In a message dated 9/22/98 4:08:41 PM, Bart Kelsey wrote:

TimeRunner wrote:

I just finished watching Genesis 0:13 (You know, the one I won... ^^;).

What is everyone talking saying that 0:13 sucked? I loved it! Sure, I
watched Death & Rebirth before watching this but...

The ending was great! Sure beat the heck out of the end of the movies! I
think Shinji deserved that ending! I would have applauded (too) except that
I was the only person in the room, so... ^^; Whatever! I just felt like
crying, I was so happy!

<<<<snip>>>>

When I saw the subject of this message ([rant/rave] Upon watching Eva
0:13), I figured you were another person ripping on the ending of the
Eva TV series.  I was about ready to post a very whiny message about how
I'm one of maybe three people on the whole planet who liked the ending.

Oh, don't worry- you're not alone. I also liked the ending. While it may not
be exactly satsifying or complete, I liked it nonethless. I'm still
disappointed that Gainax didn't show us how others were 'complemented' in the
end, especially Asuka and Rei.
Maybe someone here in FFML can take up on that challenge of writing other
characters' complemention stages? I'd love to read them.

I'm glad to see that's not the case.  All in all, it's been kinda
discouraging for me, because every time someone posts an Eva fic,
there's always a little bit about "I was dissatisfied with the crappy
ending, yada, yada, yada" up at the top with all the
standard.disclaimers and stuff ... but I digress.  

To be honest, I had been bit prejuiced at start by the EVA ML, when several
members ranted on how they had sucked- that it had left answers unresolved,
crappy art, lacking story plot, and so on. I became upset with that and pretty
soon ranted about that a bit, even though I hadn't even seen it.
But I changed my opinions when I finally saw the ending. And I'm glad i saw
them- I haven't seen anything like that, or felt so... for the lack of better
term, awed and moved at the same time. Here, in the final scenes, we have
Shinji fighting against his own fears and demons which threatened to consume
him.
That's different from Death and Rebirth/End of Evangelion- yes, I've seen
them- and while EOE is the true ending, as maintained by Gainax (and because
of what they did to poor Asuka in the movies! Grr...), I find myself
preferring the final episodes of TV series. You can really see how NGE has
been questioning the very nature of our humanity. It just makes you think
about yourselves.

Anyway, my point here is that it's nice to see someone else liked the
ending.  I personally thought it was an excellent way to have a happy
ending for the series without going against the mood set in the previous
episodes.  I suppose a lot of people were expecting the end to reveal
the answers to all the mysteries presented in the series, or maybe have
Shinji and Asuka get together.

I had hoped that Shinji and Asuka would get together in the end, but I'll
gladly settle for them being childhood friends. They still can get together
later, anyway.
And yes, I agree that it was a good way to end the series. I know that it's
not the true ending- Gainax held to EOE as the true ending (and what a dismal
one at that!). In fact, I don't think the TV series would have ended any
better than what we had saw.
I get irked every time someone whine about how 'poor' the content and
animation of these final episodes were. Obiviously they failed to pay
attention to the important issue debated in them, which IMO is more important
than animation itself.

Well, if you watched closely enough, there's enough infomation presented
throughout the episodes that you can pick out the answers to most of the
major questions in the series (I'll not elaborate on this one--it could
take all day).  The final episodes, as they were, gave the story a sense
of completeness that wouldn't have otherwise been there.

Well, I'm not so sure about these last episodes having answered the major
questions, but they do HINT at possible answers. Though, it's ultimately up to
the viewers to decide if there are answers in them. Who knows, the very ending
might not be the ending at all. Just a complete circle back to the beginning
of the series... It just depends on a person's point of view.
I still feel that there's still something missing from the ending, but I have
no idea what.

I suppose what it all comes down to is the definition of a good story. 
This is of course extremely subjective, because stories are different
things to different people ... but what I myself look for in a story is
internal conflict, and the resolution thereof.  I mean, look at Shinji
for a moment.  It's safe to say that what makes people like (or dislike)
him so much is the fact that we can all relate to him, whether we admit
it or not.  Everyone has self-doubt.  Shinji's, while somewhat extreme,
is perfectly believable in context.  What made the ending of Neon
genesis so satisfying for me is that Shinji was able to overcome his
doubt and move on with his life.  He ended up a better, stronger person
because of what he went through, and he learned that he didn't have to
hate himself.

Exactly. By learning that he didn't have to hate himself- he hated himself
because he had believed that everybody hated him- he changed for better. If he
had learned that earlier, he might not have been put through so much agnst.
Then again, if he had, the series wouldn't have been so complex to a such
point of questioning our nature of mankind as well as our faith in God (though
latter isn't remarked much at all in NGE, except in that NERV logo).

In my opinion, there couldn't be a better ending to the series than
that.  No epic final battle or grand revelation could match the sheer
emotional depth of Shinji's victory over his own inner demons.

I agree with you on this. While the reason for the sudden switch from
animation to penciling and 'water-color' paintings near the end can be
attributed to the rush-job by Gainax, as well as depleted finical sources, I
feel that it helped put emphasis on the very nature of our humanity. These
changes made it easier for me to focus on Shinji himself and his reactions.

So, those of you who hated the ending of Neon Genesis, I encourage you
to watch it again, and try to look at it from a different viewpoint. 
You may find you actually like it.

And I did. Though three viewpoints.

Wow, it's amazing how much I can flap my mouth when I feel strongly
about something. :)

<SHAMELESS PLUG>

Geez, I'm surpised about how much my mouth can flap as well- I had always
thought they were sealed.
Sorry, I don't have anything shamless to plug here. ;p
But I'll put up my webpage once I have posted several fanfics I've been
holding to for revisions. I hope to begin posting them by October, which is in
few weeks.

P.S.- Hey, Bart and TimeRunner- Do you mind if I repost this to Evangelion
Mailing List? I think this deserve the merit of further discussion, since FFML
does not ecnourage discussions on how worthwile shows are, and this isn't much
related to fanfics.

To make sure this isn't a complete spam (no way I would want to grace my
return to FFML with spam, wouldn't I? ^_-), why hasn't there been a
GUNDAM/Evangelion crossover? It'd be interesting to watch these huge mechas
fighing against each other... Nah, it'd be just a mindless brawl.

Also, is anybody planning to attend the Katsucon 5 in Feburary, and is there
going to be a fanfic panel there? I tried to get additional information about
the convention, but I didn't find out much...


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