I revisited "I Sincerely For You" after a lapse of many years, so I wanted to write something about the era of EVA. Therefore, this sloppy essay of more than 8,000 words is not a film review of EVA. It is more about the era of EVA, that is, 80, The atmosphere of the 90s.
Never-ending daily
In the early 1990s, when the bubble economy just came to an end, the writer Tsurumi Masahiro published "The Complete Suicide Handbook."
The book caused quite a stir at the time due to the detailed and scientific introduction of various methods of suicide (without curiosity indeed). According to Tsurumi himself, this book is just a pure introduction to suicide methods. It is neither a suicide report nor a lengthy discussion of "why suicide" or the right or wrong of suicide. It is not a title titled suicide, which is actually full of sermons. Fraud. The whole book, as the author himself said, introduces various methods such as taking medicine, hanging from a building, jumping from a building, and slashing the wrist, such as the easiest way to hang yourself, and the failure rate of slashing the wrist is relatively high. It has sincerely fulfilled the "promise" (of course it is inevitable) Subject to criticism that encourages suicide, although the author has no intention of this).
Behind the phenomenon-level popularity of "The Complete Suicide Handbook" emerges the general social psychology of the 90s, and the sociologist Shinji Miyadai rightly describes it as "the never-ending daily routine ".
もうデカい一発はこない. 22 Century はちゃんとくる（もちろん21世纪はくる. ハルマゲドンなんてないんだから）. 世界は绝対终わらない. ("Complete suicide Maniaru")
There will never be a "big event" again. The 22nd century will come as planned (and of course the 21st century will also, there will be no final war at all). The world will never end. ("Complete Suicide Handbook")
Indeed, in the eyes of the younger generation in the 90s, the world they live in is always less "exciting." After all, the world of the father's generation is always full of various "big events", the Apollo moon landing in the 1950s, the Cold War crisis , The shadow of nuclear war, the security struggle in the 1960s.
With the advent of the consumption age, the other side of the extremely rich material is the dissolution of the meaning of life itself. The younger generation who hopes to live in the historical torrent like their parents will eventually have to admit disappointedly that the "political season" has gone. The world will never end.
Since 1969, Fuji TV will broadcast an animation "Miss Conch (サザエさん)" every Sunday evening at 6:30, which tells about the harmonious family life of the Isano family. Since this animation was first broadcast, it has been enduring for a long time, and the family life of Isono's family has therefore been unchanging for 50 years.
And just as the 1990s was approaching, an "urban legend" about the family of "Miss Conch" began to circulate among the children: In fact, the family of "Miss Conch" had been killed in an air crash. They reincarnated as marine fish, in an eternal dream. Continuing the family life in the past . The children perceive the contradiction hidden behind "Miss Conch (サザエさん)" with their keen sense of being different from adults: the daily description of "Miss Conch" has always been "abnormal." It will not change either. Although there are seasonal changes, it will not affect the world where Miss Conch’s family lives. In this world, no abnormal events will happen, only the daily cycle will repeat. Yesterday is the same as today, and the future will be as it is now. To reappear, it is precisely in such a daily world that the breath of death often floats. As Mishima Yukio said, "The " daily life " is more terrifying than war " ("Masked Confession")
キーワードは "延々" and "くり回し"だ. 延々と続く同じことのくり回し。これが死にたい気持ちを養らます第1のElementだ。("Complete suicide Maniaru")
The key words are "continuous" and "repeated". The same thing lasted for a long time, repeating itself again and again. This is the first factor that makes people look forward to death. ("Complete Suicide Handbook")
Looking for a girl in a previous life
On August 16, 1989, a sensational suicide attempt occurred in Tokushima Prefecture. According to reports at the time, on the night of the 16th, three elementary school girls in Tokushima City tried to take medicine to commit suicide in a bicycle lane in Asaino, a town in Tokushima City. Fortunately, passers-by quickly called an ambulance when they found the three people lying on the side of the road.
