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So this is suppose to be one of the best anime's of all time and or one of the most recognizable.

This is now my third time trying to get into it once trying the movie, dropping it then the show 4 episode in before I forgot about it and now im re watching on the show again.

Im 10 episodes in and I just can't get into this anime.

Ok the art and character designs are amazing, even for its time its amazing visually. But the story just feels like a really by the numbers monster of the week fight and even worse I just hate the characters. Everyone is such an unlikable dick head, the first two kids are kind of annoying but my god once the red head girl entered the show I just can't even stand fucking watching this anymore.

Am I fucking missing something here? Does it get way better or change like devil man half way in? Is it just one of those things where in its time it did something really new but is dated by todays standards.

Why do people love this show so much?

I'm with you on all that, man. Misato's the only character I like in this anime, she's got more emotions and personality than the rest of the cast.

I don't particularly like Eva either and have also not seen the entire thing. I've watched 2 of the films and a handful of episodes to only drop it many years ago. I feel odd and ill suited coming to the defense of this show, but I thought its deconstruction of the mecha genre and other anime tropes were what made it so legendary. The characters and theme of the show were pretty nuanced for the time, I assume Eva was a trailblazer of sorts?

Allow me to explain why it is so beloved. Neon Genesos Evagelion is a deconstruction on the giant robot genre that is popular in Japan and gives a psychological look on effects it has on the characters in this setting. At the time this was a very different approach on the genre that hasn’t been done and is very revolutionary. So much so that inspires a subgenre of anime which basically are psychological deconstruction on anime tropes (Revolutionary Girl Utena for magical girls, Narutaru for mon series, Violence Jack for Go Nagai works . . . okay technically that one was made before Evagelion). The art and characters, as you stated above, are huge inspirations for a lot of works inside and out of the medium. And it is the show that made Gainax into the well beloved studio among anime fandom.

Other than that, yeah it is pretty overatted. The plot got self insulgent and mean spirited as the series progresses. The escalation of darkness induced audience apathy makes Devilman feel like a Kirby game . . . in terms of sliding scales of idealism vs cynacism. Shinji, like Terra from the Teen Titans cartoon (not the comics version, I prefer comic Terra), comes off more annoying than sympathetic with all of his wangst and parental issues (let’s not talk about his parents). And despite revolutionizing the concept of deconstruction in anime, there have been shows in the past that did that before Evagelion like Sunbrow’s Mobile Suit Gundam and Gainex first foray into super robot anime Gunbuster.

So basically there is a reason why its popular, but looking back on it it doesn’t really live up to its own hype. Hell I actually prefer the Michael Bay remake of Evagelion than the actual one. It comes off as the best adaption of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan.

Dude, over half of those things feel like they were intended. The more I think about it, the more I have this conspiracy theory that the creator actually tried to make the anime as unlikable as possible on purpose and became a hit on pure accident. And this is coming from someone who kind of likes the anime.

eh wasn't the creator depressed when he made it?

Oh ok, so that make a whole lot more sense now. I get it

Yeah now I can see the issue here, when this came out in the 90s it must of been amazing compared to all the goofy mecha anime's from the time, but 2 decades later this kind of cynical take on a genera isn't really that special anymore.

idk if im gonna drop it or not, maybe just have it on in the background while I draw and shit.

Not even the fans get it.

Not getting it is a meme by itself.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ [banned]

I like Eva (even though I've only read the manga adaptation, don't judge me), but it didn't change my life or anything.

I know this isn't the best selling point for any form of media, but Eva changes drastically in the last 5, or so episodes dropping the general "monster-of-the-week" formula and getting to the real meat and potatoes of the story. Its in these final episodes where the series really shines.

But understandably if the basic premise didn't sink into you, then it's not very likely that'd it matter too much to you by the time "things get really good".

P.S Something important to state about Eva is that it has a very specific appeal that some people either really dig, or really don't. It's not a very widespread appealing show despite what you might figure based off of what everyone usually says about the show. Its grim, nihilistic, and fucked up, and if you don't like stories like that than you won't enjoy Eva no matter how much you watch.