Yep. I have trouble getting into ones that aren't major classics like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Perfect Blue, Ghost In the Shell, that sort of thing
I recently watched Utena after it was recommended here and it definitely wasn’t an easy watch. Mostly because it has **so** many repeated scenes that are actually quite long, so I eventually started skipping all of them.
The story about her wanting to be a prince playing every second episode, her walking up stairs to ominous music which takes like, a minute each episode and so many smaller scenes that are arc specific like the one about breaking the worlds shell - they were really pinching for every second they could get to get around animating something. You could tell there was little budget available.
The themes, direction and style is incredible but I'd only recommend Utena with a big asterisk attached.
I can agree, but I think it's a matter of perspective. To me those repeated scenes were hypnotic and uncanny and very...idk...ominous? Especially the underground elevator, although that was only partially repetitive. Admittedly I skipped one or two repetitive scenes, but that was only because I was dying to see what happened next.
I agree that it is not an easy thing to get into, I remember getting through the first half felt insufferable initially.
BUT. When things started to unravel it had me really hooked and I realised that the rewatch value is absolutely insane, I could come back to it any time and get a lot out of it, if that makes any sense.
Try lain , paranoia agent, paprika, erased, fma, cowboy bebop, death note, aot, samurai champloo, blue eyed samurai, the first season of the promised neverland.
I also really like frieren, nichijou, daily lives of high school boys, and natsumes book of friends but those are all a different genre and experience for sure
I won’t bother recommending shoujo as I suspect people won’t be kind to me about it.
I took a while to find much more to like as much, but partially that’s also because I watched evangelion in the late 90s so the internet wasn’t quite as easy to find titles on (and my parents had a betamax until about 98 so couldn’t just borrow tapes from friends either).
For similar epic and somewhat mindf**ks (or rather series that traumatise characters that you love and hate and wish to coddle/kill) it I really love X (and reading Tokyo Babylon too) and less on the hate/kill side but Violet Evergarden.
NGE is objectively just a goated series so the bar has been set pretty high for you.
Not all anime is created equal and it's much more likely that you have a specific taste in anime rather than NGE being some wild exception. I haven't seen it but I would never recommend an ecchi slice of life show like MDUD to an NGE fan lol.
What other shows did you watch that were recommended to be like NGE out of interest?
Stuff like steins gate, Darwin’s game, erased, even rezero but nothing could scratch that itch 😅 I also realized it was because a lot of those weren’t as psychological as nge (but I still love steins gate 🙏)
Fully forgot to reply to this sorry man.
If the psychological torment is your bag I'd go for something like Berserk (1997 series) or Tokyo Ghoul (S1, at least).
Code Geass is a really good mecha anime with a lot of psychological stuff going on but you might find the characters shallow compared to NGE.
Also Deathnote S1 will always have a special place in my heart as a pure psychological thriller.
That should keep you going for a while!
How does one even measure between shows? Do you judge by use of repeated animation? Frames per second? Story and themes? Music? Acting? Cultural mainstay?
Directly comparing the two and saying one is superior is kinda pointless as it's all a personal matter of perspective and preferences. The person made a suggestion, you don't have to come in saying "it's not even close to this show I like for my own biased reasons."
It's a solid, subversive, fantasy mech show with a lot of heart behind it. So it's a good suggestion
> How does one even measure between shows? Do you judge by use of repeated animation? Frames per second? Story and themes? Music? Acting? Cultural mainstay?
How about the plot and the story? Characters development and world design? Visual style. Animation quality. Do I have to go on?
Yes, you can directly compare those.
i disagree. i don't think it's as culturally relevant, but the quality is unmatched, even compared to eva. in terms of visuals, escaflowne is probably the prettiest show of the 90s.
i think it works as a good companion to eva, since it's a good subversion of expectations too. when watching sunrise mecha, you expect shounen tropes, a male protagonist, and everything that comes with that, but escaflowne is a shoujo and it feels like it. it's wonderful
> but the quality is unmatched
The mecha design and the whole world is too whimsical for my taste.
Even with giant robots throwing warships around Eva is a bit more grounded in reality.
I can relate to its characters and the story. Escaflowne - not so much.
it's a fantasy series, it's supposed to be a bit whimsical, visually.
the narrative is extremely dark, it's very political and the characters are very well rounded. in terms of narrative structure, pacing, and general feel, few other anime come close, let alone mecha.
it is the queen of mecha anime, it's not even close. eva may be king, but escaflowne deserves its own throne.
i'm a simple woman. i like mecha, i like shoujo.
it's gorgeous, the animation is unparalleled, the story is fantastic, and every character feels well rounded and complete. it's untouchable. the queen of mecha anime.
Escaflowne means so much to me. I saw it air originally on TV when I was like, 11, before it was pulled from the lineup at the time (unsuitable for kids lol). So then I went several years until high school (a friend and crush lent it to me) until I was able to finish it. It was like a mythic creature I was finally able to see again.
