.S. I've also commented on Evangelion in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15906758 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15906758

GhettoComputers 5y ago
Thank you for this! I know NGE parodies/tributes a lot of other media. Do you know if the computer interfaces were also influenced by other similar media?

kevwals 5y ago

I love everything on the page, it looks so retro yet so modern and futuristic.