Among the three people, two took medicine and were temporarily admitted to the hospital for treatment, while the other one did not take medicine and revealed the reason for the action during the investigation. It turns out that their purpose is to put themselves in a state of unconsciousness and return to their previous lives with awakening. They even carefully planned this "pre-life journey" from the summer vacation. Three people each have their own "names of previous lives": Alina, Milusia, and Frona. "Past life names" are also very popular in their schools, and many students refer to each other by "past life names".
In fact, in the late 1980s, "searching for reincarnation fighters in previous lives" had already formed a trend among young people. In the 80s, the popular psychic magazine "MU (ムー)" often appeared in the pen pal dating column of this kind of friend introduction:
If you are a warrior, a witch, an angel, a fairy, a Venusian, or a dragon, please write to me
For a time, Japanese society seemed to be full of "reincarnated warriors." They claimed that they were warriors in their previous lives and looked for the same people.
To all the soldiers of the final war
When I was 3 years old, I was told my destiny. I was one of the fighters who were developing superpowers. Compared to other people, I have very special superpowers. If you are a warrior like me and possess powerful superpowers, please join me in preparing for the final war. In addition, those who remember the name "XXX", please also write to me. I was born on February 2, 68, in Aquarius, with blood type A, and my energy aura is purple. I am also a witch who has accepted the oracle. Know other people’s past lives or guardian spirits, the color of the energy aura (no special training)... (after omitted)
I have shouldered an important mission in the history of mankind. Although I am not a superpower yet, nor a fighter. But I will awaken on January 1, 1990. ESP fighters who are interested in my mission and are willing to help me develop superpowers, please write to me. (Note: ESP stands for super power)
Those who are interested in superpowers and liberation, and those who have questions and anxiety about life, regardless of your age and gender, please write to me. I am a member of Aum.
Of course, there are also people who have nothing to do with previous lives, reincarnation, or superpowers, and just want to go to China to treat hair loss. At that time, the popular "legend" claimed that there was a 101 hair growth medicine in China that was very popular, and some people even made a special trip to China to find this panacea.
Young, but troubled and bald. I want to go to China to find 101 hair growth drugs, but I have not prepared enough. I hope that there are friends who have sufficient funds and understand my troubles, please help me some expenses, the following is my bank card number: XXXX.
The friendship information published in the "MU" friendship section "ペンパル (Pen pals)" is full of popular vocabulary at the time such as super powers, reincarnated warriors, final wars, and lost ancient civilizations. In that era when the Internet was not yet popular, various “rebirth fighters and “pre-life girls” submitted articles to the magazine’s friend section, looking for the same “warriors” and “superpowers” as themselves. Place names, names, or some special symbols were considered In order to confirm the important clues of companions, phrases such as "Persons who have an impression of XXX please write" and "Waiting for letters from people who remember the name ○○" can be seen everywhere in the magazine's friend column.
The trend in reality was also directly presented in the comics serialized at that time, such as the comic "Guardian My Earth" (ぼくの地球を守って) by Hito Saki . The manga was serialized in the girl manga magazine "Flower and Dream" (花とゆめ) from 1986 to 1994. Aliens with highly developed civilizations reincarnated into modern Japanese after a thousand years. With the gradual restoration of past life memories, they regained their past superpowers and began to solve various events in modern Japan. The prologue of the story is exactly the same as the "reincarnation story" on the friendship bar of "MU". The protagonist has superpowers and begins to awaken. In order to reunite with his reincarnation partners, he recruits pen pals in the magazine.
In addition to the popular superpowers, alien civilizations, past lives and other elements at the time, this work also incorporates the love entanglements between boys and girls, which is naturally sought after by young readers. Driven by comics, the trend of searching for past lives has spread even more. After the "Tokushima Elementary School Student Incident", the author even had to issue a statement to remind everyone to distinguish between comics and reality.
