Even if the dead end was flying, I still went to the cinema with my good friends to watch "Q", and then wrote something like this that I didn't like after watching it like a fool. Such a waste of time is a self-blame event. Eleven years ago, I was fortunate enough to be the first audience to broadcast "EVA" in mainland China, so in fact, I have watched this work for more than ten years, and it is incredible to think about it now. If I remember correctly, at that time, the animation world broadcast something called "Eagle Warrior" on time at 6:30 every night, and I was also chasing after it episode by episode as if I was watching "Conan". At that time, Shinji was translated as Shinji, Asuka was called Asuka, Nagisa Kaoru was called Qingxin, and I can't remember what Ling Bo Li was called.
To say what I remembered at that time, it was just a group of selected children operating large robots to fight monsters, and a monster to fight a monster. The male protagonist was very cowardly at first, but once a small universe broke out, and then nothing happened. Oh, and the death of the white-haired boy made me sad for a long time. This kind of memory has been maintained for seven years. It was not until I saw the storyboard of the "Preface" in the book "24 Frames" in the hand of my high school classmate that I got out of this illusion. In the past seven years, every time someone mentioned that this was a masterpiece, I would only say: "Oh, I saw it when I was a child."
When I was a freshman, at the recommendation of my roommate, I bored and watched "EVA" again, and this time it really completely subverted my understanding of this work, and I have been lamenting that the editing of the version when I was a child was too powerful. It's totally two stories. Especially when I watched the OVA called "True For You", which is called the "true ending," I found that it was not only my childhood memory that was subverted, but also the worldview was greatly shocked. Fortunately, ATField had already been established at that time, so it was not too bad except for the shock.
With the mentality of paying homage to my childhood memories and the later establishment of a worldview, I went to the cinema to watch "Q" without hesitation. After watching it, I was naturally very happy, because I actually watched this childhood memory in the movie theater because Nagisa Kaoru made a lot of appearances. Although I didn't realize how weird his friendship with Shinji was until I was 20, the initial liking would never change. The young man with white hair and red eyes is still my favorite to this day. What moved me back then was that he chose the freedom to die after telling Shinji his true identity, but what moves me now is that this young man has not changed. Although the story of the new theatrical version is always in line with the old TV version, some things will not change, such as Asuka's arrogance, Ling Boli's goddess temperament, and the existence of Nagisa Kaoru.
The biggest difference between "Q" and "A" is that it is set 14 years later. After 14 years, Shinji is completely abandoned by the world because he is the culprit who caused the third shock. In other words, he destroyed the earth. And Nagisa Kaoru's appearance brought him warmth and hope. The four-handed playing of the piano inexplicably made people feel a lot of warmth. Just imagine when you are isolated from everyone, and there is one person who shows up and treats you with unreserved tenderness. How can you not trust and not rely on this person? And when this person is uprooted from your world in tragic form, how can you not despair and break down? Someone once interpreted EVA and said that Nagisa Kaoru represents the feelings of Adam's paternal line, so his love for Shinji is very special, so he can bear the mistakes he made, so he can leave without hesitation for Shinji's happiness, so he could have died so tragically in the end without any regrets. I myself support this statement. This interpretation goes beyond mere same-sex attraction and is elevated to another level, which complements the huge religious concept behind "EVA".
In this regard, "Q" is still telling a story about ATField. Everyone has their own absolute domain, sacred and inviolable. Shinji was abandoned by the world, scolded by Asuka, resented by Misato, and forgotten by Ling Bo Li, so he simply wrapped himself in ATField. But when Nagisa opened him and left him, the damage he suffered was too great. In other words, if his heart is an open system at the beginning, maybe there is no need to hurt. Then there will be no self-blame and there will be no follow-up plot to save the world and prove himself. However, this assumption does not hold.
Just like the analysis in OVA's "Sincerely For You", because of ATField, we can maintain our independence. It is because of ATField that the sentence "I like you" can have powerful lethality. I don't know what the real human complementation plan is going to do, but I feel that breaking the gap between people is the greatest spiritual complementation. However, I would rather things were not perfect, and it would be interesting if there was something like this. The ending of "Q" is a similar but brand new beginning. As if returning to the time of the TV version ten years ago, the three of them walked together. Compared with the development of "Sincerely For You," in which Shinji strangled Asuka's neck on the LCL beach, this result may not be so desperate.
The past ten years have really changed like a dream. When I was young, I liked Asuka very much, but when I grew up and revisited it, I realized that I admired Misato even more. We do not admit our own growth, but it is in these tiny details that we find that the me now is indeed different from the me in the past, just like every clone of Lingbo, with the same soul but with different code names. Only the death of the former can be exchanged for the new life of the latter. When we are in a doppelganger, we always feel that our existence is meaningless, but there must be someone to tell you that you are important at this time, because you are you.
Here, I have to pay tribute to the director of "EVA," Hideaki Anno. Although I don't agree with many aspects of him, the title of ghost talent cannot be denied. Hayao Miyazaki once said: "Animation is a great form of artistic expression, and its power is no less than that of novels, poetry, and drama." From this point of view, the expressiveness and influence of the work "EVA" have been enough. The longevity of the work is the best appreciation for the director. The new theatrical version has already reached the third part, and presumably the last song of the four-part series is not far away, but I don’t know when the last version will be released, and what kind of state I was in at that time.
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