It’s known as one of the masterpieces of anime. 

Evangelion focuses on a blend of psychological and religious elements, while focusing on purpose and meaning for life. After airing in 1995, the anime has enjoyed movie remakes as late as 2021. A twenty six year span of an anime is an impressive run. Why was it recreated after its original form? Does Evangelion still matter today? 

It tackles difficult questions and remains entertaining. 

Evangelion was a series that was hard for me to appreciate at first. 

I have two reasons for delaying my watch of Evangelion. My initial hesitation with starting the series is the relative age of the anime. While I have been watching anime for close to a decade at this point, I rarely dive into anime of the past. When I got into anime the three must watch anime were Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, and Full Metal Alchemist. While I really enjoyed Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop was a show that left me disappointed (roast me) after all the hype it was given. The last one for me to try was Evangelion, the one I wanted to try the least. 

My second hesitation for wanting to watch it was that it didn’t have obvious appeal to me. The concept of Evangelion is that aliens are coming to destroy the world, but the mix of obvious Christian and Philosophical themes was a bit of a turn off. I don’t mind thinking in my anime, as evidenced by my blog, but I didn’t want to think this hard. Untangling western concepts that went to Japan, and now are coming back in the form of my entertainment was a bit more than what I bargained for. I don’t mind tackling philosophy as a stand alone like in Ergo Proxy, but the blender of concepts was hard to accept. 

I am glad I stuck with Evangelion. 

After reflecting, I find the lessons in Evangelion are timeless. 

Shinji is naturally anxious about becoming a combatant in a top secret government program. Battling aliens in a mech that can only work while being attached to a power wire isn’t exactly a great concept for a battle operation. While the other pilots in the program seemingly have years of experience, Shinji has no experience. I am not entirely sure why he is selected for the program beyond nepotism. He isn’t a hero, only a child. Sadly the only thing he can do is what others tell him to do. Shinji has no will of his own. While he might pout and rebel, he always ends up doing what others tell him to do. 

But Shinji doesn’t always remain a child, he is forced to grow up quickly. He has to. When Shinji doesn’t do his job others suffer and die because of him. While it can easily be debated that he shouldn’t have to be put in the position in the first place and it would be entirely valid, it’s something that is never really debated in the show. The only time people care to get rid of him is when he becomes a liability to the program. As long as he cooperates everyone seems happy to make use of him. 

Get in the Robot. 

All of Shinji’s problems are largely resolved by him doing his job, also known as him getting in the robot. As long as that happens the plot and the story advance. The story can only move forward when he finds a solution to the immediate world ending threats known as angels. As long as the world is saved everything works out, one way or the other. Jobs give purpose, and piloting the robot validates Shinji in his position even when he is unable to validate himself. While Shinji still has to navigate social situations around him, which go as well as you expect of an awkward teenager, he is made to focus on his purpose. 

Watching Evangelion makes me wonder if having a purpose given, even a forced purpose, makes for a better life than no purpose at all. Purpose in one’s job gives an assigned value in a society. But an assigned purpose, such as Shinji’s, does not make him happy. He is generally unhappy, and is troubled. But there is no one there to help Shinji in his struggle, he is observed and pushed into piloting the robot that only brings pain. Must Shinji merely do things that make him unhappy and bring him pain just to survive? In this way Shinji’s experience is perhaps like the audience’s unhappy experiences, who must do something to survive without real say in the matter. 

Do we the audience have to get in the robot to survive? 

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