Some day that Isn't Monday Musings. Shinji Ikari

Giant robot good.

This past weekend my brother began showing a couple friends the EVA movies,  I had no interest in watching them again so I played borderlands muted while they sat on the couch watching the first movie. And me and Brandon (for whom it was the first actual EVA thing he had ever seen) were constantly making references to the hilarious Evabridged video (both of which are spectacular) and me making fun of Shinji. My brother was very defensive of Shinji and EVA alike. And so I thought to myself "Hey self, I could do a Monday musings on that" and I said back "Hey consciousness that is a good idea" and here I am.

I should prefece by saying that one of my criteria for an anime being an absolute favorite is that I must be pretty much totally and completely addicted to it while watching. And EVA was one of these. This was one of the earlier shows I ever watched and was back in the day when the only access I had to anime was watching it with my brother on his laptop. And unlike most anime I watched with him it was me bugging him to watch it instead of the other way around. I was totally hooked by the show from beginning to end. So for all of the bashing I am about to do, I still had a blast while watching it. 

The reason I really dislike Shinjii is because he is a complete whiny wimp when the show starts, which is actually good. And I think to myself  "Hey self, isn't it nice to see that someone looked at what would really happen if you had a high school er try to do this?" and I said back "Why yes it is." At the start of the show it's ok because he is very easy to relate with. Because being a wuss and trying to run away is probably what anyone sane person would do in his situation. But here is the problem, he never changes. By the end of the show I say to myself  "Hey self, I honestly think at this point I'd be in the stupid robot ready to open up a can of whoop-ass" and that is what makes me so angry. It is set up so ridiculously well for an amazing ending, where I as a watcher felt some fire in my belly to go kick some angel butt. But then when it is time for our embattled hero to step up and become awesome he, doesn't. Up to that point the series had accomplished what only a few other anime/manga have for me, which is that I really truly feel something for the characters and what they are going through. But then ruins it by just not coming through. And even if you make the argument that all of us normal people wouldn't have ever really succeeded either, even if we can watch and say we would. I would say that they don't understand the point of anime, movies, or video games. To me the whole point is that it isn't totally realistic. So even if I might have given up just as Shinjii does time and time again, I don't want to watch an anime that shows what would really happen necessarily. If I want to see that then I can go see a real apocalypse. But that is why I hate him. It is set up so perfectly and then just throws it all away. Obviously everybody is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not sure I communicated mine that great but I'm overdue for a post.

manere siteme amicus.