Neon Genesis Evangelion
/Do you guys remember that cousin I talked about on this post? The Historian? On June 9th 2020, during the pandemic and two days after my birthday, he sent me the following message, calling me by my childhood nickname “fu”:
Him: yo fu
Him: check this video out, now I’m finally starting to get what you do for a living
Him: what are the odds of my learning a bit more about your work in a video about anime
When he talks about my “work”, he means the act of conceptualizing.
And the video he asked me to watch is actually one of the episodes of Brazilian Youtube channel mimimidias, on which designer Leonardo Oliveira analyzes the design of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the famous Japanese anime series created by animator and filmmaker Hideaki Anno, in 1995.
Up until that point, I had never even heard of that series. My incredibly limited knowledge about the Japanese anime universe was comprised of 3 films alone: Akira (1988, by Katsuhiro Otomo), Ghost In The Shell (1995, by Mamoru Oshii) and Spirited Away (2003, by Hayao Miyazaki).
Which is why I asked him to tell me a bit more about the series. And the following dialogue ensued:
Him: You should watch this anime series
Him: If you have some time to spare
Him: And enjoy feeling bored and sad at the same time
Him: I highly recommend it
Me: hahaha
Me: Awesome
Him: Kakaka (that’s LOL in Portuguese)
(My cousing has a pretty weird sense of humor. But for some – even weirder – reason, it works for me. ;o))
Me: I actually do like anime
Me: but I don’t watch it a lot. not really sure why
Him: it’s on Netflix
Him: And you know what?
Him: No spoilers here
Him: But I think the final two episodes
Him: will change your life
Him: Bro
Him: Your being an all-the-feels type dude
Him: You’ll be deeply touched by the last two episodes
Him: as well as by the closing scene
From this point forth, the conversation starts getting a little bit deeper, and as my cousin starts revealing more details about the series, words like “meaning”, “message” and “philosophical” start popping up.
Him: I’ll tell you what
Him: I started watching the series cuz I wanted to see some robots kicking some kaiju butt
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Him: By the time I was done, I was looking for a therapist
Him: That series ain’t no joke
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Him: I spent 3 days suffering from existential crisis
Me: Hahaha
Him: Bruh, the last two episodes
Him: You watch them and at first, you don’t understand anything
Him: But then, you start reflecting on the meaning of the message
Him: It’s really sad, but also very hopeful
Me: damn
Me: that’s wassup!!
Me: but I still didn’t get it. What is it exactly? A cartoon? A movie?
Him: it’s a series
Me: ohhh ok
Me: gotcha
Him: You got monsters fighting humans
Him: That’s all I’m gonna say
Him: But the narrative
Him: There’s a super strong philosophical backbone to it
Him: The hedgehog dilemma
Him: That’s everything u need to know
Now, it was me who wanted to learn more and dig a little deeper.
Me: hedgehog dilemma? What the hell is that? hahaha
Me: bro
Him: There are a lot of symbolisms, religious nexuses, and all. But that’s not what matters
Me: talking to you is like having food for thought for daaaayyyys homie
Him: the hedgehog dilemma is what lies at the core
Eu: hahahaha
Eu: awesome!
At this point in the conversation, my cousin excuses himself, checks Wikipedia and comes back with this.
Him: The hedgehog's dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is a metaphor about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs seek to move close to one another to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp spines. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid.
Him: basically, it’s what makes us human. It’s what brings us pain and suffering
Him: Bruh, I’ma stop talking
Him: Or I’ll spoil it for you
Me: ohhhhh yeah! I got it. I’ve heard of this dilemma before. I didn’t know it was called hedgehog. Gotcha! Cool. I’m sold. I’m so gonna watch that series!
Him: neon genesis evangelion, 1995
Him: make sure you don’t watch the wrong one
Him: there are various movies and reboots
Me: ok
Me: neon genesis evangelion
Me: well
Him: don’t be sad ok?
Him: everything turns out fine in the end
Me: that’s what I was gonna say, bro
Me: knowing how soft I am
Me: if I kill myself later
Me: You know who’s to blame
Him: yeah, so
Me: I’ma leave you a letter
Me: hahaha
Him: if you finish the series
Him: you’ll come out with a renewed zest for life
Him: kkkakkaa (that’s LOL in Portuguese)
Him: but you gotta finish it
Me: and the letter will say: WWWWWHHHHHYYYYYY???????
Him: kkaskkksakaksks (that’s LMAO in Portuguese)
Me: HAHAHA
This is what he had to tell me about Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s extremely intriguing. As I mentioned during the dialogue, it seems like this series is the perfect all-you-can-eat buffet of food for thought.
But to be honest, considering that I am indeed a super “all-the-feels” type dude, with the pandemic and the amount of heavy and sad news we’ve been exposed to every single day, I must confess that I didn’t succeed at mustering up the courage to dive into the series. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Instead, I decided to watch those super sweet Christmas-y romantic comedies. You know what I’m talking about right? The kind of movie that is hyper predictable from the get-go, that unfolds with good vibes oozing in every single scene, leading to a happy ending, and that is made for the whole family. That’s what I’ve been watching lately. In any case, Neon Genesis Evangelion is still definitely on the list.
Well, I might not have watched the series yet, but I did watch the video my cousin sent me (below). And by the end of it, I got why he said he finally understood what I did for a living. I understood the reason why he said he was able to learn a little bit more about my “work”: creating concepts.
There’s a particular scene of the video, from 2’08” – 3’10”, where designer Leonardo de Oliveira, while analyzing the visual elements of the series, says:
“Today we’re here to talk about the design of Evangelion. It’s fairly easy to see the visual elements of any artistic work as the result of the creative insight – the gift, if you will – of any given artist, right? But that’s not exactly accurate. When we talk about design, in this case, that of Evangelion, it’s super easy for people to think specifically and solely about the aesthetics of it, the visual aspect. However, it’s deeper than that. Design is more than that.
Design is about the project. It’s about conceptualizing. It’s about the CONCEPT.
And it’s about everything that’s comprehended within the idea and that gives birth to the visual aspect. The visual element reflects everything that happened before, in the creative process. From the narrative to the idea or feeling, it (the visual) is where everything is materialized. The most interesting part is when the visual aspect helps us tell the story or convey the feeling that the artist originally intended to tell or convey”.
Hats off to Leonardo de Oliveira: this is a very comprehensive way to explain what the act f conceptualizing really is.
I can’t help but think about what went through my cousin’s mind when he watched this video. My guess is that, as soon as he finished watching this part of the video I just transcribed, he understood – rationally –, what he had already understood empirically. Way before he watched this particular episode of mimimidias, my cousin had already understood that something in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series had left a HUGE impact on him. So huge, he “spent 3 days suffering from existential crisis”. ;o)
This something has a name. During our dialogue, my cousin called this something “the meaning of the message”, “symbolism and nexuses”, and “philosophical backbone”.
But as I had already told you guys on this post, I’m far from being as smart as my cousin.
Which is why I use a much simpler name. I call this something…
Well, you already know, don’t you? ;o))