6 ms·

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

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.
      - pvarangot 5y ago
        Yeah Lain and also Ghost in the Shell have similar portrayal of research facilities, they still look more surreal than Eva on those animes though. But I wouldn't say they are giant robots animes. Bubblegum Crisis and of course Gundam are and there the facilities are more pristine and everything is more like military run.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    Sometimes close examination pays off though. Jet Alone boots up version 2.2.1c, nearly melts down and then reboots back to 2.1.1c seconds before it explodes, confirming that it was sabotaged.
    - Zealotux 5y ago
      Its virus protection also indicates "Chech" instead of "Check"[1]. Evangelion is full of amazing thoughtful details, I love how they mixed the pseudoscience with the pseudo-mystical concepts of the series[2]. [1] https://i.imgur.com/dx2QQy7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dx2QQy7.jpg [2] https://i.imgur.com/uYV2WiD.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uYV2WiD.jpg
      - miffe 5y ago
        53 TB of UMB :)
  - twic 5y ago
    Tangent, but the first episode of Golden Boy has a number of almost-but-not-quite realistic contemporary 1995 computer details, including this weirdly garbled rc script: https://youtu.be/R7jXJ1UfOvo?t=1195 https://youtu.be/R7jXJ1UfOvo?t=1195 (i should note that while this is a terrible but entertaining lightweight comedy anime, as wikipedia puts it, "while the OVA is not strictly a hentai animation", it might not be something to watch in the office)
    - aasasd 5y ago
      I'm just surprised to see that someone else knows about ‘Golden Boy’. It rides such a wacky edge between the mainstream and the weird that it's difficult to imagine an audience for it. Probably the only reason I've seen it is because in the early 2000s I and some people here watched just everything anime, whole hdds of the stuff. Now I just vaguely remember a couple of popular series, plus ‘Golden Boy’ and ‘Lunatic Night’. Need to rewatch it one of these days, it's already on the watch-list.
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_.

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.
    - pvarangot 5y ago
      Yeah Lain and also Ghost in the Shell have similar portrayal of research facilities, they still look more surreal than Eva on those animes though. But I wouldn't say they are giant robots animes. Bubblegum Crisis and of course Gundam are and there the facilities are more pristine and everything is more like military run.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  Sometimes close examination pays off though. Jet Alone boots up version 2.2.1c, nearly melts down and then reboots back to 2.1.1c seconds before it explodes, confirming that it was sabotaged.
  - Zealotux 5y ago
    Its virus protection also indicates "Chech" instead of "Check"[1]. Evangelion is full of amazing thoughtful details, I love how they mixed the pseudoscience with the pseudo-mystical concepts of the series[2]. [1] https://i.imgur.com/dx2QQy7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dx2QQy7.jpg [2] https://i.imgur.com/uYV2WiD.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uYV2WiD.jpg
    - miffe 5y ago
      53 TB of UMB :)
- twic 5y ago
  Tangent, but the first episode of Golden Boy has a number of almost-but-not-quite realistic contemporary 1995 computer details, including this weirdly garbled rc script: https://youtu.be/R7jXJ1UfOvo?t=1195 https://youtu.be/R7jXJ1UfOvo?t=1195 (i should note that while this is a terrible but entertaining lightweight comedy anime, as wikipedia puts it, "while the OVA is not strictly a hentai animation", it might not be something to watch in the office)
  - aasasd 5y ago
    I'm just surprised to see that someone else knows about ‘Golden Boy’. It rides such a wacky edge between the mainstream and the weird that it's difficult to imagine an audience for it. Probably the only reason I've seen it is because in the early 2000s I and some people here watched just everything anime, whole hdds of the stuff. Now I just vaguely remember a couple of popular series, plus ‘Golden Boy’ and ‘Lunatic Night’. Need to rewatch it one of these days, it's already on the watch-list.

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_.