Recently, Adult Swim announced brand new
episodes of FLCL (pronounced Fooly
Cooly or Furi Kuri). Back in the early 2000s, FLCL was one of the major anime on the Adult Swim viewing block, along with
the likes of the original Fullmetal Alchemist
and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone
Complex. Though FLCL was over the
top and wacky, the coming of age story of a young boy trying to figure out what
to do with his life really struck me, seeing as I was a young teenager at the
time. Needless to say, it’s one of my personal favorite anime. The fact that
the show was only six episodes was bitter sweet; it did what it sent out to do
and did so in a way that didn’t feel rushed.
Not to worry, FLCL
is coming back! Just like Trigun, Evangelion, Dragon Ball Zbefore it,
more content is being pumped out for a show that came out over a decade ago.
Not only anime, but Star Wars, X-Files, Prison Break and a large chunk
of other Hollywood movies and TV shows are being resurrected as well. True, these
movies, TV shows, etc. never really went anywhere but within the confines of our
fond memories, but here they are again, resurfacing like one of the undead.
But is it a good thing that our favorite shows and movies
are coming back? Like with zombies, these reboots/sequels bring back things we
once loved with the possibility of turning them into something vile.
Personally, I did not care for the six part revival of The X-Files (kind of like how I didn’t care for the last few
seasons in general). Even my favorite anime of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion, returned over a decade later as a something with great potential but became an awkward mess by the third movie. These revivals are banking on our beloved
memories – our nostalgia – to win over what might otherwise be a terribly written
plot.
In terms of video games, Square Enix is pretty much a
peddler of nostalgia these days. Whether it’s the myriad of Dragon Quest remakes, the highly
anticipated Final Fantasy VII remake, or the plethora of nostalgia focused Final Fantasy games (Dissidia, Record Keeper, World, etc.),
their Eastern games are nothing but ghosts of the past. To be fair, you do get
the occasional Nier, the promising I am Setsuna (though even it is banking on nostalgia) or the ever illusive Final
Fantasy XV (granted, its long development time could make someone nostalgic
for its first reveal nearly a decade ago). The company’s Western developed
games aren’t too much different, with entries in the Tomb Raider and Hitman
franchises coming out pretty regularly, though we do sometimes get gems like Life is Strange.
Is this constant cycle of death and rebirth a good or bad
thing? It certainly isn’t anything new. Remakes and adaptations have been part
of our world for many decades. Sometimes, remakes can even surpass the scope
and themes of its original source. An example of this would be Battlestar Galactica. Taking a silly,
sci-fi romp and turning it into an epic space opera that delves into what it
means to be human was truly brilliant. And it won’t even be the last time we’ll
see a remake of Battlestar Galactica.
Of course, you can’t please everybody; the power of
nostalgia goggles can be overwhelming. Some people just want the original, but
prettier or with a new feature or two. If we wanted to see a regurgitation of
what we’ve seen already, we can easily go back to the shows and movies that
meant so much to us. I guess what I’m getting at is that it’s fine to revisit a
story and its characters as long as it builds upon the source. You can be
pessimistic and assume all remakes, reboots, sequels, etc. are quick cash
grabs, but sometimes you have to have faith. Or you can clutch onto that
pessimism with the secret hope that you will be pleasantly surprised. But if a
remake exists exclusively to be a shallow version of the original, what’s the
point of it existing? Besides, if a remake/sequel/reboot/etc. truly does suck, it by no means disqualify the existence of the original by any means. It will always be there.
With all that being said, I’m still going to watch FLCL when it finally returns, though I categorize myself as cautiously optimistic. And while
we’re bringing franchises back from the dead, can we cast revive on Xenosaga? Pretty please? At least just
give me Evangelion 4.0 already.
Rei Ayanami is an enigma within the Evangelion series. From her very first scene to her very last, she
appears out of nowhere, watching Shinji silently. She too is an Evangelion
pilot, but she doesn’t ooze the teenage hormones as much as the other pilots.
