Neon Genesis Evangelion: Difference between revisions

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* [[Wall Slump]]: {{spoiler|Misato}}'s death in ''The End of Evangelion'', where she leans against the wall to hide her mortal injuries after being shot from Shinji, then collapses against it when he leaves.

* [[The Watson]]: Sometimes Maya, sometimes Misato, sometimes Shinji. Actually, so few characters know what's ''really'' going on that they ''all'' have their Watson moments.

* [[We Have Been Researching Phlebotinum for Years]]: Shinji, a slightly ~~disfunctional~~ boy, witnesses an [[Eldritch Abomination]] attacking the city then is promptly thrown into the cockpit of a [[Humongous Mecha]] that's not really a mecha at all: it's [[Physical God|alive]] and is VERY [[The Berserker|bloodthirsty]]. It takes a few episodes until he gets the explanation about what the hell is going on, but never gets [[Awful Truth|told]] [[Go Mad from the Revelation|about]] [[Sealed Good in a Can|what]] [[Luke, I Am Your Father|he's]] [[Mama Bear|piloting]] until three episodes from the end. It's unclear which is worse: that [[Locked Out of the Loop|he was told so late]] or that [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|he was told at all]]. Regardless which one is true, Shinji got an all-expenses-paid visit to the [[Despair Event Horizon]] for his effort.

* [[We Have Been Researching Phlebotinum for Years]]: Shinji, a slightly dysfunctional boy, witnesses an [[Eldritch Abomination]] attacking the city then is promptly thrown into the cockpit of a [[Humongous Mecha]] that's not really a mecha at all: it's [[Physical God|alive]] and is VERY [[The Berserker|bloodthirsty]]. It takes a few episodes until he gets the explanation about what the hell is going on, but never gets [[Awful Truth|told]] [[Go Mad from the Revelation|about]] [[Sealed Good in a Can|what]] [[Luke, I Am Your Father|he's]] [[Mama Bear|piloting]] until three episodes from the end. It's unclear which is worse: that [[Locked Out of the Loop|he was told so late]] or that [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|he was told at all]]. Regardless which one is true, Shinji got an all-expenses-paid visit to the [[Despair Event Horizon]] for his effort.

* [[We Have Reserves]]: {{spoiler|The Reiquarium}}. Also, {{spoiler|all of Shinji's classmates are potential EVA pilots}}.

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Shinji is a textbook case. Asuka is arguably a closet "well done daughter girl".

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** The entire work as a whole though averts this trope most particularly. A lot of the science end of things are skewed and fantastic, but still fundamentally based fairly religiously in reality. This has the added effect of making a lot of the neurological disturbances the pilots go through all the more horrifying for anyone with a running knowledge of human physiology.

*** Furthermore, for as much scrutiny as the use of religious symbols in the show has come under, there's no denying that Anno did his homework, as the series manages to work in numerous allusions not only to mainstream Judaism and Christianity, but Kabbalah, Gnosticism and even more obscure Jewish and Christian apocrypha that many Jews and Christians themselves would not likely be familiar with (e.g. the Chamber of Gaf). It is the application, not the authenticity, of the symbolism that generates controversy.

**** This is debatable, however. A lot of the "symbolic" elements really weren't thought out, and are there for the sake of being there [[Word of God|according to Anno himself]]. Indeed, it's best not to think too hard of it and instead follow the main message that stems from the (~~disfunctional~~) relationships of the main cast.

**** This is debatable, however. A lot of the "symbolic" elements really weren't thought out, and are there for the sake of being there [[Word of God|according to Anno himself]]. Indeed, it's best not to think too hard of it and instead follow the main message that stems from the (dysfunctional) relationships of the main cast.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: The less said about the points related to [[Freud Was Right]], the better.

* [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]:

** Shinji is essentially a [[Gender Flip]] of [[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water|Nadia]] (see [http://wiki.evageeks.org/Image:Sadamoto_nadia-shinji.jpg here] for notes from [[Word of God|Sadamoto himself]]). He was described by Sadamoto as looking like "a boyish young girl" (more evidence [http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd325/Synapsidia/EVA/048272545b0140dfe444054e96364e821.jpg here]), and was made as such to distinguish him from the mecha heroes at that time. Shinji's feminine facial features are brought up by Misato in the first episode, and during the eighth and ninth episodes, he's made to look like a girl from nothing more than [http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd325/Synapsidia/EVA/FemmeShin1.jpg a wardrobe change].

