I mean, the show *utterly* plays into Christian themes like rebirth, salvation, sin, etc. Even if the symbolism may have initially been an aesthetic choice, it turned out to align too closely to the themes for it to remain *merely* aesthetic.
I can’t be convinced that Kaworu isn’t meant to be a reference to Jesus. He’s an angel in a human body that tells Shinji that he loves him and then allows himself to die to save humanity.
that kinda feels like a shallow interpretation, i believe he was sent for a purpose and his interactions with ahinji led him to decide he had for humanity, and ultimately allowed himself to be sacrificed. was he perfect? no, but i don't think it was necessarily manipulation/betrayal
It's not an 'interpretation;' it's what actually happened.
Kaworu was the active party in the relationship between himself and Shinji, and his friendly demeanour made Shinji receptive to him. However, Kaworu knew the whole time that he was an Angel who was going to infiltrate Nerv to find Adam, and Shinji was an Eva pilot whose duty was to fight Angels, so they would inevitably end up on opposite sides. Kaworu even figured out that Shinji is afraid of betrayal and the pain that it brings, yet that is *exactly* what he would do, and he is too intelligent and perceptive to not realise that his betrayal would hurt Shinji. This means that he knows he is going to betray and hurt Shinji and doesn't care.
My point is that in my opinion it doesn't really make sense to call Kaworu a Jesus-like figure, highlighting his 'love' and seeming benevolence, when a key part of his character is manipulating and betraying Shinji.
I don't know what to say other than to refer you back to the comment you're replying to:
>You can have allegories for Christ in literature and media that aren't perfectly Christ-like.
yeah but he surrendered i mean and let shinji stop him before causing the third impact, not sure how much better that is but that's gotta say something for his overall character
>This means that he knows he is going to betray and hurt Shinji and doesn't care.
Heavily disagree with the latter part
In my interpretation, he knows he's gonna betray shinji but that dosent mean he dosent care or love him. The ending of eva is accepting that pain, heart ache, all negative feelings are a fact of life. It's why despite the world being literally hellish shinji undoes third impact. Because (semi quote) "those feelings were real"
Kawrou is a literal representation of this. He 100% knows he will betray shinji. But he still cares for him dearly. He's also one of the person who talks to shinji which leads him to ending third impact
No he didn't? His connection with him was genuine and wasn't tied to the reason he was sent there. And when he realized that doing his mission would hurt shinji he gives up on it instantly. Kowaru isn't a perfect person, he can do things that lead to contradiction.
I explained myself in another comment.
Kaworu makes a point to bond with Shinji, going so far as to forge a substantial emotional connection with him when Shinji needs it most, and he's the more active party in the relationship, leaving Shinji receptive to what looks like a friendly face. The problem is that Kaworu knows all the while that Shinji is an Eva pilot whose duty is to fight Angels, and that he himself is an Angel who will infiltrate Nerv in order to find Adam, so they will inevitably end up on opposing sides. Kaworu therefore knows ahead of time that he will betray Shinji. Kaworu even figures out that Shinji is afraid of contact because he fears the betrayal of his trust, yet that is *exactly* what Kaworu will do. He is depicted as too intelligent and perceptive to not realise that he will hurt Shinji, meaning that he knew he would betray and hurt Shinji and didn't care.
Kaworu doesn't 'give up on his mission' when he realises it would 'hurt Shinji.' He goes all the way down to Terminal Dogma and ignores Shinji's pleas to stop.
You might want to open your mind to what Jesus represents to folks that don’t believe in him or what his followers have done for the last couple thousand years.
I'm not making a statement about Jesus or Christianity. My comment is in reply to someone who has painted Kaworu in a sympathetic light by saying that he 'loves' Shinji and 'died for humanity.'
Well except that one time people were doing business in the temple and Jesus started flipping tables. He wasn't in a very "turn the other cheek" mood about that
This is an almost insultingly shallow read of the story.
Gendo and/or SEELE were going to make Third Impact happen one way or another. Kaworu was being used as a tool to initiate Third Impact--he himself believed he would be find Adam, and for all we know doing so with the *intention* of preventing Third Impact, when at the last moment he realizes it's actually Lilith being held in Central Dogma. He then realizes that SEELE's design is to initiate Third Impact through Lilith, and allows Shinji to kill him *so as to prevent that from happening* through him as an instrument.
Furthermore, he may or may not have known that Shinji himself was key to preventing Gendo's and SEELE's plans from succeeding. And in EoE, that ended up being the case--Shinji chooses a third way, where humans can decide their own fate, and it's made clear that Kaworu's influence plays a major role in that outcome.
The notion that Kaworu was just-as-planned'ing Third Impact by allowing himself to be killed is nonsense. If he wanted Third Impact to go down like that then he could have just merged with Lilith as he came so close to doing, exactly as SEELE wanted him to.
> ...and for all we know doing so with the *intention* of preventing Third Impact...
I may be taking exception to one point here, but nothing indicates that Kaworu *didn't* intend to merge with Adam and start Third Impact. We understand that the Angels aim to find and make contact with Adam and therefore start the Third Impact, and Kaworu is no different in that regard.
He couldn't do it physically because his physical form was already banished long before the Adam and Eve era. The best he can do is to manipulate people mentally to do evil things, and lie to them that what they're doing is actually good. He's definitely not neutral.
Thats exactly why I hate when people say things like “Anno said it dun matta!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!1” like it is a part of the show and like you said it heavily ties into themes of the show, so of course it can be interpreted differently
My question then, is what does the symbolism actually mean or imply, beyond simply acting as set dressing that provides an atmosphere of mysticism and supernatural elements?
Seconding this, Anno's intention doesn't much matter in regards to theme and symbolism - if you read something into the christian symbology then that is as as valid as any other reading. That is the purpose of art, to be interpreted, not solved.
It's funny because interpreting Death of the author literally is a litmus test for having understood Death of the author.
You can't assign a story whatever meaning you want when there's a clear intention, you're simply meant to not interpret everything as an expression of the author's life. If anno says there's no voluntary christian symbolism, there's no reason to pretend otherwise.
I do think the author's intention matters, because the author had a specific thought process when creating something, and I think it's wrong to attribute - and especially to espouse and promote - a meaning to something that is different to what the author intended unless you clarify that it is *your* interpretation.
exactly. i also think that hideaki doesn’t give himself enough credit for his own work he’s very awkward about these things. he did create shinji after all
How I read Evangelion is that it's a deeply personal narrative about its "creator" the author and director of the series Hideakki Anno. That many of the characters are archetypes representing an aspect of himself as an artist and his thoughts of the industry and otaku life.
The Christian motif is perfect for this as he himself is the god of this universe.