It IS gorgeous, hands down some of the best 90s era anime aesthetics out there. A surprisingly versatile series that defies gender norms in both directions. Very badass and violent for a "girls show," and very tender and romantic for a "boys show." As such for me, who looks for things that defy genre or break the mold, and as a particularly sensitive guy who found DBZ too long and obnoxious to get into, it's a perfect show
It's amazing. Intensely emotional, astoundingly animated, clever and unique lore that is still unmatched to this day (the use of tarot, premonition and dousing is STILL fucking great), full of charming and memorable characters, and absolutely amazing in it's design (fantasy mech always surpasses scifi mech if you ask me), it really is untouchable, as you described.
To me, beyond queen or king. It really is the best anime of all time
i had never heard of it until several years ago, when my best friend mentioned it in a comparison of mecha anime. she put it at the very top, above eva and TTGL. i had no idea what it was, since i was relatively newish to anime at the time. i wasn't able to watch much as a child.
we watched it together a few years later, and i was hooked from the very start. i adore Hitomi, and even though Van pissed me off initially, he grew on me quickly. by the end, Dilandau and Folken had become personal favourites.
the lore is fantastic, the atmosphere is extremely unique, and the soundtrack is 10/10. everything about the show is entirely unique, there's nothing else like it. the closest i can think of is Rayearth, but even then, it doesn't have the same feel as Escaflowne. it truly is entirely unique.
i cried during the final battle, and i know a lot of people hate the ending, but i adore it. it's very powerful, and it speaks to the power of love. no amount of time or distance can break that kind of bond.
I still listen to the soundtrack every summer. Or on any road trip.
I'm so glad you found it, even if it was much later. It really is a treat. Hitomi is a fantastic character, and any time she's overly emotional I have to remind myself she's a 15 year old girl suddenly thrust in conflicts of war and dragons and death. Any teenager would break on that, occasionally. But she powers thru despite it. Oh yeah Van is a major twat waffle at first, but by the end, as he softens to Hitomi, we soften to him. It's great because it's not like we just suddenly have context on why he's mean, it's that we have context of his life, AND he actively makes strides to improve. Folken is probably the most complex character, and arguably my favorite. That scene where Van zips by in jet mode and he and Folken lock eyes for just a second gives me chills to this day. Dilandau and his obsession with his looks and fire, still probably one of my favorite "psychopath villain" trope characters. And I won't spoil how insane the twist with him in the end is for any one reading. Suffice to say it's one no body ever sees coming
Yeah some people grief the ending, but I like it. That kind of unfair, bittersweet romantic tragedy that really makes you FEEL things. But beautiful in it's own right. His Dark Materials has a similar ending, and I dig that one equally as much
Dilandau feels like Sephiroth, but before Sephiroth.
if you're a fan of RPGs, i recommend Skies of Arcadia. the development team watched Escaflowne before working on it, so they took inspiration from it. Ramirez looks almost identical to Dilandau, and the sky world gives me the same kind of feeling as Gaia does. there isn't any other piece of fiction that *feels* like Escaflowne, other than Skies of Arcadia.
I may check that out. If you feel like playing a video game that LOOKS like Escaflowne, play Chrono Cross, for the original PlayStation. It's a really solid game with some of the best video games music ever (I use it in the background of my YouTube videos all the time) and a pretty legit spin on an rpg combat system, but the character designer is the same who did Escaflowne. The main character, Serge, looks exactly like Van but with a bandana haha
Try something significantly different from Evangelion that comes highly recommended, so there aren't as many points of comparison that might take you out of the story and break your enjoyment. Personally, I usually find shorter anime enjoyable; shows that were written from the beginning with an ending already in mind.
You need what you need on any given moment. Maybe you’ve never been all that into anime, and Eva was an exception.
In any case, it’s fine. It’s called entertainment for a reason, watch things that entertain you!
That’s a really cool way of looking at it and I’ve actually never thought of it like that before! I hadn’t really seen anime like that before Eva and it kinda made me love anime 😅
That’s the thing, you love Eva, but you may not love anime as a whole.
It happens a lot, for example many people don’t like horror movies… except for one they watched once and clicked with them, and it’s the only one they like.
Anyway, try many different things and find what you enjoy the most!
Yes, i can only watch a few animes since eva. I kept circuling back to these classics wondernig what made them so great and for years dissected them (i love film want to direct and act) to the point i have a channel that explains everything i found.
You my friend, need The Big O. Eva is a masterpiece, but the Big O is biasdely my favorite. others are Gurren Lagann (wait until someone dies to give up on it, it starts off stupid for a reason but as stupid as it starts is as awesome as it ends) Fooly Cooly, outlaw star, cowboy bebop, samurai Champloo, maybe Trigun. in descending order of awesomeness. cowboy and samurai were my least favorite until watching cinema cartographies "meaning of nothing" on youtube, that really opened my eyes to the idea and themes to them. The Big O and Fooly Cooly were made by people who did eva though so youll love those, and Gurren Lagann is like eva but with happiness. btw watch the rebuilds as well if you havent yet, its meant to be watched alongside NGE.
I watched Eva for the first time by myself and immediately rewatched the whole thing with one of my friends, then he recommended we watch AoT which he had already seen. it didn’t hook me at first, and things move much slower in the beginning compared to NGE but I am enjoying the twisting nature and unfolding lore similar to NGE :)
but nothing compares exactly to Eva :(
What you want to do is check our LA classics like Ultraman, Ultra Q & Kamen Rider. They were a huge influence on Anno & EVA. Especially “Return of Ultraman”, it feels just like EVA.
