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I've recently watched for the first time Neon Genesis Evangelion (+ The End of...), and powerful (and a bit painful) art like this seems to be a good slap in th

I've recently watched for the first time Neon Genesis Evangelion (+ The End of...), and powerful (and a bit painful) art like this seems to be a good slap in the face to get out of at least some of the versions of that bog - I'm a bit sad that I didn't watch it years earlier when I was stuck in some bogs... (Another commenter there mentions a quote recommending books - great literature I'm pretty sure in that context, not "self help" books... I guess I should hurry up and read Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being already ?)

sedivy94 3y ago
Fellow Neon Genesis fan here. Watching the original series was an incredibly frustrating experience for me. It does not follow the typical hero’s journey. There few wins, if any. Mostly losses. Idiot Shinji was a helpless and pitiful protagonist, so much so that you eventually stop rooting for him. The 1.11, 2.22, 3.33, and 3.0+1.0 rebuilds were much, much better in my opinion. But they also lacked that depressing trajectory that made the original series so unique.
- BlueTemplar 3y ago
  > But they also lacked that depressing trajectory that made the original series so unique. Agree. Also, in that end, there's hope, even if the characters are still flawed, they have been forced to confront their issues and illusions, and (finally) are set on a realistically human path of growth. > The 1.11, 2.22, 3.33, and 3.0+1.0 rebuilds were much, much better in my opinion. Disagree, because of the above. Sure, plenty of eye candy (of both kinds), but it's gratuitous in Rebuilds. The "biblical" (mid-)themes are even more confusing. The character growth is only kind of earned if you actually watched the originals (with maybe the (tragic) exception of latest Rei and "dad", who finally does get a redemption arc). And even there, at a cost, as all the suffering of old Asuka (and our whiplash of empathizing with her) has basically been erased along with her original, all the while the new pilot, Mari, is never fleshed out, so her being there at the end doesn't feel earned, with her having been all along weirdly untraumatized and also hot for Shinji (gratuitous again). Many main characters literally get wished into a fairy tale ending.
- barrysteve 3y ago
  Oh come on. If Shinji's father had given him a 15 minute brief and debrief for every battle, that job would have been another day in the office for Shinji. He could of had a normal life, but the show sets him up to be trapped in hyper emotional relationships, influencing him to make irrational decisions all the time. He's a high school guy being manipulated by everyone around him, to fight battles he doesn't understand.
carlinm 3y ago
“The Unbearable Lightness of Being” is just fantastic. I think it’s well worth your time. I’ve read it a few times now. With each subsequent read at a different point in my life, it’s been interesting to see new insights and perspectives emerge. If you end liking it, another one from Kundera I particularly enjoyed was “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting”.

sedivy94 3y ago

Fellow Neon Genesis fan here. Watching the original series was an incredibly frustrating experience for me. It does not follow the typical hero’s journey. There few wins, if any. Mostly losses. Idiot Shinji was a helpless and pitiful protagonist, so much so that you eventually stop rooting for him. The 1.11, 2.22, 3.33, and 3.0+1.0 rebuilds were much, much better in my opinion. But they also lacked that depressing trajectory that made the original series so unique.

BlueTemplar 3y ago
> But they also lacked that depressing trajectory that made the original series so unique. Agree. Also, in that end, there's hope, even if the characters are still flawed, they have been forced to confront their issues and illusions, and (finally) are set on a realistically human path of growth. > The 1.11, 2.22, 3.33, and 3.0+1.0 rebuilds were much, much better in my opinion. Disagree, because of the above. Sure, plenty of eye candy (of both kinds), but it's gratuitous in Rebuilds. The "biblical" (mid-)themes are even more confusing. The character growth is only kind of earned if you actually watched the originals (with maybe the (tragic) exception of latest Rei and "dad", who finally does get a redemption arc). And even there, at a cost, as all the suffering of old Asuka (and our whiplash of empathizing with her) has basically been erased along with her original, all the while the new pilot, Mari, is never fleshed out, so her being there at the end doesn't feel earned, with her having been all along weirdly untraumatized and also hot for Shinji (gratuitous again). Many main characters literally get wished into a fairy tale ending.
barrysteve 3y ago
Oh come on. If Shinji's father had given him a 15 minute brief and debrief for every battle, that job would have been another day in the office for Shinji. He could of had a normal life, but the show sets him up to be trapped in hyper emotional relationships, influencing him to make irrational decisions all the time. He's a high school guy being manipulated by everyone around him, to fight battles he doesn't understand.

carlinm 3y ago

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being” is just fantastic. I think it’s well worth your time. I’ve read it a few times now. With each subsequent read at a different point in my life, it’s been interesting to see new insights and perspectives emerge. If you end liking it, another one from Kundera I particularly enjoyed was “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting”.