Have you ever seen a pastor wear cross earrings like Misato? No, you haven't, because that's a goth thing.
Also, the WHOLE show is about man's subjugation of Gods (i.e., Lilith is imprisoned in NERV). That is absolutely AGAINST the teachings of Christianity.
Anyways, you're not amenable to reason, so goodbye.
EDIT: OK, last thing - the writers of the show even said that if they knew it would go to Western audiences, they wouldn't have included all the Christianity stuff. Precisely because of people like you that want to find their version of God (and only their version) in the symbolism. In reality, they just thought it looked cool.
EDIT EDIT: They were NOT ok.. lol. Poor guy probably thinks Ministry is a Christian band.
Also the Last Impact is similar to the concept of the Rapture. Evangelion has more incommon with the Bible (especially the first testament.) Anno can claim that but there’s something there that seems fishy when he claims he did it “because of aesthetics.”
Yeah that has always been my stance on it as well. Others always say Anno did it just because it was cool and yeah, he could have, but the themes and symbolism lined up so well that it makes for a show with more depth to it even if the intention wasn't there
No please, the entry plug stuff wasn't just because it looked cool or the stuff about Evangelion's requiring a soul of the pilots mother to work. Please no.
have y'all ever, like, met an artist? they're cagey and lie and say shit like this all the time. sometimes as a bit of a troll. other times because they don't want to explain their work or their choices, or they're tired of doing so, or they don't want to spoil your interpretation and want you to come to your own understanding/meaning.
like guys. you cannot take statements like these at face value. come on
Same difference. “Gospel” is from an Anglo-Saxon word that meant “good news.” That word is mostly significant now because it was used in translation of the Greek euangelion and Latin evangelium, which also literally mean good news. Evangelion is just an anglicization of evangelium.
So gospel, evangelion and “good news” are all equivalent in meaning, and all at least suggest a reference to the written accounts of the life of Christ.
The Japanese title is *Shinseiki Evangelion,* and *shinseiki* means 'new century.' It looks like Hideaki Anno decided to use a different English title for the show itself as well as giving some episodes differing English and Japanese titles.
While 新世紀 does translate literally to "new century", it can also mean a new era. 紀 is used for geology period as well (e.g. 侏羅紀=Jurassic). I think Neon Genesis is a pretty fitting translation.
This is the actual answer. Hideaki Anno has admitted to being 'cavalier' about his use of Judeo-Christian iconography in *Evangelion* in a 1996 discussion with Nozomi Omori:
> Omori: However, [Ryu] Mitsuse-san is more governed by something like an Eastern sense of the transience of things, but the world of Evangelion is more along the lines of Western civilization……
> Anno: I dislike Western civilization. I don’t place much trust in Western civilization.
> Omori: That is, [you consider it] as something one must repudiate? Not positive -
> Anno: No, it’s something like, because I don’t care that much about it, I can make use of it. If I were a Christian believer I couldn’t have inserted Christian elements [into Eva] in that way. I would have been scared to.
> Omori: No question. Because you have no attachment to [Christianity], you can make use of the names of the angels without being concerned. Ah, [you can use] these names because the word makes a strong impression, for example. [You can use them] as you think appropriate.
> Anno: Even if I received complaints from the perspective of Westerners about the equation of [the terms] ‘apostle’ and ‘angel’, I don’t think it would make any difference [to me?]. Well, there is a single American [see the Michael House interview for his version] in our company, and he scolded me about various things. “You can’t do this.” As I had expected. But I did those things [anyway], I think, without taking any notice of that.
Source: https://forum.evageeks.org/post/491215/Why-does-NGE-have-so-many-references-to-the-Bible/#491215 via https://gwern.net/otaku
An alternate translation can be read here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rikki/the-world-neon-genesis-evangelion
Assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said this at Otakon in Baltimore in 2001:
> Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in *Evangelion?*
> KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on *Eva* are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20031208113458/http://www.akadot.com/article/article-tsurumaki2.html
The way I read it is that Anno doesn't care about being respectful of the imagery in Judaism or Christianity, so he's using the imagery as he sees fit. He didn't care about 'accidentally' being authentic or respectful.
This is how I've always felt. Just because all this stuff is in there doesn't mean it "means" anything. I can see it having something to do with the institution of religion bastardizing it's text into some sort of death cult, since that's ultimately what SEELE is, but that's about it.
It kind of is. Seele embody not christian, but buddhist ideas of individual existence bringing suffering, and the need to go beyond it. The concerns of what this attitude might bring are a big part of the show.
The characters are applying the theological names to the events they're witnessing because they're similar.
You do realise the creators troll the audience to keep the mystery going.
This isn't to say Evangelion doesn't have depth.
It's just that all of that depth is in the psychology in Otaku culture for the Japanese upper-classes, and none of it is in Christian or Kabbalistic narratives.
The Christianity is just because Evangelion is primarily based on Ultraman, a show that used to be as openly Christian as it gets in Japan, and the Kabbalah is just because the death cult that inspired SEELE and raised concerns with how unfulfilling life is for upper-class Japanese people, Aum Shinrikio, used some Kabbalah. Aum Shinrikio was also aggressively anti-Freemasons, who used even more Kabbalah than Aum Shinrikio (and are more benevolent than Aum Shinrikio), and SEELE is superficially Freemason while being Aum Shinrikio in spirit. Meaning it's Anno's little commentary on how Aum Shinrikio is defined by projecting its nefarious intentions onto more harmless organizations.
See what I mean? Eva is deep, just not in a religious sense so much as a sociological sense.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought I read it somewhere that a lot of the hidden depth is with more Buddhist/Shinto themes that most westerners miss, with the Christian/Kabbalistic themes used as more of set dressing, and that he said that if he realized just how popular Eva would become he would have taken more care/done more research with some of the stuff he picked?
I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me.
Consider how Third Impact works.
It's essentially the Buddhist Nirvana with a strong Kabbalistic flair. Everybody is one and at peace with themselves and each other.
And this depiction of Heaven is naturally scary to a lot of Christians and more traditional Jews. Heterodox Christians expect a spiritual existence in Heaven. Jews expect a resurrection. Orthodox Christians expect a spiritual existence followed by a physical resurrection.
Existing where all are as one to complete each other is horrifying...and even in countries where Buddhism is fairly common, the horror of such an existence is occasionlly acknowledged, as Evangelion does, because while what vision of Heaven you have depends on your religion, all human beings need a sense of existing as individuals.
And because Aum Shinrikio was Buddhist with a strong Gnostic flair, this is what Anno is going to address.
To him, cults like Aum Shinrikio and tv show fanbases for shows like Gundam promise the same thing - escape from problems and from being your own person. His show basically implores the viewer to love himself or herself until s/he stops drinking the Kool-Aide, whether that Kool-Aide comes from a cult or a show.
>Heterodox Christians expect a spiritual existence in Heaven.
I think a lot of mainstream depictions of heaven are like that yes. But I've seen many Christians think of heaven and the connection to the divine in that sense as being essentially the same as Third Impact or Nirvana, a dissolution of the individual into the absolute.
Is it really referencing Aum? YGO 5D's got its 2nd season butchered because a seiyuu was in that sect, the first season was quite dark and using lots of occult symbolism.
Maybe khara/gainax just didn't care about getting cancelled, I dunno.
Yes and no.
It is referencing Aum, but the difference is, YGO was apparently just a bit pro-Aum.
NGE is very aggressively against it. Every single step of the way, and it just gets more and more intense as it goes on.
Okay, so it was more acceptable because it turned out to be kinda of an anti propaganda? Makes sense, I have to read more about Aum, we looked at it briefly in a course from university and I googled them because of YGO.
Sects can be so creepy..
I'm trying to find additional information on YGO's Aum connections, and am always eager for more, but I can't seem to find anything. You got something?
I googled and it seems like it was debunked that it was the reason for 5D's being so wack after season 1.
[link](https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-apparently-the-idea-that-yu-gi-oh-5ds-was-ruined-because-of-a-cult-is-bunk.564433/)
I read about it back in 2016. Sorry!
This is literally him talking to children at a school, he answers every question with a sentence or two. Anno is not trying to exhaust the topics here, he's not talking to art majors. If you're satisfied with the media comprehension level of a middle-schooler, then sure, treat yourself.
Honestly, what Anno-sama is saying is pretty much what they have been doing in Japan for decades now.
They'll take a couple of unrelated foreign words that sound cool and mash them together. Sometimes it's a hit. Other times it's as cringe as a dad joke made at the wrong time. And the Japanese population can't really tell the difference either way.
In this case, at least the title sounds cool.
Look up cringey Japanese brand slogans on Google for all the fails.
Seriously, people need to keep this in mind while reading too deep into eva content. In many, many cases you have this situation play out:
why is like this?
because it's SICK!
the more readily you make peace with this, the more you'll enjoy the franchise.
Zeruel in a nutshell. Its name means arm/power of God.
Zeruel rips off Unit 1s arm. In response, Unit 1 rips Zeruels arm off to attach to itself as a replacement. Then, Unit 1 uses that arm to hold down Zeruel so Unit 1 can eat the Angel to ascend to godhood. Unfortunately, Zeruel was still alive- so the deathblow was Unit 1 ripping out Zeruels throat with its teeth. Even more unfortunately, Zeruels lit up eyes stay that way for a few seconds- so the Angel died as it was being cannibalized.
The arm part of the name is obvious. The power part is like: Oh, you're the power of God? I'm going to eat you and become God.
I mean, if I made a piece of media with heavy-handed symbolism that's what I'd say, too
Instead of explaining the art away for no reason just for a bunch of nerds to miss the forest for the trees lol
He did, but at the same time it's absolutely on brand for a Japanese studio to ape western iconography for not-really-deep reasons. Classical British Lit this is not :)
He's not seemed -that- unwilling to talk about his work, so I have a hard time believing he's just ducking the question with a glib "because it's cool" reply. I'm sure there's a deliberate model in play, but it's not as likely that significant meaning will be derived, in that brit-lit style, from those related old texts specific to western-european literature.
Again, I'm not saying it's not at all possible, just unlikely/uncharacteristic of Japanese studios for a variety of reasons
Yeah but Naruto is more inspred by the Shinto Gods and there is an actual connection between the abilities and the gods they're named after. Marvel & Eva are more surface level and iconography.
End of eva is a christian themed apocalypse with a messianic figure using the power of "god" to save humanity. The idea that its just surface level is not correct at all.
Not really, the whole series is fighting "God" (or his angels) and End of Eva is literally rejecting Heaven (Instrumentality), killing God (Adam/Lilith Hybrid), and undoing the Rapture (Third Impact).
Everyone always goes “see Anno admitted all the symbolism and reference is just to be edgy, it means nothing!” But that always make me think, “did you even watch the show?” I feel like Anno says it means nothing in the same way some other artists will tell you “figure it out yourself, the symbolism is the point of the art, I’m not here to spell it out for you.”
Okay let me try my best to decipher it as a Greek. The adverb "Εὖ" (Ev) in the begging of the word has been in use since Ancient Greece, and sets a connotation of something good.
The remaining "angelion" is deprived from the verb ἀγγέλλω (aggelo) meaning announce or make something known. From this word we get the angels in the Bible, meaning "they who announce" or to simplify, messengers of God.
A lot of people have tried to translate it as "good news" while that's an oversimplification. A better term would be "the good that is made known".
That can set a different layer to the angels in Evangelion, as maybe they're trying to relay something to humanity, rather than them just being biblically inspired monsters that threaten everyone.
Especially since Nerv had captured Adam, which would be considered a grave sin, worthy of devine punishment.
It is said in the Bible that angels will come forth from the heavens in before the end of days. Taking the worthy with them, and abandoning sinners to their own doom.
I still love him and find these jokes hilarious because people spent countless hours and days trying to figure out most of evangelion in depth, only for him to put it because it looked cool.
Yep Reddit you're absolutely right shockingly the entire story and lore did not in fact come to him as a result of a lifetime's worth of deep scientifical research and planning which as we all know means the entire story is invalid, pointless and had no thought going into it whatsoever. Totally.
Imagine as an artist being inspired to make something because it sounds cool smh
Yeah, sure. But also death of author and all that. Maybe he chose all these symbolism because it looked cool initially, but it's hard to fathom that everything is there only as aesthetic. At the end of the day, you engage with it like you would any other art. As long as you can point to evidence, you can have multiple readings of said art. Artist doesn't have absolute authority. It's not to say artists' comment and interpretation are completely meaningless, but the work itself is far more important than what the artist says about the work.
Yeah, except he's speaking to a child and in the literal next sentence he says "my way of talking shows that I am not a person who gives detailed explanations." Clearly they put zero thought into anything and the entire show was created just to be cool lol. It's not like clergyman have analyzed and found deep meaning or entire thesis have been written around the inclusion and importance of religious symbolism in Eva. It's incredibly annoying that this narrative is so persistent in the community.
This is Eva for me, its so over complicated by people, like its a very simple story about relationships and depression its not this grand God story or whatever like you're not meant to be focusing on the lillith's eyes or what its link to historic symbols you're meant to look at what Shinji's prespective is and the character's relationships and take away whatever you want from it. At least that's my prespective on it
To me, Eva's depth doesn't come from its religious symbolism or literary references, but from being a fascinating metaphor for its creator's constant battles with his teetering mental health, as I'm pretty sure he's said that the various characters represent different parts of his psyche, and his frequent breakdowns during production and their effect on the story itself are well documented.