** One of the official games that had its scripts designed from interviews with Anno also had Fuyutsuki say that Shinji looked just like Yui and then [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r26VFYHj1dY&feature=related crossdress Shinji] for the role all while saying how beautiful "she" looks; Fuyutsuki's actions soon become overtly sexual.

** Shinji and Kaworu also make rather pretty girls with little more than a hair and eyelash change (and breasts); in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N_18EljyPk [[Gender Flip]] version of Episode 24], longer haired Shinjiko ends up looking like a young version of Yui.

** Shinji and Kaworu also make rather pretty girls with little more than a hair and eyelash change (and breasts); in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N_18EljyPk Gender Flip version of Episode 24], longer haired Shinjiko ends up looking like a young version of Yui.

* [[Easter Egg]]:

** [[Spike Spencer]] (Shinji's English dub actor)'s famous rant about the original ending from Shinji's POV, which includes gems such as "W-what's an EVA? Is that sort of a Freudian thing, or... um... am I real?" and "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run -- okay, I got that, good, okay, now if I ''were'' to run away, let's analyze that, where the ''fuck'' would I go!?". [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGMuaXIlckU Take a listen]. It's even better if you think about how much Spencer's Shinji voice sounds like Larry the Cucumber from ''[[Veggie Tales]]''.

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* [[Fan Disservice]]: Many instances, with Shinji {{spoiler|masturbating over a comatose Asuka}} and the more bizarre aspects of {{spoiler|the Rei/Lilith hybrid}} in ''The End of Evangelion'' being two of the most extreme, as well as the {{spoiler|"naked Yui tempting Shinji" sequence}} in the manga.

* [[Fandom Gank]]: Those fans who gave Anno and Gainax in general the benefit of the doubt will consider the ending of the series an example of this trope instead of a [[Gainax Ending]].

* [[Fan Fiction]]: Attempts to [[Fix Fic|fix the story]] through ''massive'' fan rewrites, or crossovers with everything from ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' to the [[H.P. Lovecraft|Cthulhu Mythos]] to ''[[Star Trek]]'' have become so prevalent that they now ~~deserve~~ their own subgenre ~~of the craft~~.

* [[Fan Fiction]]: Attempts to [[Fix Fic|fix the story]] through ''massive'' fan rewrites, or crossovers with everything from ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' to the [[H.P. Lovecraft|Cthulhu Mythos]] to ''[[Star Trek]]'' have become so prevalent that they now constitute their own subgenre.

* [[Fan Service]]: Every character below the age of 31. The anime actually lampshaded this in each of the "next episode" previews, as Misato always promised "more fanservice!". Ironically, episodes that Misato promised would have fanservice, always seemed to have ''less'' than episodes where no such promise was made in the previews.

* [[Filk Song]]: Everything by Fight Star. Also "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0j5XWnb8aE A Thousand Angels]" and "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I9XkHgveyg With Me Now]" by Rachel Macwhirter.

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* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]]: The title itself is gratuitous Greek which would translate into English as "New Beginning Gospel" or "Gospel of the New Genesis" which may be more appropriate {{spoiler|considering the way Shinji and Asuka are left at the end of ''The End of Evangelion''}}...

* [[Gratuitous German]]: ''Gehirn'' = brain, ''Nerv'' = nerve, ''Seele'' = soul. Also, Asuka's dub dialogue features the occasional German word or phrase, and she has an entire conversation in German on the phone in one episode.

* [[Heavy Mithril]]: ~~kinda~~. British rock band Fightstar are fans of the series and titled several songs from it. Their song "Lost Like Tears In Rain" even ends with the line "It's Neon Genesis".

* [[Heavy Mithril]]: Kinda. British rock band Fightstar are fans of the series and titled several songs from it. Their song "Lost Like Tears In Rain" even ends with the line "It's Neon Genesis".

* [[If You Can Read This...]]: The show's scripts are periodically used as dummy texts.

