“The System,” some kind of deeply hidden procedure or agency, makes a great antagonist. Tell you why in a sec. You see “The System” in a lot of places. Off the top of my head I can think of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Puella Magi Madoka Magika, and Wonder Egg Priority, and if I’ve got three […]
Read more "The Antagonist: The System"Happy holidays to all of you who recently celebrated, are celebrating, or will soon celebrate a holiday. It’s that time of year! One of the saddest (for me) revelations of the final reconstruction of Neon Genesis Evangelion is what happens to Rei Ayanami. Rei is a fascinating character. Although she is genetically human, she is […]
Read more "Character (Re)analysis: Rei Ayanami"Sometimes you go back a look at a character you’ve looked at before because you’ve noticed something new about the character. And sometimes you have to go back because the character has changed. You’ve seen Evangelion 3.0+1.0, right? So you can guess which this one is. Until recently Shinji Ikari has been one of the […]
Read more "Character (Re)analysis: Shinji Ikari"There are some anime you watch – I’m looking at YOU What Are You Doing Here Teacher – where you watch it and all you take away from it is this: I’m not sure this is properly described as a trope since it’s really a gag so cheap that writers just can’t stop themselves from […]
Read more "Oh, So Tropical: The “Nice To Meet You, Ms. Ayanami”"My original character analysis of Asuka Langley Soryu is the most read post in the history of this blog. This doesn’t especially surprise me. For one thing, it’s really old and it’s still out there, so people have been able to find it for three-plus years. For another, it’s related to Neon Genesis Evangelion and […]
Read more "Character (Re)analysis: Asuka Langley Soryu"Can anyone really honestly say they know what’s going on inside Hideaki Anno’s head? There’s a cute manga out there written by his wife Moyoco about their life together (“Insufficient Direction,” available at Crunchyroll), but, you know, she might be exaggerating just a little. She certainly made both of them much less attractive than they […]
Read more "What’s in a Name: Neon Genesis Evangelion"WARNING: SPOILERS Okay, it’s all here and it’s all done. I’m not sure whether to cheer or feel sad. Probably both: Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0, and the entire rebuild, is a heckuva ride, and I enjoyed the heck out of it, which is what one would like to expect from a heckuva ride. Okay, if […]
Read more "Medium Matters: Neon Genesis Evangelion"Okay, I hope everyone has seen Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 by now. If you haven’t, please do. It’s really good. It’s really good even though it changes the essential Evangelion story. But you knew it would. You knew the rebuild was going in a different direction from the start of 2.22, where we all met […]
Read more "Character Analysis: Mari Illustrious Makinami"Okay, Neon Genesis Evangelion is too cool for words and everyone knows it. This is not news. One of the ways it’s cool is that it has multiple structures that are all to be treated as canon. There’s the original anime. There’s the new denouement outlined by the End of Evangelion OVA. There’s the manga. […]
Read more "The Power of Two: Rei and Shinji"Some of you long-term followers have figured out by now my posts tend to follow certain themes. Character analysis. How to build a series. The power of N. Stuff like that. What’s In a Name is something I’ve already touched on once without using the title. We figured out that Chise Hatori from The Ancient […]
Read more "What’s In a Name: Rei Ayanami"
Confessions of an Overage otaku 