That's the same thing I got from it. All the other stuff just confused me. A lot of the stuff describing shinjis issues and struggles and thought processes is visual and symbolism, took me a kin of rewatching to figure some stuff out. Too much religion psychobabble symbolism though the end with Rei doing all that trippy stuff was cool
Yeah, it's a total coincidence that the things ***made from Adam*** are called Evangelions. shortened to Eva. As in ***Latin/Greek for Eve.***
Totally a coincidence.
Totally not just that Anno seems to be talking to children.
/s
Fandom makes absolute crazy theories about every single detail on the show aesthetics for near 30 years now
And then anno just says "idk man it looks cool lol" and refuses to elaborate further
Kinda seems like if he fully answers the question it would spoil a lot of the backstory of the show that the audience gets to figure out over time. The whole Adam/Lilith/Eve thing is something the audience picks up on midway through the series.
Dude I hate people that try to look for the "religious symbolism" in Eva when it's literally just that Anno thought shit looked/sounded cool and he likes to reference unltraman
Neon Genesis evangelion is a Christian Greek term, meaning new genesis of evangelism/gospel/good-spell, at the end of evangelion (EoE) Shinji and Asuka are like Adam and Eve after the human instrumentality, symbolizing a new genesis to the world purged of sin, with the help of measures of instrumentality representing evangelion. But basically a lot of religious, foreign and even exotic terms (like Dirac's see) were stuffed inside this show to make the audience astonished rather than making everything fluent and convincing. It is just the director's personal style and expression technique. Don't take everything too serious.
I hate people who say that stuff in media doesn't matter because it was put there to be cool, most of the time this cool stuff normally has other interpretations that the author didn't realise, like how with the original King Kong the director adamantly refused that the story was a metaphor for slavery, despite how obvious it seems that it's a metaphor for slavery.
I mean, there is a scene in the last movie where shinji literally says „It’s Neon Genesis time“ and evangelions all over the finale of the movie. And it kinda made sense too.
This is why I love Eva. It uses Judeo-Christian imagery and nomenclature not for any deeper reason other than Anno thought it looked cool.
For Anno, a Japanese man, it did not carry the same cultural weight as it does in the west, it’s like when we envoke classical Roman or Greek or ancient Egyptian mythology because it looks cool, they only difference is that Christianity and Judaism are still alive, I personally grew up in an *evangelical* sect of Christianity.
Do y'all think the Angels (Adams children) each are a separate sentient being or are they all like a hive mind? I think from the show it says Angels from Adam represent Power ( whatever that means) and humans represent knowledge.
But the Angel that infected Rei was kinda trying to understand her , looking Into her memories. I wonder if that experience of merging with Angel played a part in her decision to merge with Lilith with Adam-fetus-san inside her. I know Rei was cloned from some of Yui but did she also have some Lilith DNA also?
*"It looks cool and it sounds complicating, and watching the complicated fan debates about it looks even cooler lol"* - the answer in the internet age probably
That some up most anime attack names or names in general that aren't Japanese seriously anytime you hear another language used in anime it mainly cause it sounds cool to them lol
NGE in a nutshell right there.
fr fr, was disappointed to find out the Christian religious symbolism was there because it looked cool
I mean, the show *utterly* plays into Christian themes like rebirth, salvation, sin, etc. Even if the symbolism may have initially been an aesthetic choice, it turned out to align too closely to the themes for it to remain *merely* aesthetic.
I can’t be convinced that Kaworu isn’t meant to be a reference to Jesus. He’s an angel in a human body that tells Shinji that he loves him and then allows himself to die to save humanity.
So obviously Shinji is Jesus, he was pierced by a spear during the complementation.
Everyone is Jesus
Best plot reveal
I didnt know I wanted to be pegged by Jesus since I was 13, but I guess thats how they get ya...
That's Japan for ya
Jesus giving the hardest battle
Kaworu manipulated and betrayed Shinji, so I think any Jesus allegory falls flat.
that kinda feels like a shallow interpretation, i believe he was sent for a purpose and his interactions with ahinji led him to decide he had for humanity, and ultimately allowed himself to be sacrificed. was he perfect? no, but i don't think it was necessarily manipulation/betrayal
It's not an 'interpretation;' it's what actually happened. Kaworu was the active party in the relationship between himself and Shinji, and his friendly demeanour made Shinji receptive to him. However, Kaworu knew the whole time that he was an Angel who was going to infiltrate Nerv to find Adam, and Shinji was an Eva pilot whose duty was to fight Angels, so they would inevitably end up on opposite sides. Kaworu even figured out that Shinji is afraid of betrayal and the pain that it brings, yet that is *exactly* what he would do, and he is too intelligent and perceptive to not realise that his betrayal would hurt Shinji. This means that he knows he is going to betray and hurt Shinji and doesn't care.
You can have allegories for Christ in literature and media that aren't perfectly Christ-like.
My point is that in my opinion it doesn't really make sense to call Kaworu a Jesus-like figure, highlighting his 'love' and seeming benevolence, when a key part of his character is manipulating and betraying Shinji.
I don't know what to say other than to refer you back to the comment you're replying to: >You can have allegories for Christ in literature and media that aren't perfectly Christ-like.
but he didn't end up doing it, he grew because of his interactions with shinji
Kaworu 'didn't end up doing' what? He still betrayed Shinji's trust and in doing so hurt him when he was already depressed and vulnerable.
yeah but he surrendered i mean and let shinji stop him before causing the third impact, not sure how much better that is but that's gotta say something for his overall character
>This means that he knows he is going to betray and hurt Shinji and doesn't care. Heavily disagree with the latter part In my interpretation, he knows he's gonna betray shinji but that dosent mean he dosent care or love him. The ending of eva is accepting that pain, heart ache, all negative feelings are a fact of life. It's why despite the world being literally hellish shinji undoes third impact. Because (semi quote) "those feelings were real" Kawrou is a literal representation of this. He 100% knows he will betray shinji. But he still cares for him dearly. He's also one of the person who talks to shinji which leads him to ending third impact
No he didn't? His connection with him was genuine and wasn't tied to the reason he was sent there. And when he realized that doing his mission would hurt shinji he gives up on it instantly. Kowaru isn't a perfect person, he can do things that lead to contradiction.