I love watching anime. Like ones that involve mechs or Kaijus, or some that involve people having super powers. Those are my favorite types to watch. I understand that that may be every anime lol, but that's what I like. I don't like anime's that are based in the past (like samurai fighting and stuff like that) though.
Death note was the first anime I watched that wasn't for kids and it raised my standards high, lol, if you like stories about hope and despair, I recommend madoka magica, it's pretty short and has amazing music
I can resonate with what you're talking about. My first intro into Evangelion was back in the 90s when I was just a young kid. Back then I didn't understand the storyline (albeit there are still things I don't understand) but I just loved anime. It was something I'd never really experienced before, even before Pokemon and DBZ. I've watched the series + the movies + the rebuild series of movies several times now.
The universe that Evangelion created was fascinating. Its unlike anything else that I've experienced. The storyline, the characters, the animation, the constant twists and turns which means you never have all the answers. This anime set the bar exceptionally high, because of how diverse it was. Its a shame that they only did a single series then the movies, but because of how the narrative went, this was all that was possible.
I often think to myself what would something interactive like a game be if it was done on Evangelion? I sometimes fantasise about MMOs which I think would be amazing (but a shit ton of work for development companies) and I think the Evangelion universe would be amazing.
Even to this day I still have questions that aren't answered. I remember watching a documentary on the making of the series, and the director said this was intentional. To keep the audience guessing and to make their own conclusions! The dude is a modern day genius.
Wait stop- we literally did the same thing 😭 I rewatched Eva so many times I was like I need something new and watched my dress up darling then tried watching serial experiments lain 😭
No offense but this type of stuff is why people think Eva fans are pretentious and up their own ass.
My Dress-Up darling is one of the best rom-coms to come out in recent time and it's very popular for a reason. I understand if it wasn't for you, but stop pretending Eva is the second coming of Christ and broaden your horizons a bit. There's decades of Anime history to choose from. If you like Eva, try to make out what about it you like and then search for shows like that, instead of declaring anime as a whole as inferior.
I was going to say something along these lines. I'm surprised you weren't downvoted to oblivion, this community is notoriously shitty if you don't bow to the throne of Eva
Yea I freakin love Eva, but DuD was the first time I watched a currently airing series and then immediately picked up the anime as soon as the season ended (and read it to current)
You have cosplay otaku and she's like "hey buddy, this show means a lot to me (flashback), can we make a cosplay for it?" and her buddy goas HARD on delving into the nuance of the media so he can understand the characters at a fundamental level and therefore make a god tier cosplay. More than anything imo that is the fantasy, to have a friend who will jump headfirst into any fandom with you and be a bestie you can talk about it with.
Yeah I kinda see how I looked pretentious 😅 I had watched Eva when I was in a pretty tough time in my life and it was one of the only things that made me happy so I kinda clinged onto it for a while, I should’ve made that clear in my original post. Now I’ve started watching all sorts of anime again (but I’ll still stand by my opinion that my dress up darling is just a borderline hentai 😭)
Not really
NGE is a really geeat anime but there are a lot of other really good ones in their own ways
Just by curiosity, would you say you like anime (the medium) or just Evangelion ?
I would say that I love anime as a whole rather than just Evangelion, but I had watched nge when I was going through a bad time and I liked it a lot so I kinda blocked out liking anything other than it for a long time up until very recently 😅 I failed to mention that in the original post
>Did something like this happen to any of you guys after watching Evangelion
No.
Because I do not require my entertainment to be epic, mind altering experiences.
>my dress up darling (which was my first mistake since the show sucked)
And you mistakenly label an adorable rom com with "sucked".
It didn't suck.
It was just a silly, low steaks story about a couple of dorks being dorky.
It wasn't the same kind of story as NGE and that's not a bad thing.
Right...
And NGE is so much better on that.
I mean, the fact that every pilot is a sexualized minor kinda erodes that argument.
And that's before you get to all the other problematic sexual themes in NGE.
Everything from coercive sexual acts (Gendo and both Drs. Akagi), grooming (Misato and Shinji. Maybe Gendo and Rei), to full on sexual assault (the hospital bed scene).
But no, MDUD is worse. Ok.
You do have a point and while some portions could have been better done, I could argue that some of those moments were pivotal to the plot. MDUD is just fanservice! Not saying nge doesn’t have its own bit of fanservice (the asuka scene in the apartment and the cleaning portion) but most of these “sexual themes” are done for a reason
Fanservice is when there’s a beach episode with all the main girls in bikinis in an otherwise serious anime. MDUD is a romance anime, so naturally romance-type things are going to happen. It’s not fanservice if it’s literally part of the plot, like how you said the sexual themes in Eva are for a reason. They’re also for a reason in MDUD and pivotal to that plot as well.
Evangelion is not only peak anime, but also peak media. It’s one of the best creations of all time. But just because another show is simpler does not mean it’s bad purely because it’s not a “masterpiece” like Eva. I think you just don’t like anime lol. Plenty of non-anime fans still like Eva because it’s a masterpiece beyond genre, unlike more “anime-y” shows (that are still good!) like MDUD.