The magazine "MU (ムー)" was born in the supernatural craze in the late 1970s. When it was first published, it accumulated a lot of popularity by publishing UFO content. The main themes of the report are aliens, superpowers, supernatural phenomena, ancient civilizations and the like.
In the past life fever and warrior craze in the 1980s, "MU" was the main position. Even the animation director Makoto Shinkai recalled that he liked to read "MU" in elementary and middle school. In the movie "Your Name. In ", Mitsuba’s classmate Eoshi Kawara (テッシー) is a reader of "MU" and loves all kinds of supernatural and surreal phenomena. Director Xin Haicheng himself stated that he deliberately arranged the details of "MU" to enrich the emissary's motivation to help Mitsuba.
Redemption on the ruins
The 1988 animation "Akira" (アキラ) shows the wasteland world of the future. After being destroyed by the power of "Akira", the surviving humans in the ruins have lost peace, and street fighting and revolution have become daily life. The film incorporates many elements such as the final war, hallucinogens, left-wing movements, and emerging religions. The director Katsuhiro Otomo is also known as "the one who destroyed Tokyo the most times."
When talking about the late 80s and early 90s, Shinji Miyadai said: " There are probably two doomsday episodes in this era, one is'unending daily life', and the other is'redemption on the ruins (the original word for Miyadai) It is "the commonality after the nuclear war", which has been dealt with as "salvation on the ruins") for the convenience of understanding. As mentioned earlier, the “never-endless daily life” is desperate. The unchanging, recurring life gradually strips away the individual’s perception of existence, and the absolute daily life that excludes all abnormalities exudes a strange atmosphere (such as the world of サザエさん) ) In such a "deadly silent" world, the sense of despair is growing day by day, so the yearning for death and the longing for doomsday begin to dominate people's hearts.
And "salvation on the ruins" is another doomsday plot. When real life has become "absolute daily", perhaps, only in the external world outside of real life can we find the "non-daily" that we dream of. This “non-daily” external world is presented as “wasteland” and “the world after a devastating war” in subcultures, such as Tokyo after the destruction in Akira, and Nausicaa is full of The future world of poison gas. "Redemption on the ruins" does not just stay in the fictional world of subcultures. The disaster area after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in January 1995 is like a realistic stage for the realization of "redemption on the ruins." The “volunteer fever” that appeared after the earthquake seemed to confirm the authenticity of “redemption from the ruins”. At that time, students from Tokyo flocked to Kobe, and students who rarely volunteered at this time were also keen on it. Earthquake assistance activities.
After seeing the ruins on TV, I felt that I would find something there
After returning to Tokyo, I still felt restless, so I went to Kobe again
When analyzing the "volunteer fever" that occurred after the earthquake, Shinji Miyadai wrote:
The students poisoned by these volunteers can only get back their self-contours that have become blurred in the "unending daily life" through the "mirror" of the ruins after the earthquake.
Just two months after the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in January, on March 20, 1995, a sarin gas incident occurred in the Tokyo Metro, which caused 13 casualties and had a huge impact on society at that time. The organization that created the sarin gas incident is the Aum Shinrikyo sect. This new religion was established in 1984. At first it was an organization that taught yoga (Aum Gods’ Association), and then gradually developed into a new religion and changed its name. For Aum Shinrikyo. In addition to the integration of yoga, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and other elements, it is fond of publicizing superpowers and mysterious experiences (such as the floating in the sky of the leader Asahara Shoko) to attract believers. In fact, Aum before the Sarin gas incident has accumulated considerable popularity, appearing on variety shows, media interviews, publishing publications, and holding lectures everywhere. At that time, the famous spiritual magazine "MU" also published Aum’s practice. Experience.
