Author: Lenlo

Welcome to the first double feature for Neon Genesis Evangelion! A momentous day I know, but its nothing compared to what our cast went through. Evangelion threw everything from DDR to T&A to a fatsuit for whatever reason. Does it make sense? No. Are we gonna talk about it anyways? Hell yeah, lets jump in!

Starting off, in general these episode’s were a bit weird for me, in a number of ways. The most polite way to put it of course would be that the episodes were “problematic”. As both in terms of production and subject matter I were concerning. For the first, it’s not that it was bad per-se. The… performance, as I would call it, was actually well made. I never imagined I would watch multi-ton robots move that way. However I don’t think it worked as Anno intended, and actually took me out of the moment/point of the episode. Meanwhile laden through were a number of really concerning things in regards to Evangelion’s treatment of its female characters. There is a time and a place for these sorts of things, and in a serious character drama they can have weight. But serious is not how I would describe Evangelion.

Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 9/10 – Throwback Thursday” →

Last week, Neon Genesis Evangelion had a bit of a hump, as it tried to tell 2 stories at once. As if to spite me, this week it jumps right back into everything I enjoy about it. Giant robots, sci-fi action and some cast-based comedy. Lets jump in!

Starting off, things actually looked really good this week. Now, they usually do from just a background/stills perspective. As a fellow author, Wooper, pointed out in the comments last week. The cell backgrounds standout every time they get the focus, and Evangelion is so consistent with them it’s easy to forget them. Meanwhile the animation this week also took a step back up, no doubt for Asuka’s introduction. Both the underwater segments and the EVA unit jumping from ship to ship looked great. Not to mention a lot of the expressive character acting during numerous gags across the episode. It was one of those episodes that reminds you “Oh yeah, Neon Genesis Evangelion can move”. I rib on Anno a bit here for his… odd directorial decisions up until now, but it really did look good. As for the story? Well let’s take a look.

Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 8 [Asuka’s Arrival in Japan/Asuka Strikes] – Throwback Thursday” →

Hello all to another week of Neon Genesis Evangelion! This week is much more light hearted than the last few, diving more into Misato and Shinji’s relationship. Meanwhile it seems something is a foot as a weapons test goes wrong. So without further ado, lets jump in! And stick around to the end, because I have some important questions about how you would like Throwback Thursday to run moving forward. Onwards!

Starting off, this week saw a bit more of Anno’s weirdness. As cuts come in some strange places, there is a lot of repeated footage and in general it just feels… different. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, as I can see what he was going for. The repeated morning segments do a fine job of setting the time frame of the episode and the pacing of it all. It also gives us a glimpse into Shinji/Misato’s life together, and what their general day to day is like. For those I suppose the question really becomes, are you invested in their life? If yes, then I think it informs a lot about where they are 7 episodes in. If not, then it’s a lot of repeated and wasted time. So suffice to say, I don’t have much a problem with it, but I can see the issue. Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 7 [A Human Work] – Throwback Thursday” →

Once again, I am late for this week’s Neon Genesis Evangelion post. It’s becoming a bad habit really, and yet something about Evangelion makes it difficult to write about. I need look no further than this week for proof of that. As here we see a competent governmental body, Rei stepping up to the plate, and Shinji getting in the damn robot. So let’s jump in!

As always, we have to start with the production, and this time I think Evangelion managed to impress. Say what you want about Anno’s… odd tastes in still shots, but the action is great. From the tanks to what is just a giant floating cube, I enjoyed it all. There was even a number of nice environmental animation to go along with the tank or Angel shots. And in general things like melting metal look fantastically fluid. Part of it is no doubt the dated, nostalgic charm that is cell animation. But I don’t think that really takes away from it at all. If I had one complaint though, it would have to be with the odd lighting at times. Like during Rei’s visit to Shinji’s room, I understand the time of day they were shooting for, it just looked weird to me. Minor squibbles aside though, onto the meat!

Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 6 [Decisive Battle in Tokyo-3/Rei II] – Throwback Thursday” →

Finally, Throwback Thursday returns, with a new episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Apologies for the wait. I have explained across a number of posts now, but work and moving the site really ate my time. But its all over now and we can get back into it! So let’s just dive in, as we check back in with Shinji!

Starting off with production, as I always do, this week was a bit of an odd one. There was some great stuff. From expressive character acting from Misato during her and Shinji’s interactions, to the effects. I will never get tired of how Evangelion liquefies metal and structures with its lasers and such. It’s a beautiful effect, and one I hope we continue to see more of in the series. On the other hand we also got some more of Anno’s weirdness. Long, hanging still shots with almost no motion. Just dialogue played over an extended escalator scene. Similar to the rest we have seen, I don’t think it’s inherently bad. It works to sell the awkwardness between Rei and Shinji, especially after what happened in the apartment. But it felt to me like it just carried on to long. Still, for the most part, Evangelion did well.

Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 5 [Rei, Beyond the Heart/Rei I] – Throwback Thursday” →