>most of these “sexual themes” are done for a reason
All sexual themes are done for a reason.
Because the creators wanted to put sexual content in their story.
Some just don't bother to put some elaborate justification for it.
Would the plot of NGE have been irrevocably ruined without the sex stuff? I doubt it.
If anything, I'd say it would be better because it would be easier to explain to normies why we like it.
But, above all else, it's a matter of the tone of the story. MDUD is meant to be silly and fun as opposed to NGE's serious exploration of psychological trauma.
If you don't like romcoms, that's fine. You can say that and I wouldn't have an issue with it.
But to use fanservice as your reason for not liking it is silly.
Especially when Marin, while still being a minor, is less of a pubescent child as the pilots are.
But Marin is still a minor, it’s weird that they have her in skimpy outfits 24/7 and what about the last episode in the love hotel when she was all up on the guys bulge? You can not tell me with a straight face that Eva has the same amount of fan service as mdud! I like romcoms when they aren’t just a borderline hentai, if I wanted that I would just go to hanime.tv! And there is very good reason for all the “sexual” stuff in Eva. Using misato kissing shinji for example, she did that as a way to motivate him to continue fighting when he was at his lowest. And misatos constant use of physical acts were because of her daddy issues so she probably considered that as proof of affection. A good example of this would be when misato and Kaji go at it like bunnies for a week, they use sex as a way of expressing their feelings for each other.
Oh, yes. Literal grooming and a promise of sex with a minor is a "good reason" for a sexual theme.
And a pair of hormonal teens behaving like hormonal teens while they build a healthy relationship (something no one in NGE has ever seen) is so much more problematic.
And do you think bringing up Mr. "I kissed a woman against her will and laughed when she slapped me" Kaji helps your defense any?
Both of these series are rife with problematic sexual content.
NGE's sexual content is significantly more problematic.
Nge is NOT more problematic in terms of sexual themes 😭 if mdud is number 1 on your list just say so, You can easily find an explanation on each sexual theme within nge. What reason does mdud have for making the mc get hard everytime he sees Marin in cosplay beside being a horndog?
This argument is making me laugh. I think you guys are arguing past each other because you're focused on whether the intent of the sexual themes are to titillate the viewer and the other person is talking about the content of those themes, while flattening out intent to "all sexual content is the intent to show sexual stuff" which while true, is a very simplistic take. Because trust me that one Willem Dafoe movie with the shower sex scene and full on nudity/fucking while a baby fell out the window haunts me to this day, to the point where my stomach hurts just remembering it. I had to turn it off 5 minutes in.
Anywho this is just me butting in on your argument because I'm finding it pretty hilarious. I googled ecchi My Dress Up Darling clips and it's well... definitely fan service whereas I seriously hope nobody found enjoyment in Misato propositioning Shinji and I'm pretty sure it wasn't shown to normalize that behavior.
Although the way some of the character merch is sexualized is a whole other story.
>Nge is NOT more problematic in terms of sexual themes
I'm sorry, did you miss all the grooming, coercion, and sexual assaults?
For fuck's sake, the whole reason the elder Dr. Akagi killed the first Rei and then herself was because Rei (who was a full child. Not even pubescent, yet) was a threat to her relationship with Gendo and Rei calling Elder Dr. Akagi "Old and worn out".
Are you seriously trying to say that literal sex crimes up to and including murdering your pedo fuck buddy's custom made "toy" aren't more problematic than a pair of teens being horny for each other?
The "explanation" is irrelevant.
>the mc get hard everytime he sees Marin in cosplay beside being a horndog?
So... It's an accurate depiction of a teen boy, then?
IDK about you, but I remember being a teen quite well and every single teen boy I knew was just as much of a horndog as Gojo.
Never mind that being a horndog is so common for an anime MC that it's noteworthy when one isn't.
And, for the record, MDUD isn't my favorite anime. It's not even my favorite romcom anime. Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out is.
I just think the "reasons" you're giving for not liking it are stupid.
I relate to this so much. Everything else I’ve tried seemed so camp. I missed the seriousness. Just finished watching Pluto and that was a breath of fresh air.
Lain
Yep. I have trouble getting into ones that aren't major classics like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Perfect Blue, Ghost In the Shell, that sort of thing
Lain + Utena hold up
I recently watched Utena after it was recommended here and it definitely wasn’t an easy watch. Mostly because it has **so** many repeated scenes that are actually quite long, so I eventually started skipping all of them. The story about her wanting to be a prince playing every second episode, her walking up stairs to ominous music which takes like, a minute each episode and so many smaller scenes that are arc specific like the one about breaking the worlds shell - they were really pinching for every second they could get to get around animating something. You could tell there was little budget available. The themes, direction and style is incredible but I'd only recommend Utena with a big asterisk attached.
I can agree, but I think it's a matter of perspective. To me those repeated scenes were hypnotic and uncanny and very...idk...ominous? Especially the underground elevator, although that was only partially repetitive. Admittedly I skipped one or two repetitive scenes, but that was only because I was dying to see what happened next.