Among the many elements of Aum’s integration, you can also see the influence of subcultures such as animation and science fiction. Most of Aum’s members are in their 30s, and they happen to be the audience for works such as "Space Battleship Yamato" and "Gundam" in the 1970s. The cosmic refresher developed by the "Scientific Research Organization" under the management of the Order of Aum is named "Somokrimana", and the name comes from the radiation purification device of "Space Battleship Yamato".
It is particularly noteworthy that the "Armageddon" thought promoted by the Order. In Christianity, "Armageddon" is the final battlefield between God and the human government. Completely eliminate the rulers of the world who refuse to obey God. The Aum cult, which has absorbed this eschatological thought, also preached to the believers that eventually war is coming, and only those who have undergone Aum training can survive. Not only propaganda, they also regard achieving the end of the world as their goal. The former Aum cadre said in an interview:
They hope to realize it by themselves. In order to test the Cosmic Freshener, they spread poison gas, and they also tried to create the end of the world by spreading sarin or anthrax. They are even studying the possibility of using plasma weapons to promote the eruption of Mount Fuji.
Aum, who was deeply influenced by subculture, finally stepped out of the fictional world of subculture, attempting to move the fictional "doomsday stage" into reality. When the subculture is obsessed with the fictional "doomsday wasteland", Aum chooses to realize the doomsday in reality, in order to achieve the "salvation on the ruins" they expect, as Gongtai said when talking about Aum's actions of:
(They) can't bear the'never-ending daily life', and want to make'salvation on the ruins' a reality as soon as possible.
Self-actualizing 14 years old
From October 1995 to March 1996, TV Tokyo broadcasted 26 episodes of TV animation "Evangelion (New Century Evangelion, hereinafter referred to as EVA)", produced by GAINAX and directed by Hideaki Anno. EVA’s story stage is set in the future. 15 years after the catastrophe of "Second Impact", Shinji Ikari , a 14-year-old middle school student, was suddenly recruited into the secret organization NERV (ネルフ) by his long-separated father. ), driving a giant humanoid weapon-EVA, to fight against the huge monster "Apostle" of unknown origin.
After the animation was broadcast at the time, it gained widespread support and won a commercial success of 40 billion yen, becoming another popular work after the "Space Battleship Yamato" and "Mobile Suit Gundam" series. But the significance of EVA is not just a commercial success. This work, which appeared after the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake and the subway sarin gas incident, is like a mirror that reflects the uneasiness of the times and also heralds the direction of the next spirit of the times. .
The biggest cultural event in 1995 was undoubtedly the TV animation "Evangelion" which was broadcast in October of the same year. While this work produced by animation director Anno Hideaki created huge popularity, it also had a decisive impact on the cultural environment of the late 1990s, and became the beginning of the third animation boom that lasted for several years. (Uno Tsunehiro "Imagination of the Age of Oro")
Full of apocalyptic atmosphere, a large number of religious symbolic elements, as well as later depictions of the characters' psychological scars and autistic tendencies (a group of works featuring the depiction of the protagonist’s psychological scars appeared in the 1990s, and the representative figures are Takashi Murakami, Kaori Ekuni, etc., It was ridiculed by Hideshi Otsuka as "Hanyushu Literature"), to capture the atmosphere of the 90s, it is not an exaggeration to say that EVA is a symbol of the 90s. But on the other hand, due to the huge contrast between the first half of the animation and the second half of the animation (the first half shows a large number of home elements such as the Human Completion Project, Apostle, Lilith, and the mysterious organization NERV, etc., while the second half will The focus shifted to the inner world of the characters, and completely abandoned the decryption of the previous background), which was also controversial after the broadcast. At that time, the critics were divided into two groups of "supporting" and "not supporting". In the evaluation of EVA A fierce opposition was formed (for example, Touji Okada made a fierce attack on EVA, while Tokki Toki, Ito Tsuyoshi and others stood in a defending position).