She is quiet and determined to follow any order faithfully, even if it means it
will lead to her destruction. Asuka compares her to a doll (sorta like the doll
Asuka’s mother favored as her daughter, which may be another reason why Asuka
hates Rei) because of her lack of emotions.
Behind her quiet demeanor, Rei is still just a girl. The
only person who showed her kindness was Gendo Ikari, but when his son steps
into the picture, everything changes. Before his arrival, Rei only smiled to
Gendo. Before his arrival, Rei kept mostly to herself. But Shinji made her
smile, made her try new things (such as cooking in both the manga and the
Rebuild movies), and made her care about others’ survival.
Throw in that Rei is a clone of Shinji’s mother Yui and you
have yourself an Oedipus Complex like no other. The second Rei dies before
Shinji knows this, as she sacrifices herself for Shinji out of love. Even with
the next Rei, she proves she isn’t a doll.
My shy, quiet nature
might have cast me as cold and uncaring to some people, but that is far from
the truth. Like Rei, I had fleeting thoughts of, “don’t worry, if I don’t
achieve something, there is another me that will.” Here I am, bringing my twin
issues back into this, but moments where Rei brushed off danger with thoughts
of her insignificance really resonated with me. Granted, I realized my
relationship with my twin brother was more like Rei and Kaworu’s relationship
rather than Rei and her “sisters,” meaning we are fundamentally the same but also
very different; we're just siblings. I really liked that contrast, and it made me feel just a little
bit better about my own significance. You don't have to be a twin to wonder who you are and why you matter in the world.
"Who is this? This is me."
Growing up, I always did as I was told. Do these
tasks and you will achieve this specific grade. Do these steps and you will get
through work. Many of us have done this. Many of us have also done things we
didn’t want to do. Rei lives her life as a source of pleasure for Gendo but
also as his puppet. However, in the End
of Evangelion, Rei finally finds the courage to snap the threads
controlling her. Instead of following Gendo’s orders, she takes a bet on her
own heart and goes to Shinji. That scene in particular really spoke to me. I
still do things I don’t want to do from time to time, but I’ve learned that
saying no and doing what I want to do isn’t the end of the world. Granted, it
kind of did lead to the end of the world in Evangelion,
but that is beside the point.
Despite what Asuka claims, Rei is far from an emotionless
doll. She is flawed, like every human being. She is not Yui, Shinji’s mother.
Rei Ayanami is a person. Like me. Like you.
In the Case of Shinji
Ikari
This is the big one. At the age of fourteen, Shinji Ikari
was afraid of other people, afraid of how others perceived him, and, most of
all, hated himself. He rejected his father’s request to pilot a giant robot
many times, a request that many children (hell, even adults) would jump on
given the opportunity. Some people say this makes Shinji a terrible main
character, that he is whiny and overly emotional. However, I love Shinji simply
because he was me.
During my first viewing of the series, I too was a fourteen
year old boy. I too felt insecure and afraid to get close to others, the hedgehog’s dilemma. Though I hated the people around me at school, I hated myself most of
all. I lacked confidence in myself. I exaggerated my failures and drowned in
self-pity.
“All I ever do is hurt other people, so I’d rather do
nothing at all!”
Granted, I didn’t have daddy issues (he worked two jobs when
I was younger so I really didn’t see him all that much, but I was able to see
him more once he went down to one job) nor do I have access to a giant robot (maybe someday...),
but the connection was there. If I couldn’t be Shinji, I could at least easily
see myself being friends with him. Every episode, I hung onto every scene he
was in.
Near the end of the series, Shinji slowly becomes more and
more alone. His classmates high-tail it
out of Tokyo-3 out of fear of further
destruction of the city. Asuka goes into a coma after being mentally raped by
an Angel. Misato becomes distant after the death of her love, Kaji. Shinji
increases his distance from Rei after he learns the disturbing truth behind her
existence (harken back to the Oedipus Complex I mentioned earlier).