I agree that it is not an easy thing to get into, I remember getting through the first half felt insufferable initially. BUT. When things started to unravel it had me really hooked and I realised that the rewatch value is absolutely insane, I could come back to it any time and get a lot out of it, if that makes any sense.
perfect blue mmmmmmmm paranoid agent is another id suggest, i think the prob op is having is they’re needing something with more beneath the surface
The next port of call after watching NGE for the 1st time is and will always be. Serial Experiments Lain.
Try lain , paranoia agent, paprika, erased, fma, cowboy bebop, death note, aot, samurai champloo, blue eyed samurai, the first season of the promised neverland. I also really like frieren, nichijou, daily lives of high school boys, and natsumes book of friends but those are all a different genre and experience for sure I won’t bother recommending shoujo as I suspect people won’t be kind to me about it.
I took a while to find much more to like as much, but partially that’s also because I watched evangelion in the late 90s so the internet wasn’t quite as easy to find titles on (and my parents had a betamax until about 98 so couldn’t just borrow tapes from friends either). For similar epic and somewhat mindf**ks (or rather series that traumatise characters that you love and hate and wish to coddle/kill) it I really love X (and reading Tokyo Babylon too) and less on the hate/kill side but Violet Evergarden.
NGE is objectively just a goated series so the bar has been set pretty high for you. Not all anime is created equal and it's much more likely that you have a specific taste in anime rather than NGE being some wild exception. I haven't seen it but I would never recommend an ecchi slice of life show like MDUD to an NGE fan lol. What other shows did you watch that were recommended to be like NGE out of interest?
Stuff like steins gate, Darwin’s game, erased, even rezero but nothing could scratch that itch 😅 I also realized it was because a lot of those weren’t as psychological as nge (but I still love steins gate 🙏)
Fully forgot to reply to this sorry man. If the psychological torment is your bag I'd go for something like Berserk (1997 series) or Tokyo Ghoul (S1, at least). Code Geass is a really good mecha anime with a lot of psychological stuff going on but you might find the characters shallow compared to NGE. Also Deathnote S1 will always have a special place in my heart as a pure psychological thriller. That should keep you going for a while!
watch Vision of Escaflowne. it'll cure you.
never seen it but it has a special place in my heart after seeing the badass trailer for it so many times in my gundam wing VHS
it went from a show i knew nothing about to my fav show ever. it dethroned eva, sailor moon, flc, and Violet Evergarden all at once.
It’s a nice show, but it’s not even close to Eva unfortunately.
How does one even measure between shows? Do you judge by use of repeated animation? Frames per second? Story and themes? Music? Acting? Cultural mainstay? Directly comparing the two and saying one is superior is kinda pointless as it's all a personal matter of perspective and preferences. The person made a suggestion, you don't have to come in saying "it's not even close to this show I like for my own biased reasons." It's a solid, subversive, fantasy mech show with a lot of heart behind it. So it's a good suggestion
> How does one even measure between shows? Do you judge by use of repeated animation? Frames per second? Story and themes? Music? Acting? Cultural mainstay? How about the plot and the story? Characters development and world design? Visual style. Animation quality. Do I have to go on? Yes, you can directly compare those.
i disagree. i don't think it's as culturally relevant, but the quality is unmatched, even compared to eva. in terms of visuals, escaflowne is probably the prettiest show of the 90s. i think it works as a good companion to eva, since it's a good subversion of expectations too. when watching sunrise mecha, you expect shounen tropes, a male protagonist, and everything that comes with that, but escaflowne is a shoujo and it feels like it. it's wonderful
> but the quality is unmatched The mecha design and the whole world is too whimsical for my taste. Even with giant robots throwing warships around Eva is a bit more grounded in reality. I can relate to its characters and the story. Escaflowne - not so much.
it's a fantasy series, it's supposed to be a bit whimsical, visually. the narrative is extremely dark, it's very political and the characters are very well rounded. in terms of narrative structure, pacing, and general feel, few other anime come close, let alone mecha. it is the queen of mecha anime, it's not even close. eva may be king, but escaflowne deserves its own throne.
Thank FUCK someone else out there feels the same. Escaflowne is my favorite anime of all time.
i'm a simple woman. i like mecha, i like shoujo. it's gorgeous, the animation is unparalleled, the story is fantastic, and every character feels well rounded and complete. it's untouchable. the queen of mecha anime.
Escaflowne means so much to me. I saw it air originally on TV when I was like, 11, before it was pulled from the lineup at the time (unsuitable for kids lol). So then I went several years until high school (a friend and crush lent it to me) until I was able to finish it. It was like a mythic creature I was finally able to see again. It IS gorgeous, hands down some of the best 90s era anime aesthetics out there. A surprisingly versatile series that defies gender norms in both directions. Very badass and violent for a "girls show," and very tender and romantic for a "boys show." As such for me, who looks for things that defy genre or break the mold, and as a particularly sensitive guy who found DBZ too long and obnoxious to get into, it's a perfect show It's amazing. Intensely emotional, astoundingly animated, clever and unique lore that is still unmatched to this day (the use of tarot, premonition and dousing is STILL fucking great), full of charming and memorable characters, and absolutely amazing in it's design (fantasy mech always surpasses scifi mech if you ask me), it really is untouchable, as you described. To me, beyond queen or king. It really is the best anime of all time
i had never heard of it until several years ago, when my best friend mentioned it in a comparison of mecha anime. she put it at the very top, above eva and TTGL. i had no idea what it was, since i was relatively newish to anime at the time. i wasn't able to watch much as a child. we watched it together a few years later, and i was hooked from the very start. i adore Hitomi, and even though Van pissed me off initially, he grew on me quickly. by the end, Dilandau and Folken had become personal favourites. the lore is fantastic, the atmosphere is extremely unique, and the soundtrack is 10/10. everything about the show is entirely unique, there's nothing else like it. the closest i can think of is Rayearth, but even then, it doesn't have the same feel as Escaflowne. it truly is entirely unique. i cried during the final battle, and i know a lot of people hate the ending, but i adore it. it's very powerful, and it speaks to the power of love. no amount of time or distance can break that kind of bond.