At the beginning, EVA obviously followed the settings and themes of traditional mecha animation. The protagonist who was accidentally involved in the war fought in a huge humanoid mecha under the command of his father. This plot itself is not novel, but The consistent theme of mecha animation: the protagonist rides on the huge mecha made by his father and grows in the ongoing battle. In fact, "the protagonist fights through the " extended body " of the mecha, gains the recognition of adult society, and grows up by it. " , Refers to a form of novel produced in Germany during the Enlightenment period, and the theme is the growth and development of a young protagonist. The model has always been the theme of Japanese post-war mecha animation. In the 1990s when "EVA" was produced, the constantly differentiated and increasingly fluid society has been unable to give individuals seeking growth the meaning of "self-growth". Therefore, Shinji in the later period always refused to take the EVA posture, which is undoubtedly an announcement. The society recognizes the bankruptcy of the growth model of gaining self-worth.
Self-realization cannot be accomplished through society, but individuals still have a desire for self-realization (in the animation, Shinji repeatedly asks himself "why driving EVA", "who am I" and other questions, showing the 14-year-old's strong desire for self) , So the final words of "EVA" in the TV version gave a teasing ending.
All appearance charactersに囲まれ、自分を発见した main character シンジが拍手され、人々は口々に彼に「おめでとう…」と言う. このラストシーン、思い当たる人もいるだろうが、自己啟発セミナーのカリキュラムの終定事に同じなのだ
All the characters on the stage surrounded the protagonist, facing the protagonist who finally found themselves, everyone applauded and extended their blessings of "Congratulations". This last scene may already be familiar to some people, and it is exactly the same as the self-development training camp. (Hiishi Otsuka "The spiritual history of "おたく")
Self-development training camp (self-development training camp) was a popular form of psychological counseling at the time. The training camp was like a small society. Participants received self-development psychological counseling in a unique question-and-answer format (the final words of the TV version of "EVA" A large number of questions and answers are similar), and finally, with the blessing of other members, the meaning of oneself is obtained through the recognition within the group.
Hideshi Otsuka believes that this ending ironically proves: " The self-growth in this era can only be achieved through self-development training camps ." With the end of the "political season", the grand narrative of society and history loses its effectiveness, and the originally fixed communities and communities have gradually lost their stability in a highly mobile society. Social recognition has been used to realize individual values. The growth model no longer makes sense. As a result, individuals who wish to achieve self-realization have to seek growth in a simulation of "small societies", and new religions such as Aum came into being. Under the mutual recognition within the cult, members have acquired a sense of value similar to self-realization. However, this self-realization itself is only temporary and not universal, just like once the psychological training camp is over, the simulation The “small society” disappeared, and the “self” gained lost its meaning. The self-realization within the mission does not apply to the society outside the mission. Therefore, to escape from the highly mobile real society and obtain self-realization in the artificial “small society” made by man is actually difficult to establish, just as the simulated society cannot replace the real society, the “self-realization” in the simulated society , It's just a play house game that is self-directed and performed by the group. In this sense, the TV version of "EVA" gives exactly such a teasing ending.
In July 1997, the theater version of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" "Air/Sincere For You (Air/まごころを、君に)" was released. In the theater version, Anno Hideaki gave another ending.
In the theater version, Shinji still refuses to fight in EVA, showing his rejection of the previous growth model. At the end of the story, the "Human Completion Project" was finally launched. Under the influence of Lilith, everyone "dissolved" the self (like returning to the state of the mother's womb), and the boundary between the self and the other disappeared.
After the disappearance of a world where conflicts cannot be avoided due to the existence of the Other, it is replaced by a "utopia" that is absolutely recognized by everyone, which is an absolutely safe world similar to a mother's fetus.
Next, a dialogue about "Dream and Reality" was launched, and an answer was given to the question of fiction and reality in the 1990s:
Shinji: What is a dream, I don't quite understand what a reality is.
Ling Bo: You can't correctly grasp the gap between the reality of others and your own.
