UncleMilo wrote:SPOILERS AGAIN
Well... you're wrong. The ending IS that Vash chooses to not kill Knives, but to try to teach him the lesson. THAT IS THE ENDING. Success or failure isn't the point. We can teach our children that violence is wrong... but does that mean they'll listen? Over 11 million people died at the hands of Hitler's regime... this certainly should have taught the world the lesson that unmonitored hatred and ignorance leads to nightmarish events like the Holocaust...but there are many in America today who don't believe the Holocaust even happened or that the events of the past really matter that much today.
You're wrong in assuming that my statement was that because Vash chooses to teach Knives the lesson means he will succeed... That was NEVER my point. The point is that VASH is going to try. THAT IS THE END. Vash could just kill Knives... but he didn't. He chose to TRY
THE END.
As for EVA - I think the fact you're complaining about Toji surviving shows you are focussing way too much on the wrong things. They were able to reconstruct Shinji from LCL fluid, I think they can help save Toji from his blood loss... and we don't know how much loss Toji had... After all... the EVAs bleed as well (they being organic life forms). The watermellon scene only helped Shinji find resolve... he realized in that particular moment that his choice didn't just effect him, but also effected everyone else. At that point, he was still OK with running away from himself, but he knew he couldn't run away from others. He had found his value as an EVA pilot (but as Asuka would later warn... if you only place value on yourself as one thing, that is an equally dangerous path.) Asuka defined herself as being superior... her value came from success... When she no longer felt success... she lost value in herself and slipped into depression...
There was still a way to go... and the scene with the Watermellons was pretty close to the end of the show. Shinji was turning around, but he wasn't there yet. It took the final two eps for him to find his complete answer.
I won't touch End of Evangelion, because I think the movie should never have been made. It was made because of the number of fans who didn't want to take the time to think about Evangelion and just wanted Gainax to give them an asnwer. The movie is just more of what was going on outside... while Shinji had to face his final test.
Remember - Shinji killed Kaoru... this was the worst thing... because Shinji felt of no value deep inside... his only worth at that point was him as an EVA pilot, not as a person. He felt that Kaoru was the better person... that he should have lived... in killing Kaoru, Shinji was at a crossroad... and he had to find his answer... he had to redefiune himself... outside, he was miserable for killing Kaoru and usesless... but in his mind, he was doing the final battle of the show... the battle with himself.
Now... I have to jump in here about the religious stuff...
The SURFACE story of Evangelion is based on the Khaballa... all the Angel names come from the Khaballa, as do many of the symbols that appear in the show. The design of the Angels, the EVAs and even some of the technology in NERV (and some other things) all come from a clever re-telling of the Khaballa. The story, while being its own stroy, cleverly integrates the Khaballah within it... and so there is a reason for the angels having the names they have and the items being where they are... but this just shows how much depth and research went into the writing of this show. You can get through EVA without knowing the religious stuff, but you can't say the religious stuff is there for no reason.
It was suggested to me by one of my friends that another concept you can take home with you from Evangelion is the religion argument.
If you don't mind me getting a little detailed here...
It has been argued that religion takes these steps (and this is painfully simplified)
Step 1: GODS
Man doesn't know what's going on... he creates a bunch of gods who are all like man himself. They drink, they fight, they love... and most importantly, they really care a lot about every little thing Man does.
STEP 2: GOD
Man starts taking a little responsability for himself. He reduces the GODS down to a single God... this God is not as directly linked with man's actions. He is more like a supervisor... he is an entity that is of higher elevation than man... He doesn't check in day to day... he simply helps guide men down a path... but day to day life is now the responsability of man, but the big picture is that of the divine.
STEP 3: MAN
Man realizes that all these supernatural beings are devices he, himself invented to help deal with the many things he didn't understand. Man finally realizes that despite the fact he has no real idea of what's going on in the world... that he, ALONE, is responsible for all his own actions... end of story.
Now.... with that said, some have mentioned that they feel that not only is EVA a story about the boy becoming a man... but also a story of man overthrowing the shackles of gods and entering into an age of self-responsibility.
Well...
That is my response to your comments.
-Uncle Milo
Uncle Milo strikes again!
Not saying this sarcastly at all but it is getting kind of old seeing threads like this over and over ( 2 just recently ) and then uncle milo and dw shooting down every rediculous argument. I think there needs to be something honestly written up by one or both of you that can be refered to as a FAQ type thing for future occurances.
*shrugs* good read