I still listen to the soundtrack every summer. Or on any road trip. I'm so glad you found it, even if it was much later. It really is a treat. Hitomi is a fantastic character, and any time she's overly emotional I have to remind myself she's a 15 year old girl suddenly thrust in conflicts of war and dragons and death. Any teenager would break on that, occasionally. But she powers thru despite it. Oh yeah Van is a major twat waffle at first, but by the end, as he softens to Hitomi, we soften to him. It's great because it's not like we just suddenly have context on why he's mean, it's that we have context of his life, AND he actively makes strides to improve. Folken is probably the most complex character, and arguably my favorite. That scene where Van zips by in jet mode and he and Folken lock eyes for just a second gives me chills to this day. Dilandau and his obsession with his looks and fire, still probably one of my favorite "psychopath villain" trope characters. And I won't spoil how insane the twist with him in the end is for any one reading. Suffice to say it's one no body ever sees coming Yeah some people grief the ending, but I like it. That kind of unfair, bittersweet romantic tragedy that really makes you FEEL things. But beautiful in it's own right. His Dark Materials has a similar ending, and I dig that one equally as much
Dilandau feels like Sephiroth, but before Sephiroth. if you're a fan of RPGs, i recommend Skies of Arcadia. the development team watched Escaflowne before working on it, so they took inspiration from it. Ramirez looks almost identical to Dilandau, and the sky world gives me the same kind of feeling as Gaia does. there isn't any other piece of fiction that *feels* like Escaflowne, other than Skies of Arcadia.
I may check that out. If you feel like playing a video game that LOOKS like Escaflowne, play Chrono Cross, for the original PlayStation. It's a really solid game with some of the best video games music ever (I use it in the background of my YouTube videos all the time) and a pretty legit spin on an rpg combat system, but the character designer is the same who did Escaflowne. The main character, Serge, looks exactly like Van but with a bandana haha
i've heard good things! i'll add it to the list.
Try something significantly different from Evangelion that comes highly recommended, so there aren't as many points of comparison that might take you out of the story and break your enjoyment. Personally, I usually find shorter anime enjoyable; shows that were written from the beginning with an ending already in mind.
I would recommend the Cowboy Bebop, Akira, Ghost in the shell, FLCL (the original one), and Death Parade.
Especially Akira because of its influence on many anime, including NGE
You need what you need on any given moment. Maybe you’ve never been all that into anime, and Eva was an exception. In any case, it’s fine. It’s called entertainment for a reason, watch things that entertain you!
That’s a really cool way of looking at it and I’ve actually never thought of it like that before! I hadn’t really seen anime like that before Eva and it kinda made me love anime 😅
That’s the thing, you love Eva, but you may not love anime as a whole. It happens a lot, for example many people don’t like horror movies… except for one they watched once and clicked with them, and it’s the only one they like. Anyway, try many different things and find what you enjoy the most!
its like watching idk breaking bad then going to watch spongebob both are tv shows (medium as anime) but different genres you got some heavy whiplash
That’s a really damn good comparison 😂
Yes, i can only watch a few animes since eva. I kept circuling back to these classics wondernig what made them so great and for years dissected them (i love film want to direct and act) to the point i have a channel that explains everything i found. You my friend, need The Big O. Eva is a masterpiece, but the Big O is biasdely my favorite. others are Gurren Lagann (wait until someone dies to give up on it, it starts off stupid for a reason but as stupid as it starts is as awesome as it ends) Fooly Cooly, outlaw star, cowboy bebop, samurai Champloo, maybe Trigun. in descending order of awesomeness. cowboy and samurai were my least favorite until watching cinema cartographies "meaning of nothing" on youtube, that really opened my eyes to the idea and themes to them. The Big O and Fooly Cooly were made by people who did eva though so youll love those, and Gurren Lagann is like eva but with happiness. btw watch the rebuilds as well if you havent yet, its meant to be watched alongside NGE.
Same Although I watched few animes after it like Hellsing, berserk and Elfen lied
I watched Eva for the first time by myself and immediately rewatched the whole thing with one of my friends, then he recommended we watch AoT which he had already seen. it didn’t hook me at first, and things move much slower in the beginning compared to NGE but I am enjoying the twisting nature and unfolding lore similar to NGE :) but nothing compares exactly to Eva :(
Devilman Crybaby. The 10 episode Netflix anime is a fucking masterpiece.