** On the other hand, in one episode, freeze-framing the show during a particular scene will reveal a shockingly detailed account (written in [[Surprisingly Good English]], no less) of the official cover story for Third Impact.

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* [[Public Domain Soundtrack]]: The series uses various pieces of classical music for half or more of its soundtrack. The frequency of classical music appearing goes up as things [[It Got Worse|get worse]]. Also when they started to run out of money.

* [[Real Song Theme Tune]]: "Fly Me to the Moon", the song used for the end credits. This contrasts "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" — the prime example of an [[Anime Theme Song]] — composed specifically for the show.

* [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]]: Released around the same time as ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and ''[[~~Dragon Ball|Dragon Ball~~ Z]]'''s dubs to start the North American [[Anime]] craze of the mid-late 90's.

* [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]]: Released around the same time as ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and ''[[Dragonball Z]]'''s dubs to start the North American [[Anime]] craze of the mid-late 90's.

* [[Rewatch Bonus]]: This series has a very dense plot. If you only watched it once, you probably missed something. Watch it again, and you'll notice a lot of foreshadowing.

* [[Rousseau Was Right]]: Hidden so carefully under a thick veil of cynicism that you'd be forgiven for missing it entirely. But at the end of the day, all of the characters — {{spoiler|even Gendo and SEELE}} — want nothing more than to be loved and accepted, and their actions, however twisted, all stem from their fear and misunderstanding of themselves and others. See the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] entry below for more details.

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** The American pilots who fly Unit 03 to Japan and NERV employees heard during its activation test speak perfect, unaccented English accompanied by Japanese subtitles. This is because Gainax actually had an American in-house translator Michael House working for them at the time of the show's production, and used him to voice the roles, [http://www.evamonkey.com/platinum-booklets/episode-commentaries-14-20.php along with two of his friends].

** Several vocal pieces in ''The End of Evangelion'' soundtrack, namely "Thanatos ~ If I Can't Be Yours", "Escape to the Beginning", "Komm, Susser Tod" and the unused "Everything You've Ever Dreamed" are performed in English, by British and American singers, with natural-sounding lyrics. ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' does this for numerous tracks, as well.

** Averted, however, in the case of German. Asuka, who is German by birth, sounds even to a native English speaker distinctly ''not'' German when speaking in that language. This in itself is a bit of a meta-inversion of [[Surprisingly Good English|the trope in question]]: native English speakers tend to be, for obvious historical reasons, much more familiar with German phonetics than native Japanese speakers, making it more obvious to English viewers when a speaker is failing to approximate fluent German speech, whether or not the English viewer could ~~themself~~ fluently speak any dialect or extraction of German.<ref>Think about how recognizably obvious it is for a series or film to contain [[Poirot Speak|bad fake German]], even if it was produced by English speakers who presumably could tell the difference but didn't care. Ditto here, [[Gratuitous German|it's even got its own trope]]!</ref>

** Averted, however, in the case of German. Asuka, who is German by birth, sounds even to a native English speaker distinctly ''not'' German when speaking in that language. This in itself is a bit of a meta-inversion of [[Surprisingly Good English|the trope in question]]: native English speakers tend to be, for obvious historical reasons, much more familiar with German phonetics than native Japanese speakers, making it more obvious to English viewers when a speaker is failing to approximate fluent German speech, whether or not the English viewer could themselves fluently speak any dialect or extraction of German.<ref>Think about how recognizably obvious it is for a series or film to contain [[Poirot Speak|bad fake German]], even if it was produced by English speakers who presumably could tell the difference but didn't care. Ditto here, [[Gratuitous German|it's even got its own trope]]!</ref>

* [[Suspiciously Apropos Music]]: Not just music. Sometimes the characters will be watching a movie or TV show, or listening to the radio, or, hell, really any indirect dialogue, and what is being said always relates to [[Dysfunction Junction|their mindsets]], their situations, [[A World Half Full|their world at large]], or [[Contemplate Our Navels|philosophic inquiries]] that appear later in the series. For example, in Episode 4 "Hedgehog's Dilemma", after Shinj slips out of his [[Ten-Minute Retirement]], he and Misato stare at each other at the train station right after his train leaves. The woman at the intercom then says:

{{quote|'''Woman''': If you are accompanied by small children, please keep them close.}}