Shinji: Happiness can only be found in a dream. I don't know where happiness is.
Ling Bo: So this is not reality, but a world without anyone.
Shinji: Can't you dream of me alone?
Ling Bo: This is not a dream, but just to compensate for reality.
Shinji: Where is my dream?
Ling Bo: That is the continuation of reality.
Shinji: Then where is my reality?
Ling Bo: That is the end of the dream.
At this time, the image of the screening scene appeared in the animation, and the audience found helplessly that their "real figure" had broken into the fictional world of animation. In the fast switching of the camera, you can even see the abuse of the director himself and the declaration of arson against GAINAX on the Internet.
The camera turns to the sea of LCL again, and Ling Bo tells Shinji: This is the ocean of the source of life, the world that has lost the AT force field, lost his body, has himself everywhere, but cannot find himself everywhere, an ambiguous and fragile world .
Shinji: Am I dead?
Ling Bo: No, it's just that everything is integrated. This is the world you expect.
Shinji: But this is not right.
Even if the existence of the Other makes him feel uneasy, Shinji still rejects the "utopia" that dissolves himself and integrates with everyone, hoping to return to the real world.
I still don’t know where the happiness is, but I will continue to think about the meaning of my existence and the future. In order to maintain myself, this is a matter of course... Goodbye, mother
In the last scene of the story, only Shinji and Asuka (Aska) remain in the empty world after the destruction. However, the two did not absolutely depend on each other as Adam and Eve did in the original world. Shinji grabbed Asuka's neck. Asuka did not hide his rejection of Shinji, spitting out the words "disgusting (キモチワルイ)". The overseas of LCL is a world that is still full of confusion and rejected by others, but this is the real world.
This ending made some audiences feel extremely unhappy at the time (this kind of obvious Otaku criticism is undoubtedly very dazzling in Otaku's eyes, and as an entertainment work, this ending does not give the audience the impression of "purification of the heart" at all), but But Anye provided an answer to the self-realization problem in the 1990s: no longer escape from the status quo of this era (or escape into the mother's womb and refuse to grow, or interdependence within the simulated "society" for false growth), and cannot be an individual in society. When growth provides a certain paradigm, they still choose to explore ways of self-realization and symbiosis with others, even if it is difficult to avoid mutual harm .
Just three weeks before the theater version of "EVA" was released, on May 27, 1997, the "Drunkard Rose Saint Dou Incident (also known as the Kobe Lian Too Boy Killing Incident)" occurred in Kobe in a shocking way to overcome the difficulties of self-realization in the 1990s. Before the world. The 14-year-old boy A claimed to be "the drunkard rose saint" in the criminal statement to the media, and under the holy name given by the "Bimmoidoo God" he worshipped, he conducted "sacred experiments" through murder.
Regarding the motives of the 14-year-old boy A who committed many cruel cases , whether it was the " self-directed and self-performed coming -of-age ceremony " referred to by Hideshi Otsuka , or the " existence from society " pointed out by Miyadai Shinji shortly after the incident [i ] ", all show that with the "emptiness" of society in the 1990s, the void of meaning and the failure of value assignment, the individual's anxiety about self-realization has become an unavoidable practical problem.
[i] "Existence from society": Shinji Miyadai believes that in a society with "insufficient identity supply", individuals have to seek "another society" outside the original society in order to seek identity. Aum and other emerging religious groups It is the "another society" where members can obtain the satisfaction of being recognized by others in the cult, and achieve the goal of "self-realization", and the teenager A of Alcoholic Rose does not even need "another society" through his own gods. "Bomoidogoshen", even if there is no recognition in the real society, it can gain a sense of self-identity under the "identification" of "Bomoidogoshen", so it is "existence out of society."
Reference materials:
"Complete Suicide Maniaru"
"End of the day"
"History of おたくの Spiritual History"
"私たちはどこから来て、どこへ行くのか"
View more about Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion reviews