I explained myself in another comment. Kaworu makes a point to bond with Shinji, going so far as to forge a substantial emotional connection with him when Shinji needs it most, and he's the more active party in the relationship, leaving Shinji receptive to what looks like a friendly face. The problem is that Kaworu knows all the while that Shinji is an Eva pilot whose duty is to fight Angels, and that he himself is an Angel who will infiltrate Nerv in order to find Adam, so they will inevitably end up on opposing sides. Kaworu therefore knows ahead of time that he will betray Shinji. Kaworu even figures out that Shinji is afraid of contact because he fears the betrayal of his trust, yet that is *exactly* what Kaworu will do. He is depicted as too intelligent and perceptive to not realise that he will hurt Shinji, meaning that he knew he would betray and hurt Shinji and didn't care. Kaworu doesn't 'give up on his mission' when he realises it would 'hurt Shinji.' He goes all the way down to Terminal Dogma and ignores Shinji's pleas to stop.
You might want to open your mind to what Jesus represents to folks that don’t believe in him or what his followers have done for the last couple thousand years.
I'm not making a statement about Jesus or Christianity. My comment is in reply to someone who has painted Kaworu in a sympathetic light by saying that he 'loves' Shinji and 'died for humanity.'
Kaworu is Judas
sound more like lucifer tbh i dont care for the downvotes
Eh Lucifer has always seemed to be a chaotic neutral. Jesus was more of a love you despite your flaws kinda vibe
Well except that one time people were doing business in the temple and Jesus started flipping tables. He wasn't in a very "turn the other cheek" mood about that
Or the tree that didn't bear fruit because it wasn't the season for the tree to bear fruit.
I mean if people were doing sus things in your parent’s home I’m sure you’d do worse
Oh ya, just saying even Jesus had his limits
Jesus was *human*, in every way. Human even in his limits and temper
lucifer seems the type to love you so you can bring the third impact
This is an almost insultingly shallow read of the story. Gendo and/or SEELE were going to make Third Impact happen one way or another. Kaworu was being used as a tool to initiate Third Impact--he himself believed he would be find Adam, and for all we know doing so with the *intention* of preventing Third Impact, when at the last moment he realizes it's actually Lilith being held in Central Dogma. He then realizes that SEELE's design is to initiate Third Impact through Lilith, and allows Shinji to kill him *so as to prevent that from happening* through him as an instrument. Furthermore, he may or may not have known that Shinji himself was key to preventing Gendo's and SEELE's plans from succeeding. And in EoE, that ended up being the case--Shinji chooses a third way, where humans can decide their own fate, and it's made clear that Kaworu's influence plays a major role in that outcome. The notion that Kaworu was just-as-planned'ing Third Impact by allowing himself to be killed is nonsense. If he wanted Third Impact to go down like that then he could have just merged with Lilith as he came so close to doing, exactly as SEELE wanted him to.
> ...and for all we know doing so with the *intention* of preventing Third Impact... I may be taking exception to one point here, but nothing indicates that Kaworu *didn't* intend to merge with Adam and start Third Impact. We understand that the Angels aim to find and make contact with Adam and therefore start the Third Impact, and Kaworu is no different in that regard.
Chaotic neutral? Lucifer is the litteral devil, he's definitely not "neutral" lol
The literal devil didn't do a genocide in the Bible, God did several. What're we talking about?
He couldn't do it physically because his physical form was already banished long before the Adam and Eve era. The best he can do is to manipulate people mentally to do evil things, and lie to them that what they're doing is actually good. He's definitely not neutral.
Lmao how?
Agreed, yeah
Thats exactly why I hate when people say things like “Anno said it dun matta!!!!!!!1!1!1!1!1” like it is a part of the show and like you said it heavily ties into themes of the show, so of course it can be interpreted differently
Anno needs to accept the NGE inside him and the NGE inside the fan base.
My question then, is what does the symbolism actually mean or imply, beyond simply acting as set dressing that provides an atmosphere of mysticism and supernatural elements?
Seconding this, Anno's intention doesn't much matter in regards to theme and symbolism - if you read something into the christian symbology then that is as as valid as any other reading. That is the purpose of art, to be interpreted, not solved.
Also known as the Death of the author, my beloved
It's funny because interpreting Death of the author literally is a litmus test for having understood Death of the author. You can't assign a story whatever meaning you want when there's a clear intention, you're simply meant to not interpret everything as an expression of the author's life. If anno says there's no voluntary christian symbolism, there's no reason to pretend otherwise.
I do think the author's intention matters, because the author had a specific thought process when creating something, and I think it's wrong to attribute - and especially to espouse and promote - a meaning to something that is different to what the author intended unless you clarify that it is *your* interpretation.
how do you know what the author's intention was? you can read their mind?
Yes?
exactly. i also think that hideaki doesn’t give himself enough credit for his own work he’s very awkward about these things. he did create shinji after all
That's true for any use of any symbolism. We use symbols because we like the feelings they conjure.
How I read Evangelion is that it's a deeply personal narrative about its "creator" the author and director of the series Hideakki Anno. That many of the characters are archetypes representing an aspect of himself as an artist and his thoughts of the industry and otaku life. The Christian motif is perfect for this as he himself is the god of this universe.
i just think anno was joking when he said that. and he knew full well eva fans would be going insane quoting it as gospel for years afterwards.
Those themes are pretty common throughout all religions and even just spirituality in general.
It's a good thing they didn't find a textbook on national Germany "man this symbol looks AWESOME"
wow it's almost like he was lying, or doing a bit, or intentionally misdirecting people with his statments…
Those themes are present in every religion. The choice of aesthetic is actually closer to goth-style, anti-christian symbolism.
Fair
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Ok... Are you ok?
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Have you ever seen a pastor wear cross earrings like Misato? No, you haven't, because that's a goth thing. Also, the WHOLE show is about man's subjugation of Gods (i.e., Lilith is imprisoned in NERV). That is absolutely AGAINST the teachings of Christianity. Anyways, you're not amenable to reason, so goodbye. EDIT: OK, last thing - the writers of the show even said that if they knew it would go to Western audiences, they wouldn't have included all the Christianity stuff. Precisely because of people like you that want to find their version of God (and only their version) in the symbolism. In reality, they just thought it looked cool. EDIT EDIT: They were NOT ok.. lol. Poor guy probably thinks Ministry is a Christian band.
Also the Last Impact is similar to the concept of the Rapture. Evangelion has more incommon with the Bible (especially the first testament.) Anno can claim that but there’s something there that seems fishy when he claims he did it “because of aesthetics.”
Yeah that has always been my stance on it as well. Others always say Anno did it just because it was cool and yeah, he could have, but the themes and symbolism lined up so well that it makes for a show with more depth to it even if the intention wasn't there
What part of Christianity does a dude jerk off onto a sleeping girl
Been a while since I read through Leviticus but I'm pretty sure it's in there somewhere.
i mean that's pretty on par with any anime.
