Somewhat relevant post: Neon Genesis returning

I know there are a lot of people who don’t care for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise…yes, it IS a franchise.

I understand, I really do.

First of all, there are three supposedly co-equal tellings of the story that are different. Da hoy? There’s the original anime, the fourteen volume manga, and now a four-film “rebuild” of feature-length movies. Oh, and while we’re messing with your head, the film series isn’t going to be finished until 2020.

Plus there are the spinoffs. I want to see The Shinji Raising Project manga, but I’ll wait until the omnibus volumes are all complete so the books line up nicely on the new Ikea Billy bookcases I will have to build for them.

Frankly, I find the show fascinating because it’s great stealth storytelling. You go in thinking it’s an action-adventure piece but it’s really about psycho-drama and the importance of Love and Family and Humanity and such. PTSD plays a big role, too. I may have mentioned that.

It also screws heavily with gender role stereotypes, although it chickens out in certain ways. I mean, once you know the whole story, you have this one guy who’s a complete jackass (that would be Gendo, not Shinji) and all the hot babes are throwing themselves at his feet so he can metaphorically piddle on their feelings.

It’s freaking brilliant.

I find the character of Rei Ayanami particularly amazing, because they work so hard to make it clear that she isn’t a girl discovering womanhood (although she’s at that age); she’s a doll discovering she is human. It’s incredibly difficult to do.

I find the Rei/Shinji relationship mind-blowing. He’s desperate for love, and so he seeks it from the one person in the room who can’t give it to him. Not “won’t” like Gendo; Rei has no idea what love is and has to discover it in herself. I will explore that in a full-length post some day.

I have the movies, but they aren’t finished. I have the manga, and frankly I think it’s brilliant, right up there with the Akira manga. But my reason for mentioning all this now is that the news has just hit:

Netflix is picking up Evangalion.

Here’s the news report: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-11-26/netflix-to-stream-evangelion-series-death-and-rebirth-end-of-evangelion-films-next-spring/.140003?fbclid=IwAR1XRaUwGxx6Xq0CB5AWn4J9bdWyXQNj3uDfMOLWas7puc8w6EkPH_oq9j4

Long story short: They’re getting the series and the movies. No more bootlegs on Russian porn sites! Yay!

You don’t have to like it. In fact, you’re free to not like it. Before you hate on it, though, ask yourself WHY you don’t like it. If it’s because it Goes There, you might want to keep watching.

Enjoy.

And now for same gratuitous Rei Ayanami: