A Treatise On Evangelion

A Treatise on Neon Genesis Evangelion


Note: The terms ‘Evangelion’ will be used to refer to the combination of ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ and ‘End of Evangelion’. When referring to either one individually, NGE and EoE will be used, respectively.

At the time of production, Director Hideaki Anno used his future magnum opus NGE as a catharsis for his depression, then exacerbated by his previous directing work “Nadia and the Secret of Blue water”, as well as for venting his frustration with anime otakus withdrawing themselves from society and interaction, their collective obsession for ‘waifus’, and other ultimately unimportant details of any anime; in addition, Anno used NGE as a way of criticizing many anime series past and present — particularly mecha anime — for being used as nothing more than fodder meant only to sell toys and other commercialized products.
Over 20 years later, not only has he largely failed on these endeavors (the matter of his depression can only be assumed based on the few and far between statements he’s made; as for the intended meaning and purpose, the majority of viewers don’t understand it, even among the fans), but he has even become hypocritical and fully embraced what he disliked (referring to the merchandising of Eva). A thorough breakdown of these points explains his intentions and the failure to achieve them, but not necessarily why they failed, which may require an expert in modern Japanese society and the social troubles that lead to such results.

1. The Case of Rei, or When ‘Be Careful of What You Wish for’ Backfires on the Genie
By the time of NGE’s debut, the perception of anime was that it was filled with what is known as “fanservice” – gratuitous sexual content – and a common stereotype of otakus was that they preferred fictional, sexualized characters that had no personality, whose purpose was to be a target for the collective perversions of the audience. These views are specifically held by Anno at the time of production, and led him to create the character of Rei: an aloof, near-expressionless girl who does what she is told in an almost servile way; a girl meant to exhibit the ‘perfect’ traits many otakus look for in a ‘waifu’ (the term ‘waifu’ being used to refer to an anime girl beloved and cherished had not been established at the time of NGE’s airing, although it play a role in the usage of waifu as it is today), only to reveal to these fans that their narcissistic and lustful fascinations serve to exploit and dehumanize women, that no real human being wants to love a ‘doll’, someone who can be swapped out with a sex doll and have essentially the same experience.
Unfortunately, Rei (and many other characters from the series) had almost immediately become fan-favorites, and many scholars point to NGE as the catalyst for the Waifu Wars. While Rei isn’t solely to blame for the backfire of the lesson on fetishizing vs caring for a person (after all, there were many other women on the show that weren’t created for the same purpose as Rei, many of which have moments of fan service designed to please the sexual appetites of men), Rei specifically was meant to evoke a jeremiad on the state of female representation in anime, and the fault then rests on Anno.
The problems stem from Rei’s inherent design and the need for her to psychologically fit in with the rest of the cast (“fitting in” here not referring to having the same behaviors and modes of thinking; rather, a unique perspective and one of many possibilities a human being may have as a mind). Initially, the viewer is to believe that Rei is truly emotionless and has no real free will; over the course of the NGE and finally into EoE, we see that she is very perceptive of herself and her thoughts and behaviors, perhaps more so than any of the other regulars in the series. She cries, and is herself surprised at this, having not experienced any relationship before which would have made smile or cry. Her final decision in EoE to reject Gendo, whom she used to obsessively follow and obey, is the apotheosis (literally and figuratively) of her previous choices and relationships she has made, most notably with Shinj. Thus, Rei’s purpose as a doll was subverted by her own creator; out of choice or necessity for the plot to unfold is uncertain, but ultimately Anno betrayed himself and rather than giving us a Furby, he made Pinocchio. We didn’t see just some bimbo on screen, we saw the person most connected with their emotions, the most rational and stable main character.
As an aside, one could argue the decision to make Rei 14 years old was also a commentary on the sexualization of children, now more prevalent than ever in anime, manga, and doujins; another potential failure for Anno.

2. Human Interaction: It’s What It’s All About
The overall message of Evangelion is:
There is pain in life; physical, mental, emotional. You WILL experience pain in all its forms from nearly every source of joy and relationship in life. However, that should not stop you from making meaningful connections with people. Pain is no reason to withdraw yourself from others, from society, the world. Just because others can’t understand you does not mean you should scorn them nor turn away. No one but yourself can understand yourself; thus, love yourself as well as you love others, and don’t hate others because they are not you.
This is the meaning hidden in plain sight in 26 episodes and one movie, at times filled with gratuitous sexual content, violence, and stunning animation. Yet not a single first-time viewer will understand this, and even few long-time fans truly understand this message. Rather, many focus on the intricacies of the plot and world Anno has built, of which there are many unexplained to this day; this has the unfortunate effect of drawing our focus away from examining the message and trying to fill the gaps of the setting. However, those parts don’t matter. Anno left them unfiled because he considers those unexplained parts irrelevant and unneeded. The best way to view this is Evangelion is just an allegory, akin to other well-respected novels and films with message to convey to the audience.
In the novella Animal Farm, no discussion has occurred asking why animals can talk, why they can own property in Britain, or why they are treated as animals and killed if they exhibit free will and can communicate with us; the reason why those discussions don’t happen is because we the reader understand clearly those are naïve and stupid questions to ask, that what is important is how the rise and dominance of the pigs is an allegory for Stalin’s rise in Soviet Russia, how he killed, lied, and schemed his way to the top and exploited the proletariat and created a system even worse than that under the previous rulers, in the book the humans, in actuality the Tsars. A continuation of Stalin’s totalitarian practices can be found in George Orwell’s other famous literary work, 1984. This one, a tale of a man attempting to break from the Party’s rule, describes the utter despair one experiences under a totalitarian system and how such a system destroys us as people. Just like with Animal Farm, the kinds of questions that analysts never raise are “How did the party come to power? Who controls the party? What is the political situation like that the party needs to make people believe they have been at war with allies, and allied with enemies?” Just like with Animal Farm, these questions, too, miss the message contained within the text.
So then why is it so difficult for many people to understand that the main purpose of Evangelion was to educate us on the hardships of love and connection that we must face in order to get through life? One can only speculate as to why. What is concrete, however, is that Japan’s society has not taken notice: Lowest birth rates of any First World country, ostensibly due to the terrible work culture and the growing numbers of shut-ins who refuse to leave their rooms or homes. The dominance of isekai anime (where a loser gets transported to a fantasy world and becomes the greatest thing in the land) could also be seen as a form of escapism that Anno warned us against.

3. Mecha/Anime/Animation is Art, or Money corrupts
For much of animated television history, the main objective was to promote the sale of merchandise, specifically for children’s programming. Even recently, cartoons have survived simply based on their merchandise sales when by all measures the cartoons are terrible; likewise, great shows with good writing and excellent plot and themes of the story have been cancelled simply because the merchandise sales were not enough. This could historically be no truer than for mecha anime. Anno saw this and attempted to prove to the world that anime, or at least mecha anime, could actually be real art, that it did not need to whore itself out to justify its existence. Yet, that is what it did, perhaps more than any other series in existence. Off from memory: trains, tape measures, shoes, cell phones, entire houses have all seen an official crossover with evangelion in some way. Evangelion as a franchise has made most of its money from pachinko games that are licensed to have Evangelion branding on the machines. There is practically no limit to the depths that the Eva franchise will sell itself to.
4. Post-Mortem
Evangelion is a series that is perhaps the most stimulating and thought-provoking of any animated series, yet it also is plagued by the common trappings of modern corporate entertainment. Hideaki Anno was blinded by the allure of fame and fortune, and failed to realize the downfall of his work’s status as a perfectly-respected masterpiece, yet while he recognized his own depression and seems to have saved himself, he could not do the same for his magnum opus.