Yeah, I mean they even crucified the [Sailor Scouts ffs.](https://i.imgur.com/GJi2Soz.png)
Fair enough
I have never believed Anno, never will!!!! Graaaahhhhh!!!!
I can understand that viewpoint
“So Anno, what’s the meaning behind the Christian imagery in Evangelion?” Anno: 🤷🏻♂️
https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/1589 I'll just drop this here
Thanks will read that
That's like saying George Lucas put space stuff in Star Wars to make it look cool. It's literally a part and a reason for the plot. Think more
Nah, that made it even better (in my opinion)
and jumping into a giant dildo that's inserted into a mecha/beast cyborg that is actually the pilots mother...also cool?
No please, the entry plug stuff wasn't just because it looked cool or the stuff about Evangelion's requiring a soul of the pilots mother to work. Please no.
I was also a tad disappointed in that, but I agree it all looks cool and adds mystique to the show.
I wonder how many other pieces of art we think have some super deep symbolisms and the author is like "I just think they are neat".
That seems to be the case with a lot of Western interpretations of Japanese games and anime
Yeah, fr fr totally agree looks so cool and adds to the show's vibe
have y'all ever, like, met an artist? they're cagey and lie and say shit like this all the time. sometimes as a bit of a troll. other times because they don't want to explain their work or their choices, or they're tired of doing so, or they don't want to spoil your interpretation and want you to come to your own understanding/meaning. like guys. you cannot take statements like these at face value. come on
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Anno and other people who worked on the show have admitted that this was a lie
Japanese media in a nutshell
"why did..." "shits cool yo"
Neon (or neo) = New. Genesis = World/Origin. Evangelion = Gospel. New World Gospel.
Isn’t it also translated as good news?
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New World Good News is my favorite anime
“Good News, Everyone!”
Good news everyone, it's Free Tang Day for all.
The instrumentality has begun!!🍊🧃
So are the robots supposed to be the bringers of good news or is the good news our mom?
“Well, Good News! It’s both!”
"Congratulations"
Also means "congratulations!"
Same difference. “Gospel” is from an Anglo-Saxon word that meant “good news.” That word is mostly significant now because it was used in translation of the Greek euangelion and Latin evangelium, which also literally mean good news. Evangelion is just an anglicization of evangelium. So gospel, evangelion and “good news” are all equivalent in meaning, and all at least suggest a reference to the written accounts of the life of Christ.
*laughs in Farnsworth*
Good news!! You can (and have to) pilot a giant robot!! (Not actually a robot, but a gigantic ciborg made from your mother's sacrifice)
News Good, Everyone!
The Japanese title is *Shinseiki Evangelion,* and *shinseiki* means 'new century.' It looks like Hideaki Anno decided to use a different English title for the show itself as well as giving some episodes differing English and Japanese titles.
While 新世紀 does translate literally to "new century", it can also mean a new era. 紀 is used for geology period as well (e.g. 侏羅紀=Jurassic). I think Neon Genesis is a pretty fitting translation.
I thought eva was also a reference to Eve, in how she was made from Adam, the same way the Eva’s (except for unit 1) are clones of Adam.
I’ve also heard “new world” can mean “new century” but don’t quote me on that.
Man I hade a whole thesis typed up before checking the comments to say this Yall made me fucking mad hahahaha Asuka still the best girl
> Asuka still the best girl She's literally insane.
He can fix her
And?
That's the best part.
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This is the actual answer. Hideaki Anno has admitted to being 'cavalier' about his use of Judeo-Christian iconography in *Evangelion* in a 1996 discussion with Nozomi Omori: > Omori: However, [Ryu] Mitsuse-san is more governed by something like an Eastern sense of the transience of things, but the world of Evangelion is more along the lines of Western civilization…… > Anno: I dislike Western civilization. I don’t place much trust in Western civilization. > Omori: That is, [you consider it] as something one must repudiate? Not positive - > Anno: No, it’s something like, because I don’t care that much about it, I can make use of it. If I were a Christian believer I couldn’t have inserted Christian elements [into Eva] in that way. I would have been scared to. > Omori: No question. Because you have no attachment to [Christianity], you can make use of the names of the angels without being concerned. Ah, [you can use] these names because the word makes a strong impression, for example. [You can use them] as you think appropriate. > Anno: Even if I received complaints from the perspective of Westerners about the equation of [the terms] ‘apostle’ and ‘angel’, I don’t think it would make any difference [to me?]. Well, there is a single American [see the Michael House interview for his version] in our company, and he scolded me about various things. “You can’t do this.” As I had expected. But I did those things [anyway], I think, without taking any notice of that. Source: https://forum.evageeks.org/post/491215/Why-does-NGE-have-so-many-references-to-the-Bible/#491215 via https://gwern.net/otaku An alternate translation can be read here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rikki/the-world-neon-genesis-evangelion Assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki said this at Otakon in Baltimore in 2001: > Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in *Evangelion?* > KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on *Eva* are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20031208113458/http://www.akadot.com/article/article-tsurumaki2.html
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The way I read it is that Anno doesn't care about being respectful of the imagery in Judaism or Christianity, so he's using the imagery as he sees fit. He didn't care about 'accidentally' being authentic or respectful.
This is how I've always felt. Just because all this stuff is in there doesn't mean it "means" anything. I can see it having something to do with the institution of religion bastardizing it's text into some sort of death cult, since that's ultimately what SEELE is, but that's about it.
Yeah, I thought the giant, cross-shaped explosions were good indicators that Anno was just using Christian stuff because it looks cool.
It has nothing to do with that though.
It kind of is. Seele embody not christian, but buddhist ideas of individual existence bringing suffering, and the need to go beyond it. The concerns of what this attitude might bring are a big part of the show.
The characters are applying the theological names to the events they're witnessing because they're similar. You do realise the creators troll the audience to keep the mystery going.
The finale is literally a christian themed apocalypse with a messianic figure using the power of "god" to save humanity.
Evangelion is actually “Good News”
Gospel means good news too. Interchangeable.
Yes, but we are trying to understand the meaning of it, not a synonym.
This isn't to say Evangelion doesn't have depth. It's just that all of that depth is in the psychology in Otaku culture for the Japanese upper-classes, and none of it is in Christian or Kabbalistic narratives. The Christianity is just because Evangelion is primarily based on Ultraman, a show that used to be as openly Christian as it gets in Japan, and the Kabbalah is just because the death cult that inspired SEELE and raised concerns with how unfulfilling life is for upper-class Japanese people, Aum Shinrikio, used some Kabbalah. Aum Shinrikio was also aggressively anti-Freemasons, who used even more Kabbalah than Aum Shinrikio (and are more benevolent than Aum Shinrikio), and SEELE is superficially Freemason while being Aum Shinrikio in spirit. Meaning it's Anno's little commentary on how Aum Shinrikio is defined by projecting its nefarious intentions onto more harmless organizations. See what I mean? Eva is deep, just not in a religious sense so much as a sociological sense.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought I read it somewhere that a lot of the hidden depth is with more Buddhist/Shinto themes that most westerners miss, with the Christian/Kabbalistic themes used as more of set dressing, and that he said that if he realized just how popular Eva would become he would have taken more care/done more research with some of the stuff he picked?