I pitied him, but I knew the pain of being abandoned. In
elementary school, I met my first friend that wasn’t a relative. I used to do
everything with him, but then he left for another school. We talked over the
phone a few times after that, but our friendship quickly fizzled and died. With
my brother in different classes, I went into middle school alone.
I actually like the friendship that blossoms between Shinji
and Kaworu (inb4yaoipairing). Sure, you could argue that the time Kaworu
entered the scene was a bit too convenient, during a time when Shinji was incredibly
vulnerable, but it wasn’t like Kaworu was completely using him. He let Shinji
live in order for him and humanity to continue. Kaworu cared enough for Shinji
to sacrifice his own life, and that’s saying something. Sure, their friendship
is kind of the opposite in the manga, but even then Shinji feels regret for
killing Kaworu. Their friendship is brief but significant. For me as well, friendship saved me going into high school. When
I felt alone and lost, friends were there to dig me out of the darkness.
Expanding on the need of companionship, The End of Evangelion was a critical time for both Shinji and
myself. The Human Instrumentality Project reached its boiling point, and Shinji
had to make a decision: either accept Instrumentality and have every single
soul become one or keep living an ordinary life with the threat of being hurt
and rejected by others. Either retreat from the world and everyone in it or
allow yourself to get close to others.
Shinji's scream always makes my spine shiver.
In the end, Shinji rejected Human Instrumentality and
allowed humanity to once again regain their separate forms. Life is full of
pain, but he realized there are people he cared about and others who cared
about him as well.
I had few friends in middle school, but I wasn’t completely
alone. I had a family who cared about me and the few people who did associate
with me I wouldn’t trade for the world. Like Shinji, I wouldn’t throw my
relationships away, good or bad. If it’s all or nothing, I’d rather keep them
all. What little good I had made the bad bearable.
"Is it okay for me to be here?"
*Silence*
After first finishing the series, I felt a sort of
hollowness, a farewell to friends who meant the world to me. But I took the
lessons I learned and applied them to my life. I developed a barrier around my
heart to defend against the people who picked on me. I wasn’t perfect nor will
I ever be, but I developed the strength to stand up to my bullies. If I hadn’t
experienced Evangelion (or Xenosaga for that matter, but again, a
blog for another time), I’m not sure how my life would have turned out.
Marking Time, Waiting
for Death
I’ve grown a lot since I first watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, for the better and worse. Asuka, Rei, and (especially)
Shinji will always be a part of me, but I know I’ve become less like them since
leaving my teenage years behind. I still have shreds of them left in me; I
still fear getting close to people sometimes and I still have days where I
despise who I am, but it no longer controls me. I accept the roles those three characters
played in my childhood, and I will never let go of the memories.
As I move forward, I’m starting to relate more to the older
characters. From being afraid of being alone by 30 like Misato to longing for
the past like Gendo, my adult anxieties only promise to increase with age. For
an anime now 20 years old, I’m still learning how to cope with who I am through
its characters. I don’t always agree with the direction of the series (the
countless spinoff manga, Evangelion 3.33,
the ridiculous products), but the anime and manga will always remain the
classic that helped me through a difficult time. I hope I continue to learn
from it as I continue down my path in life. Thank you, Hideaki Anno, for
expressing a dark time for yourself in a way that mirrored my own soul as well.
My Evangelion shrine...don't judge.
...Here’s hoping Evangelion 4.0 comes out before the 25th
or even 30th anniversary of the series.
Twenty years ago, Neon Genesis Evangelion was introduced to
the world. Since its inception, the series has spawned various movies,
spinoffs, figures, theme park attractions, underwear, and even buckets. It’s a
phenomenon that changed the anime industry and inspired many creators in the
process. For those of you who either aren’t anime nerds, born too late, or have
lived under a rock for the past twenty years, the series revolves around three
teenagers who must pilot giant robots in order to save humanity from creatures
called Angels. The series has a modest start, focusing purely on a story of a
boy trying to save the world, but grows much deeper as the show goes on.
