Hurt Allauigan
October 06, 2023
"People who hate themselves can never be capable of loving and trusting others,"– Rei Ayanami.
Set in an apocalyptic world, Neon Genesis Evangelion is a story that delivers a compelling answer to humanity's most complex question about himself and his love for others.
Airing between 1995 and 1996, this 28-year-old anime set in motion an epic that remains relevant to this day. An interesting attempt to dissect the human psyche in the face of extinction, as it encapsulates the cruel quest of finding meaning in one's existence while being constantly pushed to the brink of losing it.
Hideaki Anno, its director, surely understood the idea of knowing a man's true nature when his only option is to survive — not for himself, but for others — thus making Neon Genesis Evangelion a masterpiece of its era, and still is today.
The story goes as our hero, Ikari Shinji, a 14-year-old schoolboy, suddenly found himself piloting a biomechanical weapon known as Evangelions. A duty he struggles to accept as the story progresses, but is always left with no other choice but to pilot his Eva Unit 01, or risk losing the ones he loved and connected to. Moreover, this leads him into a state of depression, ultimately relating his very own existence to the very thing he hates.
You see, a depressed teen suddenly becomes one of humanity's last stand. Shinji could only grasp the meaning of his own life through endless torment and self-sacrifice—a fate forced upon him by his enigmatic dad, Ikari Gendo, whom he chased all throughout his life. Sadly, it was his only means to survive the cruel world he lives in, and to weather the wrath of the angels hell-bent on destroying the world; he was a modern retelling of Sisyphus.
Between each encounter with certain death, Shinji slowly descends in the series as the very monster he swore to destroy, a product of his own choices, or the lack thereof. And sometimes we see him, and his robot going berserk, with his emotions blurring the line between his morality and desires.
At times when he does not pilot his purple and neon green Eva, he constantly questions his worth, struggling to keep his relationship with fellow pilots Rei (Unit 00) and Asuka Langley Soryu (Unit 02) along with Nerv agents, including commander Katsuragi Misato; all of which had their own arcs that led to their eventual fall from grace amidst the madness of it all.
Neon Genesis Evangelion hides these themes behind a "giant robot fights giant monster" futuristic sci-fi spectacle, wrapped along with philosophies from the likes of Soren Kierkegaard, and Carl Jung, and some religious references from Jewish and Christian beliefs, as well as teasing us with lots of light-hearted fanservice. But little did we know, behind such a pompous facade, lies a prophecy of who our enemies really were: not the angels nor death itself, but our own weaknesses, our follies as humans, the fear of oneself.
It is the story of Shinji, the cruel angel he became—a savior to others, but not to himself. Someone so vulnerable to the fragilities of his own self, and to the illusions of the sacrifices he made, leaving us in the end that only the man can carry on and survive, is when he once breaks free from his own mind. To love himself first before serving others.
Before ending this commentary, I would leave you another quote from Rei: "Man fears the darkness and so he scrapes away at its edges with fire."
Author's note: There were so many things to unpack in this show (but I would reserve the right to write another if this one gets enough traction for me to justify putting my own time watching such a depressing show over and over again, catching details I failed to write in this attempt). So, I guess, it's time for you to like and follow The Communiqué and hope that I will write another one. *winks*
Also, the title was taken from the series' official soundtrack. What a profound title for a song.
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