Reviving this thread is a necessary step of the Human Instrumentality Project.
Hahaha, well said, my friend.
Gendo Ikari is so. totally. Hawt.
...you're scaring me.
Asuka was a bitch, Rei was too awesome, Shinji made me want to cry, <33 Misato and Ritsuko and Kaji and <33333333333 Gendo.
Okay, I'll elaborate a bit.
* I am very sympathetic to Asuka. This may be due to my getting into the series slightly backwards: I first discovered the character Asuka, then what happens to her at the end of the series, then I watched the series from beginning to end, episodes 1-26 then EoE.
* I am also sympathetic to Shinji. In some ways, he seems..."human", I guess. Especially when contrasted to some other characters, like the manipulative Gendo and the coldly obedient Rei. I'll say a few more things about this later.
* I dislike Rei. Yep, I'm probably gonna get flamed by many people for this, but I don't see what's so awesome about her. I see her as an important character for the plot, but somehow, I just haven't fallen into the "Misaimed Fandom" realm with Rei, and am creeped out by her. (Her spoileriffic backstory doesn't help her either, heh.)
* I initially disliked Misato, because the impression she gave me was that she was a crazy drunken slut. This changed over the course of the series, and I became much more sympathetic to the character, seeing her as distinctly "human" with respect to the story theme of humanity versus inhumanity. As I said, I'll get to this later.
* I initially liked Ritsuko, because I saw her as this awesome (and hot) brainy scientist. However, I gradually grew to dislike her, as she seemed increasingly cold to emotion.
* Kaji is a very interesting character. I still can't figure out what he was thinking.
* Gendo...well...I see him as the villain, even though he occupies a very unusual villain role. So I dislike him, even though I can sympathize with his intentions, because his choice of means were the problem. (Okay, perhaps another reason I hate Gendo is because the end of episode 18 is practically burned into my brain, since there was a long gap between my watching 18 and my watching 19.)
I very much enjoy Neon Genesis Evangelion, if it weren't clear enough already, and I think my appreciation of it stems from the following:
1.
What some people call a "subversion" or "deconstruction" of stereotypes, including and especially enthusiastic-boy-hero animé. I'd watched quite a bit of Pokémon, and I'd recently seen Naruto (where I had to argue with a fangirl whenever I compared Naruto's overenthusiastic dumb luck to Ash's), and this was a welcome change. Instead of having a boy hero who's got that special talent in him and savors his role as the hero, he's got that special talent in him but doesn't, for goodness's sakes, want it, even though he'll do it when other people need him. It was a stereotype-breaking experience, and one that was akin to "What would happen if you put a real-life person in this role?".
2.
Complex characterization. Where appropriate, characters were presented with very detailed, complex, and often realistic-seeming characterization. It was possible to "peer into" various characters minds to figure out what desires drove their actions, what they felt about their circumstances, and how they wanted things to be. And those who didn't have such a characterization stood out, for good reason:
3.
The themes of the story. I think there were several themes in NGE, among which were humanity vs. non-human (through emotion vs. non-emotion, often), fear of growing up or crossing milestones, fear of facing one's fears (including shame toward others).
It took me a while to realize that I enjoyed the series from the "inside" rather than from the setting, plot, etc.--and then it made sense why I didn't like End of Evangelion either.
Yes, I don't like EoE. It presented to me a totally jumbled storyline, while episodes 25-26 actually concluded the series for me, because it focused on Shinji's thoughts, emotions, and desires. Not to mention I like the happy ending, complete with a certain tune. Now, what I
don't get, is how people say that EoE wraps things up. I can see people complaining that there's no NERV or Angel or Eva action in episodes 25-26, but I can't see how EoE actually wraps anything up. If anything, it introduces even more questions.
Speaking of a certain tune, I love the theme song. I've transcribed a version for piano and voice, and so far I'm up to the end of the TV-size version--I hope to make a full-size version soon.
I should mention, though, I'm still trying to sort out how things worked in this setting. Like, who are the Angels, where they come from, what do they want, and how did DNA evolve little fleshy land beings, gigantic fleshy fish beings, and enormous d8's that fire lazors, stuff like that.