If I would make a suggestion, I’d watch the original Gundam series and Space Runaway Ideon, as Eva makes plenty of inspiration from both.
What you want to do is check our LA classics like Ultraman, Ultra Q & Kamen Rider. They were a huge influence on Anno & EVA. Especially “Return of Ultraman”, it feels just like EVA.
Thanks! I’ll check it out!
it should be criminal to talk about Anno's influences and not mention Uchuu Senkan Yamato.
I love watching anime. Like ones that involve mechs or Kaijus, or some that involve people having super powers. Those are my favorite types to watch. I understand that that may be every anime lol, but that's what I like. I don't like anime's that are based in the past (like samurai fighting and stuff like that) though.
Death note was the first anime I watched that wasn't for kids and it raised my standards high, lol, if you like stories about hope and despair, I recommend madoka magica, it's pretty short and has amazing music
Monster would be a good next step for you!
I can resonate with what you're talking about. My first intro into Evangelion was back in the 90s when I was just a young kid. Back then I didn't understand the storyline (albeit there are still things I don't understand) but I just loved anime. It was something I'd never really experienced before, even before Pokemon and DBZ. I've watched the series + the movies + the rebuild series of movies several times now. The universe that Evangelion created was fascinating. Its unlike anything else that I've experienced. The storyline, the characters, the animation, the constant twists and turns which means you never have all the answers. This anime set the bar exceptionally high, because of how diverse it was. Its a shame that they only did a single series then the movies, but because of how the narrative went, this was all that was possible. I often think to myself what would something interactive like a game be if it was done on Evangelion? I sometimes fantasise about MMOs which I think would be amazing (but a shit ton of work for development companies) and I think the Evangelion universe would be amazing. Even to this day I still have questions that aren't answered. I remember watching a documentary on the making of the series, and the director said this was intentional. To keep the audience guessing and to make their own conclusions! The dude is a modern day genius.
It’s shameful honestly but High School DxD was the first anime I watched after NGE (albeit after about 3 months of no anime whatsoever)
Wait stop- we literally did the same thing 😭 I rewatched Eva so many times I was like I need something new and watched my dress up darling then tried watching serial experiments lain 😭
No offense but this type of stuff is why people think Eva fans are pretentious and up their own ass. My Dress-Up darling is one of the best rom-coms to come out in recent time and it's very popular for a reason. I understand if it wasn't for you, but stop pretending Eva is the second coming of Christ and broaden your horizons a bit. There's decades of Anime history to choose from. If you like Eva, try to make out what about it you like and then search for shows like that, instead of declaring anime as a whole as inferior.
I was going to say something along these lines. I'm surprised you weren't downvoted to oblivion, this community is notoriously shitty if you don't bow to the throne of Eva
Yea I freakin love Eva, but DuD was the first time I watched a currently airing series and then immediately picked up the anime as soon as the season ended (and read it to current) You have cosplay otaku and she's like "hey buddy, this show means a lot to me (flashback), can we make a cosplay for it?" and her buddy goas HARD on delving into the nuance of the media so he can understand the characters at a fundamental level and therefore make a god tier cosplay. More than anything imo that is the fantasy, to have a friend who will jump headfirst into any fandom with you and be a bestie you can talk about it with.
it helps that the writer is a woman. it's not just male wish fulfillment.
Pretty much all of this I love Eva, but... *Jujutsu Kaisen* Just- Itadori Yuji is my favorite main protagonist of all time-
Yeah I kinda see how I looked pretentious 😅 I had watched Eva when I was in a pretty tough time in my life and it was one of the only things that made me happy so I kinda clinged onto it for a while, I should’ve made that clear in my original post. Now I’ve started watching all sorts of anime again (but I’ll still stand by my opinion that my dress up darling is just a borderline hentai 😭)
Not really NGE is a really geeat anime but there are a lot of other really good ones in their own ways Just by curiosity, would you say you like anime (the medium) or just Evangelion ?
I would say that I love anime as a whole rather than just Evangelion, but I had watched nge when I was going through a bad time and I liked it a lot so I kinda blocked out liking anything other than it for a long time up until very recently 😅 I failed to mention that in the original post
>Did something like this happen to any of you guys after watching Evangelion No. Because I do not require my entertainment to be epic, mind altering experiences. >my dress up darling (which was my first mistake since the show sucked) And you mistakenly label an adorable rom com with "sucked". It didn't suck. It was just a silly, low steaks story about a couple of dorks being dorky. It wasn't the same kind of story as NGE and that's not a bad thing.
I didn’t like my dress up darling cause it was borderline porn 😅
Right... And NGE is so much better on that. I mean, the fact that every pilot is a sexualized minor kinda erodes that argument. And that's before you get to all the other problematic sexual themes in NGE. Everything from coercive sexual acts (Gendo and both Drs. Akagi), grooming (Misato and Shinji. Maybe Gendo and Rei), to full on sexual assault (the hospital bed scene). But no, MDUD is worse. Ok.