I haven’t been with the series since day one (I would have
been six years old), but I have been a diehard fan for well over a decade now.
I originally watched the show at the age of 14, the same age as the protagonist of
the series, Shinji Ikari. I was in middle school (as mentioned in one of my other
blogs as the worst time in my life), so I would say around the same time I got
into the Xenosaga video game series (a blog for another time…). My older sister
worked at the public library, so, from time to time, she would check out
something for my brother and me. Our anime kick was in full swing around this
time, what with Toonami and Adult Swim introducing us to the world. One fateful
day, our sister just so happened to check out the Neon Genesis Evangelion
boxset for us, changing my life forever.
You might wonder why I am so obsessed with this show. Do I
simply like it because of its popularity? For the giant robot action? For the
random religious references? To be fair, a few of those questions have a bit of
truth to them (except the popular part, since I didn’t know what it was and I
didn’t have internet at home until a few years later), but the real reason I
love the series so much is because of the characters. From the fiery attitude
of Asuka to the immense self-hatred surrounding Shinji, I fell in love with
these kids who were the exact same age as me. There were so many characters I
related to, and even now I feel myself relating to more of the cast as I grow
older. Today I will focus primarily on a single character, but I intend to
elaborate on more in future installments. Otherwise, I will write a 20 page essay that
will bore the crap out of you.
**Warning: Spoilers ahead!**
In the case of Asuka
Langley Sohryu
Asuka, the fiery red head of the series, is a character I
was surprised by how much I could relate to her. A part German and Japanese Eva
pilot, Asuka is introduced a little later than the other characters of the
series. However, her late introduction does nothing to impair her character.
She’s sassy, self-confident, and a college graduate at the age of fourteen. She
sounds like she has everything going on with her life.
But behind her bravado is a damaged girl looking for
acceptance. She wants to prove herself not only on the battlefield but as a
human being. Her inferiority complex is only exasperated by Shinji Ikari, who
not only defeated an Angel the first time he piloted but also became an overall
better pilot than Asuka. Kaji denies her advances, as he is a man much, much older
than her, but Asuka still sees herself as this strong adult.
During her childhood, her mother took part in the Evangelion
experiments, causing her to go insane. She started to ignore her daughter’s
existence, putting all of her love and attention on a doll instead. Before
Asuka could prove herself, she walked in on her mother’s suicide. Asuka’s
desperate need to be strong, self-sufficient, and the best stem from this very
moment.
(Probably one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite episodes)
Yeesh, you might say. How do I resonate with such a character?
I don’t have a tragic backstory like her nor a flamboyant and strong
personality. But I do feel for her.
As a twin, as I’ve mentioned before, I had my fair share of
insecurities. In comparison to my brother, I felt inferior, unnecessary. Unlike
Asuka, I didn’t strive to prove myself. But, like Asuka, I hid my feelings from
everyone. Like her, I was too proud to talk about my feelings or even come to
an understanding with the one person that I felt inferior to. I have since
overcome these feelings (granted, clarity didn’t come in a giant robot fight
against nine other robots ala Asuka), but I will always remember that time in
my life. If anything, watching Evangelion at that critical time in middle
school made me realize those feelings and deal with them a lot quicker than I
would have without it.
To be honest, I didn’t really like Asuka that much when I
originally watched the show. I felt she was too cocky, too mean, especially to
Shinji. Her relationship with Kaji seemed awkward and sadly one-sided. However,
after finishing the show and letting the years pass, I realize how much I
sympathized with Asuka. She was like me, a teenager thrown in to the arms of
puberty. It’s a confusing and hectic time, and throwing other people into the
mix can either help or damage you. At my worst, I hated everyone, the people I
went to school with, society, and most of all, myself. Asuka made me realize
that other people can feel the same way, but also that it can be overcome.
So, to you, Asuka, you red-haired demon, I thank you from
the bottom of my heart for realizing my own insecurities.