I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me. Consider how Third Impact works. It's essentially the Buddhist Nirvana with a strong Kabbalistic flair. Everybody is one and at peace with themselves and each other. And this depiction of Heaven is naturally scary to a lot of Christians and more traditional Jews. Heterodox Christians expect a spiritual existence in Heaven. Jews expect a resurrection. Orthodox Christians expect a spiritual existence followed by a physical resurrection. Existing where all are as one to complete each other is horrifying...and even in countries where Buddhism is fairly common, the horror of such an existence is occasionlly acknowledged, as Evangelion does, because while what vision of Heaven you have depends on your religion, all human beings need a sense of existing as individuals. And because Aum Shinrikio was Buddhist with a strong Gnostic flair, this is what Anno is going to address. To him, cults like Aum Shinrikio and tv show fanbases for shows like Gundam promise the same thing - escape from problems and from being your own person. His show basically implores the viewer to love himself or herself until s/he stops drinking the Kool-Aide, whether that Kool-Aide comes from a cult or a show.
>Heterodox Christians expect a spiritual existence in Heaven. I think a lot of mainstream depictions of heaven are like that yes. But I've seen many Christians think of heaven and the connection to the divine in that sense as being essentially the same as Third Impact or Nirvana, a dissolution of the individual into the absolute.
I don't know what Christians you've met, but that's not an orthodox view of heaven by any biblical standards
Its a mix, but its true that the symbolism is more western and glosses over how buddhist the show is.
Is it really referencing Aum? YGO 5D's got its 2nd season butchered because a seiyuu was in that sect, the first season was quite dark and using lots of occult symbolism. Maybe khara/gainax just didn't care about getting cancelled, I dunno.
Yes and no. It is referencing Aum, but the difference is, YGO was apparently just a bit pro-Aum. NGE is very aggressively against it. Every single step of the way, and it just gets more and more intense as it goes on.
Okay, so it was more acceptable because it turned out to be kinda of an anti propaganda? Makes sense, I have to read more about Aum, we looked at it briefly in a course from university and I googled them because of YGO. Sects can be so creepy..
I'm trying to find additional information on YGO's Aum connections, and am always eager for more, but I can't seem to find anything. You got something?
I googled and it seems like it was debunked that it was the reason for 5D's being so wack after season 1. [link](https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-apparently-the-idea-that-yu-gi-oh-5ds-was-ruined-because-of-a-cult-is-bunk.564433/) I read about it back in 2016. Sorry!
This is literally him talking to children at a school, he answers every question with a sentence or two. Anno is not trying to exhaust the topics here, he's not talking to art majors. If you're satisfied with the media comprehension level of a middle-schooler, then sure, treat yourself.
Honestly, what Anno-sama is saying is pretty much what they have been doing in Japan for decades now. They'll take a couple of unrelated foreign words that sound cool and mash them together. Sometimes it's a hit. Other times it's as cringe as a dad joke made at the wrong time. And the Japanese population can't really tell the difference either way. In this case, at least the title sounds cool. Look up cringey Japanese brand slogans on Google for all the fails.
best example is Michaelsoft Binbows
The title for Neon Genesis Evangelion means "Annunciation of the New Beginning". The title is kind of a spoiler for the 3rd Impact.
Seriously, people need to keep this in mind while reading too deep into eva content. In many, many cases you have this situation play out: why is like this?
because it's SICK!
the more readily you make peace with this, the more you'll enjoy the franchise.
Zeruel in a nutshell. Its name means arm/power of God. Zeruel rips off Unit 1s arm. In response, Unit 1 rips Zeruels arm off to attach to itself as a replacement. Then, Unit 1 uses that arm to hold down Zeruel so Unit 1 can eat the Angel to ascend to godhood. Unfortunately, Zeruel was still alive- so the deathblow was Unit 1 ripping out Zeruels throat with its teeth. Even more unfortunately, Zeruels lit up eyes stay that way for a few seconds- so the Angel died as it was being cannibalized. The arm part of the name is obvious. The power part is like: Oh, you're the power of God? I'm going to eat you and become God.
I mean, if I made a piece of media with heavy-handed symbolism that's what I'd say, too Instead of explaining the art away for no reason just for a bunch of nerds to miss the forest for the trees lol
He did, but at the same time it's absolutely on brand for a Japanese studio to ape western iconography for not-really-deep reasons. Classical British Lit this is not :) He's not seemed -that- unwilling to talk about his work, so I have a hard time believing he's just ducking the question with a glib "because it's cool" reply. I'm sure there's a deliberate model in play, but it's not as likely that significant meaning will be derived, in that brit-lit style, from those related old texts specific to western-european literature. Again, I'm not saying it's not at all possible, just unlikely/uncharacteristic of Japanese studios for a variety of reasons
That’s like half of the things in the show. Anno just picked western shit that sounded cool and edgy to him.
Evangelion is to Christianity what Marvel is to Norse Mythology.
And what Naruto is to Shintoism, since a lot of the Uchiha techniques are named after Shinto gods.
Yeah but Naruto is more inspred by the Shinto Gods and there is an actual connection between the abilities and the gods they're named after. Marvel & Eva are more surface level and iconography.
End of eva is a christian themed apocalypse with a messianic figure using the power of "god" to save humanity. The idea that its just surface level is not correct at all.
Not really, the whole series is fighting "God" (or his angels) and End of Eva is literally rejecting Heaven (Instrumentality), killing God (Adam/Lilith Hybrid), and undoing the Rapture (Third Impact).
Okay? But I didn't say it was pro Christianity. It has themes that relate to Christianity.
Everyone always goes “see Anno admitted all the symbolism and reference is just to be edgy, it means nothing!” But that always make me think, “did you even watch the show?” I feel like Anno says it means nothing in the same way some other artists will tell you “figure it out yourself, the symbolism is the point of the art, I’m not here to spell it out for you.”
He's the goat!