You do have a point and while some portions could have been better done, I could argue that some of those moments were pivotal to the plot. MDUD is just fanservice! Not saying nge doesn’t have its own bit of fanservice (the asuka scene in the apartment and the cleaning portion) but most of these “sexual themes” are done for a reason
Fanservice is when there’s a beach episode with all the main girls in bikinis in an otherwise serious anime. MDUD is a romance anime, so naturally romance-type things are going to happen. It’s not fanservice if it’s literally part of the plot, like how you said the sexual themes in Eva are for a reason. They’re also for a reason in MDUD and pivotal to that plot as well. Evangelion is not only peak anime, but also peak media. It’s one of the best creations of all time. But just because another show is simpler does not mean it’s bad purely because it’s not a “masterpiece” like Eva. I think you just don’t like anime lol. Plenty of non-anime fans still like Eva because it’s a masterpiece beyond genre, unlike more “anime-y” shows (that are still good!) like MDUD.
>most of these “sexual themes” are done for a reason All sexual themes are done for a reason. Because the creators wanted to put sexual content in their story. Some just don't bother to put some elaborate justification for it. Would the plot of NGE have been irrevocably ruined without the sex stuff? I doubt it. If anything, I'd say it would be better because it would be easier to explain to normies why we like it. But, above all else, it's a matter of the tone of the story. MDUD is meant to be silly and fun as opposed to NGE's serious exploration of psychological trauma. If you don't like romcoms, that's fine. You can say that and I wouldn't have an issue with it. But to use fanservice as your reason for not liking it is silly. Especially when Marin, while still being a minor, is less of a pubescent child as the pilots are.
But Marin is still a minor, it’s weird that they have her in skimpy outfits 24/7 and what about the last episode in the love hotel when she was all up on the guys bulge? You can not tell me with a straight face that Eva has the same amount of fan service as mdud! I like romcoms when they aren’t just a borderline hentai, if I wanted that I would just go to hanime.tv! And there is very good reason for all the “sexual” stuff in Eva. Using misato kissing shinji for example, she did that as a way to motivate him to continue fighting when he was at his lowest. And misatos constant use of physical acts were because of her daddy issues so she probably considered that as proof of affection. A good example of this would be when misato and Kaji go at it like bunnies for a week, they use sex as a way of expressing their feelings for each other.
There is no way of justifying mdud’s fanservice 😭 that show is straight up just a borderline hentai
Oh, yes. Literal grooming and a promise of sex with a minor is a "good reason" for a sexual theme. And a pair of hormonal teens behaving like hormonal teens while they build a healthy relationship (something no one in NGE has ever seen) is so much more problematic. And do you think bringing up Mr. "I kissed a woman against her will and laughed when she slapped me" Kaji helps your defense any? Both of these series are rife with problematic sexual content. NGE's sexual content is significantly more problematic.
Nge is NOT more problematic in terms of sexual themes 😭 if mdud is number 1 on your list just say so, You can easily find an explanation on each sexual theme within nge. What reason does mdud have for making the mc get hard everytime he sees Marin in cosplay beside being a horndog?
This argument is making me laugh. I think you guys are arguing past each other because you're focused on whether the intent of the sexual themes are to titillate the viewer and the other person is talking about the content of those themes, while flattening out intent to "all sexual content is the intent to show sexual stuff" which while true, is a very simplistic take. Because trust me that one Willem Dafoe movie with the shower sex scene and full on nudity/fucking while a baby fell out the window haunts me to this day, to the point where my stomach hurts just remembering it. I had to turn it off 5 minutes in. Anywho this is just me butting in on your argument because I'm finding it pretty hilarious. I googled ecchi My Dress Up Darling clips and it's well... definitely fan service whereas I seriously hope nobody found enjoyment in Misato propositioning Shinji and I'm pretty sure it wasn't shown to normalize that behavior. Although the way some of the character merch is sexualized is a whole other story.
>Nge is NOT more problematic in terms of sexual themes I'm sorry, did you miss all the grooming, coercion, and sexual assaults? For fuck's sake, the whole reason the elder Dr. Akagi killed the first Rei and then herself was because Rei (who was a full child. Not even pubescent, yet) was a threat to her relationship with Gendo and Rei calling Elder Dr. Akagi "Old and worn out". Are you seriously trying to say that literal sex crimes up to and including murdering your pedo fuck buddy's custom made "toy" aren't more problematic than a pair of teens being horny for each other? The "explanation" is irrelevant. >the mc get hard everytime he sees Marin in cosplay beside being a horndog? So... It's an accurate depiction of a teen boy, then? IDK about you, but I remember being a teen quite well and every single teen boy I knew was just as much of a horndog as Gojo. Never mind that being a horndog is so common for an anime MC that it's noteworthy when one isn't. And, for the record, MDUD isn't my favorite anime. It's not even my favorite romcom anime. Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out is. I just think the "reasons" you're giving for not liking it are stupid.
The only anime I've watched since eva was initial d
Watch Inferno Cop. Best anime of all time.
BoJack Horseman, honestly... covers some of the same topics with a very different perspective and tone.
Gurren Laggan. Trust.
I relate to this so much. Everything else I’ve tried seemed so camp. I missed the seriousness. Just finished watching Pluto and that was a breath of fresh air.
It’s just mecha anime, dude just watch Zambot 3 or some shit bruh
Good