Superhero Media: End of Evangelion

One of the worst achievements of the internet is amplifying the voice of small and toxic elements of communities, particularly fanbases of niche genre work. Due to the unique and compelling elements of Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE), it quickly developed a huge following, both in Japan and internationally, being one of the major features of early internet "Fandom" websites. As discussed in the NGE review, quite a large proportion of the fanbase was disappointed with the final episodes of the programme focusing on Shinji's internal struggle against his own depression and anxiety, rather than delivering on a final battle against the angels. Part of the reason behind the lower-energy episodes was a lack of budget and a need to recycle footage, but, as interviews with Hideaki Anno reveal, the end result was pretty close to how he had pictured it initially. With the negative reaction from the fans came not only complaints and online ire, but actual death-threats sent to Anno and the team that worked on NGE. With the demand for more NGE and a more satisfying ending, Anno and crew produced End of Evangelion, a massive "fuck off" to the angry fans and reinforcement for the original ending of the progamme. 

End of Evangelion is more heavy on the action, with one of the best fight scenes in the series as Asuka takes on the horrific Units 5 through 13, powered to full by her mother's unconditional love. Meanwhile, Shinji is curled into a ball, crying and waiting to die. In fact, nothing good really happens to Shinji for the entire film, he cries and refuses to help as the women that care about him fight and die; that is what Anno thinks about you, entitled fanboys. Whilst Shinji was never the best person, and more than a little selfish, in End of Evangelion he attempts to murder Asuka three times, commits sexual assault and presents as suicidal to get attention. I honestly can't think of a bigger authorial backlash against the fandom until The Last Jedi. I do believe that works belong to the author more so than the audience, so when there is a violent backlash against an author, I'm usually in their corner. That said, is taking shots at any part of the fandom ever really justified? Well, I believe so, but I'm getting less tolerant of arseholes as I get older, and the kind of person that insists that Shinji, the Joker, Travis Bickle and/or Tyler Durden are their hero[es], tend to be the biggest, nastiest arseholes. 

End of Evangelion is not a replacement to the finale of NGE, but is a compliment for Shinji's internal struggle as depicted in those episodes, showing the external behavior driven by the internal strife. Probably my favourite element of End of Evangelion is that everyone gets closure, but not what they want. Gendo completes his plan, only to not get his wife back and be killed by Rei. Risuko reconciles with her mother before Gendo kills her. Askua finds out that her mother loved her all along just before she is hacked apart brutally. Shinji no longer has to be alone, but the only other person in his world is the person who hates him the most. There's a They Might Be Giants song called "Don't Let's Start" which has the line "No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful/Everybody dies frustrated inside and that is beautiful", and it is that sentiment which best sums up End of Evangelion for me. Everybody gets a bad ending and there is a beauty to that. Go, live you life and don't put so much emphasis on anime and the pop culture you use to define yourself.