Evangelion Review

Today I got the job at the Marriott Library on the University of Utah campus! I'm way excited cause it's super close, and it should work out perfectly with my schedule. I start on Monday, May 4th. Yay! Money!

Other than that, I mowed the front part of our lawn today...the part that everyone can see. Our riding lawn mower finally quit on us. I think I saw the same model of lawnmower in an old John Wayne movie, so it didn't come as a surprise. I don't really know how long it took me...maybe 2 hours. Trying to mow a 3/4 acre lot with one walking lawnmower is a task. I guess I'll finish tomorrow.

So I finished watching the actual Neon Genesis Evangelion series yesterday. It is quite a confusing series, and most of the time I didn't understand what was going on. This could be because I was watching it in Japanese...but perhaps also due to the obvious fact that the creator was psychotic. I read on wikipedia today that because of production errors and a low budget, they weren't able to finish the series the way they wanted to, and had to settle for an alternate ending. The "alternate" ending, however, was actually pretty good, I thought. I mean, it was the most difficult to understand part of the whole series, but right at the end it all came together, and I was able to identify at least one of the underlying themes of the show: the concept of existence, and self-awareness. It really made me think a lot, and I really actually looked back on the overall mentally-disturbing series as quite enjoyable. I really wanted to rewatch it, to be completely honest.

But then I made the mistake of watching the three movies that succeeded the original show. The first was like an hour-long remake of the first 24 episodes (there were 26 in all...the last 2 being the "alternate" ending). So it was pretty good, you know, as a review.

By the end of the original show, the main characters have all gone through some form of mental trauma, and each is either questioning his or her existence, his or her usefulness and worth to the rest of humanity, or his or her decisions and relationships with some of the other characters. Basically, everyone you thought was mentally stable ends up falling apart and doing some irrational crap, and everyone you knew was pretty messed up all along goes completely berserk.

The main character, Ikari Shinji, has given up on life and this thought processes are revealed to the viewer. He is locked in a mental argument with his comrades, who are constantly bombarding him with difficult questions and driving him deeper and deeper into his depressed and insane state. He feels compelled to do what he does, although he is aware that he has total freedom of choice. He can't figure out why he has to pilot the Eva suits, and is coming off a string of failed attempts to simply walk away from the situation.

By this time in the show, the Japanese government organization SEELE, has decided that NERV (the organization running the Eva program) has overstepped its bounds and tries to hack into the central computer system. SEELE has ulterior motives to destroy the human race, in order to solve all of humanity's problems and bind everyone's spirits into one entity. NERV succeeds in locking them out of the system, but SEELE mounts an all-out military invasion, which is permitted to use the lowest of barbaric strategies to completely obliterate even the non-militant NERV employees. This is perhaps the most appalling scene of the show, as defensless men and women are brutally shot, fireballed, and stabbed to death. It's literally a bloodbath, and the soldiers attacking don't seem to be satisfied with simply killing their victims, but obviously feel the need to riddle their bodies with bullets (just in case). I would say that it is, in fact, the worst part of show, but it gets weirder.

I don't wish to go into much detail on the remainder of the show, but there is much nudity and sexual imagery that goes into the last of the movies, which made me uncomfortable. I wondered just how necessary it was in the overall scheme of things, but I'm sure the creator wanted to make some sort of point.

The part that left the worst taste in my mouth, however, was watching all the characters that I liked get brutally murdered and die in obscurity. I liked Misato and Ritsuko! I liked Rei, but she was part of the creepiest thing that happened. The only two people who actually survived were Shinji and Asuka. And the ending scene was Shinji trying to strangle Asuka. So anyway...

I liked the original ending, even though it wasn't supposed to be the real ending. There's too much going on in that show to write a decent review or accurately express my feelings about it. I liked it, although it's going to take time to accept what had to happen to everyone. Perhaps someday I'll watch it again and understand it better. Maybe next time I'll be able to cope with the annihilation of all those characters and the rest of humanity.

Life Update...

This is my first blog entry in like...2 years. I'll give you an update on my life, and a reason as to why it took me so long to write again.
So I was in Japan for two years, as a missionary. I served in the Japan, Fukuoka Mission. Here's a list of my areas and how long I was in each one:

1 - Shimizu (Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture) - 4 Transfers (roughly 6 months)
2 - Fukuoka City (Fukuoka Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)
3 - Kurume City (Fukuoka Prefecture) - 3 Transfers (roughly 4.5 months)
4 - Yahata (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture) - 3 Transfers (roughly 4.5 months)
5 - Mission Office (Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)
6 - Urasoe City (Okinawa Prefecture) - 2 Transfers (roughly 3 months)

My favorite area was Urasoe, because of how hard we worked and how many miracles we continuously saw. The members in Urasoe were spectacular, and worked with us so closely. The Young Men were so much stronger than all my other areas combined, and I felt so at home there.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Japan when I was seeing the most success, but that seemed to be how my mission worked out. I didn't get to see much "success" while I was in my areas. However, those areas did well afterward, hopefully due somewhat to my efforts. I feel extremely blessed to have had a chance to serve in Japan, among such wonderful people, and with such wonderful companions.
I made a lot of lifelong friends in Japan and I hate the fact that I can't see them now.

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to the last 2 years. Now, what have I been up to the last 5 weeks, since being home? Two words: watching anime. Yes. You read that right. But I'll repeat it just for effect. Watching anime.
I just finished the series Neon Genesis Evangelion today, in fact. I watched it in Japanese, of course, cause I'm cool like that. However, even after 2 years of living in Japan, the show was still way hard to follow. I guess I never really used terms like: commander, captain, synch-rate, or multipurpose humanoid artificial lifeform. So I'm kinda learning new words and doing my best to keep up with their slang Japanese.
The show blew my mind, and made me think about a lot of things. I won't go into detail right now, cause it's late...it's so late that it's tomorrow!