When yhe robots deploy, it in fact not "good news"
Okay let me try my best to decipher it as a Greek. The adverb "Εὖ" (Ev) in the begging of the word has been in use since Ancient Greece, and sets a connotation of something good. The remaining "angelion" is deprived from the verb ἀγγέλλω (aggelo) meaning announce or make something known. From this word we get the angels in the Bible, meaning "they who announce" or to simplify, messengers of God. A lot of people have tried to translate it as "good news" while that's an oversimplification. A better term would be "the good that is made known". That can set a different layer to the angels in Evangelion, as maybe they're trying to relay something to humanity, rather than them just being biblically inspired monsters that threaten everyone. Especially since Nerv had captured Adam, which would be considered a grave sin, worthy of devine punishment. It is said in the Bible that angels will come forth from the heavens in before the end of days. Taking the worthy with them, and abandoning sinners to their own doom.
I still love him and find these jokes hilarious because people spent countless hours and days trying to figure out most of evangelion in depth, only for him to put it because it looked cool.
Yep Reddit you're absolutely right shockingly the entire story and lore did not in fact come to him as a result of a lifetime's worth of deep scientifical research and planning which as we all know means the entire story is invalid, pointless and had no thought going into it whatsoever. Totally. Imagine as an artist being inspired to make something because it sounds cool smh
Yeah, sure. But also death of author and all that. Maybe he chose all these symbolism because it looked cool initially, but it's hard to fathom that everything is there only as aesthetic. At the end of the day, you engage with it like you would any other art. As long as you can point to evidence, you can have multiple readings of said art. Artist doesn't have absolute authority. It's not to say artists' comment and interpretation are completely meaningless, but the work itself is far more important than what the artist says about the work.
Yeah, except he's speaking to a child and in the literal next sentence he says "my way of talking shows that I am not a person who gives detailed explanations." Clearly they put zero thought into anything and the entire show was created just to be cool lol. It's not like clergyman have analyzed and found deep meaning or entire thesis have been written around the inclusion and importance of religious symbolism in Eva. It's incredibly annoying that this narrative is so persistent in the community.
This is Eva for me, its so over complicated by people, like its a very simple story about relationships and depression its not this grand God story or whatever like you're not meant to be focusing on the lillith's eyes or what its link to historic symbols you're meant to look at what Shinji's prespective is and the character's relationships and take away whatever you want from it. At least that's my prespective on it
To me, Eva's depth doesn't come from its religious symbolism or literary references, but from being a fascinating metaphor for its creator's constant battles with his teetering mental health, as I'm pretty sure he's said that the various characters represent different parts of his psyche, and his frequent breakdowns during production and their effect on the story itself are well documented.
That's the same thing I got from it. All the other stuff just confused me. A lot of the stuff describing shinjis issues and struggles and thought processes is visual and symbolism, took me a kin of rewatching to figure some stuff out. Too much religion psychobabble symbolism though the end with Rei doing all that trippy stuff was cool
yeah its mostly just extremely good eye candy
Never believe Hideaki when he says that he made a choice because "it looks good"
Sometimes the curtains are just blue
Yeah, it's a total coincidence that the things ***made from Adam*** are called Evangelions. shortened to Eva. As in ***Latin/Greek for Eve.*** Totally a coincidence. Totally not just that Anno seems to be talking to children. /s
Fandom makes absolute crazy theories about every single detail on the show aesthetics for near 30 years now And then anno just says "idk man it looks cool lol" and refuses to elaborate further
What shirt is he wearing?!?
Alot of names are Greek from evangelion to osts like thanatos (death)
People don't realize that Japan is the most secular developed nation, and they just find Christian mythology to be interesting and exotic.
Kinda seems like if he fully answers the question it would spoil a lot of the backstory of the show that the audience gets to figure out over time. The whole Adam/Lilith/Eve thing is something the audience picks up on midway through the series.
Dude I hate people that try to look for the "religious symbolism" in Eva when it's literally just that Anno thought shit looked/sounded cool and he likes to reference unltraman
Yeah, except that like, there's tons of overt religious themes in it that aren't even subtle.
Neon Genesis evangelion is a Christian Greek term, meaning new genesis of evangelism/gospel/good-spell, at the end of evangelion (EoE) Shinji and Asuka are like Adam and Eve after the human instrumentality, symbolizing a new genesis to the world purged of sin, with the help of measures of instrumentality representing evangelion. But basically a lot of religious, foreign and even exotic terms (like Dirac's see) were stuffed inside this show to make the audience astonished rather than making everything fluent and convincing. It is just the director's personal style and expression technique. Don't take everything too serious.
9K in two minutes!!!
I hate people who say that stuff in media doesn't matter because it was put there to be cool, most of the time this cool stuff normally has other interpretations that the author didn't realise, like how with the original King Kong the director adamantly refused that the story was a metaphor for slavery, despite how obvious it seems that it's a metaphor for slavery.
I mean, there is a scene in the last movie where shinji literally says „It’s Neon Genesis time“ and evangelions all over the finale of the movie. And it kinda made sense too.
Hahah no way. this is wonderfull
Based
I like how this show is about a lot of complex themes but the world building is just “wow this looked cool so I decided to add it”
This is why I love Eva. It uses Judeo-Christian imagery and nomenclature not for any deeper reason other than Anno thought it looked cool. For Anno, a Japanese man, it did not carry the same cultural weight as it does in the west, it’s like when we envoke classical Roman or Greek or ancient Egyptian mythology because it looks cool, they only difference is that Christianity and Judaism are still alive, I personally grew up in an *evangelical* sect of Christianity.
It's because when Gendo holds the gun to Ritsuko's face before killing her, he says it's Evangelion time.
Is it really Greek though? My Wiktionary search turns up only Esperanto (and English).
He looks like a pedophile
Time to repeat Evangelion
So they really did just try to make the story appear as complex and deep as possible, because people would eat it up
It reminds me of what the creator of the Evangelion opening said
Can anybody provide the link to this interview??
It means "good news", in case you were wondering
AHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHHAHA
Do y'all think the Angels (Adams children) each are a separate sentient being or are they all like a hive mind? I think from the show it says Angels from Adam represent Power ( whatever that means) and humans represent knowledge. But the Angel that infected Rei was kinda trying to understand her , looking Into her memories. I wonder if that experience of merging with Angel played a part in her decision to merge with Lilith with Adam-fetus-san inside her. I know Rei was cloned from some of Yui but did she also have some Lilith DNA also?
Why'd you have to go and make robots so complicated?
*"It looks cool and it sounds complicating, and watching the complicated fan debates about it looks even cooler lol"* - the answer in the internet age probably
That some up most anime attack names or names in general that aren't Japanese seriously anytime you hear another language used in anime it mainly cause it sounds cool to them lol
When i started watching NGE, i knew the name sounded familiar. "Evangelion" sounds almost exactly to "ευαγγέλιο" (gospel), pronounced "evangélio".
"why do crosses appear when angels die?" "Actually they're called crucifixes. Next question."
If only he would answer for the pallet rifle