I only watched the first Rebuild of Evangelion movie a few days ago. It was on my computer for the better part of a year, and while I had time to spare I simply forgot about it as time passed. When my sister got sick, however, I volunteered to be there with her and the only thing I could do to prevent getting bored was to watch whatever anime was left on my computer (and that was quite a sizable amount). I decided to watch the first movie after recognizing its presence, and I didn’t regret the decision.

While I’m not among those who think of Evangelion as the best anime ever or write fifty-page dissertations on it, I do think Evangelion was a great anime series marred by an irritating and discordant ending. The affection decreased as time passed (and as the venom of 4chan spread within my veins) until I was only lukewarm toward the series. I have not forgotten, however, that Evangelion was among the very few series that I have watched more than once; and while I do not brag of comprehending the nuances of the series (it has quite a number) I do remember enjoying it thoroughly.

I did, however, notice a shift of my perception as regards Shinji (ironically or deliberately meaning ‘truth’). Back then I despised his cowardly and indecisive nature. I was akin to a lot of people who hated his ostensible lack of braveness. Looking back, I was also quite stupid. (I still am, at times, what with the Adventure Vision and all.) Shinji was just barely a teenager tasked to save the entirety of mankind from a horrible enemy that no one was familiar with. The fact that Shinji drove that iron maiden and was able to beat a lot of them in the process is nothing but admirable, even with his whines and littoral cowardice. It could be noticed in the movie that when he was given a choice to fight or to flee he fought despite his desire to flee. Doesn’t that compose courage? Isn’t the performance of the right thing despite an overwhelming fear recognized as courage? One must also note that Shinji didn’t exactly come from a functional family. His father is, to keep things simple, a huge asshole, and his mother simply disappeared. I’m frankly surprised that he didn’t turn out worse, because that cocktail of misfortunes often is the primordial soup of psychopaths.

In addition to this, I have also noticed a subtle change in Rei’s character epitomized at the end of the first film. She finally smiles despite everything. I loved the first film because of how it ended: an atmosphere of destruction and destitution has finally been tempered, despite its fleeting and evanescent nature, by an emotion of hope and friendship – or simpler yet, by an emotion: Rei smiles.

There is not no hope. There is not no happiness. You are (not) alone.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Anime, Quintessential Allusions, Rebuild of Evangelion, Serious. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.